The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-01-27
BY GEN. p. d. GLAssFORD.

u
ATLANTA, Ga, Jan. Give
drove on to Atlanta over a highway
which parallels the southern rail-
road. Each passing train bore wit
mess to the number of transients
beating their way. Whether headed
north or south, each carried its
quota.
One can get better idea Of the
volume Of this traffic when the
freight is under way.
Then the unWanted passengers
feel free to expose themselves; no
railroad dick or local bull can
Jerk them from speeding cars.
There they are, crowded at the
door Of the box car sitting tight
ON the floor of the fiat, or a line of
heads bobbing over the side of the
'gondola"
- But let the train begin to slow
down for a stop, and they disappear
as if by magic.
Smelling Petty Graft
= In these southern states the rail-
roads carry the burden of the home
less and destitute transient traffic.
~ Travelling ION the thumb" as the
boys call hitch-hiKing, is difficult.
Motorists hesitate to give c stranger
"a lift over these long stretches of
lonely roads.
A number Of the states have
harsh laws penalizing the road
mixer who thumbs" the passing
.motorist for a hitch
And then there always is the
chance that the local Jail or chain
gang may not be full up, and the
local sheriff or police official not
aVerse to a little profit.
This petty graft, this exploitation
of poor outcaSts, is so evil-smelling
that 1 find it hard to believe. I
have no means of proving it, and
don't know how general the prac-
tice is, but repeatedly I have been
told of it by men on the road. One
intelligent young machinist gave me
The details Of his experience.
Keeps His Hotel Full
=. He was from Michigan Il with
hold names of those arrested),
where his last job was with the
Ford airplane plant He and all
other single men had been dropped
a year and a half ago. Wandering
IRON one mill town to another in
search Of a job, he was arrested by
"a deputy while passing through a
Town in the West Virginia pan
handle.
The Jail, empty at the time of his
arrest in the early afternoon, by
.nlghtfal was crowded to capacity
with transientS. They got nothing
to eat until morning, when they
were fed coffee and a plare of beans.
Then each one in turn signed some
sort of acceptance of parole, and
got his discharge.
- Day after day, according to nv
informant, this procedure goes on.
sIhe sheriff draws IS cents a day for
each prisoner. Charging off cents
.ol this to his expenses, and giving
his deputy a small cut, he has no
difficulty in keeping his hotel"
prohtably full.
HOpefulness Still Exists
AT one point, where the South
ems right-of-way comes close to
the road, freight train lay on a
Siding.
In the half-light I could see
figures at the door of the nearest
.boX-car. stopped and walked back
toward it.
% AS I approached, a number of its
occupants Scurried off into the
darkness and hid; others, resigned
and indifferent even to a railway
policeman, awaited my approach.
e Shortly, however, satisfied that I
was friendly, those who had run
away returned. There were TWENTY
two men and boys in this one car.
most of them of high school and
college age. One lad who looked
TO be not over IA claimed to be IT.
Through the CRIME that covered
these Migrants, it was an easy mat
ter to recognize intelligence. deter
mlnatlon, reSourcefulneSS and a
cheerful acceptance of their rough
existence.