The San Francisco call., 1910-07-17

of money, the gate receipts. With one
accord the four men drew revolvers-
The buns left in haste. When they
came into view from where I was that
peg legged negro led all the rest. He
was doing better time than any two
legged man in the bunch.
Everything went In Reno The
crooks reaped a golden harvest. The
police were hopelessly swamped and
made little effort to interfere as long
as there was no violence and crooked
work was not too fragrant.
After the fight there was a deter
mined effort to keep the crooks and
vagrants from coming down into Cali
fornia, but many have got through the
Gordon of border police already, and
before long probably all those who
wish will get by.
Moved largely by pure wanderlust,
set out from New York city, where I
had been employed, at the beginning Of
the migration to follow it's course as a
hobo and see exactly what became Of
1t and how it Jared on the rough places
of the trail.
At a previous time I had lived as a
hobo on the line of the Baltimore and
Ohio railroad and acquired the moniker
(nickname) of Baltimore Slim" My
character was that OF a prize fighter
out of a job. with the inference that I
was a probable yegg. AS I was ia
miliar with the B. and o. route, I re-
solved to go by the northern way.
Leaving New York, I beat my way to
Albany on a Hudson river boat Thence
l rode the Centraps fastest expresses
to Buffalo. From Syracuse to Buffalo /
rode the roof of the twentieth Century
Limited" the fastest train in America
She makes 80 miles an hour at times on
that run. Cinders shot at me as though
some one was shooting blank cartridges
in my face, and when she took up water
from between the rails I was drenched
When she reached Buffalo dropped of
In the yards Never again. I had heard
she was a hard train to ride. She was
From Buffalo resolved to follow the
line OF the New York Central, which
outs across the southern end Of Canada.
At the border was arrested and fined
$3.50 of the S6.40 which was my total
wealth. They say the prayer of the
Canadian magistrate in those parts is,
Give us this day our daily Yankee"
That night I smuggled across the
line and rode an express freight out for
Detroit Half way there, at st. Thomas,
the freight was scheduled to stop for
an hour. / got off and bought some
grub. When / was going back I met a
policeman. He questioned me and dis
covered that was from the states For
an american Dufn TO De arrested there
means the stonepile. was scared stiff.
He began to bully me. saw light.
Putting my thumbs in the armholes of
my vest, I put on defiant air and told
him I would not go with him. He flew
into a passion and thrust his face into
mine, within six inches of my closed
fist. A twist of my wrist drove my fist
against his chin with terrible force.
His eyes rolled up and he crumpled for
ward like a wet dish rag. That is a
trick of old Bob Fitzsimmons. and it's
a peach. The victim never knows what
hit him. got back on my freight. but
I knew that when he recovered he
would wire ahead. I was not out of
danger of tho stonepile yet.
At last found an empty refrigerator
car and crawled into one of the ice
boxes. That was a single ice box. It
was 18 inches square by about i've feet
deep. rode In 1t five hours. and sew
eral Himes heard searching parties
stamp over my head. I can now sym
pathize with the order of monks whose
cells were built on these lines. I could
neither stand erect. sit down with COM