Evening star., 1909-06-13
MAKING TRAMPSW0RK
Family of Suburbanites Solve
the Problem.
OWN AN ATTRACTIVE HOME
Wanderers Along the Pike Willing
ly Perform Labor.
NICE ROOM FOR TRANSMITS
Insight Obtained of the Seamy Side
of Life-One Visitor Fine
Musician.

Solving either the servant problem or
the tramp problem has proved too big an
undertaking for the sociologists. In fact
many arm chair professors and practical
| charity workers have spent time on both
4 without much affecting either. Yet mem
bers of family residing on the outskirts
! of Washington have solved both prob
! lens at once. considerably to their salts
faction. Possibly they have taken some
chances doing it. but they have not been
| murdered or robbed yet.
/ The persons in question are located a
little outside of this city on the pike lead
| ing to Baltimore They are quiet and
unassumins people. averse to publicity SO
/ 1t is not necessary to name them or de-
scribe them further than to say they
have one of the prettiest suburban places
along that road, and the most of its at
! tractiveness is due to tramps There are
good many trampS on that road. There
/ is an annual migration of them south,
/ as the winter sets in, and return of the
army in the spring, when they go as far
as New York, get a job, perhaps. and
/ live till cold weather and then drift back
south. Some of them are men temporarily
unemployed. Others are chronically out
of work. Some of them drink a little,
most of them a good deal but they all
want to eat occasionally. and that is
| where the suburbanites referred to get
| their servants.
Exchange Food for Labor.
There used to be a daughter in the
| family, but she married and moved away
| The man and his wife residing on the
4 nike n Pal n
but they nearly always have one 1t
happens this way: They used to be
worried a great deal by tramps appear
ing at the back door for a hand out
| They did not like to refuse a man some
| thing to eat if he was really hungry. and
| they figured that he was hungry if he
was willing to work for a meal. So they
made rule of making him an offer of
| a supper If he would work it out chop
ping wood, pumping water or doing some
odd job around the place. Some of the
tramps wanted to sleep in the barn all
night and work for their breakfast next
morning. They We're accommodated to
that extent, too. but the man and his
wife were afraid they would set fire to
the barn smoking, and finally they de-
cided to fix up a tramps room in the
basement. They put in a cot. a small
/ looking glass, and even razor and
washstand. They had to pick the ap-
plicants they admitted to the transient
ro movernght
But they did not make many mistakes.
and presumably the fame of this road
side rest house spread among the tramp
| fraternity, for they got more and more
applicants for nights lodging. Some
of the tramps wanted to stay and work
several days. In fact. there was one
very good man, who could turn his hand
to almost anything. who stayed for five
months. They paid him a small wage
In addition to his board end lodging, and
iound that he was good cook in ad-
dition to his other accomplishments. The
woman OF the house said she never had
an easier time since she began house
keeping.
All Sorts of Specimens.
There have been all sorts of specimens
among these tramp workmen. Some of
them were contessedly tramps. and said
they only wanted a nights rest and a
meal to help them on the road. Some of
| them said they were out of work. and
many really were. More than one of the
visitors has made return visit. going 20
New York or coming from there. and re-
galed the suburba mites with tales of the
road and experiences of the under side
of life. Several of the workmen, those
who have stayed several DAYS Or longer
have written from points like New Or
leans or Richmond and promised to stop
on their next trip.
One thing that has struck the hosts is
that the majority of the tramps are will
ing to give good return in work for
their meals and lodging and nearly all of
them, contrary to popular conception
were glad of chance al the razor and
washstand and turned out in the morn
ing looking good deal better than when
they stopped at night.
The folks In question have had some
curious experiences with their visitors
one was an Indian. He came, he said.
from California, and much to the sur
prise of the family, proved to be an ex-
pert mechanic in half dozen trades He
was good carpenter, a bricklayer and
steamhtter: knew how to handle leather
and mend harness: could paint and plas-
ter, and. in fact seemed to be able to do
anything asked of him. He stayed sew
eral weeks. and if he saw anything about
the place that he thought needed fixing
he went ahead and fixed it.
Learned Trades in Penitentiary.
Finally he confided to his hosts that he
had gotten in trouble in California and
served long term in the penitentiary
where he had been taught the several
trades. He stayed some time after his
confession, never touched anything that
did not belong to him. did not get drunk
and was apparently about as good citi-
zen as most of his fellows who had never
been in the penitentiary.
Most of the tramps drink-In fact the
majority of them came to be tramps
through liquor Some of them when
they stayed some time at the house and
were paid a little would save up enough
to go to town and get drunk and would
come back. sober up and get another
small stake before starting on the road.
One of them showed a curious flash
of former life in this way. but only one
corner of the curtain was lifted and
his hosts never learned anything more
of him. He was apparently about the
average tramp, if anything, a little more
than the average, when he arrived. He
was sober enough. and shaved and
washed carefully when he appeared the
first morning. He STAYED for several
weeks. worked hard and was perfectly
satisfactory. He was paid a little as
was the custom with workers who stop
ped for a regular job. and one night he
went in town with his accumulated saw
ings and got drunk He was not too
drunk to re urn. and nobody knew he
was sitting out on the back porch till
rather late at night.
Musician of Ability.
The daughter of the family was home
then. and she played little on the
piano. She hammering out some
light music when the tramp stalked into
the room. He was evidently drunk and
morose, but not boisterous.
I'm tired of this ragtime.' he growl-
ed, 'cut 1t out and let's have some real
music