The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-01-28
BY GEN. PELHAM D. GLAssFORD

ID L OEN. PELHAM ID. GLASSEORD
ATLANTA, Ga, Jan. 28.-One Of
the youngest of the group to which
1 stood talking by a stalled freight
train bore evidence of a nasty fall.
His clothes were torn, and his
face, beneath the dirt that caked it,
badly lacerated. 1 could see that
1t was painful. but he was trying
to assume a manly Indifference.
"Taint nothing" he said. L got
it hopping-slid down a bank"
He was luckier than thousands
Of others beating their way on
freight trains. The railroad casual
ties among the homeless and des-
tltute wanderers are increasing in
proportion to the traffic.
The reports of few of the larger
roads approach 500 month. Most
of these are caused by jumping on
or off moving trains.
Denied access to a freight in the
yards. the men and boys on the
road line up along the right of way,
and hop the train as it gathers
Roadway. Again, as it slows down
they leap from it to avoid the yard
policemen.
Railroads Are Helpless
Railroad officials realize the
seriousness of this practice in
mounting casualty claims, and, UNI
able to stop it, have become more
lax in their efforts to do so.
w. j. Poole, chief of police for the
Central of Georgia Railway, later
in the day, at Macon, Ga, stated
the railroads case.
1--WE haven't lost any passenger
service, it has just been diverted to
the freights," he said. I'VE counted
eighty-fVe on No. At, going to At
lanta, this morning"
Most of the travellers, in his
opinion, are between II and %
years old. I'VE don't bother them
except in the freight yards" he
continued. I'VE had to put seven
teen off one car in the yard today"
I corralled the youngster with
the SCARED face, to take him along
to Atlanta. The conductor, passing
by, cursed the boys sympathetically
He warned them of what he would
do if they built a fire in the car.
Three Passengers Destitute
Guy and 1 now had three passen-
gers, three native born American.
well-mannered, outstanding youths,
all completely destitute.
The oldest, Stanley Lee, %, from
Cincinnati, was linotype operator,
heading for Miami where he had
heard there might be job.
The second had been in the bond
department of Hartman & Co., in
New York City for four years.
The third and youngest claimed
he was an auto mechanic, but I be-
lieve his experience purely was anna
teur. All three were high school
graduates
In Atlanta, I found a crowd of
hungry migrants gathered around
the City Relief Center where free
food is served twice a day. Soup,
milk, bread and coffee are handed
out-not very filling, but accepted
as a godsend.
Jail Is House of Refuge
Here 1 talked to two boys from
Pennsylvania, who were looking for
a place to sleep They told me they
had tried the Jail, but there were
too many ahead of them.
To verify their statement they
took me to the city hall. The turn
key admitted me behind the bars
and saw the long aisleway between
the cells, less than six feet wide.
where more than thirty, locked in
for the night, lay stretched on the
concrete floor.
1 can understand why Atlanta.
with 10000 families existing on char
ity, lacks the funds to provide more
comfortable shelter for impov-
eriShed non-reSidents.
But it remains a tragic COM
mentary upon our American social
structure that the Jail. where the