Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1900-03-31
A TRAMP AND HIS PAL
THE TRAIL THAT ONE MADE TO GUIDE
THE OTHER.

VH6 YIN
II Enable ~. ,petitc Diii." After His
Term In jail Was Done. "a tnerr-
imRiy Follow His Partner From
Cincin natl to Houston.
I'VE ha, u q good many ii.mps up in
our part Of the country. said sugar
planter. and I've made something OF Il
study Of their peculiarllics. The old
Idea that they carve marks and signs
OH fences that can be rend by all other
members Of the fraternity Is pure non
SENSE. OF course, but | have known sev.
rral instances In which one tramp
would leave a trail. so to speak, for the
guidance Of n partner who might not
put In Nh appearance for months.
"Thc first case OF that kind ever
encountered was rather amusing. |
was riding. one spring 'lay. down Il
road that passes through my plncc,
when noticed typical hobo indus
triOusly carving Il sort of hieroglyphic
on a big post standing near the fence.
The mark consisted Of u square and
triangle side by side. and he was Just
putting on the finishing touches as ]
arrived.
MY curiosity was ut once aroused.
and l determined to find out II possible
exactly what the thing meant, so pro-
ceeded to collar the fellow. and after n
little vigorous bluiting he told me he
was putting up directions for his part
ner. who would be along some time in
the fall. He assured me that the marks
meant nothing in particular, except
that he had passed and was going in
the direction Of the point Of the TRAN
gle.
Ills partner. according to the story
which dragged out Of him pccemeal,
was doing Il six months jail sentence
for smuggling Il policeman in Cincinnati
and when he got out OIL Sept would
strike south. following trail Of cary
lngs OIL water tanks. dcpots, barns and
fenceposts. When the first tramp
struck a good place to lonf. he proposed
to stop and wait for the other to catch
; up.
whats your partners nameT
asked.
Its by rights William Sparks said
the hobo. but everybody calls him
appetite Bill" on account Of his al.
ways being hungry. He carries sack
to pack grub In and has red whlskers
and a funny looking wart on one side
Of his nose
II was satisfied from my prisoners
manner that he was telling me the
truth, so l took him up to the house,
gave him n good dinner and sent him
on his way rejoicing.
"Now for the sequel" continued tho
planter. zone afternoon in the fall
was driving home from the station
when ] passed very dilapidated hobo
with red subtle on his chin and gum
ny sack under his arm. and some In
stinct told me that Mr.. Sparks alias
appetite Bill had ut last arrived.
He seemed to be looking for land.
marks. and when he reached the big
post ! saw him stop. scrutlnize the
carving and then start of with new
and confident step. That settled 1t,
and | drove ahead and intercepted him
at the house. half a mile farther on.
"'Hello. Bill" | said. 'How's your
appetite this EVENING"
"'.AppctiteT he stammered and gave
such Il violent start that he dropped
his gunny sack.
"Why. yes said l. Perhaps they
didn't feed you very we'll at Cincin.
NATL
AT the word Cincinnati he turned
| livid and glared around with such ev.
! dent intention Of bOlting that | made
! haste TO explain.
"'DOn't be alarmed l said. i met
your side partner Il few months ago,
and lie told me to look out for YOU 1t
| took me some time to dissipnte Bills
suspicious. but when finally succeed
ell In convincing him that it was all
right he told mo most interesting
story Of his journey across tho coun-
try.
~ professional hobo will follow the
track Of another hobo with an accura-
cy that Is curiously suggestive Of wood
craft. All the way down from Cincin-
natl Bill had never once lost the trail.
and before he left gave him an adj
dressed postal card and got him to
promise me he would put 1t in the mail
ut whatever point he caught up with
bis partner Less than month later l
received the card. bearing 4 HOuseR
TEX date mark: 30 presuaD Y ~
there they met.
Both OF these tramps could read and
write. and asked Sparks particularly
why his friend didn't use some brief
message in place Of the hieroglyph.
He replied that 1t would attract too
much attention, and other hoboes
would be likely to add misleading
words, while the little square and tri-
angle passed unnoticed.
"Since then ! have encountered two
other nearly similar cases, In each Of
which a tramp was leaving a cipher
trail tor u crOny to follow when he got
out Of jail. and infer that the prac-
tice Is tolerably common. At any rate
It is a curious feature OF tramp life
| which have never seen mentioned In
any Of the numerous papers and maga'
zine articles that have appeared on the
subject during recent years."-New Or.
leans Times-DemOcrat.
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Easily Fixed.
.Awfr1 n I'm IN. NJ mr. hOfol fItc n flor.