The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-07-01
TEN CENTS A HUNDRED MILES.
What II Cost q Tramp 10 TravsI BY Railroad.
Methods OF Tho Hobo.

Mr.. Joseph Flynt's article on The
Tramp and the Railroads." in the June
Century, embodies mis- experience In in
vestigating the tramp nuisance on a
single road. He estimates that ten
Thousand tramps ride free on Ameri-
can raalnoad trains every night OF the
year.
Today it is the boast of the hoboes
that they can travel in every state of
the Union for a mill per mile, while in
a number OF states they pay nothing at
all. On lines where Drakemen demand
money of them, ten cents Is usually
sufficient to settle for journey OF
hundred miles. and twenty cents often
secures a nights ride. They have df-
ferent methods of riding, among which
the favorite is TO steal into empty
box car on freight train. At night
this is comparatively easy to do; on
many roads it is possible to travel this
way, undisturbed, till morning. If the
train has no "empties,' they must ride
on top of the car, between the bump
eYs," on one OF the car ladders. or on the
| rods. On passenger trains they r.de ON
| top, on the blind baggage" and on
| the trucks.
Taking this country through, IL is no
/ exaggeration 10 say that every night
! I'm the year ten thousand free pasSen-
/ gers OF the tramp genus travel ON the
different Iailroads In the ways men,
toned. and that ten thousand more
| are waiting a. watering-tanks and in
| railroad yards for opportunities 10 get
on the trains. / estimate the profess
sional tramp population at about sixty
| thousand "a third Of whom are general
| ly on the move
| In summer the entire tramp fratern-
ity may be said 10 be ''in transit. The
| average number Of miles travelled daily
| by each man at this season or the year
Is about fifty which, IL paid Tor az
regular rates would cost, say, dollar.
OF course one should not ordinarily pay
so much TO ride in box car as IN a
| passenger coach, but the ordinary
tramp is about as comfortable in one
as i'm the other, and. OF the dollar-a-
trip basis. he and his SO. y99 companions
succeed in getting our of the railroad
companies sixty thousand dollars
worth OF free transportation every day
that they all travel. Multiply TINS ns-
ure by hundred which Is about the
number OF days In a year when all
trampdom "fiits." and you have an APP
proxfmate idea OF how much they gam
Another serious loss TO the railroads
Is involved i'm the disappearance oi
goods undergoing transportation, and III
| claims for personal injuries. Some
| tramqDs steal and some do not, but
every year considerable therts are made
from freight cars, and tramps. or mer
posing as such. are generally the guilty
| parties. Professional thieves frequent
ly become tramDs TOR tiIne
both to minimize. their guilt and 70
elude capture and the probability Is
that the majority of the greater the,ts
are committed by them. Tramps prop
er are discouraged thieves, and nave
seldom known them 10 steal anytnlnA
more valuable than fruit from frelgn
cars and metal from idle engines. In
years time, however, including all the
thefts committed by both tramos anc
professional thieves. very apisecnpi'
loss results to the railroads, ana l car
recall. out Of my observation, robber
les which have amounted to severa
| thousand dollars.