The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-09-21
"A. NO. |" is DEAD
King of Tramps Falls Under
Wheels of Coach.
Pal and Priest Gather Bones
and Pieces of Flesh.
LEFT TRAIL FOR FRIEND
But "Frenchy" Never Caught
Up With Him.
Never Told His True Name or
Heard From Town.

Houston, Tex, Sept IA No. II
king of the hoboes, is dead. Slipping
from the rods of a passenger train
on the Louisville & Nashville railroad,
the man who boosted that he had trav-
eled more miles and paid less fares
than any traveller of his generation,
was caught by the trucks of the heavy
coach and lierally ground to death.
coach and literally ground to death.
the last year, brought the news to
Houston Chicago" and an old priest
uncovered by the shallow grave that
held the fragments of flesh and bone
that could be found.
"A No. T. was enigma, even to
the men with whom he had roamed to
all parts of the world He told no
family. He was merely "A No. l., the
king of the tramps. From Maine to
California his name is engraved on
water tanks, boxcars, steps, in fact
everywhere "A No. l. could find an
empty space, down went his cabalistic
signature.
Intended to Quit and Settle Down.
He was known to every railroad man
in the country. II believe 1 will quit
this and settle down. he had told
Chicago White" a day or SO before
the accident. Il have seen every part
OF the WOTlU DIT no EXPENSE. L lldNC
plenty of money and am getwting old
This will be my last year On the
road 5"
mo. l. was tramp by nature and
king of all wanderers by virtue of
determination, reached early in his ca
reer, to travel 100000 miles without
paying toll to any railroad. His great
est cross was the memory that in an
unguarded moment he once gave up $3.50
to pay for a journey-an offense which
he never repeated.
Like many another tramp, his de-
cision to adopt a life of vagrancy came
from what he regarded as an unde-
served punishment in school and once
Injured to the hardships of a wander
er'S existence, he found his greatest
joy in riding the rods and beating the
blind baggage, with occasional rests
in some hobo's resort until the end
which he had predicted for himself,
came to him in Texas.
Began to Tramp When II Years Old.
San Francisco was the birthplace OF
this unique traveller, where his parents
were persons of moderate means and
some culture. He was born forty-one
years ago. and when 1 years old the
incident that changed him from 4
mischievous school boy into the nomad
de luxe of all trampdom- occurred.
Rather than submit to an unmerited
penalty for some violation of the rules
of the school, he ram away to Ne"
Orleans, ConITaI
were the next countries the lad visited
and then, with a yearning for homo
and a willingness to take the promised
thrashing, he began to retrace ms
steps.
ing northward with that of grown
up tramp, known to the hobo world
as "Frenchy," who adopted the poy
and taught MIN the rudiments o.
scientific living without toll and of
travel without a ticket. "Frenchy''
fell into the hands of the law eventual
Iy, and as he was being led to prison
he called to his young companion,
you'll be a tramp all your life and L
want Won to be A-No 1. Just put that
mark wherever you go and when get
out of jail I'll catch up with you
somewhere" That was the last the
how ever saw of his friend, though he
a1wavs cherished the hope that some
dav Frenchy would find. the mont
kerr or signal which he faithfully let'
at every stopping place for 80 years.
In ali these years he never disclosed
his true name to any person nor ulo
he ever hear from his parents and the
title conferred upon him by his tutor
in trampcraft became the only desig-
nation which differentiated him from
the rest of the army of hoboes OF
which he was a shining member.
every part of the country has been
visited by A-No. 1. and thousands OF
water tanks in mountains and on des-
erts. barns in cities and hamlets are
decorated. with the cabalistic sign that
he had been there with mark show
ing whittier his steps would next be
turned.
Writes History of His Travels.
For a brief time A-No 1 was cap
italist in a small way, and that was
years ago when he won a tramp's race
acros the continent, the prize being
geld medal and a tidy sum of money.
The experience led him to write and
publish book about himself and his
travels and from the proceeds of this
venture he endowed small fund to be
given to orphans at his death, and
bought a tombstone which is set up IN
a weirdly beautiful spot near Cam
bridge Springs, Pa, where he hoped to
be inferred. On this tombstone is
carved this epitaph:
A No. 1.
The Rambler.
AT Rest at Last