Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-04-09
Bon
Ami
Cleans windows and mirrors
without muss, dust or Stops.
The Elimination of the Hobo.

pi oDlcilS tLdI ooSiCly WILL always
have to deal with. Industrial condi-
tions do not affect him. for he was
born tired, and the word work" is not
to be found in his dictionary. Care
must always be taken not to confound
the man temporarily out of employ
mcnt and down in his luck" with the
hobo The difference between them is
almost infinite-and although the hobo
likes to pose as a searcher for work, he
is always careful not to find it. Some
hoboes spend the winter in the South;
but most Of them prefer to hibernate in
the warm shelter of some Northern
Jail, where they swap "reminiscences of
the road, and fatten at the expense of
the taxpayers. How to get rid of them
is burning question that has long
vexed the authorities in many thrifty
community. A stone yard, where the
weary hobo can pound out material
for the county roads has been tried in
some places with a fair measure of
success. Delaware has apparently
solved the problem, by judicious ap-
plication of the whipping-post and cat
o-nine-t tails. 1t is said that the aver
age hobo will cheerfully travel many
weary miles rather than get any of the
soil of that state on the taps of his
brogans. The remedy is drastic one,
however, and not liable to come into
very general use in states whose people
live wholly in the atmosphere Of the
Goth century. Just now considerable
tina. has just been sent out by the
town authorities of Rockville, Conn.
At last, it would seem, serum has
been discovered that works a radical
cure in cases of hoboism.
When the coal famine struck Rock
vile last winter, it was about time for
| the winter gathering of tramps at the
Jail in that place. In years gone by it
| had been a hobo paradise. They came
tied down in the old familiar cells with
signs of satisfaction. But alas, for
their confiding innocence! Little did
they dream what cold and cruel fate
had in store for them. Each day
the marble hearted jailor took them
forth, and introduced them to a man.
| Ill 90 WI
of move or freeZe-to say nothing of
dietary considerations-and the strid-
ent notes of their bucksaws, minglng
with the shrill blasts of the wild north
winds-made their particular section of
the town vocal with the merry hum of
| industry. They supplied the town with
| fuel--and when the spring Zephyrs
| finally put in an appearance they were
ahead of the demand by fully hun
bred cords. The experiment had been
a success; but, ah, the humiliation of
it all! Proud knights of the road who
had even refused pie rather than earn
any part of it in the sweat of their
dust grimmed faces, actually forced to
saw wood! What was the task of
Sisyphus compared with labor like
this? Reason might well have tottered.
from it's throne, under such stress of
Circumstances-but, strange to say, it
didn't. The hobo brigade came
through the winter in exceptional
form. They would have made a fine
group picture for spring sarsaparilla
or nerve tonic. They entered the Rock
| vile Jail when the last lingering leaves
of autumn We're yielding to the forces
of gravitation, soft, languid and suffer-
| tired feeling" and We're weary of a
vain world. Spring found them a band
of 1.-THE and hardy athletes-with ex-
banded chests, knotty biceps, and
weather beaten faces that would have
done credit to the crew of a whaler.
The kind-hearted Rockville authori-
ties turned them lose the other day.
All previous records We're broken, as
they sprinted down the turnpike, and
vanished from sight in a cloud of dust.
1t is safe to say that the genial jailer
of that>quiet and peaceful village will
never again, in this life, be permitted
to gaze upon their familiar faces.
THE place that once knew them
VIII know them no more"
Is there not a practical lesson for
other communities in this experience
of Rockville? If so why may not the
patient taxpayers, with all propriety,
say to those in authority,
GO thou and do likewise
ssT,xyo bilJiopc 0f undigeStih1e Securi-