Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-10-19

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16.-At this
season of the year that vast foot
loose and carefree tribe g%eneraIy
pouring into u large cities, with
the idea of locating comfortable
quarters for the winter Already
the historic reading room at New
Iork's Cooper Union is crowded
with veteran v~agabonds. snooziug
over their unread encyclopedias
while the cheap lodging houses
along the Bowery are rapidly ILL.,
ing up with winter boarders. At
the same time Boston, Buffalo and
Philadelphia all report a large in
crease in street beggars.
BY late November the weather IS
SO cold that tramping on d wide
spread scale Is out OF the question,
even when aided by frequent rides
or freight trains, so hal for at
least three months in the year the
wanderers wanderlust must be he'd
III check and he must live the liked
existence of the ordinary citizen.
Some of them manage to spend this
enforced period OF retirement in
certain jails which do not require
much work on the part of the IN
mates; others earn regular incomes
from street or office begging, while
still others loaf comfortably on 40
or so cents a day, saved UP from
their summer earnings.
Hoboes who have enjoyed espe-
Cially prosperous summers in the
begging line usually go South in the
winter ito rest up" New Orleai 2,
81. Augustine, jacksonville, Tall@-
hassee and Atlanta are the favorte
resorts of these fatigued idlers-
especially New Orleans, where a
well trained beggar can nearly al
ways earn a dollar a day, if neces-
sary and easily discover a con
genial dive in which to spend it.
This wholesome migration to tie
South starts, about October l and
lasts for a month or more, during
which time the southern railroads
ale heavily burdened with free pas
sengers. One soeiologist. who has
made a valuable study of tramps
by mingling among them and tent
porarily adopting their habits, says
that on one trip which he made to
Florida there were over seventy
tramps TRAVELLING on the same train
with him.
LACtpI lot tiS W1lIST iIlOlllI4E,
however, the South as a whole is
largely free from these nomadic
parasites, because it is now good
working territory" In other words
the hospitality for which this SEC
ton of the country is famous evil
IDENTIFY does not extend to hoboes.
The negroes, who usually have full
charge of the southern kitchen 6,
have a shrewd method of getting
rid of u~nwelcomed strangers.
When such a one applies for a
mea; at the kitchen door they in
form him that they are not perm T.
ted to give away food with perm:s-
sion from their mistr cas- and refer
him to the front door. But whom
tie tramp applies at the front door
he is invariably informed that the
mistress is not at home. Big cities.
which are the chief mainstay of
the ~vagabond brotherhood. are Rl-
So much farther apart in the South
thar they are in the North. which
greatly adds to the difficulties OF
tramping.
A Sterile Field
For practically the same reasons
New England, with the exception OF
Boston, Is carefully summed by no
boes during the entire year. The
average southerner has a marked
d~istaste for tramps, but the NV
Highlander is aggressively oppose
to them. He not only refuses to
feed them upon his well scrubbed
doorstep. but he seizes the first op-
portunity to place them in jail
where they are provided with plenty
of hard work. And as hard work
is the last thing that a hobo IS
willing to do, the New England
states are not much bothered wiki
peripathetic beggars.
Undoubtedly, the greatest strong
hold of the hobo tribe in this coun'
try is New York, particularly IN
winter. but to a large extent
throughout the entire year. Here
the professional vagabond finds sr
abundance of cheap lodgings. rent
ing from Is to 35 cents a night
and here during the winter he may
be practically certain of at leasi
! one meal a day In the free bread
/, lines and soup kitchens, where i
takes an expert eye to distinguish
his species In the groups of norma
working men, only temporarily out
! of Jobs. Here, moreover the careei
OF the beggar offers the most bril-
lliant opportunities.