Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1900-01-25
G0NDOLA'S EXPERIENCES
BY George AIDE.
iHoNDoLA" WILSON was not a


u tramp, because he knew a trade
and he haG been known to work. He
was tramp in this, however, that he
consistently refused to pay railway
fares. Hence his name. "Gondo!a" is
submerged tenth for fiat car
He was a journeyman of the restless
kind. When he had been three weeks
in Milwaukee. then ST. Paul seemed a
more desirable place of residence
When in St. Paul he had tired banker
ing 10 see the Narcissus lodging house
in Chicago. After he had arrived at the
N&rcissus he began TO watch the trains
starting for Cincinnati and longed to
curl himself on a truck and jolt away
20 where the muddy stream fronts the
sloping warehouses.
Once he was away from the Narcissus
for whole year. During his absence
he had been put away" To be put
away" is to be held prisoner in a penal
or reformatory institution.
The purpose of this story is to relate
how ''GondOla" Wilson, having t o Grim
iEal intent, became a criminal under
circumstances which are not usual.
On the day of his return to the Mar
cissus (the prison pallor on his face and
his head cropped to show the white
scars) six inmates were sitting near
the windows reading morning news
paper. They had torn the paper into
sheets and divided it. The man who.
had drawn the small lads was discon-
tented. He could find nothing on his
sheet except Help Wanted" He low
cred his paper, and before him sat "Gon-
dola" Wilson, seeming yellow in the fl
tered light.
Where's the committee?" asked
"GonGola." where's the triumphal
arch: Welcome Home?'''
You're alive. then?'
Alive an kickin.'"
IF you're alive. it follows that you're
kicllin'. How long has it been?"
"a year-neXt month"
1--WE missed YOU when it come to the
roundup last fall. Nobody'd seen you.
You've been under a roof, amt you?
Hospital?''
Put away-a year"
You had to 60 crooked at last, did
you?"
well. that's what they called it. I'm
lrIcky they didn't hang me. Some of
en- wanted to-
Tell me what you done. 1 amt the
court"
Say, listen, an see if ever you heard
the likes before. 1t wuz in October
year ago last October. I'd walked
from Loueyville over to Terry Hut with
= niger that played the mouth harp
We hid in the yards at Terry Hut an
I'VE 81 ha4
thought wuz headed for DanviIle. Some
time in the night a brakeman seen us
an fired us out. I'd been asleep. an the
first thing 1 remember was fallin' out
O the car an lightin' hard. with the
coon comm after me. We didn't know
where we wuZ, but could make out
side track an chute for loadin' hogs.
About a mile off we could see some
lights. an we judged we wuz near
purity good-sized town. Me an the
coon started TO walk toward the town.
az then I stopped him an says: Here.
Il we 60 to drillin' around town at this
time O. night an one o them country
coppers gets peek at US, he'll shoot
us first an then ask US our names after
ward. Let's crawl in somewheres an
sleep till mornin'. an then We'll go in
town an try to round up a hand-out.'
Well. just as 1 wuz sayin' this. we hap
pened to be walkin' along past tall
fence. l looked through the cracks an
could see one or two lights quite dis
lance off. an right near us wuz long
buildin' that looked somethin' like a
barn. 1t wuz gettin' chilly an said
&c this parCiner of mine: Coon. gil me
& boost over this fence an / think we
can find a warm place here So we
skinned over the fence an come to this
buildin'. 1t wuz big an still thought
II yuz a barn. We walked around. |
lookin' for a door or window. so't we
could crawl in. At last this pardner of
mipe-his name 'uz JEFF an I'll kill him |
if ever / lay eyes on him again-Jeff |
found little door that wuzn't locked, |
an we went in. feelin' our way along, |
thinkin', you know. that we might find |
some hay or straw to sleep on. Purity |
soon jeff fell over somethin' an land |
ed on top of him. We felt around US
an discovered that we'd run into lot |
o. watermelons layin' on the floor. l
s'pose the coon was sorry to meet them /
melons. wuzn't he? The first thing i |
knew he'd split one of EN- open, an / |
could hear him choppin' in the dark.
Well. / got up an felt my way along. /
an purity soon reached out an what
do YOU s'pose took holt of there in the
pitch dark? a plate with about
dozen biscuits on it. New, amt no
crook an never broke into a house to
steal anything, but I'll leave this to
you. If you hadn't had anything to
eat for Is hours an should happen to
crawl into barn at night an reach out
into the dark an find dozen light bis
cults, would you eat 'em or throw 'em
away"
I'D prob1y eat en-" was the re-
ply.