The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-06-23
HOBOES VOTE DOWN
FREIGHT CAR OFFER


The hohoes 81 the brotherhood
Welfare Association VIII not - 10
Kansas - help harvest the bi, wheat
crop That matter was decided at
their meeting yesterday in the Man
haitian Lyceurn. when a proposition
To shin 800 Of their members AZ I've
stock h. freight from New York 10
Topeka WAS submitted u them They
might be willing 10 make the trip IN
Pullman palace cars. some II them
said. but most II them were more
or less acquainted with the diSCom-
forts OF box Fat accommodations and
preferred the ease of park benches
and idlene~S while IN. weather con
tinued warm
j. f.ads How. the millionaire ho-
DO" who organized the association
was not at the meeting nor was his
lieutenant. Alexander Law. Charles
HirSch. proprietor of the iyceum,
was. though and he was telling the
hoboeS they would have II meet some
whore else next sunday unless they
succeeded meantime in collecting and
paying over to him the sums due for
rent and for the lunches he had been
providing for the members IN meet
ing days. To convince the hobneS that
he meant business he calmly
ed that he would cut out the lunch
part of the usual program right then
and there.
"Whadderwe going 10 do for eats.
them" one Of the members asked
You're going IL do somebody else
or go hungry" said Nh. Hirsch
emphaticaily. ~ he departed.
Joseph Cohen, an /. w. ". man.
presided AT the meeting. AMI the pre-
sence in the hall Of VIII Toe" O'car-
roll and Frank Strawn Hamilton. who
has assumed the leadership left va
cant by the Imprisonment IF Frank
Tannenbaum for ieading an /. ~. w.
mob into Il church. seemed to midi
cate an intention on the part Of the
/. w. W. To capture the organization
This indication was strengthened "A
little later when Cohen said the Wei
fare brotherhood Association would
be r~eorganized and PROBABLY renam-
ed at its next meeting. Then Cohen
preached the subject Of moving ho-
boeS TO Kansas as live freight.
The in hat State need
hands. said Cohen, and they say
; they're willing to pay them well. The
hands are here. but the question mas
been how to get them To Kansas, None
Of you want To pay his own fare.
ppo Few real hoboes care to dC
that. and there wouldn't De any proh'
III the job if you did.
Now, some friends Of ours hav.
a been feeling out the railroads to SCI
what they may be willing 10 do il
the matter. | understand the Fri,
I q q a 4uottd ~ THESE ITlt1U.
: A fat rate of $50 "A car for TWO sixty
foot freight cars from New York t.
Topeka, each car OF a "a pacity Of 25I
that Is to say. each car 10 be loade'
with $50 men. That's about the lv
stock rate, | guess. and calls for liv
= stock crowding. l should say. Nov
what do you say to this =
O'Carroll. Hamilton. and other
= said with some heat that the proIso
sitiOn did not appeal to them. tina
, they knew there We're plenty Of me
out Of work in Topeka and 9th
Il Kansas cities for aH-rhe vacant jol
y in that State.
&c One of the speakers said the Fri
would ave to send d cook with tn
n cars if he went along. and that. eve
then, he wouldn't go Very far unlee
e he got assurance that he would r.
[. Ceive 20 cents an hour. that he woul
1f nave to work only eight hours a da,
and that the meals would be up I
r standard. He advised the other n
a boeS TO hold out for his terms.
ar I'D go to Jail before I would wor
". for less" said he. and ! don belieI
ID in going as freight. Pullman cars {
i nothing for us"
re Cohen called for A show OF nant
n by those who favored the box-car pr,
n position. None were shown.
1t That settles, | guess. seii he.