Evening star., 1932-11-06
w YASHINGTON Is one OF the
chief distribution centers for
NN the great army of boy va
grants that Is flooding the
L.

Y HCd1NG1ON y one Ol Ile
chief distribution centers for
NV the great army of boy va
grants that Is flooding the
open roads. freight cars and
railroad yards in increasing numbers, so
as to constitute a social problem the
like Of which has not been known be-
fore.
A minimum Of at least 900 a month
pass through the hands Of various local
relief agencies-chiefly the Travellers
Aid Society and the Salvation Army.
Perhaps half as many again drift
through the city without being detected
This new type of vagrant, all OF which
fall within the 16 to 81 age group, are
described as the dirtiest and most rag
ged wanderers on the road. Compared
with one of them, the average hobo
presents fairly respectable appearance.
Among them are college athletes, mu-
sical prodigies. boys of all degrees OF
education. All have been cast adritt.
They have no objective, the social work
ers who make contacts with them re-
port. They are moving aimlessly In all
directions, unlike the older hooos VINO
now are in the midst of their annual
southwark migration. These boys are
going in the direction Of the first freight
train that comes along, or the flrst
motorist who will give lift. They
don't care whether they end up on the
SUNNY beaches of Florida or the snow
bound forests Of New Brunswick.
Look Down on Hobo"
Yet they constitute the aristocracy
of the road. They associate very little
with the hobo" whom they regard
with contempt as their social inferior.
They hold their heads high. Their lips
are compressed when they are ques-
toned. Often a seeming miracle Is
wrought when one Of the boys Is given
some clean clothes and cnance 70
take a bath. From the rags and CRIME
of the most decrepit of hobos emerges
a pink checked high school boy.
Generally, Salvation Army workers
report. one of these boys will talk about
rather than himself. He VIII
discuss poetry or foot ball-out tne
home background from which ne mas
emerged he regards as his own business.
Often his lips will remain closed LOT
days, until he is sent on to another
city. There is a chasm OF pain Whlcn
he cannot cross between the perlS OF
the present and the first great as
Illusion which resulted in his leaving
arc looking for work and willing TO 90
ANYTHING. but with little expectation OF
finding 1t.
They are at an unfortunate age. Just
at the start of the period when orol-
nerily they would begin TO contribute
to the family, they find themselves IN
creasing burdens Some have literally
been kicked out" by jobless fathers
Others have left voluntarily rather than
take food any longer from the mouths
of Younger brothers and sisters. Many
would normally be the bread-w1nners
of the family and these tell stories
similar to those told by scores OF the
bonus marchers here last Summer
paradoxical but usually found to be true
when checked up. Local charities Will
not give aid to a family which has
a bread winner" 1t is necessary Tor
the husband or for boys over l6 to
take to the road in order for the women
and children to be fed. Widowed or
deserted mothers cannot ask for rellei
so long as there Is IAN able-bodied man
around the house. 1t Is hold-over
of social legislation from days when
there was little excuse for man being
out Of a job.
Don't Know Tricks.
The boys don't know the art OF
vagrancy. They don't associate, II tney
can help it, with older men who might
teach them the tricks OF the road
how to hop freights, how to elude rail-
road detectives, how to bum, now 10
pul. the wool over the eyes OF police
men. As result they are badly CUT
up. Many have been killed. Many have
lost legs and arms. Missing fingers are
frequent. Most Of them are mal-nour-
ished Nobody wants them. For the
most part they are not aggressive or
much given to companionship.
The extreme sensitiveness of the boys,
Salvation Army workers report, makes
them very difficult to handle. 1t prob
ably is responsible for them being on
the road in the first place. Few OF them
are the sort that will go back day after
day to a place where 1t Is plain tnat
they are not welcome, in search OF
lob. They prefer frosty nights under
the stars to ill-natured rebuffs from
prospective employers. They are too
sensitive to discuss personal affairs"
with strangers.
One result is that they do not travel
in bands. The situation Is quite dill
ferent from that of the troops OF wild
boys" that wandered over Russia after
the Revolution, looting fields and farm
houses. At the most three or four Will
be found in freight car together. per.
haps in huddle TO take advantage OF
the heat from each others bodies. But
these three or four will not even know
each others names They are indivi-
duals, not members Of an organiza-
ton. An unusually large number OF
them are recruited from the ranks OF
those individuals who prefer their own
thoughts to the company Of others.
Perhaps the greatest number visit
the Salvation Army here. Each case
has to be handled on its merits. Where
possible they are passed on to the Trav-
elers' Aid Society which has the tre-
mendous job of trying to rehabilitate
them and get them back to their homes,
If possible. The national organization
has undertaken this task after recent
by the Children's Bureau
of the Department of Labor which first
revealed the extent OF the boy vagrant
evil. Actually, local officials Of this
society say, there is no need for q boy
Is and 81 going hungry or beg
ging on the street If he will only come
to them.
Antecedents Searched.
The first endeavor is to find the boys
he has home OF any
kind, if his return will be either well
coined or tolerated, If the home will
furnish a fit environment, If there is
any prospect of the boy remaining there
ence he Is returned. It Is often, the
workers report, a practically hopeless
from the first. The tnves-
legations open up new depths Of human
misery and depraWty-fathers and
mothers whose love for their children
under the stress Of economic pressure,
has turned to hate. Many Of the boys
are orphans In many cases their
nearest living relatives are unable even
to take care of themselves. Where the
home situation appears obviously in
tolerable, an effort is made to rehabili-
tate the boy elsewhere, and usually
something can be done.
Few Of these boys, the Travellers Aid
workers say, are entirely Ieconctled 10