The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1924-07-15
NEARLY 100000 MEN
INVADE WHEAT FIELDS
,o7D1FRs OF LABOR, MOVING
,cposs NATION, GATHER
ING GOLDEN GRAIN.
FNDIJRE MANY HARDSHIPS
o,.o. Youths, Business Men, Farm
srs' HobOes and Crooks Tackle tn the
psck.Breaking Jobs as Strange Mi
Grafton Begins in West.

PaCk-Break1nS JoOS 90
grafton Begins in West.
KANSAS CITY.-An army OF 2OO,-
NM men and youths hot, tired and
J;-+,, Is moving from the Rio Grande
~ The St. Lawrence. Through the
.h.st fields of the United States, be-
&c IN southwestern Texas and
SnI;rq in Washington, Idaho, Mon
,.n. North Dakota and Minnesota,
s,oro the Canadian border, the army
= ,shorers will move slowly from
S " field to harvest field. Months
rn mass before the migration ends.
This army of 100000 workers is not
.oo large for the task it faces. Kansas
..d oklahoma, with wheat crops IN
aa condition this summer, need al
g. $4,000 men from outside. Other
-.e+e. are in much the same position,
pa;rroad fares have been reduced oO
No. ,~' -an+ for harvesters on their way
to the wheat fields, and good. pay IS
beina offered by the farmers IN need
u Of help. .;o,,o
business men out. for lark, travelling
i.borrrs hoboes, farmers and even
rorfdence men and thieves have pom
Cd The ranks of the harvester army
Thousands more will fall in line as
tbe hinge BODY of men moves north
ward.
In DAYS past the harvesters usually
hoped freight trains or rode bllnd
baogage" to the wheat fields. Some
lew ii them walked But now there
ia new order of things. 1t IS not I'M
rs,s to see a score of motor cars
leading the procession from farm to
farm The better class of laborers own
The automobiles. A few, the hoboes
and crooks walk, but stealing rides
on trains is almost a thing OF the past.
The lie of a harvest hand army is
life OF hardship for most OF its mem
hers. for the college students and bus
mess men. who have surplus money
In their rockets, are in minority
From the time they start Tor the Wheat
fields from places perhaps hundreds
oi miles from their destination, the
aborers run chances Nof lacking food,
cothine and shelter, of being arrest
ed Tor vagrancy in the cities through
(which they must pass and OF falling
yictims to thugs they may meet along
the way.
Once in the wheat growing section
HE men begin months OF drudgery
and toll. From dawn to dark they
work at their back-breaking tasks, the
days following one another III dull
lnonotony. 1t is a life of the strong
est and each year scores OF men and
youths too weak to keep pace with
their companions, are left stranded IN
The path OF the onward marching
army
In the harvest fields the men are
led and paid to the limit. They live
n. barns, or under the open sky. De
pte all this there is little complain
ng,
Reds" Make Much Trouble.
The camps where the men are paid
fnd led best are not always the most
easant however, for the |. w. W..
flows its seeds of dissatisfaction, try
hg to persuade workers to strike Tor
tgher wages. Some communities are
orced to organize against these radi-
PALS, and there have been many
oody clashes. Not infrequently crops
pave been destroyed by fire, and har-
Fest hands have been attacked by
rmed mobs of the reds"
Haste is the watchword in the wheat
parvest fields When the wheat is ripe
must be harvested without delay.
eslde, there are other fields always
waiting the workmen.
The wheat fields of the nation
you'd be lost without this summer
rmy OF wandering laborers. The
meat growers have come to depend
the travelling harvest hands. There
no end OF work for the industrious
nembers OF the travelling army.
There IS darker side to the migra-
on, however. In every band of har-
est hands that has begun its pilgrim
&c there is a disturbing and danger
os element. Their work serves only
cloak for their other activities.
Crooks Infest Camp.
m every camp there are crooks.
oAhQence men swindle the workers
y OF their hard earned wages. Gam
els win the mems money by dis
onest playing. Sneak thieves and
@lults become rich with the booty
NY take from the men, even stoop-
to murder if their efforts are re-
Many OF the workers, as result of
operations OF these crooks, fall in
pitable plight Without money,
lsngerS In strange land, they drift
way from their companions and be-
Sre burdens upon the communities
'V ,Igh which they pass. Not few
uleIh turn to outlawry to make a
nlong the path it trod through the
sVal hIeds of the nation, however,
army has left its monuments of
:'ra! wrecks, men who could not
Ihe game and finish in the lead.
bs, mined granaries also dot the
IA, growing sections, also the CEN
r N west has said goodby to its hobo
lot another year.