The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1911-07-07
'ssAaY Old place, IhonS ny het.
e Le TQNe, Sweet .E{orNe to ne.

sofa. of perilous drives to the lakes. of
fist-to-f1st battles between champions
among the SHOWS. Another, in his
minds eye, beheld the sunny orchards
of California; another imagined him
self helping build steel bridges in
Mexico. The sap of spring was rising
in their veins. and, like birds of pas
sage, they were impatient to be off A
few more weeks would see them scat
tered to the points of the compass.
ensconced in box cars and on blind
baggages, but all bent on the quest
of their golden f1eece"-the perfect
job.
Some would fall by the wayside-
mangled or slain beneath the wheels
of trains, and would be buried in the
pauper graveyards maintained by the
railroads for their vagabond victims,
The gay cat" believes that his con-
stitutional right to the pursuit of hap
piness includes the privilege Of rid
ing on trains without paying fare.
The most he will do is to pay so
cents to a shack" (brakeman) for
permission to ride unmolested over
his division. Frequently a supposed
vagabond crouching painfully in q
brake-beam has 500 in his pockets
and a bank book for several hundred
more But he would have suspicious
of his own sanity should he spend any
of his money for the comforts and re-
spectability of a seat in a railroad
coach
would take no heed. These dreams
also take possession of women. 1t
seems that vagabonds have ranks no
less than the courts of Europe. At the
top in his own estimation, Is the wan.
derer who rejoices in the proud title
of bum" His class are the chosen
people. the Brahmins of vagrancy,
They have no patience with the gay
cat" who has the vice Of wishing to
work. Below the gay cat" whose oc-
equations are versatile and include all
the skilled trades, are the "hoboes, "
who, strictly speaking. are railroad
construction laborers. Lowest of all
come the "scissor-bills," or green
horns, sometimes called apple knock
ers," in opprobrious reference to their
recently abandoned agricultural pur-
suits The different classes, of course,
overlap. A "scissor-bill'' may develop
into "hobo," gay cat" bum"
or even ''yegg."
But the gay cat" is clannish crea-
ture and f1ocks to himself. In the in
tervals between his travels he usually
lives with others of his kind in lodging
houses. If he is prosperous, he takes
a room at 25 cents a night. If he is
financially embarrassed, as he often
is. he rides the broncho" or rides
the camel" In other words, he sleeps
on the top or the bottom shelf of dou-
ble-decker beds at dime a night
"Gay Cats" With Money.
The gay cat" in an emergency. is
not abashed at begging a meal at a
backdoor. But as he has more self
respect, he usually employs greater
art and skill in his "mooching" than
dose a bum" One rowing mechanic
accosted an astonished housewife with
the question::
Madam. have you hatchet?"
What do you want with hatchet?.
she countered, suspiciously.
81 want to KNOCK my teeth out" an
swered he with solemnity.
Lands alive!" almost screamed the
woman. why should you knock your
teeth out?"
whats the use having teeth If you
have nothing to eat?" was the re-
sponse. The gay cat" obtained one
of those rare feasts known in the YER
nacular as sit down"