Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-02-09
FLOATERS WARNED
One of Tramp Fraternity Admonishes
His Brethren About Washington.
THE INAUGURATION DEFENSES
Points Upon How They May Be
Circumvented if Come They Must
WORDS TO THE w i S f

WORDS TO THE WISE
II has been the fortune Of a floater to
10 taken into the confidence of the District
Commissioners regarding their arrange
nents for inaugural week. and as result
h., beSeeches his ilk throughout the CONT !
reut To listen to some earnest words OF
advice and warning. If he were layman |
and not a born "hoater'' himself he would |
say. Dent come But warnings never |
yet kept away the true member of the |
breed from 4 great blowout the chances |
are that. even at this writing, with March |
Yet some weeks away there are plans |
made yea the journey has already been |
started upon and floaters located anywhere
frnme Los Angeles To Las Guasimas. from |
Portland. Maine to Portland, oregon, and |
from Manitoba to Mexico. are already hit |
ting the road heading toward Washington. |
Dyer See, If a warning will not behove |
the fodter to retreat and desist in the |
1.rf attack on the capital. advice may be
needed and MANY unhappy moments spared |
members of the great. Underlined profess
sion.
Approaches All Guarded.
LIST them understand. then, first and for |
all, that the cSplld1 CITY toiiiiithueiS haNc |
thrown out their utmost official strength
i'm its defense, and the approaches by
land anI water are being guarded night F.!
and day. by an cver-increasing force of
men mounted and spurTed. most of them. |
The writer being a ftoater. now installed |
with comparative immunity within the pof-
tails of the capital. has made a STUDY OF tHe |
city'S DIa., of defense. and i In position |
TO show to his colleagues throughout the !
land how they may evade the great net De- |
ing thrown out to repu'se or capture them'
II must be first understood that the aver
age ''townie." or resident OF w Washington, |
will he 'hostyle' to the fioater who seeks |
to enter lacking at least Il dress-sult case. |
II thus behOoveS the stranger 10 possess |
himself of a goodly piece of money before
entering.
Mai. Sylvester and His Scouts.
Next it must be understood that the ma |
ior in command a warrior named SylFes-
ter. is calling upon the sleuthing forces OIL
the other great cities of the Union to come |
here and act as spies during the engage
meut The sum of 100000 requested appro- |
priated will pay for a goodly number or
these scouts. Now. 10 the best manner
to approach Washington. In 1853 / think
IL was. Gen. Jubal Early attempted to enter
from the west, and managed 10 90
little Danhandling along the ith street
road. BEFORE he could reach PennsylVa!ha
avenue or the Central Union Mission he was
met and suffered defeat. To avoid such dis
PStpr the attacking HottIeT from li4e NcSI VI
east via Baltimore will find IL sensible TO
pad it in from the city from as Tar as BEN
ming Park. This is. of course, to those TAX
ing the Pennsylvania railroad in. Under 70
consideration should the line Of march be
taken up beyond Benning-
Plan of Advance Indicated.
A. the force approaches the point men
toned the commander should send out some
active aoater scouts to reconn0lter Ihese
should not proceed far and be cautious al
ways for less than 300 yards down the ROAD
ii is possible that horseman has bivoa-
90 ked in the roadside shrubbery, and some
what beyond that point, at the belhliiS
station railroad crossing, are to be found
more of the mounted force defending the
city 1t will be wise for the invading uoat-
ers 10 break up into small squads hrst ar
ranging a place of meeting within the city
limits if acquaintance for old time sake
are TO be kept up. Every man should take
the next trolley car inward and preserve
absolute decorum afterward. In that man
uer the city may be entered with safety
Once within view of the Capitol the l1Nader
may feel comparatively at ease: some au
vice as TO his behavior during his stay may
be. found further along in this article
From the HyattsvilIc Point.
The force OF the fioaters who may arrive
over the Baltimore and Ohio road VIII 90
we'll to drop off the side-do"r Pullmans at
Hyattsville This point Is Within walking
distance Of the capital, but the grill Will
be found absolutely dangerous 1t Is passa-
bly, safe to squander a nickel on d rolieS
car II must be borne in mind that MAJOR
SyIyester's reinforcements VIII guard every
wagon road leading inward and that each
wagner will be obliged to give satislac-
tory account of each passenger
The '.turnp!ker' foater from the west
may find 1t safe to stroll into town along
me shallow waters of the Potomac from
Cumberland. Nd. This tip Is only for the
use of the weak-hearted The drill from
Cumberland Is not to be thought of in con-
nection with the husky young hoater bub-
willing over with prunes
The force from the great south should
drop off at Alexandria, place just across
the Potomac from the capital and not es-
pecially leary. Long bridge Is near at
hand. IL spans the river and connects with
Washington but the distance should under
no circumstances be encompassed by drill
ing.
stationed along and al either end of the
structure while "a large number of police.
men will be within trumpet call 1t Will
be wise 10 jump an electric trolley at Alex
andria and thus make the entry into Wash
ingtun with caution and dignity.
Conduct Prescribed for the City.
Once inside the city the visitor without
luggage must be guided mainly by the size
of his roll and his own special brand oil
nerve To be absolutely broke IS to be
while not exactly in danger at least in a
rather unpleasant state. In the first pre-
mise he should be certain as 10 MS COM
panlon's or companions standing in the
eyes Of the cleaners for the law. III not
certain on this point il will be wise 10 lose
them To appreciate the wisdom of this II
must be understood that fly men or de-
tectives from York, Philly, Beantown. Pitt
sy Bufy, Chi. St. Luce, Cleve, Cincy and
other big burgs will be in town and pa
trolling the main stems, such as Pennsyl-
vania avenue, and also about the depots.
On such an occasion the outside fly man
deems it his duty. aye. feels behooved. to
plug his own game n little by recognizing In
some heart-worn, weary young fioater the
likeness of "well-knoWn crook who will
prove valuable catch. II is true that
such an arrest will almost necessitate the
recording OF the act in the local newspapers
and. perchance. If there be sufficient yelp
made. strong enough to be wired to the
home cities. All of which notorlety Is
naturally disgusting TO the modest Nidocq.
Danger in Lingering.
So do not linger about the depots, you
from Denver or New Orleans. And under
no circumstan allow yourself to become
q common street panhandler All reports
go to show such a profession to be hor-
ribly dangerous these days in Washing on