The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1914-07-03
TRAMPs ARE MAKING
MAMkAT0 THE MECCA
From Wednesdays Daily.

ftO" veeHcouoy Datfys
Mankato's tramp problem ha.
reached alarming proportions. Twenty
two Migrants were rounded up in the
jungles along the river bank yester,
day. Never before have the police
made such haul as this. When the
Migrants are brought before the
Judge he has two alternatives, one
being to send them out OF town and
the other to give them free board at
the county jail
This Is a situation with which the
police and the. police court have long
wrestled. Time after time the police
made raids OF the jungles along the
river, where the tramps love to camp.
II is like chasing flies away from a
table loaded with vietuals. They
swarm right back. POI. -a. a. 81 -...
The police have had a way of rush
ing upon the tramps, when the wear
les are cooking their meals at fire
in the woods, and the officers have
always thrown the dinners into the
rivers. The dishes and cooking uten.
sis they have shot TO pieces, The
tramps they have locked up In cells
and then either chased them from
town or brought them before the
court. All this is done to rid the city
OF these undesirable sojourners, but
the relief is OF short duration. ...
No Workhouse In Manksto.
The tramps know that there Is
no workhouse In Mankato, and that
they viii either be driven from the
city or sent TO jail. They do not mind
being sent to Jail, especially, when
the weather is not pleasant. II means
free board and shelter with good
care. ..,..- ..r. --..r .aCI
So there Is really nothing for the
hobo 10 fear who comes to camp in
the Mahkato .Jungles. Here there are
excellent hiding places. Raids are
made Mt times for food. There have
been cases reported lately OF tranps
ransacking refrigerators that have
been left on porches and in unlocked
Kitchen vestibules. That the robber.
les have been committed merely for
the purpose OF getting food is evil
dent from the fact that the dishes
usually are not stolen.
Not long ago a bag OF fruit was
taken through an open window In
the back. part OF a house where a
psrty was being held. The refresh
ments were largely stolen, before the
housevife had a, chance to serve
them TO the guesta Local gardens
have been robbed from time to time.
In many petty ways these tramps
are a nuisance, ana who can ten
that among them there are not some
desperate criminals. - 80. ~ u. 4 d..
Fence on stone Quarry,
The police frequently complain that
Mankato has no workhouse and no
other means Of making the Migrants
labor after they are caught. Chief
Klugherz, Traffic Onicer Waters and
other members Of that department
have long been urging that one OF
the old stone quarries near the
north end Of town be fenced of and
fitted up, to take the place Of a work
house, The idea seems TO meet with
general favor. Yet the city council
does nothing to carry II out. II would
be asy TO imprison the tramps in a
place like this and make them break
stone. There is no limit to the amount
OF broken stone, that could be used
on the highways, and the supply Is
certainly .inexhaustible. .. moo.
We should do as they do in the
twin Cities" remarked one officer
today. When one of those fellows
refuses to work he should be driven
to 1t with the lash. What would the
twin cities do without their work
house? Those fellows do not want
to work, whether times are good or
bad. They want TO loaf and beg and
drink and steals Mankato Is too
good TO them. II they all had to
break stone when they came here
they would soon look on Mankato as
place they had better avoid. They
would mark Mankato with dia.
mond, not with a feather. showing
hardness, not softness." a
Business over the country general
ly Is dull both in the east and In
the west. Factories have been laying
of men. Industry generally is Ian.
guild. All this makes the tramp prob
lem worse, and has much to do with
the large number Of Migrants visiting
Manksto. This situation furnishes
further argument for stone-quarry
workhouse, which could be provided
at very slight expense to the CITY.