Pueblo chieftain., 1921-05-05
By Frederic j. Haskin.


Washington. d. c.. May AFTER
disappearing almost completely for
several years. the hobo is back again.
Reports from all over the country
show that the army of men which
moves across the country as the un-
invited guests of the railroads and the
public is once more mobilizing. Again
Is heard the request at the back door
for hand-out. Tho water tank has
again become the waiting room for
these non-paying passengers, and its
strange collection of cabalistic writ
inRs, which are of SO much value to
the wandering fraternity, is being re-
mounting to an enormous figure. jails
and warehouses; are filling up, petty
offcnses are on the increase.
Popular opinion in this country has
always held the tramp to be a man
who would not work under any cir
cumstances This theory was dealt a
blow by tho fact that during the war
the army and industry seems to have
absorbed nearly all of the tramps, and
that they have reappeared only with
the return of hard times. The tramp
then, must be man who will and
can work II the inducements are
strong enough. but who prefers a
wandering life when employment is
hard to get or unremunerative.
The tramp is large and significant
problem which has had very little
study. The s.zo of 1t you can realize
when you are told that several diff
ferent estimates made by officials OF
railways placed the number of tramps
in this country before the war at half
a million. This estimate is based on
the number of vagrants who arc killed
every year stealing rides on the rail-
roads. More vagrants are killed THIS
way in a normal year than trainmen
Nd toe In
lyear 1t was estimated that these vag-
rants cost the railroads $ls.50o. 900. This
included what was paid for protection
from them, and the thefts of freight
which were attributed to them. For
tramps often get food as we'll as
transportation from the railroads.
They break into shipments OF food
stuffs and take what they can cat or
carry away. often making it impos-
sible for the railroads to deliver a case
of canned goods, for instance, although
perhaps only few cans have been
stolen.
Varieties of Migrants
The estimate of half million which
the railroads place upon the normal
tramp army of America does not of
course include only tramps properly
called. 1t includes all those who
steal rides on the railroads. Among
these is a small number of men who
are ordinarily steady workers, but are
temporarily out of funds and ride the
brake beams or blind baggage to get
to some new job. One young man, for
example. who was native of FAR
western state and worked his way
thru college. employed this method or
crossing the continent four times a
year.
Such cases are few. Besides the true
tramps, the greater number OF these
vaGrants belong to the classes OF sea-
xonal workers. The tramps and the
seasonal workers are of close Kin.
Many man drifts into tramping ny
way of seasonal work, and the tramp
may occasionally become n seasonal
worker.
The seasonal workers are large
and well defined class. They mako
their livinss at such work as cutting
ice and Telling timber in the winter and
working on lake boats and in tho har-
vest fields in the summer. When not
employed these men conEregatc IN
large cities, such as Chicago. where
there arc great numbers OF cheap
lodging houses that cater TO them.
They soon learn to live for a year on
tho earnings of "A few months, and VIII
not take alI-timc employment II they
can get IL unless actually starving,
A man who is used to making nv
ling out of tho harvest fields in the
summer has been known to refuse
work at icc-cu,tinS in tho winter on
the ground that he did not need the
money and would be merely taking
bread out OF the mouth OF some habit
| ual worker.
The lives of these men lack all COM
fort and stability, but they have
change. adventure and leisure. Hence