The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1900-03-10

but it vas better. than he expected un-
no transportation, SO the deal was con-
cluded, and with what little money he
Ehad remaining after paying for the
old poles, Terradell' hired help to take
them over. to the swamp and there
plant them. The corner stone of the es-
Enlistment, if a corner stone can be
made of wood, was laid when the first
pole was firmly planted upright CT the
edge of the swamp. a circle of poles
was formed. and in the middle Terra
dell set a barrel and a'seat. That was
the office, and the hotel was declared
formally open.
The next thing was to find dodgers.
The founder went out to the railroad
track and sat down to wait. He didn't
have long to wait. Three tramps pres
emily appeared, and one of them was
recognized by Terradell, who pos
sessed that quality invaluable in an
organizer-a tenacious and accurate
memory. lie hailed his former ac-
quaintance.
Hello. Hardy! Don't you remember
me? I gave you a lift from Bristol
once when you were padding on a bum
stump" (Walking with an injured
leg.)
"It's tine engineer" said the tramp.
"Lost your job? Are you on the pad,
too? Come along with us. I made a
good touch back on the path and I'll
stake you to half my pile"
"You come along with me-" said the
other; you and your friends. and I'll
put you up for the night. I've started
a lodging for the boys"
whats the hold-up?" asked one of
the trio.
Nothing unless you want to. But I
want a little help"
"Come along. boys" said Hardy.
Hes on the level" so the party set out
for the swamp. With some old nails
which T%erradell had picked up and
stones for hammers the four soon had
a sort of shelter built across a small
segment of the circle in which they
slept that night. Two of the tramps
took the road again early in the morn
ing. promising to tell any of the guild
whom they might meet of the new hos
telry. Hardy stayed several days help
ing T%erradell about the place, and
when he left he contributed a pair of
good secondhand blankets which he
had bought in town. 1t wasn't long be-
fore the hotel was known on every high
road in this part of the country, and
dodgers came in rapidly. None was
turned away by the proprietor, but
each man who was able was expected
to do an hour or two of work about the
place. with the result that it was soon
completed and a stranger-looking
building was probably never raised
since the day when every man was his
own architect.
The place was orderly. for the pro-
prietor, while liberal in his allowances
for hobo nature would tolerate no riot
He was an unwise hobo who
attempted to disregard orders, for Ter
radell had too many friends among
the tramps who were ready at any
minute to take up his cause. a case in
point is that of a tramp who was found
unconscious beside a roadway near
Railway several years ago. The police
thought they had a murder mystery
on their hands. but the man recovered
after a long stay in the hospital and
finally left, refusing to tell how he
came by his injuries. Two years later
a vagrant who was jailed revealed the
secret. The injured man had fallen in
with some of his fellow hoboes and,
being drunk, had boosted of having
robbed Terradelrs till of half a dollar.
whereupon the whole party set upon
him and peat him into insensibility.
That was the only time the till was
ever robbed; indeed, most of the time
it would not have paid anyone to rob
it.
Work was found for TerradelTs
tramps when they wanted it. He set
up a ~wood-cutting industry and made
a little money that way which he used
in improving his place. Trenton peo-
pie, who had become interested in the
experiment. found jobs for the lodg-
ers, and though by far the greatest
part of the hotels clientage was of the
strictly transient order. some few from
time to time would express a desire to
stay and make a regular living.
Unremitting toll and devotion
brought about, in the course of years.
the wonderful transformation wrought
by the penniless and unemployed Ter
radell. In the swamp land where his
curious structure of telegraph poles
and boards had sheltered his hobo
friends rose the four-story building of
vitrified brick with brownstone trim
mings. and around it small cottages
were put up, 81 in all, for such families
as might join the new community.
Where and how did Terradell get the |
money for such an establishment?
asked this question with Won
der, but nobody ever answered it.
Doubtless there were rich men who.
believing in Terradell and his project.
gave literally to help him. for not
only was his building costly, but the
land which before was regarded as so
much waste space had acquired a value
and nearly $4,000 was laid out on land
alone. Terradell himself worked with
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