The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1927-08-19
STAHLBERCEP
SANDWICHES
OF HOBOES
By John A. Stahlberg, outlool

This is the time of year =.
there flows into our nortbwesta,To .'a
ricultural communities a more ~ Is
disreputable tide composed Of NY ~
who are Jumped together under u. u.
or two heads and called. usuallv 4
an uncomplimnetary sense. "wobbS.g
and "hobOes." Young ladies becom.
increasingly reluctant to leave A.
lights of home or Main Street .f~
dark, and shudder prettily at the men,
ton of a box car, while their mos
ers speak in Mortified whisper i
eveil eyes peering out of unsbav,
face belonging to, and superimno,si
upon, ragged, dirty, unkempt bofg
Irainmen are civil and mindful 4
their own affairs while on dutv ana
off duty, are inclined to bluster hem.
lcally about what they will do 10 ts
"bums"-at some later date. NgA
watchmen are unusually alert. Farm.
ers hopefully scan forms and faces
In an effort to find specimens which
indicate a willingness to work. Her
and there a generous soul provides
"two bits" 'four bits" "a hand-ou'
Now and then a timid soul is DrOvi6.
ed with bad scare. For a few weeks
this goes on, and then the tide r.
cedes, driven by unemployment and
the wanderlust to newer fields. The
permanent population heaviest a ag
of relief.
They are not pleasant visitors, The
hobOes. Taken by and large, they d
not do so very much to promote The
welfare and the comfort-particulaJ
the comfort-of the places they visit
Some Of them are inclined to be VI
clous; many of them are more thai
inclined to be ignorant; perhaps th
great majority of them may be con-
sidered dronish. But, as the advgr
tiser used to say, there's a reason
Occasionally we find a hobo who i
intelligent, ambitious, and, if given
chance, thoroughly capable. Then, D.
deed, we may be sure that there is
reason-many reasons-for his being
what he is.
My regards to the intelligent hobo
He is man who has seen Life as
lt-Life without a veil-withOut o.
naments and frills-Life nmasEa
and mother-naked; and he knows thai
it is not the thing of joy and unm1a
beauty which SNUG sentimentass
would have him believe it is. He
not necessarily bad-only human. D
not be too sure that he is the scum o.
the earth; do not consign him to per
dltlon too soon. Remember Jack Lon.
don.
What if he is irreverent and pIr
fame? Suspicious and bitter? Sell
wllled and defiant? There is Tss
son. What if he is contaminaiea
There are a thousand reasons.
He has found that the things d
was taught to consider sacred az
merely pretty dreams; Of course 9.
is irreverent. He has learned 'na
other peoples Wanted virtue any
morality are either nonexistent "
tend to- make them up-stage and Og
agreeable; to be sure he is prols.lss
He has discovered that the twenu5a-
century is equally as cruel and nslT.
as just as the Stone Age; naVai41.
ne is both suspicious and bitter Z
sees one stratum of humanity tralrs
ally practicing every kind Of d..
manity upon the stratum beneath y !,
sees every man striving, by n0oA =
by crook, to advance his own nv MI
ests, and the devil taking the liz
most; how should he be anything y
looked on ugly realities and nslaS
them without gloves; certainly A'
contaminated IA
He is constantly in contact ~ K
the dark side of existence. I'm, q
perhaps the most completely 0i EN-
stoned creature in all Creation Nh. =
reviled and kicked about-adml.'@ n
for his own good. He is SHOWN N
worst aspects not only OF M IN I
nature but of all nature. F1na ! \.
and when he makes an effort Y
prove his condition, he is deteL .l.- k
y shouldered back into the gI.''s n.
The very people who should Os =
70 lend him a hand. 4rFb
If he is made of the rigilt ~ 49, ss
will finally win over all OOstacles, IN
Is Jack London did-just as . esr;
Der of others did. If not, the e I'd
ire stacked against him, ara , y mi
continue to play a losing game siss
lie winds up in the potter. Ics;sl
Nv rnnnrdc to him. in eltneI -