Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-09-17
People Of the Road.
BY Frederic J. HaskIn

past few years. the most astonishing
phenomenon OF the West is the grow
ing procession Of motor cars equipped
for long journeys that follows them,
No one seems 70 have gathered any
figures on the number OF persons in
this country who take 70 the Gypsy
life every summer, but the number
must be enormous and IL In certainly
growing. A few years ago the autofno-
bile laden with camp equipment was
q novelty. Now the coast to- coast
highways are an almost unbrOken
string OF them. Every little town along
these routes has free camping
ground which Is nearly always crowd
ed. In the less settled portions Of the
West every good spring beside the
road has become a caravanserai. There
are sections where you can see more
people living in tents than In houses.
The growth OF this jitney
may be gauged. too, from the develop
ment which equipment for such a life
has undergone. You can buy complete
living furniture for your car almost
as easily as you can buy it for your
Hat. and the degree Of comfort which
you can achieve is limited only by
your means.
This return 10 the camp life has
been noted painfully by innkeepers
along the road. They have for some
time been used to the spectacle OF the
middle western farmer who has sold
out and is going farther west in his
jitney, looking for new location. He
has always camped beside his jitney
Just as his father camped beside a
prairie schooner. But OF late years
even the wealthy have taken 70 camp
ing. The ingenuity and amount Of tho
equipment which they produce al
night is astonishing. Many OF them
have trailers which are complete
sleeping compartments. as comfort
able as those in Pullman cars. and
others have contrivances that rnys-
! teriously unfurl from the side OF the
car evolving into nice beds with roofs
over them. Cooking equipment Ia
equally complete. A third type is the
car which has a house built on the
|; chassis. one man had such a house
which ne had built himself, that con-
Z tained two hunks and a table and
chair, and was OF such light and
strong material that fivver had sue.
/ cessfully carried II over the transcon.
. tinental divide.
+ An American Tendency.
It is doubtful il any other countr,
: In the world could match this arm,
OF auto campers. For this country wa,
, peopled by nomads. Scientists tell u,
s that the nomadic impulse runs in fam.
! lies. It was the nomadic impuIs,
which carried most Of our ancestor,
e TO this shore, and which sent lstei
r generations TO the conquest Of IN.
{ West. The same hankering to wande
: is In most Of US, and in the last Few
:. years 1t has found an allurlng express
e sion in this cross country wandering
S People who never camped before Ii
= their lives have suddenly found ina
1t IS possible to be comfortable in ,
Q tent, and nave felt the ancient charm
!? Of a rowing life.
The transcontinental roads have 4,
o fact become, for the warm months A
h least, sort OF complete wanderin.
d community, with all the classes rep
e resented. The roads have their idl
n rich, their middle class, their yoeman
e ry, their vagrants and their criminals
: Here is high-powered car with
e trailer containing every carnp com
l. Fort. In II a rich man and his wife ar
IL touring the West assisted by a chauf
"a feur and a cook who occupy the from
:, seat. 1t is their boast that they hav
never stopped at a hotel. Perhaps IN
next car to pass-and II viii be but
little way behind-is that Of a bushes
man and his family. They live In s
y Louis, and after many family confer
ences have decided 10 90 to CaIiforni
Id IN the old family bus or bust. Every
Is body is burned quite red and bavin
rs beautiful time. Mother Is Iearpin
e. to make biscuits in a dutch oven. IN
e children want to keep doing this th
rest Of their lives, and father has a,
m READY sampled 10 different golf course
ne and ~ local varieties OF hOoch.
erl one jump behind this family part
m IS a hivver laboring under a heav
load. 1t contains a man from Missou
he who has sold his farm at high fgul
Id and is going West with his famil
an where he can buy three times as muc
en- land for the same money. In dt
es. course he viii sell out and move. agai
lis His father moved from Massachuset
ry, 70 Missouri in a wagon. and h
ch grandfather came from Ireland In
NJ. sailing vessel. He is but carrying Z
to the family tradition.
Jitney Hob0es and Pirates.
-, Next comes a very rusty and a
~. crepit looking machine with a coup
iea Of overalled men in It. These may b
long to any one of several class,
There are large numbers OF fioatii
laborers now who go from place
place along the main roads lookil
for work. News Of lucrative work
49, harvest field or lumber camp m.
~, send them a thousand miles in a Z,
-, -. days. They always camp, pay no rel
- and their food costs them little. Tn
=. enjoy a free and interesting life a.
work not more than half the tin
,n Many Of them are good fellows. rea
= to help you if you are stuck In a mu
- hole. Others are thieves, always rea
10 steal tires or any other equipme
that may be lying around loose. The
Is well-recognized class OF these 3
ney pirates. You hear tales OF tn,
de2redations all along the road. The
are some armed highwaymen, too. T
favorite ruse of these is worked aga
and again. The robber hides his ov
car and tramps along the road. feig
ing the part Of footsore wayfarer. 7
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