The Washington weekly post., 1899-11-21

to ,en them q few ghost stories fancy
tales OF tramp life) 10 make them follow
the st0ry-telIer as INTERESTINGLY as the
! boys Of Hameiiu marched after the Pied
Piper. Almost every third boy that one
meets IN American yagabondage halls
from New York over ia Jersey l
think there are more tTampS TO the square
mile than In any other State except Penn
sylvania. The neighborhood around New
ark Is simply infested with beggars, who
meet there on their way 10 and out OF
New York. IL is surprising, too,
now well they are fed. when one remeIn-
bers that they have battered this COM
mUnity for years. Ii is in Pennsy wanna,
however, that the tramp is best led. Willie
/ Still maintain that be gets more money
in New York City. 1 do not know OF a
town cr a village In the Keystone State
where a decently clad roadster cannot get
all that he wants 10 eat without doing 4
stroke OF work In payment Ine jals aFe
also a great boon 10 the fraternity. In the
majority of them there is no work 70 aoi
while some furnish tobacco and the oa4Iy
papers. Consequently in winter one can
see tramps sitting comfortably on OenChes
drawn close to the flre and reading tnelr
morning paper ana smoking their atter-
breakfast pipe as complacently ana as
calmly as the merchant in his counting
room. Here they ind refuge from the
storras OF winter ana make themselves
perfectly at home"
Mr. F1yns believes that 4 help In the
sollitiOn Of the tramp problem would be
The closing of the railroads against II q
wandering brothers. He says: II is
probably impossible ever entirely 10 eliml-
nate the VasTant element N a nation
life. and no such hope Is held out IN con-
necIiOn with the reform advocated in TINS
article but this much is certain: mad all
the railroads been as closed 10 tramps as
one of them has recently become, one
man. at least, would net have attempted
any free riding and would NOT have found
so many tramps TO study
Criminals in the Ranks.
A valuable portion o. this Eook is that
devoted to the consideration of criminals.
1T is more than al decade, says the au-
JhoT, since / became acquainted with
tramps. My purpose in eking them out
was to learn of their life, and l soon saw
that to know it well must become joined
to it and be part and parcel Of its various
manifestations. At different times during
this period-some of them leng.hening cut
into mOnths-I have lived intimately both
with the vagabOnds of England and the
United States. In the tramp class, or so
near it that The separation is almost i'm
percsptible, are TO be found any number
of criminals associating freely, either for
purposes of business or socIability, with
their less ambitious brethren"
Mr.. Flynt, in spite of the classifications
of LOmbrOSo, says tlat in mis- experience
he has found only one class of criminals
of any great imDOrtance-the profession
al. He does not believe that people go
into crime because they are unable 10
keep body and soul together in any other
way.
lie says: 1.-The people who go into crime
for this reason are less numerous than is
generally supposed. 1t is true they come,
as rule, from the pOverty-stricken dis
tricts of our large cities, and the standard
If life in these districts, particularly for
families, is pitifully low but a single
person can live in them far more easily
than the philanthropists think The
EecessaTies Of life. for instance. can be
had by simply begging; and this is the
way they are found by the majority OF
the people who are not willing TO work
for them. The criminal, however. wants
the. luxuries of life as well; he seeks gold
ana the most expensive pleasures that
sold can buy; and to get them he preys
upon those that have it,"
So far from the criminal being the scum
of his environment, Mr.. Flynt believes
that he is possessed of more ambition and
force of character than his fellows.
The people from whom criminals are
recruited, he says, are mainly paupers.
land they have been so such long time
and are so cbtuse and unaccustOmed 10
anything better. even in the United
States, that they seldom make any Sc
rious effort to get out of their low condi-
ton. In this same class are some
who are born with ambitions, and who
have energy enough to fulfill them. These
break away from class conditions, but,
unfortunately. the ladder of respectable
business has no fOotnOld to their environ
ment No one of their acquaintance has
gone springing up its rounds In tempting
promotions and, although the city mis-
siOnary tells them that there are those
who thus succeed. they will not belieye
h.m-OT. rather, they prefer TO believe the
to them more probable stories OF success
which they read in the Police Gazette and
the Newgate Calendar. Most of them
know perfectly well that the success thus
portrayed is the result of lawbreaking,
and that they will be punished II caught
irving to achieve IL. But II Is choice be-
tween the miserable slum, which they
hate, and the possible wealth, which they
covet, and they determine to run the
risk
What Real Criminal Looks Like.
Regarding another phase of his study
of criminals. Mr.. Flynt says: 'It has been
impossible for me, a fellow-traveler with
tramps and but casual observer of
criminals, to conduct my Investigations as
scientific observers of prison specimens
have done. l have not been permitted,
for instance, to measure their skulls;
neither have / been permitted to weigh
them, to inspect their teeth ard palates.
nor even to test their pulse under ex-
citernent. 1t has been possible for me,
however. to study their countenances, to
get acquainted with their type. as it is
called, and TO compare il, as / have seen
IL in the open, with its pictorial repre-
sentation in books and pamphlets. As a
rule, these pictures are very different
from the type that I have known. Only
in few cases have they ever approx
mated 20 the truth, and why artists have
given US such as their models is more
than / can understand. In New York |
once showed a criminal one OF these car
features, and asked him what he thought
of il. He replied: Why, / wouldn't be
found dead lookin' like THAR a sentiment
which / consider both justified and rep
resentative. The trouble is that writer's
about crime have generally picked out
as illustrations for their books the very
worst specimens possible, and the public
has been led TO consider these as true
representatives of the entire class. A
Tetreatng forehead for example, and the
most depraved expression of the eyes and
mouth are to-day considered typical stig-
mata OF the criminals face. The major
ity OF those with whom | am acquainted.
particularly those under thirty years OF
age. If well dressed, could pass muster
in any class of society; and / doubt very
much whether an uninitiated observer
would be able 10 pick them out for what
tley are. A1ttr thirty years OF age. ana
sometimes even younger, they do acquire
a peculiar look. but instead of calling il
a criminal look. IN the sense that the
instructive offender Is criminal. I should
describe il as that Of q long resident in
the penitentiary Prison life II taken in
large doses and often enough, will give
the most moral men In The world Grim
inal features. and IL Is no wonder that
men who make a business OF crime, and
are so much in prison, possess them.
Even mon who are busted in the detec-
ton Of crime have more or less similar
facial characteristics. ! never met de-
tectiye who had been long IN the service
that did not have some features or ha BITS
common 10 the criminals he was engaged
in hunting down, and | know several de-
tectiYes who have been taken for crimi-
rails by criminals, simply because OF Their
lC1kg.
in regard 10 other abnormaIities. such
as absence OF hair on the face. remarka-
BE eyesight. length Os certain fingers. in
sensbility 10 pain. unusual development
OF the lower jaw. high cheek bones, fixed
eyes, projecting ears ard stopping should