New-York tribune., 1908-10-18
RUNAWAY TRIP
TO HOP FIELDS
NEW FORK BOY IN CHERRf
VALLET.
After Being Beaten and Robbed 6y
Yeggmen He Vas Glad to
Get Home.

CHERRY Valley is white with the harvest" said
q Young business man last month through tie
length and breadth of Il the feathery pale green
masses stand in forests fifteen twenty feet high
Fer two weeks the clans have been gathering
IN Cherry Valley, and very soon theyH oegll
10 pick the hops. rs a pleasant JOB al DAY III
the oTen air n the bright fall weather Ihey siis
all day in ;he hop fields; QuaTtets. duets chorus'
fields where a thousand pickers are stripping lhe
vines I kind of wish I was there"
what do you know about hops" asked his
listener
The other laughed
You didn't know me before became the slave
=, Ns-,,rnon and Office hours" said he. Just few
,,ears aro was 2 very Wild kid 1 had differ
ence OF opinion with my fathel, and ran away from
hc-ne More boys do that every year than you
would imagine Ny father had promised me hex
ing IL did a certain thing again did the thing
but decided I was big TO be licked any more
SO Just didn't go home. fell in with jimmy
one OF the bad companions who had caused 'le
dinerence OF opinion between my father ana me
Jimmy was running away from home. too, put IL
wasn't his father he afraid Of; 1t was his VIE
Rs was married although he was only three ar
four years older than I Ee had just come Oh
sst which had kept him away from home Tor
several Gays and he was afraid TO 90 becA-
.Jsuouay$ suggested the hop fields I had never
heard os them before. but was willing to 60
and VIC pulled out Of the Harlem yards one Ozark
night on the top of freight train had a htlIe
money but Il was not enough to take US 10 onr
dSstustion and Jimmy said il was fooIshness 10
spend 81 for travelling expenses. anyway
we landed tn the hop country about the middle
Of August On the way picked up q companion
about ,hirty-fve years old Cherry Valley Is sim
rly q local for eight or ten miles OF farming
country round about CooDeTstown and MlI1oro-
All the farmers raise hops Some only neIo OF
two; some give up their whole place 10 +I mem.
There are only few places IN the United STATES
,.,,ere hons VIII grow the hop vine being a very
csnicky vegetable Cherry Valley is one OF thenn.
ITS e lovely country Of lake, river ana Vooueu
hills but pe found II very inhospitable- we were
TWO weeks too early for the hops and the FARMERS
stood out at their gates with pitchforks and dogs
so tcesp us of. Two weeks later they'd al wei
,o,,a rs and ten how they couldn't farm because
fhev couldn't get anybody TO do their work. Inc
cu,utrv was ful Of hobOeS, ready for the picking
and al were so efretd Of getting robbed or mur-
oered In their beds that We couldn't get chance
TO ask for work We starved for three days
. sO,nA day while we were hunting blackberries we
sound a Deep shady gully, where the big bushes
were loaded down with berries as long ana as
TAT as nv thumb. Boston-we called the oloese
yoe-nter Of cur trio Boston because he was always
mentioning that place-told me 10 go 10 the motel
;. ,ru@o-y5 md see II I could sell some berries.
60 7 filled q big tomato can and went 10 the hotel
made e good contract on our side We were 20
furnish twenty quarts of berries every morning
The hotel was 10 lend pals. take twenty quarts
of berries and pay Us dollar every morning J" {
filed that contract for ten days.
we would spend dollar for grub and make
for TIE rraraps' camp under q bridge across the
sSusoueharlra There was 9 good fireplace there OF
stones built Up that kettle and coffee pot w"Id
eft nicely On TOD. There was a frying pan there
, bottle coffee pot tin pail and several tin
cans They were hung nails driven into the
cement of the foundation and we never found
then. dirty. We always washed them ourselves,
and others who used them through the day washed
them too That IS the rule in tramps' camp
The violent antpathy OF the tramp for water is
an invention Of the funny OF all the crowd
I met that summer I never saw one that didn't
have q piece Of soap II his pocket and they used
81 both themselves and on their clothes. They
went IN swimming frequently and each washed his
orCa a zr.ek