The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-02-13
TRAMP CHAMPION
aA NO. F SAYS HE IS KING or
 HOBOEs.
An odd Character ia TaiIor Made Clothes is Tourinm The south
 On Hind nammmges.

!
 The one Wanderluster of the twen- tieth century in Alabama Is man or low stature, of prepossessiug appear ance, well-dressed and proclaims him self the champion tramp, who blew into Montgomery yesterday clinging to the rods of an inbound Louisville and Nashville railroad train.
 His name is "A No. l." and his busi- ness is to go, to move. to change posi- tions in space. to always "hike"' alt to satiate a desire to be wonder. when he is here. For this reason he Is at this reading clutching the blind bag gage of an outgoing fast passenger train of the Atlanta and West Point route.
 With "A No. IT. the life of a hobo is a passion. The instinct must be there as, in spite of lack of eduea- tion, he has every indication of be- ing able to make a good living in any given place for any given time. But he gives himself but little time to make a living more than mere eating and sleeping. His railroad fare costs him but little. For instance he has travelled in his career a total distance of 44S.830 miles at an aggregate cost of ss.01. All sthe railroad men know him, or very nearly all of the men on the main lines of America. but he gains no comfort by this acquaintance, forcing himself to ride on the outside of swiftly moving ears rather than tn- side, either on top or on the bottom
 Over the neat and well-creased suit of clothes which "A No. 1T wears when clinging to a car he slips suit of overalls. As he pulls Into another town or city he sheds the oyeralls and again walks up the street to greet his fellow man with a smile and in case he Is hungry without money he may consent to cut potatoes. This ia where "A No. 1" has the advantage of the contemporary hobo who is so familiar a character at the back door of the countryside home. Instead of chop ping wood he consoles himself with the knowledge that in case of Npushency' he can carve potatoes
 The potatoes are Irish and the art of this -tramp-for he pulls down a little money at times writing Of his travels-is to cut potato into fantastic shapes. He ctaa cut a potato SO as to imprint on it neat likeness. This he usually does in the windows Of some store he prosp0es to advertise. He struck Montgomery with a surplus of few cents and was not, therefore, driven to plying his trade In Montgom- cry shop windows. This peripatetic can. however present proof that he has as long as two weeks at a time fol- lowed his trade in Florida in one place. At the close of the fourteenth day, he weakened under the passion to move, notwithstanding he was show ing signs of fattening his purse
 That Is another resistless instinct with "A No. r; he cannot stand to see any unnecessary amount of money pii- ing up his pocket-book. This is dam gerous with him because it runs con trary to his moving proclivities. hav- inr an unfavOrable effect, both moral and physical.
 One of the many sides of this tramp's nature that fixes him in the memories of people in every state is his charity He will help fellow tramp after he has helped himself and sometimes be- fore. He never forgets friend who has done him a good turn in the past. The one thing that keeps him at his trade longer than anything else, that of cutting potatoes, is to repay some fellow. human who once betriended him. He keeps but one ledger and that records what he owes to people who helped him just few days be- fore. His record shows he checks up a good balance on deeds done and deeds of which he is the beneficiary.
 If you should happen to run across this Nomad at some large hotel in city you could not believe he was tramp. He has more of the air and sartorial prineness of broker or banker. If you should have 2 talk with you would be impressed with the swiftness of his speech and thought, his nervousness and his decisiveness To further get an idea of the maN's make up you might be reminded that pos sibIy4 you have rested snugly in Pull man berth when upderneath in overalls there rode "A No. i" with an attire beneath the overalls which would out shine yours in a match display.
 This is one queer hobo. too, that the railroads rather like. At least that seems to be the truth according to testimonials he holds of railroad or- ficials from one end Of the continent to the other. They record an occasion here and an occasion there where the alertness of "A No. l." while flaming the rOadbeds. discovered an impending wreck. He has reported these dan gers in many instances in time to avert a disaster, He has been well re- warded for these acts. Tn these and many other ways. the fellow calculates he does not abuse his conscience by his endless riding of the trains. for ne watches out for their interests as well as the safety of the passengers aboard
 Aside from the deeds of charity in and around Montgomery. one of the marks left by "A No. 1" in these parts to stay for years to come is 9 painted l reproduction of his cognomen In large black letters on the top of the retain ing wall along the Louisville and Nashville railroad tracks just outside tho station shed. An impulse drove him to climb to the top edge of this ! well, tearing finger nails and skinning