Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-01-01

popular fancy has credited them, they
have a number of interesting theories
about begging and a large variety OF
clever ruses to deceive people.
Not all tramps are either clever or uc-
%cessful, the road" is Travelled by a great
many more amateurs than professionals.
but 1t Is the earnest endeavor of all at
least to make a living, and there are
thousands who make something besides.
Roughly estimated, there are from &C. 900
to 5000 tramps in the United States, and
probably a fifth of all may be classified
as f1rst-class tranps. There are q Sec
ond a third class, and even a fourth. but
1t is the A No. l men, as they all them
selves. who are the most interesting. The
main distinction between these tramps
and the less successful members of the
craft is that they have completely con-
quered the amateurs squeamishness
about begging. 1t seems comparatively
easy to go to a back door and ask for
something to eat, n the mere wording
of the request is easy, all too easy. but
the hard part of the transaction is to
screw up courage enough to open the
front gate. The beginner in tramp life
goes to a dozen front gates before he can
brace himself for the interview at the
back door, and there are men to whom
a vagrant life is attractive who never
overcome the tendeifoot's bashfulness.
BURGLAR OUT OF HIS ELEMENT.
1t was once my lot to have a rather sue
cessful professional burglar for a COM
paniOn on a short tramp in the middle
west. We a come together in the hap
hazard way that all tramp acquaintance
are formed. We met at a railroad water
ing tank. The mans %sOjourn in tramp
dom, however. was only temporary; 1t
was a good hiding place until the detec-
tives should give up the hunt for him.
He had planted" his money elsewhere.
n meanwhile he had taken his chances
with the "boes." He was not a man who
would ordinarily arouse much pity, but a
tramp could not have helped having SYM
pathy for him at meal time. At every
interview he had at back doors he was
seized with the tenderfOot's b~ashfulness,
and during the ten days that our COM
partnership lasted he got but one square
meal. His profession of robber gave him
no assistance.
Il can steal" he said. "go into houses
at night, and take my chances in a shoot
in scrape, but Til be hanged If l al beg.
faint like swipin'. When We swipe We
don't ask no questions, an We don't an
swer none. In his business We got to
cough up yer whole soul JUS to get a
lump (hand-out). I'd rather swipe.''
This is the testimony of practically all
beginners in the beggar's business; at
the start thieving seems to them a much
easier task. AS he weeks n month";
l pass Oy, however,, INey become naTOoncQ
and discover that their nerve needs only
to be developed to assert itself, and the
time comes when nothing is SO valuable
that they do not feel themselves justified
in asking for it. They then definitely
identify themselves with the profession
and build up regulations as first-class
tramps. Each mans experience Sug-
gests to him how his reputation can best
be acquired. One man. for example.
finds that he does best with a graft
peculiarly his own. another dis
covers that 1t is only at a certain time
of the year. or in a particular part of the
country that he comes out winner. The
tramp has, to experiment in all kinds OF
ways before he understands himself OF
his public. and he makes mistakes even
after an apprenticeship extending over
years. ',-v~
INTRODUCING A NEW GAG.
In every country where he lives, how
ever, there is a common fund of expert
ence and fact by which he regulates his
conduct in the majority of cases. It is
the collective testimony of generations
and generations of tramps who have
lived before him. and he acts upon 1T in
about the same weG that human beings
in general act upon ordinary human ex.
p%erience. Emergencies arise when his
own ingenuity alone avails, and the av.
erage finding is of no use to aim. and or
such occasions he makes a note on the
case and reports about it at the next
. hang-out cOnclave. If he has invented
something Of rea value, a good begging
story, for instance. and it is generally &C
cepted as good. 1t is labeled .'ShOrty's
gag or Sims as the mans name may
be, n becomes his contribution to thu
general collection Of gags 1t is the mar
who has memorized the greatest number
of gags or ghost stories, as they are alst
called, and can handle them deftly a!
circumstances suggest, that is the mos
successful beggar. There are other re
uuirements to be observed. but unless
a man has a good stock of stories will
which to fool people, he cannot expect tt
| gain a foothold among .the blowed in thu
glass ~stiffs." He must also keep contin
: ually working over his stock. GhOs
l stories are like bonnets; those that wer'
fashionable last year, are this year on
( of date, and they must be hanged t.
) suit new tastes and conditions, or be sup
: planted by new ones. Frequently a fresl
version of the old story has to be impro
vised on the spot. .,
The following personal experience ii
illustrates under what circumstances gag
, are invented. 1t also shows how even tn
professionals forget themselves anu thei
, pose on occasions.
- THE DEAF AND DUMB RACKET.
: One morning about eight years g
. arrived in a small town in the MohaWl
= = valley in company with a tramp Gale.
: Indianapolis Red. We a ridden al
= night in a box car in the hops of reachin'
, New York by morning. but the freigh
: had been delayed on account of a wreck
, and we were so hungry when we reache
, the town in question that we simply ha'
to get off and look for something to cal
. 1t was not a place, as we we'll knew
: where tramps were welcome. but tn
train would not stop again at a town o
any size until long after breakfast. an
We decided to take our chances. We ha
an hour at our disposal until the mex