Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-10-19

Washington. Oct. 1e.--At this sea
son Of the year that vast footloose
and carefree tribe generally known as
the hobo fraternity starts pouring
into our large cities, with the idea OF
locating comfortable quarters for the
winter. Already tho historic reading
room at New York's Cooper Union Is
crowded with veteran vagabonds,
snoozng over their unread encyclo-
pedlas while the cheap lodging houses
along the Bowery are rapidly filing
up with winter boarders. At the same
time. Boston, Buffalo and Philadelphia
all report q large increase in street
beggars.
BY late November the weather Is
so cid that tramping on a widespread
scale Is out OF the question. even when
aided by frequent rides on freight
trains, so that for at least three months
/ in the year the wanderers wanderlust
must be held in check and he must
/ live the fixed existence Of the ordinary
/ citizen. Some of them manage 70
spend this enforced period Of retire
ment in certain jalls which do not re-
/ quire much work on the part Of the
inmates; others earn regular incomes
! from street or office begging. while
/ still others loaf comfortably on 40 or
so cents q day. saved up from their
summer earnings.
Ioboes who have enjoyed especially
prosperous. summers N the begging
line usually go South IN the winter
Ito rest up" New Orleans, ST. Angus
tine, Jacksonville, Tallahassee and
Atlanta are tho favorite resorts of
these faugued idlers-especIally New
Orleans, where a well trained beggaT
can nearly always earn dollar day
If necessary, and easily discover a
| congenia dive IN which 10 spend Il
This wholesale migration 10 the South
starts about October l and lasts foI
month or more, during which time
the southern railroads are heavily
burdened with free passengers. One
sociologist, who has made q vaiuabl,
study OF tramps by m!ngling among
them and temporarily adopting the.l
habits, says that on one trip which III
made 10 Florida there were over Il
tramps travelling on the same tra!I
with HIM
Except fer the winter months
I
ly free from these nomadic parasites
because It is now good working terri
tory. In other words, the hospitalit,
for which this section OF the countr
IS famous evidently does not eXten
: 10 hoboes. The negroes. who usual
: have full charge OF the southern Ntch
ems, have q shrewd method OF gettin
rid OF unwelcome strangers. Whe
tsuch one applies for a meal at tn
. kitchen door they inform him tina
they are not permitted TO give ava
food without permission from thei
mistress and refer him 10 the fror
. door. But when the tramp applies q
the front door he is invariably infoI
= med that the mistress is not at hom
Big cities, which are the chief main
stay of the vagabond brotherhood, al
; also much farther apart in the Sout
e than they are in the North. while
- greatly adds to the difficulties (
8 tramping.
= A Sterile Field.
For practically the same reason
New England, with the exception
Boston. is carefully Stunned by hC
$ boes during the entire year. The aver
i age southerner has a marked dlstast
g for tramps, but the New England,
Q Is aggreSsively opposed to them. i
8 net only refuses to feed them upo
- his Well scrubbed doorstep. but
seizes the first opportunity to pla'
them in jail where they are provide
k with plenty of hard work. And 1
l. hard work is the last thing that
ie hobo is willing to do, the New EnglaI
IS states are not much bothered wi
peripatetic beggars.
Undoubtedly, the greatest strongho
of the hobo tribe in this country
= New York City. particularly in Wi
v, ter, but TO d large extent througho