Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-11-30

These young men did not have to
travel as hoboes. Many of them had
allowances that would let them travel
all summer first class. But when the
wanderlust once gets in a person il
cannot be satisfied with sleepers and
Pullman diners. These college Weary
Willies are all well known men in
their school. and several have attain
ed fame in the college world. They
represent athletes. literary workers.
linguists and musicians.
Park Powell, q senior and quite
linguist, made the longest trip. He
went to the jamestown exposition with
the state cadets and from there ho-
hoed it to Baltimore. where he ship
ped on a cattle steamer for Liverpool.
A trip takes twelve days. and for the
trip So and board is paid. 1t takes six
teen helpers for 500 cattle. In the hold
of the ship, twelve hours day WITH
ignorant dagOes and Spaniards. this
young man, who speaks French. Span
ish German and reads Greek, Latin,
Anglo-SaXon and SanSkrit, worked.
On the same boat with him were sew
en- other college men. schools from Call
fornia to Johns Hopkins being repre-
scented. The men were nearly starved
and had to use their So bribiGg the
cook to keep from suffering actual
hunger One college man from Michi-
gan had $3.50 on his person. and he
was beating his way. Powell saw Liv-
erpool, London, Dieppe, Paris, New
Brighton beach, Westminster abbey,
Trafalgar square and Eiffel tower. He
came back by cattle steamer. saw Con
ey Island Niagara falls. the lakes
| and came down the rivers to Missouri.
He was gone two and a half months
| Travelled 1l,000 miles and spent $50.
In the fall. when the young men
| gather at the University of Missouri,
their opening greeting to each other is
Hello. Jim, where did you DO to this
summer"
"Oh, | ran down to New Orleans,
Galveston and dropped over TO Frisco"
| They hold in adherence "plusher"
| that is. young man who travels
during the summer on the cushions.
With pipes in their mouths and their
feet on the table in the evenings they
recount their adventures and exchange
| ideas as to the best way to board Il
fast freight or to fight blind with
Il cranky con" BY exchanging ideas
talking over the technique of the pro
! fesh,'' they become quite adept i'll the
great art of hoboing.
And now comes the climax in unique
|
| amateur tramp. At Columbia Il club
was organized few days ago with
the most curious qualifications for
membership of any organization in the
state.
Just at midnight. as the clock was
striking the hour, as it were, nine men
slipped out of various alleywayS ana
stealthily crept up to a box car. With
a finger commanding silence and max
ing 20 more noise than shadows. the
men opened the door and crawled in
side
Two dark lanterns We're set i'll the
middle of the floor, and the figures
gathered around them. Into a common
pile were put the apples. pies. bits of
chicken. corn bread and the odds and
ends the boys had accumulated during
the evening after they had Knocked of
studying ethics. bridge engineering and
invertebrate anatomy. Then along in
the Silly hours of early morning while
the coed people of Columbia We're
peacefully sleeping. the Quo Vadis club
was organized.
The name originated in the fertile
brain of ''Seedy" Sedwick, past mas
ter in the art of hoboing. 1t has n
peculiar Significance. as he explained
1t is the greeting of one brother of
the ties to another as they meet on
the blind" 1t means. as in the days
of yore when spoken by Peter, With
er gOest thOu?'
If the answer is something like
'West on the Baltimore and Ohio ol
East on the Alton" the grip is pass
ed, and they are brothers fraternal il
the Amalgamated Order of College Ho
boeS
The requirements to membership il
: the QUO Vadis club are such as viii
keep the membership reduced. They
are:
| lou luuSi DC IL Stuueul Ut lne Uni
versity of Missouri.
You must have "bummed" 1,O0t
miles
You must use the hobo jargon at al
meetings.
; You must have been broke-deat
broke-some time on your bummin.
! | tour.
: You must be able to "hit'' a bacl
door and get results.
The present members are Harry
Sedwick, Frank j. Jackson, Anderson
Terrill Warren II. Jackson, Park Pow
ell, Tom Powell, William C. Matthew
and Harry Tidd.
Two hoDoes who have graduated ant
left school have been elected to hon
, orary membership-Roy Pearse an,
Homer Croy.
!, The dues are not such as to keeI
out a worthy but poor member Th
word money" never is spoken a
: meetings, and its worth is entirel
passed up. The dues consist in get