Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-08-20
MEN ARE LIVING
ON so CENTSADAY
EX-HOBO WRITES
University Student Rescued
by Kind Family Has
Novel Thesis.

Chicago. correspondence or Inc AS
| sociated Presses. Men are living on
West Madison street on 40 and 80
cents a day. according to Nels Ander-
son. who is making a study Of home
less and migratory men under the di-
| %rection of Prof. Ernest w. Burgess
of the University of Chicago for the
| United Charities and the Juvenile Pro-
t~ective Society.
Writes Thesis on Hobo
Mr.. Anderson became n wanderer
himself as a boy. be says. but hap
pened to find work on d ranch where
the family took an interest in him. At
the age of 81 he entered high school.
Eventually he was confronted by the
problem of selecting a topic for his
Doctors thesis, and finding, according
TO his statement, that no study had
been made previously of the hobo, he
began to write on that subject on the
basis of his early experience. After
he had written go pages he felt a de-
sire to strengthen his preparation for
the task by renewed Investigations.
Accordingly he has been mingling with
tramps as one of them at their jun
gles' at summer camps, on the road,
in the city streets. and in jail.
"The average student who hasn't
been on the road himself" said Mr..
Anderson, lis apt to find himself IN
able to approach a tramp and get a
true story. Not only are tramps
chuck full of suspicious and prejudlces.
and likely TO either ~exaggerate or to
keep still if they suspect their ques-
toner, but they have a slang of their
own
For example. a man who works
with a shovel is known in the frater-
nifty of working stiffs' as a 'mucker,;
the man who drives a team is a skin
ner'; one who lamps ties on the rail-
road is a "gandy-dancer.'
Seek Cities In Winter.
"In the winter the tramps flock to
the big cities. They manage in some
cases to make $50 last a long while,
for they know where they can get three
doughnuts and a cup of coffee for
five cents and lodging for 10 cents.
if in the morning they will sweep off
the floor they slept on. You will find
300 men on the floor of one of the
popular Chicago ~flop-houses in the
winter, though in the summer the same
place will be nearly empty.
Where are the men in the summer?
Many, of course, are engaged in sea-
sonal occupations. The die ones are
often gathered at the 'jungles.' which
is an institution in Hobohemia like the
fashionable club in another stratum of
society. The men select for their
camps a shady place near enough to
town for an occasional handout and far
enough from town to seem secure from
the bulls or constables. They build
shacks of wood or roofing-tin or what
ever material they find handy: ] nave
seen very good shacks built of ripped
up oil cans.
Talked With 1000 Hoboes
"Last summer | tramped through
Idaho. Nevada. Utah and Wyoming.
covering 300 miles. / talked to some
1000 wanderers. and tabulated 4O2
cases. | had slashed my vest to carry
index cards; only one man noticed
the slashes and the slight bulges; he
asked me if l was an organizer of the
] said no and that was all"
No man ever sinks too low Ito re-
tain some spark of self-respect.' ac-
to Mr.. Anderson. II knew an
blanket stiff of the prospector
type who refused to go to an i%nstitu-
ton for treatment though he was a vic
tim Of miners consumption. He gave
two characteristic reasons. First, he
didn't want his relatives to find out
about him. Second, he felt that to go
to an institution would be equivalent
to a surrender, and it would only be q
question of time before he would give
the ghost. He declared veheme emily
he could never think Of going
home, for he had failed to communi-
with his family when he was well
and had money, and he would not com-
municate with them after he had be-
i'll and ledigent.
Many take t. the road or the city
because they are physically in
and therefore dependent,
and they feel that they are unwelcome
upon their families. |
Many Ways to Get Money
MANY are the lodges employed to
get means for subsistence. One man
addresses a street corner crowd thus, |
i am different from the rest of youse
stiffs. / want to get enough for a flop
tonight; | want to eat today, tomor-
row, and the day after. I'll talk to |
you on any subject you choose. Then
be makes his speech and hands round |
the hat. Anybody can get up a crowd
on West Madison street, for there are
always idle men who are glad to
The Kansas court Of industrial rela-
lions finds that at least two pairs of
high shoes and two pairs of oxfords q