Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-09-18
THE VACADOND CLUB
Starts on a Long Walking Tour
Thru South America.
SECRETARY WRITES FIRST LETTER.
Outlines Roughly the Itinerary Of the
Club-Start Will be Made From
Waterloo, Iowa-Personnel of the
Organization.

Three young newspaper men are
starting this week from Waterloo,
Iowa, for a long tour, on foot and by
boat, of the United States, Mexico, |
Central and South America, and pos
sibly Asia and Europe They call
themselves the Vagabond club, and
the secretary will write letters to the
Courier telling of the trip and the ad-
ventures that befall them. Ed.l
Waterloo, Sept. 11.-(Special Cor
respondence.)-A few words of expla-
nation are necessary as to the nature
and aim of the Vagabond club. 1t is
not an elaborate organization; in fact
there are only three members, drawn
together by common tastes and COM
mon desire to see the world afoot Two
are photographers and one teacher
of languages, and all more or less wea-
ry of ciyuized life.
Easton has been unanimously chos-
en- president of the club, chiefly on &C
count of the superior dignity of his
personal appearance. This is owing
to his magnificent beard, the most
highly valued Of all his earthly posses
sions. The writer is secretary or the
body, Bishop is the rest.
We (not the editorial we, but we the
club, being duly organized and equip
ped, are just setting out on our vaga-
bondage. 1t was for this purpose
chiefly that the club was brought into
existence. We are abundantly povid-
ed with all things desirable for an ex-
tensive trip, except provision and cash
We request our friends not to ask us
how we, expect to obtain the former,
as that is the question we have some
delicacy about discussing. AS for the
cash, tho it often proves great CON
yenience in case of emergency, it is
not indispensable, and for the true
yagabond it may almost be called SUI
perfluous
There are numerous persons even
among the highly enlightened who
have somehow got the notion that to
travel with any sort of enjoyment or
profit one must be in what is common
ly called easy circumstances. This
is very grave, / may almost say la
mentable, error. To get the best re-
suits on any kind Of trip it is my adj
vice to breathe as little coal smoke
as possible; keep out of hotels when
you can; trust your own legs as a
means of locomotion; they were made
for that purpose; make short tours
long ones are more expensive and give
no better results; better go hundred
miles in thegopen air than thousand
boxed up. AS for sightseeing, there
is not man, woman or child in the
United States who has seen every
thing that is worth seeing within a
radius of hundred miles of his home.
If you only know the art of getting
the greatest possible enjoyment out of
travelling the money question will be
marvelously simplffied. OF course, If
you live in Chicago and are consump-
tive would not advise you to start on
foot for a months outing in Colorado
without dollar or two in your pocket
But in general the more hard got cash
you spend to have yourself pulled
about by steam-power, horsepower
and wind-power, the less you gain in
physical vigor and valuable knowledge
and experience. This is a yagabont
philosophy.
The rules of our order solemnly for
bid us to travel by railroad, steamboa
or horseback, or by any wheeled vehi
Gle whatsoever, except when dire ne
cessity drives us to 1t. We are also
commanded not to cut our boards. Tit
use of soap is not strictly forbidden.
1t need scarcely be said that oul
course and destination are not yer!
definitely fixed. Why should they be
If we were to travel by rail we could
with the aid of an ordinary railroad
map, trace out our route to hair
breadth ION the map; then you coul'
get cheap guide-book and predict
with all the certainty of divine reve
lation, just what towns we would Wis
it; what sights we would admire, ant
how much and long we would admir-
them; at what hotels we would pu
up, and what it would cost us per day
and what our laundry bills would be
!; and all the other strange and fascinat
ing circumstances of the venturesom
tourists experience. But unfortunate
ly for those of our readers for WHOM
no other kind of travelling than thi
!, has any charm, our course Is waywar
! and uncertain, we will avoid most tn
large cities and will have no hotel bill
. and no laundry bills; in short, we ar
s. and will remain vagabonds on the fac
. of the EARTH
! Having organized the club and d.
termined to begin travelling sometim
in September, we began to deliberat
f as to what direction we should TAXI
= After thoughtful consideration it seen
+ ed most natural and convenient t
3 move south. If we had been startin
4 in May instead Of September probabl
i we should have gone north, but thu
f would be obviously unwise at this SCI
l. son of the year.
t. The question of direction being Sc
g tied, we fell to discussing the means {
+ travel. Railroads, of course. were OF
s of the question, being forbidden by tt
J rules of the order. Then we though
S of bicycles. 1t was argued that, tt
a wheeled vehicles were prohibited, y
It the bicycle, being propelled by the !
s ders own physical exertion, shou
t. properly be regarded as merely pa
J. ent extention of the lower extremitit
or modern substitute for the fab
d lous seven-league boots. But the OPT
a ion finally carried that the bicyc
h should also be interdicted. since it W,
e.. an invention antagonistic to the spill