The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1938-02-04
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

long Deen JeH OaVlS, KING Ol tiiS
hoboes of America, who now leads
.. his following of
Hoboes Will nearly LOCO, 900 in
Pay Honor to a plan to erect
p~Jeu national memorial
" " AA0" to John Howard
Payne, author of Home, Sweet
Home"
There is perhaps bit of personal
pride involved, as your correspond
ent helped establish the dynasty
That was many years ago, when a
series of hobo stories in the Chicago
Tribune elevated DR.. Ben Reitman
to the kingship. DR.. Reitman, how
ever, was a backslider, turning at
first furtively and then brazenly to
regular work, went into politics in
Chicago and became cautious and
solvent citizen, too fat to ride the
rods.
I saw him last at the house of the
late Jack London, in Sonoma courl-
ty, Calf, and, if remember cor
rectly, Mr.. London reproached him
as one recreant to his ideals and
in danger of succumbing to industry
and ambition. 10
Until few years ago, / used to
get letters from the hoboes of
America. on letter-heads like those
of any national bank, carrying the
names of the "jungle judges"
"shacks" (organizers) and "track
walkers" and supreme knights of
the road"
They had to do with some mis-
understanding in the organization
-. over the lingering
King Jeff Is sovereignty of DR..
Elected TO Reitman, but that
Ill f..F:e. is all cleared up
WV now. Mr.. Davis
rule is undisputed and his name ap-
pears on the letter-head as "Jungle
Judge, King of the Hoboes, elected
for Life"
Mr.. Davis, now fifty-three years
old, has covered his first 100000
miles on the road, and plans to start
his second million on an organic
ing trip in Europe early this year.
His father, James Davis, who died
in Cincinnati a year ago at the age
of ninety, had been vaguely identi-
fed as newspaper man, working
on several Cincinnati newspapers,
but with no news as to what depart
ment.
Young jeff, born in Cincinnati,
started rambling when he was thir-
teen and now fetches up with
round forty years on the road, Bald
and genial, working harder at the
hobo trade than do most men on
their regular jobs, he campaigns for
better migrating and loafing condi-
tons for his subjects.
He wants the railroads to estab-
lish a one-cent-a-mile rate for box
car passengers. He says the plan
has worked fine in France. He
moves about the country, fighting
the bum blockades set up by va
rious states. He denounces the
''fuzzy-tails" in his following
boes who talk a lot but never toss
anything into the jungle stew.
CORRESPONDENTS on the Brit
~ ish-Italian radio war front in
Arabia report a victory in the first
engagement for Abdul Wahab, the
80. desert Rudy VAL
italy WINS lee, grooming for
Radio Duel Italy. The sheiks,
n..... according to news
SIS accounts, tuned
out Britain's broadcast, which in
cluded news of a death sentence
for an Arab found in possession of
arms, and tuned in Italy's cheerful
crooner.
The Italians also were one-up on
the Britons, due to the fact that
the former had supplied many of
the radio sets and taken precau-
tons to rig them against Britain's
thirty-one-meter wavelength. z
Sir John c. w. Reith, grim, pur-
poseful and, incidentally, Scottish,
director general of the British
Broadcasting corporation, led off
for England, paced by Big Ben and
"God Save the King" Abdul coun-
tered with "Just a Little Oasis for
Two" and "Aldebaran and You," in
Arabic. It was no contest after
that, say the news reports.
Sir Johns last appearance was at
Edwards solemn valedictory. The
tall, bald, frosty mogul of British
Broadcasting, lord of the empire air
waves, takes the microphone only
when imperial interests demand it.
Recently he said: ''To set out to
give the public what it wants, as
the saying is, is a dangerous and
fallacious policy"
Those who know him say he will
go on giving the Arabs what he
thinks they ought
Lord OF Ar to want, and prob
Keeps BIC. ably get away
r-.. with it. He has
Out IN Front been lambasted as
a dictator all over the empire, but
has ridden through labor and con-
servative administrations and