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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..49cfa16 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #67300 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67300) diff --git a/old/67300-0.txt b/old/67300-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 559c166..0000000 --- a/old/67300-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,12058 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Hobo, by Nels Anderson - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Hobo - The Sociology of the Homeless Man - -Author: Nels Anderson - -Release Date: February 1, 2022 [eBook #67300] - -Language: English - -Produced by: hekula03, Tim Lindell and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOBO *** - - - - - -=TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE= - - - Footnotes have been placed at the end of their respective chapters. - - - - - THE HOBO - THE SOCIOLOGY OF THE HOMELESS MAN - - - - - THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS - - THE BAKER AND TAYLOR COMPANY, NEW YORK - THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, LONDON - THE MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA, TOKYO - THE MISSION BOOK COMPANY, SHANGHAI - - - - - THE HOBO - - THE SOCIOLOGY OF THE - HOMELESS MAN - - - BY NELS ANDERSON - - - A STUDY PREPARED FOR THE CHICAGO - COUNCIL OF SOCIAL AGENCIES UNDER - THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE - ON HOMELESS MEN - - - [Illustration: (Publisher colophon.)] - - - THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS - CHICAGO · ILLINOIS - - - - - COPYRIGHT 1923 BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - PUBLISHED MAY 1923 - - - COMPOSED AND PRINTED BY - THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS - CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A. - - - - -EDITOR’S PREFACE - - -The present volume is intended to be the first of a series of -studies of the urban community and of city life. The old familiar -problems of our communal and social life--poverty, crime, and -vice--assume new and strange forms under the conditions of -modern urban existence. Inherited custom, tradition, all our -ancient social and political heritages--human nature itself--have -changed and are changing under the influence of the modern urban -environment. - -The man whose restless disposition made him a pioneer on the -frontier tends to become a “homeless man”--a hobo and a vagrant--in -the modern city. From the point of view of their biological -predispositions, the pioneer and the hobo are perhaps the same -temperamental type; from the point of view of their socially -acquired traits, they are something quite different. - -The city, more than any other product of man’s genius and labors, -represents the effort of mankind to remake the world in accordance -with its wishes, but the city, once made, compels man to conform -to the structure and the purposes he himself has imposed upon it. -If it is true that man made the city, it is quite as true that -the city is now making man. That is certainly a part of what we -mean when we speak of the “urban” as contrasted with the “rural” -mind. In any case, it is true that within the circle of these -two tendencies, man’s disposition, on the one hand, to create a -world in which he can live, and, on the other, to adapt himself to -the world which he himself has created, all, or most all of the -problems and the processes are included with which the student of -society is positively concerned. These processes go on, and these -problems arise everywhere that men, coming together in order to -live, find themselves compelled to carry on a common and communal -life. In cities, however, and particularly in great cities, where -social life is more intense than elsewhere, the processes produce -new and strange effects, and the problems are more poignant and -pressing. - -A changing population of from 30,000 to 75,000 homeless men in -Chicago, living together within the area of thirty or forty city -blocks, has created a milieu in which new and unusual personal -types flourish and new and unsuspected problems have arisen. - -If the city were to be identified, as it sometimes has been, -with its mere physical structure, its buildings, streets, -street railways, telephones, and other communal efficiencies; -if the city were, in fact, a mere complex of mechanical and -administrative devices for realizing certain clearly defined -purposes, the problem of the city would be one of engineering -and of administration merely. But this takes no account of human -nature; it takes no account of what we have come to refer to in -industry as the “problem of personnel.” At least it seems to -assume that the individual men and women for whom these organized -agencies--economic, social, and political--exist, and by whom -they are conducted, remain, in all their varied associations -and relations, practically the same. Recent observation, on the -other hand, has led to the conclusion that human nature, as we -ordinarily understand it, while it is based on certain fundamental -but not clearly definable human traits and predispositions, is -very largely a product of the environment, and particularly the -human environment in which the individual happens to find himself. -That means that every community, through the very character of the -environment which it imposes upon the individuals that compose -it, tends to determine the personal traits as it does determine -the language, the vocation, social values, and, eventually, the -personal opinions, of the individuals who compose it. - -It is the purpose of this and the succeeding studies in this series -to describe the changes that are taking place in the life of the -city and its peoples, and to investigate the city’s problems in -the light of these changes, and conditions of life generally of -urban people. For this reason, this study of the “homeless man” has -sought to see him, first of all, in his own habitat; in the social -milieu which he has created for himself within the limits of the -larger community by which he is surrounded, but from which he is, -in large part, an outcast. - -It is interesting to notice that within the area of his own -social environment, the hobo has created, or at least there has -grown up in response to his needs, a distinct and relatively -independent local community, with its own economic, social, and -social-political institutions. - -It is assumed that the study here made of the “Hobohemia” of -Chicago, as well as the studies that are being planned for other -areas and aspects of the city and its life, will at least be -comparable with the natural areas and the problematic aspects of -other American cities. It is, in fact, the purpose of these studies -to emphasize not so much the particular and local as the generic -and universal aspects of the city and its life, and so make these -studies not merely a contribution to our information but to our -permanent scientific knowledge of the city as a communal type. - - ROBERT E. PARK - - - - -COMMITTEE’S PREFACE - - -The Committee on Homeless Men was organized by the Executive -Committee of the Chicago Council of Social Agencies on June 16, -1922, to study the problem of the migratory casual worker. Its -members included men and women in contact with the problem of -homeless men from different points of view. - -Mr. Nels Anderson, a graduate student in sociology in the -University of Chicago, was selected to make the study. Mr. Anderson -was already thoroughly familiar with the life of the migratory -casual worker. He had shared their experiences “on the road” and -at work, and had visited the Hobohemian areas of many of the -large western cities. In the summer of 1921, he made a study of -400 migrants. Early in 1922, through the generous assistance and -encouragement of Dr. William A. Evans, Dr. Ben L. Reitman, and -Joel D. Hunter, he began a study of homeless men in Chicago, in -connection with a field-study course at the University of Chicago. - -The assumption of this study by the Chicago Council of Social -Agencies, in co-operation with the Juvenile Protective Association, -enabled an enlargement of its scope.[1] - -The object of this inquiry, from the standpoint of the Committee, -was to secure those facts which would enable social agencies to -deal intelligently with the problems created by the continuous -ebb and flow, out of and into Chicago, of tens of thousands of -foot-loose and homeless men. Only through an understanding both -of the human nature of the migratory casual worker, and of the -economic and social forces which have shaped his personality, -could there be devised any fundamental program for social agencies -interested in his welfare. - -Earlier studies of the migratory casual workers in the United -States have been limited almost entirely to statistical -investigation. In the present inquiry a more intensive study of -cases was decided upon in preference to an extensive statistical -survey. For the past twelve months Mr. Anderson lived in Hobohemia, -and in a natural and informal way secured upward of sixty -life-histories, and collected, in addition, a mass of documents -and other materials which are listed in Appendix B. Mr. Anderson -has had, in certain parts of the field work, the assistance of C. -W. Allen, L. G. Brown, G. F. Davis, B. W. Bridgman, F. C. Frey, -E. H. Koster, G. S. Sobel, H. D. Wolf, and R. N. Wood, students -in sociology at the University of Chicago, and has utilized -the results of past studies of this subject by students in the -department. - -The Committee on Homeless Men held many meetings which were devoted -to outlining the plan of investigation, to reports upon the -progress of field work, and to the drafting of the findings and -recommendations which appear as Appendix A. - -The Committee and the author are indebted to the social agencies -and to the many persons who co-operated in furnishing data for this -investigation. They desire also to express their appreciation to -Professor Robert E. Park for the inclusion of this volume as the -first of a series of studies on the urban community of which he is -editor, and for his services in the preparation of the manuscript -for publication. - - ERNEST W. BURGESS, _Chairman_ - University of Chicago - - WILFRED S. REYNOLDS, _Secretary_ - Director, Chicago Council of Social Agencies - - BRIGADIER JOHN E. ATKINS - Salvation Army, Workingman’s Palace - - MISS JESSIE BINFORD - Juvenile Protective Association - - MRS. JOSEPH T. BOWEN - Juvenile Protective Association - - FREDERICK S. DEIBLER - Advisory Board, Illinois Free Employment Service - - T. ARNOLD HILL - Chicago Urban League - - JOEL D. HUNTER - United Charities of Chicago - - M. J. KARPF - Jewish Social Service Bureau - - GEORGE B. KILBEY - Chicago Christian Industrial League - - REV. MOSES E. KILEY - Central Charity Bureau - - BRIGADIER DAVID MILLER - Salvation Army - - DR. BEN L. REITMAN - Chicago Department of Health - - WILLOUGHBY G. WALLING - President, Chicago Council of Social Agencies - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] A part of the investigation relating to the effects upon the -boy of association with tramps, especially made for the Juvenile -Protective Association, is not included in this report, but will -appear in an early number of the _Journal of the American Institute -of Criminal Law and Criminology_. - - - - -TABLE OF CONTENTS - - - PART I. HOBOHEMIA, THE HOME OF - THE HOMELESS MAN - - - PAGE - - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xv - - CHAPTER - - I. HOBOHEMIA DEFINED 3 - - II. THE JUNGLES: THE HOMELESS MAN ABROAD 16 - - III. THE LODGING-HOUSE: THE HOMELESS MAN AT HOME 27 - - IV. “GETTING BY” IN HOBOHEMIA 40 - - - PART II. TYPES OF HOBOS - - CHAPTER - - V. WHY DO MEN LEAVE HOME? 61 - - VI. THE HOBO AND THE TRAMP 87 - - VII. THE HOME GUARD AND THE BUM 96 - - VIII. WORK 107 - - - PART III. THE HOBO PROBLEM - - CHAPTER - - IX. HEALTH 125 - - X. SEX LIFE OF THE HOMELESS MAN 137 - - XI. THE HOBO AS A CITIZEN 150 - - - PART IV. HOW THE HOBO MEETS - HIS PROBLEM - - CHAPTER - - XII. PERSONALITIES OF HOBOHEMIA 171 - - XIII. THE INTELLECTUAL LIFE OF THE HOBO 185 - - XIV. HOBO SONGS AND BALLADS 194 - - XV. THE SOAP BOX AND THE OPEN FORUM 215 - - XVI. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL HOBO ORGANIZATION 230 - - XVII. MISSIONS AND WELFARE ORGANIZATIONS 250 - - - APPENDIXES - - A. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 265 - - B. DOCUMENTS AND MATERIALS 281 - - C. BIBLIOGRAPHY 291 - - - INDEX 299 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - FACING - PAGE - - A JUNGLE CAMP 10 - - SUMMER RESORTING BEHIND FIELD MUSEUM, CHICAGO 10 - - A DINING-ROOM ON THE “MAIN STEM” 34 - - EMPLOYMENT BUREAUS 34 - - LEADERS IN THE EDUCATIONAL MOVEMENT 88 - - A POPULAR RESORT IN HOBOHEMIA 88 - - DR. BEN L. REITMAN 172 - - MEMBERS OF THE JEFFERSON PARK INTELLIGENTSIA 186 - - THE HOBO READS PROGRESSIVE LITERATURE 186 - - THE SOAP-BOX ORATOR--THE ECONOMIC ARGUMENT 216 - - AN OUTDOOR MISSION MEETING--THE RELIGIOUS PLEA 216 - - JAMES EADS HOW 236 - - A FREE LUNCH AT A MISSION 258 - - A WINTER’S NIGHT IN A MISSION 258 - - - - - PART I - - HOBOHEMIA, THE HOME OF - THE HOMELESS MAN - - - - -CHAPTER I - -HOBOHEMIA DEFINED - - All that Broadway is to the actors of America, West Madison - is to its habitués--and more. Every institution of the - Rialto is paralleled by one in West Madison. West Madison - Street is the Rialto of the hobo. - - The hobos, themselves, do not think of Madison Street as - the Rialto; they call it “The Main Stem,” a term borrowed - from tramp jargon, and meaning the main street of the - town. “The Main Stem” is a more fitting term, perhaps, - than the Rialto, but still inadequate. West Madison Street - is more than a mere Rialto, more than the principal hobo - thoroughfare of Chicago. It is the Pennsylvania Avenue, - the Wilhelmstrasse of the anarchy of Hobohemia.--From an - unpublished paper on the hobo, by Harry M. Beardsley, of - the _Chicago Daily News_, March 20, 1917. - - -A survey of the lodging-house and hotel population, supplemented by -the census reports of the areas in which they live, indicates that -the number of homeless men in Chicago ranges from 30,000 in good -times to 75,000 in hard times. - -We may say that approximately one-third of these are permanent -residents of the city. The other two-thirds are here today and gone -tomorrow. When work is plentiful they seldom linger in the city -more than a week at a time. In winter when jobs are scarce, and it -takes courage to face the inclement weather, the visits to town -lengthen to three weeks and a month. From 300,000 to 500,000 of -these migratory men pass through the city during the course of a -normal year. - -A still larger number are wanderers who have spent their days and -their strength on the “long, gray road” and have fled to this haven -for succor. They are Chicago’s portion of the down-and-outs. - - An investigation of 1,000 dependent, homeless men made in - Chicago in 1911 indicated that 254, or more than one-fourth - of the 1,000 examined, were either temporarily crippled - or maimed. Some 89 of this 1,000, or 9 per cent, were - manifestly either insane, feeble-minded, or epileptic. This - did not include those large numbers of border-line cases in - which vice or an overwhelming desire to wander had assumed - the character of a mania. - - Homeless men are largely single men. Something like 75 per - cent of the cases examined were single, while only 9 per - cent admitted they were married. - - -“MAIN STEMS” - -Every large city has its district into which these homeless types -gravitate. In the parlance of the “road” such a section is known -as the “stem” or the “main drag.” To the homeless man it is home, -for there, no matter how sorry his lot, he can find those who will -understand. The veteran of the road finds other veterans; the -old man finds the aged; the chronic grouch finds fellowship; the -radical, the optimist, the crook, the inebriate, all find others -here to tune in with them. The wanderer finds friends here or -enemies, but, and that is at once a characteristic and pathetic -feature of Hobohemia, they are friends or enemies only for the day. -They meet and pass on. - -Hobohemia is divided into four parts--west, south, north, and -east--and no part is more than five minutes from the heart of the -Loop. They are all the “stem” as they are also Hobohemia. This -four-part concept, Hobohemia, is Chicago to the down-and-out. - - -THE “SLAVE MARKET” - -To the men of the road, West Madison Street is the “slave market.” -It is the slave market because here most of the employment -agencies are located. Here men in search of work bargain for jobs -in distant places with the “man catchers” from the agencies. Most -of the men on West Madison Street are looking for work. If they -are not seeking work they want jobs, at least; jobs that have long -rides thrown in. Most of the men seen here are young, at any rate -they are men under middle age; restless, seeking, they parade the -streets and scan the signs chalked on the windows or smeared over -colored posters. Eager to “ship” somewhere, they are generally -interested in a job as a means to reach a destination. The result -is that distant jobs are in demand while good, paying, local jobs -usually go begging. - -West Madison, being a port of homeless men, has its own -characteristic institutions and professions. The bootlegger is at -home here; the dope peddler hunts and finds here his victims; here -the professional gambler plies his trade and the “jack roller,” as -he is commonly called, the man who robs his fellows, while they -are drunk or asleep; these and others of their kind find in the -anonymity of this changing population the freedom and security that -only the crowded city offers. - -The street has its share also of peddlers, beggars, cripples, and -old, broken men; men worn out with the adventure and vicissitudes -of life on the road. One of its most striking characteristics is -the almost complete absence of women and children; it is the most -completely womanless and childless of all the city areas. It is -quite definitely a man’s street. - -West Madison Street, near the river, has always been a stronghold -of the casual laborer. At one time it was a rendezvous for the -seamen, but of late these have made South Chicago their haven. -Even before the coming of the factories, before family life had -wholly departed, this was an area of the homeless man. It will -continue to be so, no doubt, until big businesses or a new union -depot crowds the hobo out. Then he will move farther out into -that area of deteriorated property that inevitably grows up just -outside the business center of the city, where property, which -has been abandoned for residences, has not yet been taken over by -businesses, and where land values are high but rents are low. - -Jefferson Park, between Adams and Monroe and west of Throop Street, -is an appanage of the “slave market.” It is the favorite place for -the “bos” to sleep in summer or to enjoy their leisure, relating -their adventures and reading the papers. On the “stem” it is known -as “Bum Park,” and men who visit it daily know no other name -for it. A certain high spot of ground in the park is generally -designated as “Crumb Hill.” It is especially dedicated to “drunks.” -At any rate, the drunk and the drowsy seem inevitably to drift to -this rise of ground. In fact, so many men visit the place that the -grass under the trees seems to be having a fierce struggle to hold -its own. It must be said, however, that the men who go to “Bum -Park” are for the most part sober and well behaved. It is too far -out for the more confirmed Madison Street bums to walk. The town -folks of the neighborhood use the park, to a certain extent, but -the women and children of the neighborhood are usually outnumbered -by the men of the road, who monopolize the benches and crowd the -shady places. - - -HOBOHEMIA’S PLAYGROUND - -The thing that characterizes State Street south of the Loop is the -burlesque show. It is here that the hobo, seeking entertainment, is -cheered and gladdened by the “bathing beauties” and the oriental -dancers. Here, also, he finds improvement at the hands of the lady -barbers, who, it is reported, are using these men as a wedge to -make their way into a profitable profession that up to the present -time has belonged almost wholly to men. - -South State Street differs from West Madison in many particulars. -For one thing there are more women here, and there is nothing -like so complete an absence of family life. The male population, -likewise, is of a totally different complexion. The prevailing -color is an urban pink, rather than the rural grime and bronze -of the man on the road. There are not so many restless, seeking -youngsters. - -Men do not parade the streets in groups of threes and fours with -their coats or bundles under their arms. There are no employment -offices on this street. They are not needed. Nobody wants to go -anywhere. When these men work they are content to take some short -job in the city. Short local jobs are at a premium. Many of these -men have petty jobs about the city where they work a few hours a -day and are able to earn enough to live. In winter many men will be -found in the cheap hotels on South State, Van Buren, or South Clark -streets who have been able to save enough money during the summer -to house themselves during the cold weather. State Street is the -rendezvous of the vagabond who has settled and retired, the “home -guard” as they are rather contemptuously referred to by the tribe -of younger and more adventurous men who still choose to take the -road. - -The white man’s end of the south section of Hobohemia does not -extend south of Twelfth Street. From that point on to about -Thirtieth Street there is an area that has been taken over by the -colored population. Colored people go much farther south, but if -there are any homeless men in the “Black Belt,” they are likely to -be found along State Street, between Twenty-second and Thirtieth. -The Douglas Hotel, in this region, is a colored man’s lodging-house. - -To the south and southwest are the railroad yards. In summer -homeless men find these yards a convenient place to pass the night. -For those who wish to leave the city, they are the more accessible -than the yards on the north and west. The railroad yard is, in most -places, one of the hobo’s favorite holdouts. It is a good place -to loaf. There are coal and wood and often vacant spaces where he -can build fires and cook food or keep warm. This is not so easily -done in Chicago where the tramp’s most deadly enemy, the railroad -police, are numerous and in closer co-operation with the civil -authorities than in most cities. In spite of this, hobos hang about -the yards. - - -“BUGHOUSE SQUARE” - -On the north side of the river, Clark Street below Chicago Avenue -is the “stem.” Here a class of transients have drifted together, -forming a group unlike any in either of the other areas of -Hobohemia. This is the region of the hobo intellectuals. This area -may be described as the rendezvous of the thinker, the dreamer, and -the chronic agitator. Many of its denizens are “home guards.” Few -transients ever turn up here; they do not have time. They alone -come here who have time to think, patience to listen, or courage to -talk. Washington Square is the center of the northern area. To the -“bos” it is “Bughouse Square.” Many people do not know any other -name for it. This area is as near to the so-called Latin Quarter -as the hobo dare come. “Bughouse Square” is, in fact, quite as -much the stronghold of the more or less vagabond poets, artists, -writers, revolutionists, of various types as of the go-abouts. -Among themselves this region is known as the “village.” - -Bohemia and Hobohemia meet at “Bughouse Square.” On Sundays and -holidays, any evening, in fact, when the weather permits, it -will be teeming with life. At such times all the benches will be -occupied. On the grass in the shade of the trees men sit about -in little groups of a dozen or less. The park, except a little -corner to the southeast where the women come to read, or knit, or -gossip, while the children play, is completely in possession of -men. A polyglot population swarms here. Tramps, and hobos--yes, -but they are only scatteringly represented. Pale-faced denizens of -the Russian tearooms, philosophers and enthusiasts from the “Blue -Fish,” brush shoulders with kindred types from the “Dill Pickle,” -the “Green Mask,” the “Gray Cottage.” Free-lance propagandists -who belong to no group and claim no following, non-conformists, -dreamers, fakers, beggars, bootleggers, dope fiends--they are all -here. - -Around the edges of the Square the curbstone orators gather their -audiences. Religion, politics, science, the economic struggle, -these are the principal themes of discussion in this outdoor forum. -Often there are three or four audiences gathered at the same time -in different parts of the park, each carrying on a different -discussion. One may be calling miserable sinners to repent, and the -other denouncing all religion as superstition. Opposing speakers -frequently follow each other, talking to the same audience. In this -aggregation of minds the most striking thing is the variety and -violence of the antipathies. There is, notwithstanding, a generous -tolerance. It is probably a tolerance growing out of the fact, -that, although everyone talks and argues, no one takes the other -seriously. It helps to pass the time and that is why folks come to -“Bughouse Square.” - -To the hobo who thinks, even though he does not think well, the -lower North Side is a great source of comfort. On the North Side -he finds people to whom he can talk and to whom he is willing -to listen. Hobos do not generally go there to listen, however, -but burning with a message of which they are bound to unburden -themselves. They go to speak, perhaps to write. Many of them are -there to get away from the sordidness of life in other areas of -Hobohemia. - - -A “JUNGLE” ON THE LAKE FRONT - -Grant Park, east of Michigan Avenue, is a loafing place for hobos -with time on their hands. They gather here from all parts of -Hobohemia to read the papers, to talk, and to kill time. For men -who have not had a bed it is a good place to sleep when the sun is -kind and the grass is warm. In the long summer evenings Grant -Park is a favorite gathering place for men who like to get together -to tell yarns and to frolic. It is a favorite rendezvous for the -boy tramps. - -[Illustration: A JUNGLE CAMP--THE “BOS” HAVE HID FROM THE CAMERA] - -[Illustration: SUMMER RESORTING BEHIND FIELD MUSEUM, CHICAGO] - -The section of Grant Park facing the lake shore is no less popular. -Along the shore from the Field Museum northward to Randolph Street -the homeless men have access to the lake. They take advantage of -the unimproved condition of the park and make of the place, between -the railroad tracks and the lake, a retreat, a resort, a social -center. Here they wash their clothes, bathe, sew, mend shoes. - -Behind the Field Museum, on the section of the park that is still -being used as a dump for rubbish, the hobos have established a -series of camps or “jungles.” Here, not more than five minutes from -the Loop, are numerous improvised shacks in which men live. Many -men visit these sections only for the day. To them it is a good -place to come to fish and they spend hours gazing at the water and -trying to keep the little fish from biting. - - -WHY MEN COME TO CHICAGO - -The hobo has no social centers other than the “stem,” and the -“jungle.” He either spends his leisure in the “jungles” or in town. -The “jungle” ordinarily is a station on his way to town. Life -revolves for him around his contacts on the “stem,” and it is to -town he hies himself whenever free to do so. - -Few casuals can give any reason for the attraction that the city -has for them. Few have ever considered it. The explanations they -give, when pressed for reasons, are more or less matter of fact -and center in their material interests. Other motives, motives of -which they are only half conscious, undoubtedly influence them. - -The city is the labor exchange for the migratory worker and even -for the migratory non-worker who is often just as ambitious to -travel. When he is tired of a job, or when the old job is finished, -he goes to town to get another in some other part of the country. -The labor exchanges facilitate this turnover of seasonal labor. -They enable a man to leave the city “on the cushins.” This is the -lure that draws him to the city. Hobohemia brings the job-seeking -man and the man-seeking job together. Migrants have always known -that a larger variety of jobs and a better assortment of good -“shipments” were to be had in Chicago than elsewhere. - - Chicago is the greatest railway center in the United - States. No one knows these facts better than the hobo. - It is a fact that trains from all points of the compass - are constantly entering and leaving the city over its 39 - different railways. According to the _Chicago City Manual_, - there are 2,840 miles of steam railways within the city - limits. The mileage of steam railroad track in Chicago is - equal to the entire railroad mileage in Switzerland and - Belgium, and is greater than the steam railroad mileage - found in each of the kingdoms of Denmark, Holland, Norway, - and Portugal. Twenty-five through package cars leave - Chicago every day for 18,000 shipping points in 44 states. - -The termination of the seasonal occupations brings men cityward. -They come here for shelter during the winter, and not only for -shelter but for inside winter work. This is the hobo’s only -alternative, provided he cannot go to California or to one of the -southern states. The dull routine of the inside job, which seemed -so unattractive in the springtime, looks better with the falling of -the temperature. We may add, also, that many of the men who are -attracted to the city in winter are not particularly interested in -work. There are, however, among the improvident tramp class, “wise -virgins” who save in the summer in order to enjoy the life of a -boarding-house during the winter. - -The hobo often goes to town for medical attention. For the sick and -injured of the floating fraternity Chicago is a haven of refuge -because of the large number of opportunities found here for free -treatment. The county hospital, the dispensaries, and the medical -colleges are well known to these men. Many get well and go their -way, others get no farther than the hospital--and then the morgue. - -A man whose income is limited to a few hundred dollars a year can -do more with it in the large city than in a small town. In no other -American city will a dollar go farther than in Chicago. It is not -uncommon to find men living in Hobohemia on less than a dollar a -day. Large numbers make possible cheap service, and cheap service -brings the men. - - -THE PROBLEM DEFINED IN TERMS OF NUMBERS - -Not only the extent, but the nature of the problem of the homeless -man is revealed by a study of his numbers. In Chicago all estimates -are in substantial agreement that the population of Hobohemia never -falls below 30,000 in summer, doubles this figure in winter, and -has reached 75,000 and over in periods of unemployment.[2] - -These numbers, while large, are only between 1 and 2½ per cent -of Chicago’s population of nearly 3,000,000. Homeless men, -however, are not distributed evenly throughout the city; they are -concentrated, segregated, as we have seen, in three contiguous -narrow areas close to the center of transportation and trade. - -This segregation of tens of thousands of foot-loose, homeless, -and not to say hopeless men is the fact fundamental to an -understanding of the problem. Their concentration has created -an isolated cultural area--Hobohemia. Here characteristic -institutions have arisen--cheap hotels, lodging-houses, flops, -eating joints, outfitting shops, employment agencies, missions, -radical bookstores, welfare agencies, economic and political -institutions--to minister to the needs, physical and spiritual, of -the homeless man. This massing of detached and migratory men upon -a small area has created an environment in which gamblers, dope -venders, bootleggers, and pickpockets can live and thrive. - -The mobility of the migratory worker complicates the problem of the -missions, police, and welfare agencies. The mission measures its -success not only in numbers of converts but in the numbers of men -fed and lodged. The police department, on the contrary, alarmed by -the influx of hobos and tramps in response to free meals and free -flops, has adopted a policy of severity and repression for the -protection of the community. Welfare agencies, opposing alike the -demoralizing results of indiscriminate feeding and lodging, and the -negative policy of the police, favor a program of organized effort -based upon an investigation of the needs of each individual case. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[2] Mrs. Solenberger’s figures of more than a decade ago put -the number of the various types of homeless men in this city at -40,000-60,000: - -“No exact census of the total number of homeless men of various -types in the lodging-house districts of Chicago has been taken, but -40,000 is considered a conservative estimate by several careful -students of the question who are closely in touch with local -conditions. This number is somewhat increased at election times -and very greatly increased when word goes out, as it did during -the winter of 1907-8, that relief funds were being collected and -free lodgings and food would be furnished to the unemployed. In -December, January, February, and March of that winter all private -lodging-houses were filled to overflowing, and the Municipal -Lodging House, its annex, and two other houses which it operated -gave a total of 79,411 lodgings to homeless men as compared with -6,930 for the same months of the winter before, an increase of -72,481. The Health Department, which took charge of the municipal -lodging-houses and made a careful study of local conditions during -the winter of 1907-8, estimated the number of homeless men then -in Chicago to be probably not less than 60,000.”--_One Thousand -Homeless Men_, p. 9, n. - -Nearly if not quite one-fifth of the 700 hotels in Chicago -cater to the migratory and casual worker. The 63 hotels visited -by investigators in this study had a total capacity for the -accommodation of 15,000 men. On the basis of these figures, it -seems safe to put the total capacity of the hotels in Hobohemian -areas at 25,000-30,000. A like number of men are probably provided -for in nearby boarding- and lodging-houses. Thousands of other -men sleep at the docks, in engine rooms, in vacant houses, in -flophouses, or in summer in the parks. - -The returns of the 1920 United States census show that in the three -wards of the city in which Hobohemian areas are located there are -28,105 more male than female residents. This figure indicates -that the so-called “home guard” numbers about 30,000, the summer -population of Hobohemia. - -The Jewish Bureau of Social Service estimates that the number of -homeless men in Chicago at any one time in the winter of 1921-22 -was 120,000. This figure, which seems high when compared with -estimates arrived at by other methods of calculation, assumes that -the proportion of homeless men for the city is the same as that for -the Jewish community. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE JUNGLES: THE HOMELESS MAN ABROAD - - -In the city, under ordinary circumstances, the homeless man gathers -with his kind. Even so he is very much alone and his contacts with -his fellows are relatively formal and distant. - -City life is interesting but full of danger. Even in a world where -the conditions of life are so elementary, prudence dictates a -certain amount of reserve and hence formality and convention in -the relations of men. The flophouse and the cheap hotel compel -promiscuity, but do not encourage intimacy or neighborliness. On -the outskirts of cities, however, the homeless men have established -social centers that they call “jungles,” places where the hobos -congregate to pass their leisure time outside the urban centers. -The jungle is to the tramp what the camp ground is to the vagabond -who travels by auto. It has for the hobo, perhaps, greater -significance, since it becomes a necessary part of his daily life. -The evening camp fire for the tourist, on the contrary, is a -novelty merely, an experience but not a necessity. - - -LOCATION AND TYPES OF JUNGLES - -Jungles are usually located in close proximity to a railroad -division point, where the trains are made up or where trains stop -to change crews and engines. Sometimes they are located near a -“tank town,” where occasional stops are made for water or fuel. -Not infrequently they are near the intersection of railroad lines. -In the South, and on the West Coast, jungles are often located -along the highways. This is due to the fact that many men go South -in winter not to work but to escape the rigors of the northern -climate. The railroad for the time being has no attraction for them -and they are content to stroll abroad, seeing the country. In the -West, where men frequently carry bedding and cooking equipment, -they can camp anywhere. It is easier for them, therefore, to leave -the railroad and venture along the highways. - -Accessibility to a railroad is only one of the requirements of a -good jungle. It should be located in a dry and shady place that -permits sleeping on the ground. There should be plenty of water for -cooking and bathing and wood enough to keep the pot boiling. If -there is a general store near by where bread, meat, and vegetables -may be had, so much the better. For those who have no money, but -enough courage to “bum lumps,” it is well that the jungles be not -too far from a town, though far enough to escape the attention of -the natives and officials, the town “clowns.” - -Jungle camps may be divided into two classes--the temporary and the -permanent, or continuous. Temporary jungles are merely stop-over or -relay stations inhabited intermittently by the men of the road. Men -temporarily stranded in a town usually seek a secluded spot at the -edge of a village, not too far from the railroad, where they may -while away the time without being molested. Men on the road look -for places where other men preceding them have camped. There they -are likely to find pots and kettles in which to cook food or wash -clothes. At points where trains stop frequently, making it possible -for men to get away at any time, the population of a temporary -jungle is likely to be larger and more permanent. - -The continuous or permanent jungles are seldom deserted, at -least in summer. There is usually someone there to keep the fire -burning and usually there are men or boys occupied at various -tasks--cooking, washing or boiling clothes, shaving, sewing, -bathing, and reading. - -Women are often found in the areas of the cities where the homeless -men congregate but not in the jungles. Here is an institution where -the hobo is his own housewife. He not only cooks his own food, but -has even invented dishes that are peculiar to jungle life. Chief -among these is “mulligan” stew. “Mulligan,” or “combination,” is a -“throw together” of vegetables and meat. There are certain ideal -mixtures of vegetables and meat, but the tramp makes “mulligan” -from anything that is at hand. Onions, potatoes, and beef are the -prime essentials. Some men become adept at frying and roasting over -camp fires. - -The hobo who lives in the jungles has proved that he can become -domesticated without the aid of women. He has established the habit -of keeping his clothes and person clean. It is not difficult to -select from a group of transients the men who have just come from -the jungles. Their clothes will be clean and even bear evidence of -jungle sewing. Overalls that have seen service will be bleached -almost white from numerous washings. The hobo learns here the -housewife’s art of keeping pots clean and the camp in order. The -man who cannot, or will not, learn these few elementary principles -of housekeeping is likely to fare ill in the jungle. - -If it is a warm day some men will be sleeping. They may have -been riding trains all night or have found the night too cold -for sleep. A daily paper from an adjoining town may be going the -rounds. There may be newspapers from different cities brought in by -men traveling different directions. Travelers meeting this way have -much of common interest to talk about and conversation is enlivened -with discussions of questions of concern to “bos.” The jungle is -always astir with life and movement, and the hobo enters into this -life as he does no other. Here he turns his back on the world and -faces his fellows, and is at ease. - -Absolute democracy reigns in the jungle. The color line has been -drawn in some camps, but it is the general custom, and especially -in the North, for Negroes, Mexicans, and whites to share the same -jungle. The jungle is the melting pot of trampdom. - -The average man of the road has had a variety of experience and not -a little adventure. In the jungles there is always an audience for -anyone who wants to talk, whether of his thoughts, his experiences, -or his observations. There is plenty of opportunity to tell -stories. The art of telling a story is diligently cultivated by the -“bos” in the assemblies about the fire. This vagabond existence -tends to enrich the personality and long practice has developed -in some of these men an art of personal narrative that has -greatly declined elsewhere. Many of them develop into fascinating -_raconteurs_ in the literal as well as the literary sense of the -term. Talk in the jungle is of the open road and the day to come, -and in that there is sufficient matter to occupy them. - -Jungle populations are ever changing. Every hour new faces appear -to take the place of those that have passed on. They come and go -without ceremony, with scarcely a greeting or “fare-you-well.” -Every new member is of interest for the news he brings or the -rumors that he spreads. Each is interested in the other so far as -he has something to tell about the road over which he has come, the -work conditions, the behavior of the police, or other significant -details. But with all the discussion there is seldom any effort to -discuss personal relations and connections. Here is one place where -every man’s past is his own secret. - -Only in the case of very young boys or sick men and sometimes old -men is there any effort to learn something of the individual’s -past. Men will brush elbows in the jungles for days and even weeks -without ever learning one another’s names. They live closed lives -and grant others the same privilege. - - -THE LAWS OF THE JUNGLE - -In every permanent camp there is likely to be a permanent group -that makes the camp its headquarters. Sometimes these groups are -able to take possession and exploit the transient guests. The -I.W.W. has at times been able to exclude everyone who did not carry -the red card of that organization. As a rule, however, the jungle -is extremely hospitable and democratic. - -The freedom of the jungles is, however, limited by a code of -etiquette. Jungle laws are unwritten, but strictly adhered to. The -breaking of these rules, if intentional, leads to expulsion, forced -labor, or physical punishment. - - Jungle crimes include (1) making fire by night in jungles - subject to raids; (2) “hi-jacking,” or robbing men at night - when sleeping in the jungles; (3) “buzzing,” or making - the jungle a permanent hangout for jungle “buzzards” - who subsist on the leavings of meals; (4) wasting food - or destroying it after eating is a serious crime; (5) - leaving pots and other utensils dirty after using; (6) - cooking without first hustling fuel; (7) destroying jungle - equipment. In addition to these fixed offenses are other - crimes which are dealt with as they arise. Men are supposed - to use cooking cans for cooking only, “boiling up” cans for - washing clothing, coffee cans to cook coffee, etc. After - using, guests are expected to clean utensils, dry them, and - leave them turned bottom side up so that they will not fill - with rainwater and rust. They are expected to keep the camp - clean. To enforce such common-sense rules, self-appointed - committees come into existence.[3] - -Exclusive camps are usually the result of the efforts of the older -residents to enforce discipline. Most “jungle buzzards,” men who -linger in the jungles from season to season, take an interest -in the running of things. For the most part they are parasitic, -begging food from others, but they are generally on the alert to -keep the place clean and orderly. - -The following description of a day in the jungles was written -by a migratory worker, a man who knows the life from years of -experience. His narrative presents a faithful picture of an average -day in an average jungle. - - -A DAY IN THE JUNGLES - - 1.[4] This jungle is on the edge of a strip of timber. A - stream fed from a spring runs into the lake near by. The - empty box cars on the railroad siding close by offer - protection against rain and a place to sleep. Half a mile - away is the junction of two railroads where all trains - stop, and a mile and a half further on is a small town. - - At one o’clock in the morning a few men step off a freight - train. One speaks up: “Does anyone know if there is a - jungle in this place?” “Yes,” someone answers, “The jungle - is up in that direction,” pointing towards a woods, “but - what’s the use in going over there now? You can’t build a - fire at this time of night. I am going to hunt up a box car - for a flop.” - - After a moment of silence someone else asks, “Any town - close by?” “Yes, there it is,” replies another, pointing - to some lights showing in the distance. The men form - groups according to acquaintance and talk in a low tone. - “Come on, let us hunt up a place to flop till daylight.” - The different groups start off. One starts out for the - town, one goes towards the box cars, and one makes for the - jungles. I was with the group bound for the jungles. - - A hundred feet from the railroad right-of-way under the - darkness of big trees we see three or four dying camp - fires. Around one fire we can see the shadows of men. Some - are sitting on the butts of logs, smoking or dozing; others - are stretched out on the ground sound asleep. - - The new arrivals walk up to the fire, look over the bunch - to find, perhaps, some old acquaintances. Then some of - us find seats or lie down; others, with as little noise - as possible, hunt up cans which they fill with water and - place over the glowing coals. The men take ground coffee - from packages in their pockets and pour it into boiling - water. The feed is open to everybody. Bread and sausage - are brought out; even sugar is passed around as long as it - lasts. The men eat in silence. Each one takes the utensils - he used and walks to the creek to wash them. Nearly all of - the men then lie down, but some leave. Nobody asks anyone - about himself and nobody says “hello” or “goodbye.” - - Daylight comes. The breaking of sticks for firewood is - heard. Fires are started, cooking utensils are chosen. The - law of the jungle is that no one can call a vessel his - except at the time he uses it. Packages and receptacles are - opened revealing food of all kinds. Eating commences. If - any man with more than enough for himself sees someone else - not eating, it is etiquette to offer to share with his - neighbor. If the other man accepts the offer, he thereby - takes upon himself the responsibility of cleaning the - dishes. - - At any time men will be seen leaving the jungles to hustle - food, or to get wood, or to catch trains. Anytime is eating - time in the jungles and someone is always bringing in - “chuck” that he has bought or “bummed.” Talking goes on as - long as the daylight lasts. Heated arguments often develop. - Papers and pamphlets are distributed, union cards are taken - out; business meetings are held to decide policies and - actions, how to get the next meal or how to win the battle - between labor and capital. - - About ten o’clock in the morning two townsmen displaying - stars come into the jungle. One of them tells the men that - they will have to clean out because people are kicking. A - holdup has been committed in town the night before and they - intend to prevent any more from being committed, “So you - fellers have to leave.” - - One man in the jungles speaks up and tells the officers - that we are not holdup men, that we are getting ourselves - something to eat, and that we have got to have some place - to do that. “We have paid for everything. What would you do - if you was in our place; go into town and get pulled and - let the town feed us?” - - The officer looks nonplussed, but curtly replies, “Well, - I am going by orders.” After that he walks away. The - timid men leave the jungle. The others reply by roundly - cursing indiscriminately all their enemies. They are town - clowns, sky pilots, Bible ranters, bulls, politicians, home - guards, hicks, stool pigeons, systems, scissor bills, and - capitalists. Incidentally they advocate strikes, rebellion, - mass action, complete revolution of the political system, - abolishment of the wage system. - - It is close to twelve o’clock. Fires are replenished, cans, - pots and pans are put into service. Plans are being made - in anticipation of a coming raid by the police. At two - o’clock, someone suggests a song. After a fiery song of - the class struggle, a speech follows advising the men to - organize. - - By three o’clock only about fifteen or twenty are left in - the jungle. The officer followed by townsmen armed with - guns return. Some of the hobos retreat into the woods. - Those remaining are ordered to hold up their hands with - “You damn bums” added to the command. Some comply, others - refuse. One even has the courage to shout, “Go ahead and - shoot, you damn cowards.” This starts a general shooting - into every pot, pan and can in sight. The men scatter. - - After the invaders leave, an inventory is immediately made - to assess the damage. Since the utensils in best condition - had been hidden in the brush, no serious loss to the jungle - has resulted. - - By four o’clock the story of the raid has traveled and men - come in from all directions. The decision of the majority - is to remain in the jungle over night. Food is brought in - and preparations for supper begin. The men are doubling up - to cook together. Those belonging to certain unions have - as many as eight or ten in a bunch. There are from thirty - to forty angry men in camp by now and more are coming in. - There is some talk of revenge. - - By six o’clock supper is well under way. Several fires are - burning. Containers of every description are used to cook - in; broken shovels and tie plates are used to fry on, empty - tobacco tins are used as cups, and tomato cans serve as fry - pans, soup kettles and soap dishes. Potatoes are roasted on - the coals, wires are bent upon which to broil meat. All are - still talking excitedly of the clash with the police. - - While some of the men are busily engaged in cooking, others - are sewing and mending their clothes or shoes, and still - others are shaving. Now and then as at breakfast someone - will shout, asking if anybody wants some spuds or a piece - of punk or a piece of “gut” (sausage); and usually there - is an affirmative answer. After supper, pans and cans are - cleaned out, the paper is read and passes the rounds. - Already it is growing dark, and the hunt begins for dry - sleeping places. - - Suddenly a commotion is started; a man is roughly rushed - into the open. He is a hi-jack caught in the act of robbing - a fellow who was sleeping, a greater crime in the jungle - than an open hold up. Cries of “Burn the ----” and “Let us - hang him!” are heard from all sides. A council is hurriedly - called, a chairman is selected, motions are made with - amendments and substitutes. After a short discussion a vote - is taken to give him a whipping. The man is tied to a tree - facing toward it. His back is bared, and men are called - for to apply punishment. No one steps forward; everybody - declines to apply the strap or stick. - - Another council is called but before they get started a - young fellow has declared his willingness to fight the - hi-jack to a finish because he knew him and didn’t like him - anyway. The proposition is accepted. The hi-jack is more - than ten pounds heavier than the challenger; but whether - from fear or not, for he knows that the challenger has the - crowd back of him to a man, the hi-jack is slow to start. - Perhaps he feels that the crowd will give him a beating - whether he wins or not. He soon loosens up but he does - not show the goods. The “bo” is more than a match for him - but the hi-jack does not give up easily. He displays some - courage but the “bo” fights like a madman and strikes the - hi-jack blow after blow. The fight lasts more than ten - minutes before the hi-jack is completely knocked out. - - After he gets to his feet he is given a chance to wash his - face and stick paper on the cuts; then he is “frisked,” - that is, ordered to donate all but one dollar to the - jungle. Then he is sent out of camp with orders not to show - up in any of the diggings along the line for it would be - murder if anyone should spot him. - - By eleven o’clock the excitement is over. Different men - announce that they were headed for so and so and that the - freight starts at such a time. To this someone replies that - he is going that way too so they start off together. Others - walk back among the trees to the places where they have - prepared to sleep. Others who have insufficient clothes - to stand the night chill bunch up around the glowing camp - fires. Soon everything is quiet except for an occasional - sound out of the darkness of men mumbling in conversation. - Occasionally the sound of groans and snores or sighs, or - curses are heard. These betray the dreams of men living - like hunted animals. - - I look at my watch and note that it is near midnight and - that all is over for the night, so I curl up on some papers - beside a bed of coals.[5] - - -THE MELTING POT OF TRAMPDOM - -The part played by the jungles as an agency of discipline for the -men of the road cannot be overestimated. Here hobo tradition and -law are formulated and transmitted. It is the nursery of tramp -lore. Here the fledgling learns to behave like an old-timer. In -the jungles the slang of the road and the cant of the tramp class -is coined and circulated. It may originate elsewhere but here it -gets recognition. The stories and songs current among the men of -the road, the sentiments, the attitudes, and the philosophy of the -migratory laborer are all given due airing. In short, every idea -and ideal that finds lodgment in the tramp’s fancy may be expressed -here in the wayside forum where anyone who thinks may speak, -whether he be a jester or a sage. - -Suspicion and hostility are the universal attitudes of the town or -small city to the hobo and the tramp. Accordingly, the so-called -“floater” custom of passing vagrants on to other communities is -widespread.[6] The net effect of this policy is to intensify -the anti-social attitude of the homeless man and to release and -accentuate criminal tendencies. The small town is helpless to cope -with the situation. As things are, its action perhaps cannot be -different. Agriculture, as it becomes organized upon a capitalistic -basis, is increasingly dependent upon seasonal labor, in harvesting -crops for example. The report of the Commission on Industrial -Relations states: - - The attempts to regulate movements of migratory workers - by local organizations have, without exception, proved - failures. This must necessarily be true no matter how well - planned or well managed such local organizations may be. - The problem cannot be handled except on a national scale - and by methods and machinery which are proportioned to the - enormous size and complexity of the problem.[7] - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[3] It is interesting here to note that there is a striking -parallel between the rules of the jungles and the rules of cow -camps and other camps of the hills. It is the custom of the cow men -of the west to maintain camps in the hills which are stocked with -provisions and equipped with utensils and furnishings. These camps -are usually left open and anyone who passes is welcome to spend the -night, provided he puts the place in order when he leaves. - -[4] The documents from which extracts have been taken are numbered -consecutively in the text. For complete list of documents used in -each chapter see pp. 281-88. - -[5] Written by A. W. Dragstedt, secretary in 1922 of the “Hobo -College” of Chicago. - -[6] For a discussion of the practice of “floating” with reference -to the treatment of misdemeanants, see Stuart A. Queen, _The -Passing of the County Jail_. - -[7] _Final Report_, p. 158. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE LODGING-HOUSE: THE HOMELESS MAN AT HOME - - -Hobohemia is a lodging-house area. The accommodations it offers the -homeless man range from a bed in a single room for fifty cents to -location on the floor of an empty loft for a dime. Lodging-house -keepers take thin profits but they serve large numbers. There are -usually more men than there are beds, particularly in winter. -An estimate indicates that all hotels are full from December to -May. During the rest of the year they are likely to be filled to -two-thirds of their capacity. - -Chicago has known three types of cheap hotels: the so-called -“barrel-house,” the welfare institution, and the business -enterprise. The first, the barrel-house, was a rooming-house, -saloon, and house of prostitution, all in one. Men with money -usually spent it in the barrel-houses. There they found warmth and -companionship. They would join the circle at the bar, buy drinks -for the crowd, and have a good time. Men who were afraid of being -robbed placed their money with the bartender and charged against it -the drinks purchased. As soon as they were overcome by drink they -would be taken upstairs to bed. The following day the program would -be repeated. A three- or four-hundred-dollar stake at this rate -usually lasted a week. Not infrequently the barrel-house added to -its other attractions the opportunity for gambling. - -The barrel-house is a thing of the past. Its place has been taken -in part by hotels like the Workingmen’s Palace; the Reliance; the -New Century, owned and operated by the Salvation Army; the Rufus -F. Dawes, owned and maintained by General C. G. Dawes; the Popular -Hotel, owned and maintained by the Chicago Christian Industrial -League. In places of this sort, charges are small, usually not -enough to cover operating expenses. - -The Rufus F. Dawes and the Workingmen’s Palace are both large, -fire-proof structures, clean and modern, constructed originally -for other purposes. Like all paternalistic, quasi-charitable -institutions, however, they are not popular, although the charges -for a room and bed are hardly sufficient to cover the operating -expenses. This is the second type of lodging-house. - -The pioneers in the cheap hotel business in Chicago operated on -a commercial basis were Harvey and McGuire, the founders of the -well-known Harvey-McGuire hotel system. Harvey, an evangelist, -in his work with the “down-and-outs” had learned the evils of -barrel-houses. He went into a partnership with McGuire, a man -acquainted with the rough side of life. After a number of years -the Harvey-McGuire system went out of existence. McGuire went -into the hotel business for himself and now owns a number of -cheap lodging-houses. Harvey sold his interests to his nephew and -went back to evangelistic work. The nephew went into partnership -with Mr. Dammarell. There are eight hotels in the present -Harvey-Dammarell system with a combined capacity for lodging 3,000 -men. The Ideal opened in 1884, probably the oldest men’s hotel in -the city, originally known as the Collonade, at 509 West Madison -Street, is an example of the type. The Mohawk, the most modern -men’s hotel, is also the property of the Harvey-Dammarell system. - -The men who run these hotels do not claim to be philanthropists. -Mr. Harvey has defined the situation. He says: - - We are in the hotel business to make a living. We give the - men the best service they can pay for. We give nothing away - and we ask nothing. Consequently, we do not lay ourselves - open to criticism. We insist on order and sobriety and - we usually get it. We hold that the men have a right to - criticize us and come to us if they are not satisfied with - the service we give. That is business. The man who pays - seventy-five cents for a bed has a right to seventy-five - cents’ worth of service. If a man can only pay twenty-five - cents for a bed he is entitled to all that he pays for and - is entitled to kick if he doesn’t get it. - -Different types of hotels attract different types of men. The -better class of workingmen who patronize the Mohawk, where the -prices range from forty to seventy cents, wear collars and creased -trousers. The hotel provides stationery and desks. Hotels where the -prices range from twenty-five cents to forty cents are patronized -by a shabbier group of men. Few of them are shaven. Some of them -read, but most of them sit alone with their thoughts. In some -second-class places a man is employed to go the rounds and arouse -the sleepers. - -In the twenty-five-cent hotels, the patrons not only are content -to sit unshaven, but they are often dirty. Many of them have the -faces of beaten men; many of them are cripples and old men. The -exceptions are the Popular and the Rufus F. Dawes, where the price -is twenty cents or less to be sure, but the guests are more select. -Since these places are semi-charitable, they can force certain -requirements upon their patrons. - -The term “room” is a misnomer when applied to a sleeping apartment -in a cheap hotel. These rooms have been aptly termed “cubicles,” -and among the patrons they are known as “cages.” A cubicle is -usually from 6 to 8 feet in width and from 8 to 12 feet in length. -The thin walls, composed of steel or matched lumber, are usually -about 8 feet in height. A wire netting over the top admits air -and prevents the guests climbing from one cubicle to another. -The furnishings are simple; sometimes only a bed, sometimes a -bed and a chair, and in more expensive places a stand. They are -not constructed either for comfort or convenience; lighting and -ventilation are usually bad. But they are all they were intended to -be: places for men to sleep with a limited degree of privacy. - -A canvass of the Hobohemian hotels has been made with a view to -learning the approximate mobility of the hotel population. Few -of these hotels are prepared to make any but general statements, -though some of them have made an effort to get the facts. The -consensus of opinion of hotel clerks is that the greatest turnover -is in the cheapest hotels. Better-class places like the Acme, the -Ironsides, and the Workingmen’s Palace have a large proportion of -permanent guests. The permanent guests, those who remain two or -three months or more, range from a third to a half of the total -number of roomers. Many of the older hotels have permanent patrons -who are seasonal but regular. Others never leave the city. - - -THE “FLOPHOUSE” - -“Flophouses” are nearly all alike. Guests sleep on the floor or in -bare, wooden bunks. The only privilege they buy is the privilege -to lie down somewhere in a warm room. - - 2. “Hogan’s Flop” is known from coast to coast among hobos. - A tramp who has been in Chicago long enough to learn of - Lynch’s place, the Workingmen’s Palace, Hinky Dink’s, or to - eat doughnuts in missions has heard of Hogan’s. - - The first “Hogan’s Flop” was located on South State Street. - Later it moved to the West Side and for some time was on - Meridian Street. Since it left Meridian Street it has been - located in several places. The original Hogan, who was a - Spanish-American War veteran, has passed to his reward. - Only his name remains. Every winter, however, someone - starts a “flop” and it invariably inherits the name and - fame of Hogan. Hogan is now a myth, a sort of eponymous - hero. A tramp discussing this matter said: “Hogan may be - dead but the bugs that were in business with him are still - on the job. They follow this joint wherever it goes. You - know when they moved from Meridian Street it wasn’t three - days before the bugs got the new address and followed us.” - -The following account is adapted from a description of a night -spent in “Hogan’s Flop”: - - 3. I spent the evening at the Bible Rescue Mission where - sincere folks were pleading with men of the road to come - forward and make things right with the Master. Two came - forward and it was a time of rejoicing. They prayed and - sang and fed us rolls and coffee, and to those who had no - bed for the night they gave tickets to “Hogan’s.” They - offered me a ticket but I thanked them and assured them - that I still had a little money. - - You have to know where “Hogan’s” is to find it. In the - spring of 1922, it occupied the second and third floors of - a building at 16 South Desplaines Street. A narrow, shaky - stairs, a squeaky door, a feebly lighted entrance, a night - clerk who demands a dime and you are within. You may take - your choice of sleeping on this floor or go on up to the - third. There is no difference in the price. I chose the - second floor. It was less crowded. The fire, from a large - heater in the center of the room, was warmer. - - The men around the stove had evidently been exposed to - the elements. One was drying his shoes for it had rained - all day. Another was drying his shirt. Two were engaged - in listless conversation. Others were silent. The air was - stuffy, the light dim. I walked around the room looking - for a place to lie down. Dozens of men were sleeping on - the floor with their heads to the wall. Some were lying on - paper, others on the bare floor. Some were partly covered - by their overcoats; some had no overcoats. It is an art - to curl up under an overcoat. One man of fifty years or - more had removed his shirt and trousers and was using the - latter for a pillow. He had tied his shoes to his trousers - which is evidence that he knew “flop” house ethics. When - men sleep in box cars they sometimes use their shoes for - pillows but this is not necessary in “Hogan’s.” A planking - around the walls affords a resting place for weary heads. - - A number of the faces here I had seen a great many times - on the “stem.” Two were old men in their seventies who had - been in the city several years and were mendicants most - of the time. There was a one-legged man whom I had seen - chumming with another one-legged man on the streets. Both - peddled lead pencils and shoestrings. On the only cot on - the floor, two young fellows were lying. They were sleeping - with their heads at opposite ends of the narrow bed and - their bodies were entangled to prevent their falling off. - - I found a vacant place on the floor where I could have - about two feet between myself and my nearest neighbor so - I spread my papers and lay down. I had more paper than I - needed so I gave half to another man who was just circling - about for a place to go to bed. I asked the man nearest - me if the bugs bothered much. He answered in the richest - of Irish brogues that Hogan’s bugs were sure efficient. - Another man chimed in. He said they were better organized - than the German army. How well organized they were I - can’t say but I was not long in learning that they were - enterprising. - - Two men near me engaged in a discussion about the economic - conference at Genoa. One man had very positive, orderly - ideas of how things should go. The other interrupted - occasionally only to agree. Someone wanted to know why he - didn’t hire a hall. Then there was silence, except for - snores. I never heard such a variety of snores but none - of them seemed to suggest peaceful slumbers or pleasant - dreaming. Once the snores were broken into by some man - bawling out, “Hey, you; quit spittin’ over this way; you’re - gettin’ it on my paper.” “Well, dammit; How much room do - you want to take up?” His neighbor retorted, “It’s none of - your ---- business how much room I take. You lay off’n that - spittin’, see.” - - More snores. A man got up, stretched, rubbed his legs, came - to the center of the room to the stove. More snores. Some - men came in, paid their dimes and looked for an opening on - the floor. A man ran to the toilet to vomit. A wag called - to him to “heave it up.” - - After an hour or so I felt something on my hand. I crushed - it. There were others to be seen on the white papers. I - lay down to try to sleep again. A second attack brought me - suddenly to my feet. I lay down resolved a third time not - to be disturbed. My companions seemed to be suffering more - from the hard floor than anything else; and the floor was - hard. I turned my thoughts to the hardness of the floor at - “Hogan’s.” - - How long I dozed I can’t say but I awoke marveling at the - endurance of the man of the road. While I pondered thus a - man jumped to his feet and hastened out. He was cursing - the bugs and saying that he knew an engine room that had - this “place beat all hollow.” I felt better. Someone else - had weakened first. I got up and started home. It was - two-thirty. - - -RESTAURANTS AND LUNCHROOMS - -Hobohemian restaurants serve meals for a half or a third of the -prices current in the Loop. In some of these lunchrooms the charges -are so low that one marvels. However, the food is coarse and poor -and the service rough and ready. - -The homeless man is as casual in his eating as he is in his work. -He usually gives all the restaurants a trial. If he has any money -when meal time comes he generally does a little “window shopping.” -He meanders up and down the street reading the bills of fare in the -windows. The Hobohemian restaurants know this and accordingly use -window displays to attract the roaming patron. Food is placed in -the windows, cooking is done within sight of the street, but the -chief means of attraction are the menus chalked on the windows. -The whole window is sometimes lettered up with special entrées of -the day. Some of these bills of fare are interesting. - -Gus’s place on South Halsted Street near the Academy Theater, July -28, 1922, displayed the following: - - Pig’s Snouts and Cabbage or Kraut 15c - Corn Beef Hash 10c - Hamburger Roast 10c - Liver and Onions 15c - Hungarian Goulash 20c - Pig’s Shank and Cabbage 15c - Spare Ribs and Cabbage 20c - Pig’s Feet and Potato Salad 15c - Beef Stew and Kraut 15c - Sausage and Mashed Potatoes 15c - Roast Beef 20c - Roast Pork 25c - T-Bone Steak 30c - -The same day the James Restaurant on Madison Street near Desplaines -advertised the following under the caption, “A Full Meal for Ten -Cents”: - - Veal Loaf 10c - Sardines and Potato Salad 10c - Hamburger and One Egg 10c - Baked Beans 10c - Liver and Onions 10c - Corn Beef Plain 10c - Macaroni Italian 10c - Three Eggs any Style 15c - Kidney Stew 10c - Sausage and Mashed Potatoes 10c - Brown Hash and One Egg 10c - Liver and Brown Gravy 10c - Salt Pork Plain 10c - Salmon and Potato Salad 10c - Corn Flakes and Milk 5c - Four Eggs any Style 20c - -One eating-house on West Madison Street is “The Home Restaurant, -Meals Fifteen Cents and Up.” This is a popular appeal. Restaurants -frequently advertise “Home Cooking,” “Home Made Bread,” “Home Made -Coffee,” “Doughnuts Like Mother Used to Make.” - -[Illustration: A DINING-ROOM ON THE “MAIN STEM”] - -[Illustration: EMPLOYMENT BUREAUS OFFER OPPORTUNITY FOR TRAVEL] - -At meal time, especially at noon, scores of men flock into these -eating-houses. The men, a noisy and turbulent crowd, call out their -orders, which are shouted by the waiters to the cooks who set out -without ceremony the desired dishes. Four or five waiters are able -to attend to the wants of a hundred or more men during the course -of an hour. The waiters work like madmen during the rush hours, -speeding in with orders, out with dirty dishes. During the course -of this hour a waiter becomes literally plastered with splashes of -coffee, gravy, and soup. The uncleanliness is revolting and the -waiters are no less shocking than the cooks and dishwashers. In the -kitchens uncleanliness reaches its limit. - -But what is the opinion of the patron? They know that the hamburger -is generally mixed with bread and potatoes, that the bread is -usually stale, that the milk is frequently sour. There are few who -do not abhor the odors of the cheap restaurant, but a steady patron -reasons thus: “I don’t allow myself to see things, and as long as -the eyes don’t see the heart grieves not.” - - -OUTFITTING STORES AND CLOTHING EXCHANGES - -The hobo seldom dresses up. If he does it is evidence that he -is making an effort to get out of his class. When he does buy -clothing, either rough clothing or a good “front,” he finds his -way to places where new clothes are on sale at astonishingly low -prices. The seasonal laborer’s outfitters handle a very cheap grade -of goods. Much of it is out of date and either shopworn or soiled. -Cheap clothing stores are not peculiar to Hobohemia, but here they -cater to the wants of the homeless man. - -Clothing exchanges, which is a polite term for second-hand clothing -stores, are numerous in Hobohemia. There are many of them along -North Clark Street and west of Clark on Chicago Avenue. These -establishments make a specialty of buying slightly worn clothing, -sample suits and overcoats from broken lots, which they sell at -remarkably low prices. - -Second-hand clothing stores are not entirely monopolized by the -hobo trade, but the veteran hobo knows of their existence and he -knows how to drive a bargain. - -The cobbler who deals in shoes, both second-hand and new, as a -sideline, gets his share of the Hobohemian trade. Coming off -the road with a roll, the hobo is likely to invest in a whole -outfit--shoes, suit, and overcoat--only to sell them again in a few -days when he is broke. The second-hand dealer meets him both ways, -coming and going. - - -PAWN SHOPS - -Pawn shops are not typical of Hobohemia. They are usually located -in that region just outside the limits of the lodging-houses, a -sort of border land between respectability and the down-and-outs. -Not that the hobo is unwilling, when he is broke, to put anything -valuable he happens to have in “hock,” but usually he does not -happen to have anything valuable. Still there are men who make a -practice of carrying a watch or a ring upon which, in case of need, -they can raise a few dollars. - -Pawn shops are, to a limited extent, clothing exchanges. They are -places where the hobo does much of his buying and selling of tools, -fire arms, leather goods, jewelry, and like articles of that sort. - - -MOVIES AND BURLESQUES - -Commercialized entertainment has had difficulty in getting a -foothold in Hobohemia. The movie has firmly established itself on -the border land, where it may be patronized by both the transient -and the resident population. The movies put the admission fee at -ten cents. As a matter of fact, there is one on South Halsted -Street which charges only a nickel. The pictures shown in these -houses have usually passed from the first-class theaters through -the various grades of cheaper houses until finally they arrive -here much out of date, badly scarred, and so scratched that they -irritate the eyes. - -Vaudeville and burlesque have become fully established on the South -Side. Certain of these theaters cater to “men only.” Advertisements -of “classy girls,” “bathing beauties,” or “fancy dancing” have a -strange attraction for the homeless and lonely men. - -Many men in the Hobohemian population do not patronize either the -movie or the burlesque. Those who do are sometimes merely looking -for an opportunity to sit down in quiet for an hour. Some theaters, -in recognition of this fact, extend an invitation to the audience -to “Stay as Long as You Like.” This draws a great many men, -especially in cold weather. - - -BARBER COLLEGES AND BARBERS - -Chicago has several barber colleges in close proximity to the -“stem.” Four of them are located on West Madison Street and most -of them are so situated that they can attract men who are willing -to submit to the inexperienced efforts of students. Students must -have practice, and here are men, who as they themselves say, can -stand it. - -The cheap rooming-houses do not always offer facilities for -shaving, so they are willing to sacrifice themselves in the -interest of education and art. If they are fortunate they may be -served by a Senior, but they always are in danger of falling into -the hands of a Freshman. Hair cuts cost ten or fifteen cents. This -is governed by the law of supply and demand. The colleges must have -patrons to keep the students busy. The lady barber flourishes in -Hobohemia. The hobo, at least, seems to have no prejudice against a -razor being wielded by feminine hands. - - -BOOKSTORES - -Hobohemia has its bookstores where new and second-hand books are -sold. The “Hobo Bookstore,” sometimes called the “Proletariat,” -located at 1237 West Madison Street, is the best known. This -place makes a specialty of periodicals of a radical nature which -are extensively read by the “bos.” A large line of books on many -subjects are sold, but they are chiefly the paper-bound volumes -that the transient can afford. The “Radical Book Shop,” located on -North Clark Street, is popular among the intellectuals who pass -their time in “Bughouse Square.” - - -SALOONS AND SOFT DRINK STANDS - -The saloon still lives in Hobohemia, though with waning prestige. -The five-cent schooner and the free lunch of pre-war days have -passed, but the saloons are far from being dead. One can still get -a “kick” out of stuff that is sold across the bar, but the crowds -do not gather as before prohibition. Formerly, men who got drunk -were kept inside, today they are hustled outside or at least kept -out of sight. As the saloon has lost its prestige, the bootlegger -has gained, and the “drunks” for which he is responsible parade the -streets or litter the alleys. - -Fruit and soft drink stands and ice-cream cone peddlers are in -evidence since prohibition. Enthusiastic and persistent bootblacks -swarm in the streets and Gypsy fortune-tellers who hail every -passer-by for the privilege of “reading” his mind, and, perhaps, in -order to turn a trick at his expense. - - -THE HOUSING PROBLEM - -Standards of living are low in Hobohemia. Flops are unwholesome and -unsanitary. Efforts have been made to improve these conditions, but -they have not been wholly successful. The Salvation Army and the -Dawes hotels have improved the lodging-houses. But the municipal -free lodging-house has been opposed by the police on the ground -that it was already too popular among casual and migratory workers. -The same may be said of any other effort to deal with the problem -from the point of view of philanthropy. - -The only other alternative would seem to be to encourage the -migratory workers to organize to help themselves. This is difficult -but not impossible, but the history of these efforts is another -chapter in the story of Hobohemia. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -“GETTING BY” IN HOBOHEMIA - - -A man who is conservative can live in Hobohemia on a dollar a day. -If he is not too fastidious he can live for sixty cents, including -a bed every night. Sleeping in a ten-cent “flop” and sticking to -coffee and rolls, he can get along for fifty cents. Old men who do -not move around much will live a long time on “coffee-an’,” which -they can get at the average restaurant for a nickel. The man who is -reduced to “coffee-an’,” however, has touched bedrock. - - An old beggar who lingers about the Olive Branch Mission on - South Desplaines Street claims that if he were guaranteed - forty cents a day he could get on nicely. This would give - him a bed every night and, as he says, a good bed is - sometimes better than a meal. - - The daily routine of this old man’s life rarely takes him - beyond the limits of a single block. On the south side - of Madison Street, between 62 Desplaines Street and the - Transedes Hotel, he is at home. All else is, for him, the - open sea. When he ventures beyond the limits of this area - into outlying territory he plans the trip the day before. - - There are perhaps a hundred old men on South State and West - Madison streets whose interests and ambitions have shrunk - to the same unvarying routine and the same narrow limits.[8] - -Every man who enters Hobohemia is struggling to live above the -“coffee-an’” level, and the various devices that are employed in -accomplishing this are often ingenious. This business of wringing -from chance source enough money each day to supply one’s insistent -wants is known on the “stem” as “getting by.” “Getting by” may mean -anything from putting in a few hours a day at the most casual -labor to picking a pocket or purloining an overcoat. It includes -working at odd jobs, peddling small articles, street faking, -“putting over” old and new forms of grafts, “working” the folks at -home, “white collar” begging, stealing, and “jack rolling.” - - -WORKING AT ODD JOBS - -In spite of all that has been said to the contrary, the hobo is a -worker. He is not a steady worker but he earns most of the money he -spends. There are migratory casual workers, who spend three or four -months each year in a Chicago lodging-house, who never look to the -public for assistance. They know how much money they will need to -tide them over the winter, and they have learned to spread it thin -to make it reach. Casual in their work, they are conservative in -their spending. - -There are others who are never able to save anything. No matter how -much they bring to town they soon spend it. For these the odd job -is the likeliest means of livelihood. In a city like Chicago there -are almost always opportunities for men who are content to take -small jobs. Every restaurant must have dishwashers and waiters. -Every hotel needs porters; every saloon or pool hall employs men to -do odd jobs. Petty as these jobs are and little as they pay, men -not only take but seek them. One man who has been twenty years on -West Madison Street is working as night clerk in a lodging-house; -another does janitor work at nights and loafs daytime; still -another has been for some time a potato peeler in a Madison Street -restaurant. - -Men who spurn steady jobs in favor of petty ones with pay every -night sometimes do so because they hate to leave the street. Often -it is because they are not properly clad or have no money to pay -their way. - - -PEDDLING A DEVICE FOR “GETTING BY” - -In the eyes of the law, peddling in Chicago, at least, is not -begging.[9] Nevertheless much of the peddling in the streets is -merely legalized begging. Usually the articles offered for sale -are cheap wares which are disposed of for whatever “you care to -give.” Not infrequently the buyer gives four times what the article -is worth. There are hundreds of cripples in Chicago who gain a -livelihood by selling pencils or shoestrings. Many of these are -homeless men. Pencils bought for thirty-five cents a dozen retail -for a dime, or whatever the purchaser cares to tax himself. A -peddler’s license is a protection against the police and serves as -a moral prop to the beggar. - -A peddler of shoestrings and pencils usually measures his success -by the number of sales made in which no change is asked. He expects -to be overpaid. Sometimes he persuades himself he is entitled to -be overpaid. The business of “getting by” by “touching hearts” is -usually spoken of as “work.” A peddler who works the North Side -will say: “I didn’t work yesterday; the day before I made three -dollars and eighty-five cents.” This man considers himself a _real_ -cripple, because he has locomotor ataxia. He is incensed when he -meets a one-armed peddler, because a man with one arm is not a -real cripple. Real cripples should have first consideration. An -able-bodied man who begs when broke is beneath contempt. That is -“panhandling” and an able-bodied “panhandler” is always considered -despicable. - -Many peddlers live in Hobohemian hotels, and spend their leisure -on the “stem.” When they go to “work” they take a car. Some of -them have regular stands. Not infrequently a peddler will assume -to monopolize a position in front of a church or near the entrance -of a factory where girls go and come. Beggars have a liberal fund -of knowledge about pay days. They know the factories where the -workers, when they have money, are “good.” - - -STREET FAKING - -The chief difference between peddling and street faking is one of -method. The peddler appeals to the individual; the faker appeals -to the crowd. The faker is a salesman. He “pulls” a stunt or makes -a speech to attract the crowd. The peddler is more than often a -beggar. It requires considerably more initiative and force to play -the rôle of a street faker than to peddle. - -Almost any time of the day at some street corner of the “stem” one -may see a faker with a crowd around him. His wares consist perhaps -of combination sets of cuff buttons and collar buttons, or some -other such “line.” Success depends upon the novelty of the article -offered. A new line of goods is much sought after and a good street -faker changes his line from time to time. Many fakers are homeless -men. Numbers of the citizens of Hobohemia have tried their hand at -some time or other at this kind of salesmanship. Those who are able -to “put it over” generally stay with the work. - -Peddling jewelry is one old device for getting money, but it is not -too old to succeed. There are men who carry with them cheap rings -or watches which they sell by approaching the prospective buyers -individually. Sometimes they gather a crowd around them but that -rarely succeeds as well as when they work quietly. A faker may sit -beside a man in a park or approach him on the street and proffer a -ring or watch or pair of eyeglasses for sale cheap, on the grounds -that he is broke. Sometimes he will pretend that he found the -article and would like to get a little money for it. Often he will -tell of some sentiment connected with an article that he is trying -to dispose of. A man may have a ring that his mother gave him and -he will only part with it on condition that he might have the -privilege of redeeming it later. If he thought he could not redeem -it he would rather starve than part with it, etc. Hobos are often -the victims as well as the perpetrators of these fakes. - - -GRAFTS OLD AND NEW - -Few of these tricks are new but none of them are so old that they -do not yield some return. They probably owe their long life to the -proverbial identity of fundamental human nature wherever it is -found. - -One of the most ancient and universal forms of deception is the -fake disease. In Hobohemia a pretended affliction is called -“jiggers” or “bugs.” - - 4. L. J. appealed to the Jewish Charities with a letter - signed by a doctor in a hospital in Hot Springs saying that - he had treated L. J. who was suffering from syphilis and - that his eyes were affected and he would “undoubtedly go - blind.” It was learned later that this letter was a forgery - as were other credentials that the man carried. He had been - in a hospital and had been treated for a venereal disease. - While there he familiarized himself enough with the - terminology of the disease so that he could talk with some - intelligence about his case. He would say with conviction, - “I know I’m going blind before long.” It further developed - that he had been exploiting charity organizations in - several cities. Before his entry upon this deception it was - learned that he had earned a prison record. - -An ancient ruse is to feign to be deaf and dumb. A man who played -“deaf-and-dumb” worked restaurants, drug stores, groceries, and -other places of business. He would enter the places and stand with -cap in hand. Never would he change the expression of his face, -regardless of what was said or done. When spoken to he would point -to his ears and mouth until he received some money, and then he -would bow. If there was a chance of getting something, he would -never leave a place unless he was in danger of being thrown out. -An investigator followed him for two hours before he learned he -was neither deaf nor dumb. Three months later he met the same man -working the same graft in another part of the city. - -“The hat trick,” as it is sometimes called, is a popular means -of “getting by.” On a Sunday, a holiday, or indeed any evening, -the streets of Hobohemia are likely to be enlivened by men who -have a message, haranguing the crowds. They may be selling papers -or books on the proletarian movement. In any case, most of them -terminate their speeches by passing the hat. Few speakers spend -their eloquence on the audiences of Hobohemia without asking -something in return. It must not be assumed that these men are all -insincere. Many of them are, but most of them are in the “game” for -the money it yields. One of these orators is conspicuous because -his stock in trade is a confession that he is not like the other -speakers. He admits that he is out for bed and board. He will talk -on any subject, will permit himself to be laughed at, and jollied -by the crowd, but when he passes the hat he usually gets enough for -another day’s board. - -The missions attract men who are religious primarily for profit. -Many who are really sincere find it more profitable to be on the -Lord’s side. Nearly every mission has a corps of men who perform -the “hat trick” by going from house to house begging old clothes -or cash or whatever the people care to give. The collector’s -conscience is the only check on the amount of money taken in. Some -missions divide all cash collections with the solicitors. Sometimes -the collector gets as much as fifty cents on the dollar. - -The exploitation of children is as old as the history of vagrancy. -Even the tramp has learned that on the road boys may be used to -get money. A boy can beg better than an older man, and frequently -men will chum with boys for the advantages such companionships -give them. Boys who are new on the road are often willing to be -exploited by a veteran in exchange for the things they can learn -from him. - - -“WORKING THE FOLKS” - -There is a type of tramp who lives on his bad reputation. He may -have been sent away for the sake of the family, or have fled for -safety, or he may have gone voluntarily to start life anew. Seldom -does he succeed, but family pride stands between him and his -return. He capitalizes the fact that his family does not want him -to return. - -Such a man resides on South State Street. He comes from a good -family but his relatives do not care to have him about. He is fat -and greasy and dirty; he seems to have no opinions of his own; is -always getting into people’s way and making himself disagreeable -by his effort to be sociable. His relatives pay him four dollars a -week to stay in Chicago. On that amount, with what he can earn, he -is able to live.[10] - -Another man raises funds now and then when he is broke by writing -or telegraphing that he is thinking about returning home. His -return means trouble. His requests for assistance are a kind of -blackmail levied on the family.[11] - - -“WHITE COLLAR” BEGGING - -Most interesting among the beggars is the man, the well-dressed -and able-bodied individual, who begs on the strength of his -affiliations. These are the men who make a specialty of exploiting -their membership in fraternal organizations. Labor unions are -very much imposed upon by men who carry paid-up cards but who are -temporarily “down.” The organizations as such are not appealed -to as much as individual members. It is hard for a union man who -is working to turn away a brother who shows that he is in good -standing with the organization. - -Of late the “ex-service-man” story has been a good means of getting -consideration, and the American Legion buttons have been worked to -the limit. Most of the men who wear parts of a uniform or other -insignia indicative of military service have really seen service -and many have seen action, but a great many of them have heard more -than they have seen. - -There are men who make a specialty of “working” the charity -organizations. Some of them are so adept that they know beforehand -what they will be asked and have a stereotyped response for every -stereotyped question. These men know a surprising amount about the -inside workings of the charitable agencies and they generously hand -on their information to their successor. They usually know, for -example, what material aid may be had from each organization. A -typical case is that of Brown. - - 5. Brown had not been in Chicago an hour until he had - located the chief organizations to which he might go for - help. He knew that he could check his bag at the Y.M.C.A. - He learned where to go for a bath, where to get clean - clothes, how to get a shave and haircut and he actually - succeeded in getting some money from the United Charities. - He was able to “flop” in a bed even though he came to town - without money late in the afternoon; whereas many other men - in the same position would have been forced to “carry the - banner.” He knew about the charity organizations in all the - cities he had visited from the Atlantic to the Pacific. - After his case was traced it was learned that he told about - the same story wherever he went and that he was known in - organizations in all the cities to which he referred. He - is 27 years old and has been living for the most part in - institutions or at the expense of organizations since he - was 13. - - 6. Another case is that of P. S., a Jewish boy who made his - way between New York and Chicago three times and received - accommodation at the Jewish charity associations in nearly - every big city on his road between here and New York. He is - a mental case and goes to the Charities because of a sense - of helplessness. Since the last contact with him that the - Chicago Jewish charities have had he has learned to get - over the country with a little more confidence but he never - fails to hunt up the welfare organization as soon as he - comes to town. He was last heard of in California. - - -BORROWING AND BEGGING - -Nearly every homeless man “goes broke” at times. Some of them do -not feel that a trip to town has been a success if they return -to the job with money in their pockets. On the other hand, they -do not feel that they have had their money’s worth unless they -remain in town a week or two after they have “blown in.” As they -linger they face the problem of living. They may have friends -but that is unusual. The homeless man used to get advances from -the saloon keeper with whom he spent his money. Such loans were -often faithfully made good, but they were just as often “beat.” -Prohibition has put an end to that kind of philanthropy. - -Many of the men who visit the city intermittently loaf and work -by turns. These men often beg but they do not remain at it long, -perhaps a day or so, or until disgust seizes them. Often when they -beg they are drunk or “rum-dum.” As soon as they are sober they -quit. Sometimes they succeed in attaching themselves to a friend -who has just arrived with a “roll.” But living at the expense of -another migrant quickly palls. Soon they will be found scanning the -“boards” for free shipment to another job. They disappear from the -streets for a season. As soon as they get a “stake,” however, they -will be seen again treating the boys and swapping stories on the -“main stem”; if not in Chicago, then in some other city. It is the -life. - -The more interesting types are those who live continuously in the -city and are broke most of the time. Some of them have reduced the -problem of “getting by” to an art. The tramp who only occasionally -goes “broke” may try to imitate these types but he soon tires of -the game and goes to work. The chief classes of beggars are the -“panhandlers” and the “moochers.” - -The “panhandler” can sometimes extract from the pockets of others -what amounts to large sums of money. Some “panhandlers” are able to -beg from ten to twenty dollars a day. The “panhandler” is a beggar -who knows how to beg without loss of dignity. He is not docile and -fawning. He appeals in a frank, open manner and usually “comes away -with the goods.” The “moocher” begs for nickels and dimes. He is an -amateur. He goes to the back door of a house or hotel and asks for -a sandwich. His appeal is to pity. - -The antagonisms between beggars and peddlers are very keen. The man -who carries a permit to peddle has no respect for the individual -who merely begs. Nevertheless, some peddlers, when business is -slow, themselves turn beggars. On the other hand, the man who -begs professes to consider himself far more respectable than the -peddler who uses his license as an excuse to get money. This is the -language and opinion of a professional: “Good begging is far more -honorable than bad peddling and most of this shoestring and lead -pencil peddling is bad. I am not going to beat around the bush. I -am not going to do any of this petty grafting to get enough to live -on.”[12] These antagonisms are evidence of a struggle for status. -When a peddler denounces the beggars he is trying to justify -himself. His philosophy, like most philosophies, is an attempt to -justify his vocation. The same is true of plain beggars. Most of -them are able to justify their means of “getting by.” - - -STEALING - -Hobos are not clever enough to be first-class crooks nor daring -enough to be classed as criminals. Yet most of them will steal -something to eat. There are men who are peculiarly expert at -stealing food from back-door steps--pies or cakes that have been -set out to cool, for example. There are men who wander about the -residential areas, in order to steal from back doors. Some men -follow the milkman as he goes from door to door delivering milk and -cream, in order to steal a bottle when the opportunity offers. A -quart of milk makes an excellent breakfast. - -Stealing becomes serious when men break into stores and box cars. -It is not what they take but what they spoil that does the damage. -This is the chief complaint of the railroad against the tramp. -In the country the tramp is often destructive to the orchards he -visits. He will shake down more fruit than he can possibly use and -dig up a dozen hills of potatoes to get enough for a “mulligan.” - - -“JACK ROLLING” - -“Jack rolling” may be anything from picking a man’s pocket in a -crowd to robbing him while he is drunk or asleep. On every “stem” -there are a goodly number of men who occasionally or continually -“roll” their fellow-tramps. Nearly every migrant who makes -periodical trips to the city after having saved his earnings for -three or four months can tell of at least one encounter with the -“jack roller.” Scarcely a day goes by on Madison Street but some -man is relieved of a “stake” by some “jack” who will, perhaps, -come around later and join in denouncing men who will rob a -workingman. - -The average hobo is often indiscreet with his money, and especially -so when he is drunk. He often displays it, even scatters it at -times. This is a great temptation to men who have been living -“close to their bellies” for months. As unpopular as the “jack -roller” is among the tramps there are few who would overlook an -opportunity to take a few dollars from a “drunk,” seeing that he -was in possession of money that someone else was bound to take -sooner or later. - - 7. An investigator became acquainted with two men who - were jack rollers who operated on Madison Street west of - Halsted. They were well dressed for the “street” though - not so well groomed as to be conspicuous. The investigator - pretended to them that he had just spent ninety days in the - jail in Salt Lake City for “rolling” a drunk. They had no - sympathy for a man who would get drunk and wallow in the - gutter. “He’s not entitled to have any money.” Neither of - these men drank but they “chased women” and one of them - played the races. Neither had any scruples against taking - money from a drunken or sleeping man. They were able to - justify themselves as easily as the peddlers and beggars - do. Said one of them, “Everybody is eating on everybody he - can get at, and they don’t care where they bite. Believe - me, as long as I can play safe I’m going to get mine.” - - -“GETTING BY” IN WINTER - -During the cold winter months the problem of “getting by” becomes -serious. In the spring, summer, and fall hobos can sleep in -the parks, in vacant houses, on the docks, in box cars, or in -any other place where they may curl up and pass a few hours in -slumber without fear of disturbance. But finding “flops” in winter -usually engages the best effort a “bo” can muster. Besides food -and shelter, the hobo must manage in some way to secure winter -clothing. Above all he needs shelter, and shelter for the man -without money is not easy to find in the city. - -The best scouting qualities the average man can command are needed -to get along in winter. There are many places to sleep and loaf -during the day, but the good places are invariably crowded. For -sleeping quarters police stations, railroad depots, doorways, -mission floors, and even poolrooms are pressed into service. It is -not uncommon for men who cannot find a warm place to sleep to walk -the streets all night. This practice of walking the streets all -night, snatching a wink of sleep here and a little rest there, is -termed, in the parlance of the road, “carrying the banner.” He who -“carries the banner” during the night usually tries to snatch a bit -of sleep during the day in places he does not have access to in the -night time. He may go into the missions, but in cold weather the -missions are crowded. They are crowded with men who sit for hours -in a stupor between sleeping and waking. In almost every mission on -the “stem” there are attendants known as “bouncers,” whose duties -during the meetings are to shake and harass men who have lost -themselves in slumber. - -Lodging-houses are also imposed upon by men who have no money to -pay for a bed but who loaf in the lobbies during the day. Most -lodging-houses make an effort to keep men out who are not guests. -Fear is instilled into their hearts by occasionally calling the -police to clear the lobbies of loafers. All who dare spend their -leisure time in the public library, but the average tramp, unkempt -and unclean from a night on the street, cannot muster sufficient -courage to enter a public library. - -The missions and other charity organizations play an important part -in supplying the cold-weather wants of the tramp. They usually make -it a point to get on hand at the beginning of winter a large supply -of overcoats, or “bennies,” and other clothes that are either sold -at moderate prices or are given away. Such clothes are usually -solicited from the public, and the men on the “stem” believe that -they are entitled to them. Hence each man makes an effort to get -what he feels is coming to him. When winter comes they begin to -bestir themselves and concoct schemes for securing the desired -amount of clothing to keep out the cold. During the winter time -many of these men will submit to being “converted” in order to get -food and shelter. - -Competition between homeless men in winter is keen. Food is scarce, -jobs are less plentiful, people are less generous, and there are -more men begging. Many of the short-job men become beggars and a -large number of those who are able to peddle during the summer -likewise enter the ranks of the beggars. As beggars multiply, the -housewife is less generous with the man at the back door, the man -on the street also hardens his heart, and the police are called on -for protection. - - 8. “Fat” is a very efficient “panhandler.” He does not - always “panhandle” but works when the opportunities present - and the weather permits. He gets his money from men on the - street, but he does most of his begging in winter when he - cannot get the courage to leave town. He can beg for three - or four hours and obtain about three dollars in that time. - He only “panhandles” when his money is gone. He has a good - personality and appeals for help in a frank, open manner - giving no hard-luck story. He says that he is a workingman - temporarily down and that he is trying to get some money to - leave town. He does not work the same street every day. He - keeps sober. - - He has no moral scruples against begging, nor against work. - He works and works well when circumstances force him to - it. He doesn’t feel mean when out begging or “stemming.” - He looks upon it as a legitimate business and better than - stealing, and so long as the situation is such he might as - well make the best of it. He seldom “panhandles” in summer. - - He has an interesting philosophy. He calculates that - according to the law of averages out of each hundred - persons he begs, a certain number will turn him down, - a certain number will “bawl him out,” a certain number - will give him advice, and a certain number will give him - something, and his earnings will average about three - dollars. So he goes at the job with vigor each time in - order to get it over as soon as possible. “You get to - expect about so much police interference and so much - opposition from the people, and you get more of this in - winter than in summer, but that is the case in whatever - line you go into.” - - “Fat” works and begs as the notion strikes him but he - does less begging in summer and less work in winter. If - he doesn’t like one city he goes to another. Last winter - (1921-22) he was in Chicago, not because he likes Chicago - but because he happened to be here. - - -THE GAME OF “GETTING BY” - -“Getting by” is a game not without its elements of fascination. The -man who “panhandles” is getting a compensation that is not wholly -measured by the nickels and dimes he accumulates. Even the peddler -of shoestrings likes to think of “good days” when he is able to -surpass himself. It matters not by what means “the down-and-out” -gets his living; he manages to find a certain satisfaction in the -game. The necessity of “putting it over” has its own compensations. - -No group in Hobohemia is wholly without status. In every group -there are classes. In jail grand larceny is a distinction as -against petit larceny. In Hobohemia men are judged by the methods -they use to “get by.” Begging, faking, and the various other -devices for gaining a livelihood serve to classify these men among -themselves. It matters not where a man belongs, somewhere he has -a place and that place defines him to himself and to his group. -No matter what means an individual employs to get a living he -struggles to retain some shred of self-respect. Even the outcast -from home and society places a high value upon his family name. - - 9. S. R. is an Englishman fifteen years in this country. - When he came to the United States to earn a “stake” he left - his wife in England. His intention was to save enough money - to send for her. He came here partly to overcome his love - for alcohol but he found as much drink here and it was as - accessible. He earned “big money” as a bricklayer but he - never saved any. He became ashamed of himself after a year - or two and ceased to write to his wife. That is, he had - other interests here. - - Today he is a physical wreck. He is paralyzed on one side - and he is also suffering from tuberculosis brought on by - injudicious exposure and drink. He told his story but asked - that his real name, which he told, should not be used. For, - he said, “I am the only one who has ever disgraced that - name.” - -Several old men on West Madison Street are living on mere pittances -but are too proud to go to the poorhouse. They much prefer to take -their chances with other mendicants. They want to play the game to -the end. As long as they are able to totter about the street and -hold out their hands they feel that they are holding their own. To -go to an institution would mean that they had given up. Dependent -as they are and as pitiful as they look, they still have enough -self-respect to resent the thought of complete surrender. - -In the game of “getting by” the homeless man is practically sure -sooner or later to lose his economic independence. At any time -(except perhaps in periods of prolonged unemployment), only a small -proportion of homeless men are grafters, beggars, fakers, or petty -criminals. Yet, all the time, the migratory casual workers are -living from hand to mouth, always perilously near the margin of -dependence. Consequently, few homeless men have not been temporary -dependents, and great numbers of them must in time become permanent -dependents. - -This process of personal degradation of the migratory casual worker -from economic independence to pauperism is only an aspect of the -play of economic forces in modern industrial society. Seasonal -industries, business cycles, alternate periods of employment and -of unemployment, the casualization of industry, have created -this great industrial reserve army of homeless, foot-loose men -which concentrates in periods of slack employment, as winter, in -strategic centers of transportation, our largest cities. They -must live; the majority of them are indispensable in the present -competitive organization of industry; agencies and persons moved -by religious and philanthropic impulses will continue to alleviate -their condition; and yet their concentration in increasing numbers -in winter in certain areas of our large cities cannot be regarded -otherwise than as a menace. The policy of allowing the migratory -casual laborer to “get by” is, however, easier and cheaper at the -moment, even if the prevention of the economic deterioration and -personal degradation of the homeless men would, in the long run, -make for social efficiency and national economy. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[8] See Document 18. - -[9] The mayor’s office issued about 6,000 free permits in 1922 to -peddle from house to house (not from wagon or cart), from basket or -other receptacle, only for a period of sixty days. - -[10] Unpublished Document 111. - -[11] Unpublished Document 112. - -[12] Unpublished Document 113. - - - - - PART II - - TYPES OF HOBOS - - - - -CHAPTER V - -WHY DO MEN LEAVE HOME? - - -Why are there tramps and hobos? What are the conditions and motives -that make migratory workers, vagrants, homeless men? Attempts to -answer these questions have invariably raised other questions even -more difficult to answer. Homeless men themselves are not always -agreed in regard to the matter. The younger men put the blame upon -circumstance and external conditions. The older men, who know life -better, are humbler. They are disposed to go to the other extreme -and put all the blame on themselves. - - 10. “My old man tried his d--dest to get me to go to - school; but no, I couldn’t learn anything in school. I - could make my own way. I could get along without the old - man or his advice. Well, when I woke up I was forty years - old, of course it was too late. I couldn’t go back. That’s - what’s the matter with half of these d--d kids on the road. - No one can tell them anything. They’re burning up to learn - something on their own hook; and they’ll learn it, too.” - -From the records and observations of a great many men the reasons -why men leave home seem to fall under several heads: (_a_) seasonal -work and unemployment, (_b_) industrial inadequacy, (_c_) defects -of personality, (_d_) crises in the life of the person, (_e_) -racial or national discrimination, and (_f_) wanderlust. - - -SEASONAL WORK AND UNEMPLOYMENT - -Chief among the economic causes why men leave home are (1) -seasonal occupations, (2) local changes in industry, (3) seasonal -fluctuations in the demand for labor, and (4) periods of -unemployment. The cases of homeless men studied in Chicago show -how these conditions of work tend to require and to create the -migratory worker. - -1) The industrial attractions of seasonal work often make a -powerful appeal to the foot-loose man and boy. A new railroad that -is building, a mining camp just opening up, an oil boom widely -advertised, a bumper crop to be harvested in Kansas or the Dakotas -fire the imagination and bring thousands of recruits each year into -the army of seasonal and migratory workers. - - 11. Fifty-eight years old and born in Belgium. He came to - this country with his parents in 1882. His family moved to - a farm in northern Wisconsin where they remained several - years. The boy worked during his spare time in the woods. - His father soon became tired of farming and decided he - could do better in the coal camps of southern Illinois, for - he had been a miner in Belgium. After the family moved, the - boy grew restless in the mining town and decided to return - to his old home town in Wisconsin where he could get a job - in the woods which was more to his liking. For several - years he divided his time between the northern woods in - winter and the mines at his Illinois home in summer. But - he never liked coal mining and later began to go to the - harvest fields for his summer employment. Sometimes he - worked on railroad construction or at other seasonal work. - He has spent several winters in Chicago, and usually (he - says) he has been able to pay his way. However this year, - 1921-22, he has been eating some at the missions. - -This case shows the steps by which a stationary seasonal worker -becomes a migratory worker. It indicates how easily and naturally -the migrant may sink still lower in the economic scale until he -spends his winters in Hobohemia “feeding at the missions.” - -2) Local changes in industry dislocate the routine of work of the -wage-earner. The timber in certain regions gives out, mines close -down when the ore is exhausted or when prices drop, or in the -reorganization of an industry a branch factory may be abandoned. -Under these circumstances, certain workers are compelled to look -elsewhere for employment. Those who are free to move naturally -migrate. The following case is that of a migratory worker who with -the passing of the West finds it difficult to make the necessary -adjustment. - - 12. A. is the pioneer type of hobo. He came to Chicago - because he was pressed eastward by the closing down of the - mines in the West. He is about fifty years old. He was born - in southern Illinois but grew restless on the farm. He left - home in his teens to drive a team on the railroad grades. - He moved West with the railroad building. He got into the - mining game at Cripple Creek, and then turned prospector. - He spent a couple of years in the mines of Alaska. He has - never been able to attach himself to an old established - camp. He has worked in the mines of northern Michigan but - did not like it there. He regrets that he came East. He - says that he was never so hopelessly down in the West. He - plans to go back where he knows people and where he can go - out and get some kind of a job when he feels like going to - work. - - This man always carried a bundle in the West. He laments - that he found it necessary to throw his bed away when he - came East. He claims that a man with a bed and a desire - to work can get along better in the West than he has seen - anyone get along here. Out there he only went to town four - or five times a year. The rest of the time he was out in - the hills. Out there he could always find work (until this - recent industrial depression), but here he has not seen any - jobs he cares for. - -3) Seasonal fluctuations in the demand for labor accompanied by the -seasonal rise and fall in wages have greatly affected the ebb and -flow of workers. - - Industrial fluctuations may be classed as cyclical and - seasonal. Cyclical fluctuations result from business - depressions and at times double the amount of loss of - time during a year, which is illustrated by the fact that - the railroads employed 236,000 fewer men in 1908 than in - 1907. Seasonal fluctuations may either be inappreciable, - as in municipal utilities, or may displace nearly the - entire labor force. The seasonal fluctuations in the - canning industry in California, for example, involve nearly - nine-tenths of all the workers; in logging camps, which - depend upon the snow, operations are practically suspended - in summer; while in the brick and tile industry only 36.5 - per cent of the total number of employees are retained - during the dull season. Irregularities in the conduct of - industry and in the method of employing labor are evident - in dock work, in the unskilled work in iron and steel, - and in slaughtering and meat packing; in the competitive - conditions in industries which force employers to cut - labor cost down to the utmost and to close down in order - to save operating expenses; in speculative practices which - result in the piling up of orders and alternate periods - of rush production and inactivity; in loss of time due - to inefficient management within plants. In some cases - it has been charged, although without definite proof, - that irregularity of employment is due to a deliberate - policy of employers in order to lessen the chance of - organized movement, as well as to keep the level of wages - down in unskilled occupations by continually hiring new - individuals.[13] - -4) Periods of unemployment throw hundreds of thousands of men out -of work. But the effects of unemployment are not ended with the -passing of the period of business depression. The majority of -men, it is true, return to work with their economic efficiency -little if any impaired by the stress and strain of uncertainty -and deprivation. But upon thousands of men the enforced period -of idleness has had a disorganizing effect.[14] The demoralizing -effect of being out of work is particularly marked upon the -unskilled laborer. His regular routine of work has been -interrupted; habits of loafing are easily acquired. The path of -personal degradation may lead to the “bread line” at the mission, -and from there to panhandling in the Loop. - - An increasingly large number of laborers go downward - instead of upward. Young men, full of ambition and high - hopes for the future start their life as workers, but - meeting failure after failure in establishing themselves - in some trade or calling, their ambitions and hopes go - to pieces, and they gradually sink into the ranks of - migratory and casual workers. Continuing their existence - in these ranks they begin to lose self-respect and - become “hobos.” Afterwards, acquiring certain negative - habits, as those of drinking, begging, and losing all - self-control, self-respect, and desire to work, they - become “down-and-outs”--tramps, bums, vagabonds, gamblers, - pickpockets, yeggmen, and other petty criminals--in short, - public parasites, the number of whom seems to be growing - faster than the general population.[15] - - -THE INDUSTRIALLY INADEQUATE - -Every year thousands of men fail in the struggle for existence. -For one reason or another, they cannot, or at least they do not, -keep the pace set by modern large-scale industry. These men are -“misfits,” industrially inadequate. - -The majority of individuals, commonly regarded as industrially -inadequate, are probably feeble-minded or restless types like the -emotionally unstable and the egocentric and fall into the group -of defective personalities to be considered later. Other causes -of industrial incompetency are (1) physical handicaps due to -accidents, sickness, or occupational diseases; (2) alcoholism and -drug addiction; and (3) old age. - -1) The workers in certain industries are exposed to dangerous dusts -and gases. The printers have learned the risks of their trade and -endeavor to cope with them. Other industries have taken steps to -eliminate industrial hazards. Many transients are miners who go -from one job to another exposing themselves to different dangers. - - 13. O. O. is fifty-three years old and he has been a - migrant for many years. He has been a lumber jack and a - harvest hand. He has tried his hand at various casual - jobs but most of his time has been spent in the mines. - He used to work in the most dangerous mines because they - generally pay the most money. Three years ago (about 1919) - while working in the copper mines in Butte, Montana, he - contracted miner’s “con,” which is some sort of lung - trouble. He had no place to go, could not hold a job, and - has wandered about the country ever since. He has no hope - of regaining his health and is too proud to return to his - people who live in Ohio. - -Other industries also have their victims. - - 14. G. T. came from the New England states. He was - wandering about the country in hope of regaining his - health. He was a textile worker and claims that the dyes - and dust were the cause of his condition. There was no - means at hand of proving his story but the fact that he was - in ill health, very much underweight, and he was not able - to do heavy work. Numerous times he was rebuked because he - asked for light work. - -Many men in Hobohemia have limbs or parts of limbs missing, or -bent and twisted bodies. These are victims of industrial or -non-industrial accidents. - - 15. Red begs and sometimes peddles pencils along Halsted - Street. He lost his leg several years ago while working in - the coal mines. In his sober moments he claims that his - own carelessness was partly to blame for his loss, but he - also holds that the company was negligent. His leg at first - had only been bruised and he went back to work in a damp, - cold place, and inflammation set in. He has since become - accommodated to a life of begging and peddling. - -2) Alcoholism decreases the economic efficiency of the worker and -so tends to depress him into the group of homeless men. Before -prohibition the saloon had no better patron than the homeless man. -In Chicago today bootleggers and blind pigs in the vicinity of the -“stem” thrive upon the homeless man’s love for liquor. - - 16. E. J. loafs on West Madison Street and South State - Street. He drinks and does not care who knows it. He has - been a drinking man for years. “Booze put me on the bum. - Now, I’m here and I’m too old to be good for anything, so - why not keep it up? You’re goin’ t’ die when your time - comes anyway; so why not keep it up?” His philosophy helps - him to live and he lives as well as he can by begging a - little, working when any jobs come his way. He used to be - a carpenter but has lost his efficiency at that trade. He - threw up his membership in the union several years ago. - -Drinking is responsible for keeping many men on the road. One man -said that he left home because he had too many drinking friends. -He has been on the road for several years but wherever he goes -he finds other drinking friends. An old man refuses to live with -his children in the country because he cannot get his “morning’s -morning” while with them. They have written him time and again but -he does not answer. - -Drug addiction likewise decreases the industrial efficiency of its -victims. Drug addicts among homeless men seldom are transient. -Those who are transient are often cocaine users who are able to do -without the drug for considerable periods of time. Not infrequently -“coke heads” or “snow-birds” are found among the hobo workers. When -on out-of-town jobs, they are prone to go to town occasionally to -indulge in a cocaine spree much as a “booze-hoister” indulges in -a liquor spree. When their money is gone they return to work and -do not touch the “snow” for weeks or months. Users of heroin or -morphine are not able to separate themselves from the source of -supply for so long a time. - -Because of the secret nature of the practice, the extent of drug -addiction among homeless men is unknown. Men who use drugs are -loath to disclose the fact to anyone but drug users. The drug -addict employs every scheme to keep his practice a secret whereas -the drinking man strives to share his joy with others. The fear -of being discovered drives many addicts from the circle of their -family and friends and many of them drift into the homeless man -areas where they enjoy the maximum seclusion. - - 17. The investigator was accosted by a beggar in the Loop. - He was impressed by the fervor and the hurry with which - the man begged him and was away. He followed the man for - several blocks and watched him accost more than a hundred - persons, all men. The only men from whom he failed to - solicit were those accompanied by women. If two men were - standing two or three yards apart he accosted each one - individually. Only one or two men gave him anything. Most - of them looked with suspicion at him, and not without - reason, for although he was fairly well dressed he was - very dirty and his clothes looked as if he had been - sleeping out. He had a pallid, leaden complexion, and he - had a ten days’ growth of beard. He had a wild, hunted - expression and impressed the investigator as being a drug - addict. He continued to follow the man and engaged him in - conversation. He learned that he had just beat his way from - Boston. He had ridden passenger trains all the way and had - come in less than three days. His only difficulty was in - Buffalo where he says that a policeman pulled him off the - train and beat him. Why he left Boston he would not say. He - denied being a “dope” then and it was not till three days - later when he was seen in Grant Park that he admitted the - fact. He came to Chicago because he knew more people here - and was certain of getting morphine. - -Drug users need as much as three or four dollars a day, and even -more, to supply their wants. As a rule they are physically unfit -to earn a living. They cannot live as the hobos do because the -average hobo does not have money enough to buy drugs. They may be -forced to live in cheap hotels and to eat in cheap restaurants but -only to save money to satisfy the craving for “dope.” Drug addicts -wander very little except to make rapid trips from city to city. -The drug addict tends to become a criminal rather than a migratory -worker. Their natural habitat is the great city. - -3) Many old men in the tramp class are not able to work and are -too independent to go to the almshouse. Some of them have spent -their lives on the road. These old, homeless men usually find -their way to the larger cities. Unlike the younger men they have -no dreams and no longer burn with the desire to travel. Many have -been self-supporting until they were overtaken by senility. It is -pitiable to see an old man tottering along the streets living a -hand-to-mouth existence. - - 18. J. is an old man who lives in a cheap hotel on South - Desplaines Street, where a few cents a day will house him. - He is seventy-two, very bent and gray. Once he was picked - up on the street in winter and sent to the hospital where - he remained a day or two and was transferred to the poor - house at Oak Forest. He ran away from the poor house two - years ago and has managed to live. He seldom gets more - than a block or two from his lodging. Even today (1923) he - may be seen on a cold day shivering without an overcoat - on Madison Street. He is a good beggar and manages to get - from fifty cents to a dollar a day from the “boys” on - the “stem.” Sometimes during the warm weather he makes - excursions of three to five blocks away on begging tours. - He is exceedingly feeble and walking that distance is hard - work for him. Work is out of the question. There are very - few jobs that he could manage. - -This case is typical. During the summer time, when it is possible -to sit outdoors in comfort, numbers of old men may be found in -groups on the pavements or in the parks. In winter they are too -much occupied seeking food and shelter. - -The physically handicapped and industrially inefficient individuals -are numerous among the homeless men. The handicap is, in part at -least, the reason of their presence in that class. Competition with -able-bodied workers forces them into the scrap heap. - - -DEFECTS OF PERSONALITY - -Psychological and sociological studies of vagabondage in France, -Italy, and Germany have led to the conclusion that the vagabond -is primarily a psychopathic type.[16] The findings of European -psychopathologists are, of course, the result of case-studies -of beggars and wanderers in these countries and cannot without -reservation be accepted for the United States. Undoubtedly there -are large numbers of individuals with defects of personalities -among American hobos and tramps, but there are also large numbers -of normal individuals. The American tradition of pioneering, -wanderlust, seasonal employment, attract into the group of -wanderers and migratory workers a great many energetic and -venturesome normal boys and young men. - -William Healy, for several years director of the Psychopathic -Institute of Chicago, sums up the relation of mental deficiency to -vagabondage in these words: - - We have seen vagabondage in connection with - feeble-mindedness, epilepsy, dementia precox, but we - have also seen the same behavior in normal boys who had - conceived a grudge, with or without good reasons, against - home conditions. Again, we have seen normal lads who have - been seeking larger experiences in this way.[17] - -Dr. Healy’s observations were made primarily with juveniles, but -he adds cautiously a conclusion as to the explanation of adult -vagabondage: - - When vagabondage is continued beyond the unstable years - of adolescence, generalizations on the character of the - individuals are more likely to be correct. But even here - the only chance of adequate conception of the relationship - between the behavior and the type of individual who engages - in it is to be found in a personal study of him. - -The proportion of feeble-minded is popularly supposed to be -higher among the migratory and casual laborer than in the general -population. In the earlier studies, only the most obvious cases -of mental defect were noted. Mrs. Solenberger by common-sense -observation or medical examinations found only eighty-nine of the -one thousand men she examined to be feeble-minded, epileptic, or -insane.[18] - -In recent years mental tests have been given to small groups of -unemployed men, in which the types of the hobo, tramp, and bum -were well represented. Knollin found 20 per cent of the 150 hobos -he tested feeble-minded.[19] Pintner and Toops examined two groups -of applicants at Ohio free employment agencies by standardized -tests other than the Stanford revision of the Binet-Simon. Of the -94 men taking the tests at Columbus, 28.7 per cent were diagnosed -as feeble-minded. Of the 40 unemployed men examined at Dayton 7.5 -per cent were assigned to the feeble-minded class.[20] Glenn R. -Johnson gave the Stanford revision of the Binet-Simon tests to 107 -men out of work in Portland, and found 18 per cent feeble-minded, -i.e., under twelve years mental age.[21] As he had expected, he -found the proportion of inferior intelligence lower than that of -the 62 business men and high-school students upon which Terman -had standardized his tests for adults, but he also found among -hobos a higher percentage of superior adults. He found also that -the higher the intelligence of the individual the shorter the -period of holding a job among the unemployed. The testing of an -unselected group of 653 men in the army by the Stanford revision -of the Binet-Simon tests affords an interesting opportunity for a -comparison with the results of the Portland study. - -This comparison would indicate that the intelligence of the -unemployed is not lower, but, if anything, higher than that of the -adult males tested in army camps. Apparently other factors than -intelligence are decisive in determining whether an individual -is employable or unemployable, or whether he makes or fails to -make an adequate adjustment in the normal routine of industrial -organization. - -The defects in personality commonly found in the cases of homeless -men studied in Chicago are those noted by the students of vagabondage -and unemployment, namely, feeble-mindedness, constitutional -inferiority, emotional instability, and egocentricity. In a survey of -100 cases of unemployment which had been received as patients in the -Boston Psychopathic Hospital, Dr. Herman M. Adler found that 43 fell -into the class of _paranoid personality_ (egocentricity). The next -largest group of 35 cases was assigned to the class of _inadequate -personality_ (mentally defective or feeble-minded). The remaining -cases, 22 in number, were diagnosed as _emotionally unstable -personality_. An analysis of the months employed per case showed that -the emotionally unstable group averages 50 months to each job; the -inadequate group 24.7 months to each job; and the paranoid group 20.6 -months to each job.[22] - -MENTAL CAPACITY OF ARMY GROUP AND OF PORTLAND UNEMPLOYED AS -MEASURED BY STANFORD-BINET - - ============+=============+============ - | ARMY GROUP | PORTLAND - MENTAL AGE | | UNEMPLOYED - +-------------+------------ - | 653 Cases | 105 Cases - ------------+-------------+------------ - | Per Cent | Per Cent - 5 | 0.2 | - 6 | 0.3 | - 7 | 0.2 | 1.9 - 8 | 3.4 | 1.9 - 9 | 9.5 | 3.8 - 10 | 10.1 | 6.7 - 11 | 10.6 | 5.7 - 12 | 12.4 | 8.6 - 13 | 10.6 | 16.2 - 14 | 11.8 | 18.1 - 15 | 9.6 | 11.4 - 16 | 8.3 | 9.5 - 17 | 7.2 | 7.6 - 18 | 5.2 | 7.6 - 19 | 0.8 | 2.9 - ------------+-------------+------------ - -Many individuals not feeble-minded find their way into the group -of casual and migratory workers by reason of other defects of -personality, for example, emotional instability and egocentricity. -Among transient laborers the very great turnover cannot be entirely -accounted for by industrial conditions. Much of their shifting from -scene to scene is indicative of their emotional instability and -restlessness. - - 19. W. E. was born in a little village in Kentucky. His - first job away from home was on the section. When he - learned that it was the meanest job on the railroad he - decided to change. He got a job on an extra-gang where he - moved about considerably, worked in several towns during - the summer. Later got a steady job on a farm but he soon - tired of “eating at the same table day after day” and he - went to Kansas City where he worked in a box factory. He - became expert at it but soon tired of using the same tools, - and working as fast as possible day after day, and he - changed. He worked in several factories making boxes but - there was no difference. Then with his meager experience - with tools he got in the maintenance of way work of a - railroad. Here he had some variety and remained a year. - Decided he wanted to work in the mines and he got a job - timbering. Later he tried his hand at millwright work but - he soon quit that and went back to the bridge gang. He - still goes to town every month or two to spend his money - and each time he goes out to some different job. - -In hard times when work is scarce and wages are low, voluntary -quitting of jobs is much less than in good times. Hobos are -easily piqued and they will “walk off” the job on the slightest -pretext, even when they have the best jobs and living conditions -are relatively good. Hobo philosophy is disposed to represent the -man who is a long time on the job as a piker. He ought to leave a -job once in a while simply to assert his independence and to learn -something else about other jobs. The following case shows the -relation of instability and egocentricity to labor turnover: - - 20. Yes, Pete had had plenty of good jobs, but something - had always gone against him. At one place not long ago they - wanted him to continue work in spite of the dust which was - blowing everywhere. Another rude employer never spoke to - him (or any other of the employees) politely. - - No one should work for a man like that. Upon another - occasion the boss suggested reform of a certain habit--as - if he had any right to tell an American citizen what he - ought to do. - - He had worked at almost everything, but it went against his - very nature to do one thing very long. He would, in two - or three weeks, quit and look for a different occupation. - Why he quit, I am sure he didn’t know. “Independence,” - “Justice,” and “American Equality” furnished the material - for his excuses, but they were only excuses. - -A survey of the so-called “intellectuals” of Hobohemia reveals a -group of egocentric and rebellious natures who decry most things -that are. Intellectuals, just because they are highly organized -and specialized, are very likely to become misfits outside of the -environment to which they artificially are adapted. When, added to -this handicap, they lack the discipline which a regular occupation -affords they are likely to become quite impossible. - - 21. H. has a great chart that he uses to preach evolution - to the curbstone audiences. He has learned a few scientific - terms from one or two books he has read. He has no use for - the modern scientists. He considers them heretic. He is a - student of Darwin “and those old-timers.” When pinned down - he is not able to discuss clearly what contributions the - old-timers made or what they believed. - - 22. D. H. is a student of economics according to Karl Marx. - He has no room in his thinking for any contribution of any - other man. Indeed, he does not think that anyone has made - any contribution since Marx. One of his stock phrases is - “Now get this into your heads. I am making it simple so - that you can understand it.” - - 23. B. is writing a novel. He has been working on it for - several years. He also writes songs, popular songs. But - he has never sold a song nor has he ever been able to - interest a publisher in his novel. He calls the publishers - a lot of grafters and claims that they are in league to - keep the poor writers down. - - 24. L. is a soap-box orator. He has one hobby. He is - a single-taxer. He is a great believer in Lincoln, - Washington, Jefferson. To him there is only one problem, to - find out who is exploiting the people, and there is only - one remedy and that the single tax. He will entertain no - argument against the single tax. Anyone who does not share - his opinion is to be pitied. - -The intellectuals are frequently egocentric. They are obsessed by -some peculiar point of view. As egocentrics they are in conflict -with the rest of the world. Their cry is often a lament and just as -often a justification or defense. - -A study of individual cases seems to indicate that there is a -large proportion of inadequate personalities among homeless men. -The following cases indicate the variety of ways in which personal -defects lead to a migratory existence which lands them eventually -at the bottom of the social scale. - - 25. D. is a man who could not get along at home. He was - continually into difficulty with his father. He always had - ideas and schemes that his father thought foolish and he - was never permitted to carry any of them out. He still has - the habit of working up schemes and programs. One week he - will be writing a play. Again he will be inventing some - mechanical device. He has tried several different courses - in mechanical engineering but has not completed any of them. - - 26. F. has an idea that he can become a singer but he - refuses to spend his time in the rigid and arduous training - that would be required. He buys cheap books on voice - culture. When he gets money enough ahead to take lessons he - forgets his musical ambition and drinks or gambles. - - 27. L. was the “simple Simon” in his home town. During the - war he was rejected for military service so he decided to - go to the city to work. Here he earned fair money, more - than at home. The people at home used to tease him but - at first he got by fairly well in Minneapolis. Later he - went to Detroit because the fellows where he worked in - Minneapolis used “to run him.” They used to tease him in - Detroit and he left two jobs there on that account. He is - the type of person that invites teasing. He puts himself - in the way of it but resents it if it reaches a certain - extent. With the slack season in industry in 1921-22 he had - a hard time to get along but he would not return home. - - 28. H. is a man who thinks that he is getting the worst of - every deal he has with others. He says that at home he was - imposed on by his people so he left. He is always on the - lookout for plots directed against him. If he is working - along with others on a job and a bad piece of work falls - his way he concludes that it happened purposely. However, - he is ready to gloat over favors. His best efforts are made - to ingratiate himself with others. Whenever he leaves a - place, he does so with bitterness in his heart. He usually - keeps his grudge to himself. - - 29. M. is a good worker but a transient. He behaves well - when sober but he becomes quarrelsome when drunk. If he is - not discharged because of a drunken scene he usually quits - voluntarily because he feels ashamed of himself. He argues - a great deal when sober but he has the ability to control - himself. His periods of drunkenness last from a week to ten - days and are staged whenever his finances will permit. Not - infrequently he is arrested while drunk. - - -CRISES IN THE LIFE OF THE PERSON - -Crises in the life of the person, as family conflict, for example, -the feeling of failure, disgrace or embarrassment, the fear of -punishment for the commission of an offense may cause a man to -desert home and community. With the severance of family and social -ties the man or boy is all the more likely to drift aimlessly from -place to place, and at last perhaps find himself permanently in the -group of migratory and casual laborers. - -Conflict at home forces many men and boys into the group of -homeless men. Not infrequently boys run away from home because of -difficulties with their people. One youth says that his father -tried to tell him “where to head in at,” and he “wouldn’t stand for -it.” Another boy could not get along with his brothers who were -older than he. They tried to “boss” him. - -Many men in Hobohemia manifest no inclination to wander but are -as completely cut off from their home associations as are the -migrants. These men of the “home guard” types may have had trouble -with their parents or with their wives. - - 30. H. claims that he was married and that he held a job - as traveling salesman. He maintained an apartment on the - South Side where he left his wife while he was away on - trips through the Southwest. His story is that his wife - was untrue to him and he divorced her. This experience - “broke him up” so that he quit his job and went West where - he remained a year. Today he loafs on West Madison Street - and blames his wife for his failure in life. The divorced - wife’s story learned from other sources lays considerable - of the responsibility at his feet. This much of his story - is true: he was not in the tramp class before he married. - The circumstances surrounding his home trouble were - unfortunate and were partly due to the shortcomings of both. - - 31. G. lays the blame for his condition upon family - trouble. He has not lived with his wife for nine years. - They are not divorced because he and his wife are both - Catholic and do not believe in it. He worked most of the - time before their separation and claims that he owned his - own home which is now in the possession of his wife. What - his wife is doing now he does not know nor does he know - anything about their child. He is content where he is; - doing just enough work to pay expenses. - -Deaths in a family will sometimes turn a person out into the world -and he may drift into the hobo and tramp group. - - 32. M.’s father died when he was about six years old. Five - years later his mother died. Kindly neighbors took him in - charge by turns. It seemed to him that wherever he was the - people would parade the fact that they were taking “care - of” someone else’s child. It was charity. He stayed with - several different families. Some of them he liked and - others he didn’t. Some sent him to school and others didn’t - seem to care what became of him. More than one family - tried to pass him on to others on the ground that it was - too much of an expense. When he began to be old enough to - work then they all wanted him. He hated it all so he left - the country. He came through Chicago on his way to Texas. - (A sixteen-year-old boy and small for his age.) He said he - had a brother in the cavalry who was stationed in Texas. - The brother tried to persuade him to wait till he had saved - enough money to pay his fare but he preferred to take his - “chances,” so he was “beating his way.” - -Embarrassing situations often make it easier to leave home than -to remain and face the criticism or sympathy of the public. -On the road, a man is more or less immune to attacks upon his -self-consciousness and self-respect, for his relations to other -persons are loose and transient and he has no status to maintain. -The opposite is true in his home town where his every act is known. - - 33. One man who works in and near Chicago claims that - he was put on the “bum” by a woman. He was to have been - married to this girl and prepared for the wedding in good - faith. A few days before the ceremony she ran away with - another man. He was laughed at by his friends and rather - than remain and for a long time be the butt of the joke, he - packed his things and has not been back since. His home is - in a country town in southern Illinois, and although he has - been near the place several times during the past ten years - he has never returned. - - 34. F. is another case of injured pride. For some boyish - prank he had been sent to the reformatory for three years. - Upon his release he was given transportation home and - started in high glee. His people met him at the station - and took him home. Although he was treated well he felt - uncomfortable. “They treated me good because I happened - to be a part of the family. I felt like I didn’t belong - there, so as soon as it got dark I skinned out. They write - to me to come back and maybe I will after a while.” He is - an average man of the migratory worker type. He comes to - Chicago when he has money and when he is “broke” he goes - out on some job and is not seen for two or three months or - until he has another stake. He gets arrested now and then - but only on petty offenses that he commits while drunk. - -The following case shows that a sense of failure and fear of -ridicule may force a boy to leave his home community: - - 35. This lad was working in a grocery store at the age of - twelve. He became dissatisfied with the job and asked for - a raise which was denied. He was somewhat embarrassed at - being set back and lest he be laughed at for staying on - after making a demand he quit. Someone asked him what he - would do since there was no other job to be had. This was - really another challenge and he met it with the reply that - Podunk was not the only place to work. He left home to make - his bluff good. - - He met with many reverses. He was small and no one wanted - to hire him. So he begged and he “managed.” Sometimes he - did odd jobs, but he didn’t go home. Other people had left - home and come back beaten and had to take the “horse laugh” - and he did not admire any of them. He couldn’t think of - going back unless he had more money than when he left and - better clothes, so he went on. He learned to like the road - and he traveled over the country for about two years before - he went back. When he did return he was in a position to - talk. He had some money to spend, he had seen the country. - He had been East and West, and he had been to sea. He had - something to talk about. But he only remained in his home - town long enough to stir up admiration and envy and he - was off again. He is still under twenty-one and is still - traveling in response to the same urge. - -Other individuals began their migratory career by fleeing from the -consequences of some offense. If the offense is of such gravity -that the consequences seem to outweigh the advantages of remaining -in the community, then flight is the natural course. - - 36. A. states that he left home to avoid the wrath of his - father. He had been to town with the horse and buggy. On - the way home the horse became excited, left the road, ran - into a post, and broke the buggy. His father was absent - for the day and he and his brothers tried to repair the - buggy so that the parent would not suspect. It could not - be fixed and they all knew what the consequences would be. - The brothers helped him pack up and he ran away. He did not - return for three years; then it was only to remain for a - short time. - - 37. Red left home because he feared the consequences of an - affair with a woman. He claims that the woman had relations - with another man and that he was not sure that the child - would be his. The other man was a Mexican and Red says that - he has heard since that the child is a dark-skinned little - fellow and that eases his conscience. - - 38. O. could not get along with his wife. They were - divorced and he was ordered by the court to pay her thirty - dollars a month. He paid it faithfully for a couple of - months and then failed for a month or two. She had him - arrested and he agreed to make good. As soon as he was - released, he fled the country. He has been living in and - about Chicago the past year. It has been two or three years - since he left home. He has not communicated with his home - because he fears arrest. His alimony bill has mounted to - terrifying proportions. He hopes that his wife is married - again. - - -RACIAL AND NATIONAL DISCRIMINATION - -In certain situations racial or national traits cause -discrimination in employment and so result in a descent from -regular to casual work. So far as selection for employment is -adverse to the Negroes they tend to recruit the ranks of homeless -men. During the war, a much higher proportion of foreign-born -of German origin was observed on West Madison Street than had -previously been reported. Interviews with certain Russians on -the “main stem” in the spring of 1922 suggest that the public -disapproval of Bolshevism had reacted unfavorably on the chances -for employment of this nationality in the United States. - - -WANDERLUST - -Wanderlust is a longing for new experience. It is the yearning to -see new places, to feel the thrill of new sensations, to encounter -new situations, and to know the freedom and the exhilaration of -being a stranger. - - In its pure form the desire for new experience results - in motion, change, danger, instability, social - irresponsibility. It is to be seen in simple form in the - prowling and meddling activities of the child, and the - love of adventure and travel in the boy and man. It ranges - in moral quality from the pursuit of game and the pursuit - of pleasure to the pursuit of knowledge and the pursuit - of ideals. It is found equally in the vagabond and the - scientific explorer.[23] - - Even those of us who seem to have settled down quite - comfortably to exacting routine are sometimes intolerably - stirred by the wanderlust. It comes upon us unaware; and - often we cut away and go. There are automobiles, railway - cars, steamships, airplanes--serving little other purpose, - really, than the gratification of wander tendencies. - Usually we do not say it so openly of course; we make good - reasons for travelling, for not “staying put.” Many a - business man has developed a perfect technique for escaping - from his rut; many a laborer has invented a physical - inability to work steadily that lets him out into the - drifting current when monotony sets in on the job. Life is - full of these moral side doors; but we need not view man’s - rationalizing power cynically, merely understandingly. - The escapes he contrives are a damaging critique of the - modern mode of life. We may infer from them the superior - adjustments we strive so blindly toward.[24] - -Wanderlust is a wish of the person. Its expression in the form of -tramping, “making” the harvest field, roughing it, pioneering, is a -social pattern of American life. The fascination of the life of the -road is, in part, disclosed in the following case-study. - - 39. S. who is 19 years old has been a wanderer for nearly - four years. He does not know why he travels except that - he gets thrills out of it. He says that there is nothing - that he likes better than to catch trains out of a town - where the police are rather strict. When he can outwit - the “bulls” he gets a “kick” out of it. He would rather - ride the passenger trains than the freights because he can - “get there” quicker, and then, they are watched closer. He - likes to tell of making “big jumps” on passenger trains as - from the coast to Chicago in five days, or from Chicago to - Kansas City or Omaha in one day. He only works long enough - in one place to get a “grubstake,” or enough money to live - on for a few days. - - He says that he knows that he would be better off if he - would settle down at some steady job. He has tried it a - few times but the monotony of it made him so restless that - he had to leave. He thinks that he might be able to stay - in a city if he had a steady job and he agreed to take - such a job if he could get it. Jobs were scarce and the - investigator promised to take him to the United Charities - to help him get placed. - - The following morning the lad came to the office with - another boy with whom he had become acquainted that - morning. He had changed his mind about that job but wanted - to thank everyone who had taken an interest in him. He and - his “buddy” were going to “make the Harvest.” - -The longing to see the world is often stimulated in a boy by reason -of the experiences of some relative or friend whom he admires. One -boy went on the road because of the influence his uncle had upon -him. The uncle did not advise him to leave home, in fact, he did -not know very much about the boy. But the uncle had been to war, -and had traveled in China, Alaska, and South America. The boy had -to go on the road to become disillusioned. He now knows that his -uncle is a plain tramp and that he himself has become a hobo. - - 40. W. left home when he was sixteen. He was the oldest of - a family of five boys and three girls. His father owned a - farm in Michigan and was usually hard pressed for means. - He needed help at home and so W. was kept out of school a - great deal. When he did go to school it was hard for him - to learn. When the father saw that the younger boys were - passing W. in school he decided that it was time wasted to - send W. to school. W. was big for his age and the father - imposed more work on him than on the other boys who were - smaller. W. felt that he was not getting a square deal so - he ran away. - - He remained away a year before he dared to write. One - reason he did not write sooner was because he was not - earning much money, and the other reason was that he - feared his father would hunt him down and force him to - return. When he felt secure he wrote more frequently and - most of his letters were boastful. He told of prospering - and he moved from place to place often to show the other - children at home that he could go and come as he pleased. - He traveled in different parts of the country and from each - part he would write painting his experiences in a rosy hue. - - He succeeded in stirring up unrest in the hearts of the - other boys who left home one by one. In about two years N. - followed W. L. soon began to feel that he too could make - “his way” so he left. All five of the boys left home before - they were sixteen. Each felt that he was wasting his time - about home while the other boys were seeing the country and - making good money. Only one of the five boys returned home. - The others roamed the country following migratory work. - One married but only lived with his wife a year and then - deserted her. - - The father always blamed W. for leading the boys away. W. - used to send presents to the other members of the family. - He used to send the mother money now and then. He was the - idol of the rest of the children and they left home to - follow in his footsteps. - -A visit to the “jungles” at the junction of any railroad or at the -outskirts of any large city or even small town reveals the extent -to which the tramp is consciously and enthusiastically imitated. -Around the camp fire watching the coffee pot boil or the “mulligan” -cook, the boys are often found mingling with the tramps and -listening in on their stories of adventure. - -To boys the tramp is not a problem, but a human being, and an -interesting one at that. He has no cares nor burdens to hold him -down. All he is concerned with is to live and seek adventure, and -in this he personifies the heroes in the stories the boys have -read. Tramp life is an invitation to a career of varied experiences -and adventures. All this is a promise and a challenge. A promise -that all the wishes that disturb him shall be fulfilled and a -challenge to leave the work-a-day world that he is bound to. - - -THE MULTIPLE EXPLANATION - -No single cause can be found to explain how a man may be reduced -to the status of a homeless, migratory, and casual laborer. In -any given case all of the factors analyzed above may have entered -into the process of economic and social degradation. Indeed, the -conjunction of several of these causes is necessary to explain the -extent and the nature of the casualization and mobility of labor -in this country. Unemployment and seasonal work disorganize the -routine of life of the individual worker and destroy regular habits -of work but at the same time thousands of boys and men moved by -wanderlust are eager to escape the monotony of stable and settled -existence. No matter how perfect a social and economic order may -yet be devised there will always remain certain “misfits,” the -industrially inadequate, the unstable and egocentric, who will ever -tend to conflict with constituted authority in industry, society, -and government. - -The description, however, of these causes of vagabondage--(_a_) -unemployment and seasonal work, (_b_) industrial inadequacy, (_c_) -defects of personality, (_d_) crises in the life of the person, -(_e_) racial or national discrimination, (_f_) wanderlust--is a -necessary condition to any solution of the problem of the homeless -man. A program is remedial and not preventive that does not grapple -with the fundamental causes here revealed. These causes have roots -at the very core of our American life, in our industrial system, -in education, cultural and vocational, in family relations, in the -problems of racial and immigrant adjustment, and in the opportunity -offered or denied by society for the expression of the wishes of -the person. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[13] _Final Report of the Commission on Industrial Relations_ -(1915), pp. 163-64. - -[14] B. Seebohm Rountree, _Unemployment; A Social Study_. London, -1911. See especially chap. vii, “Detailed Descriptions of Selected -Families,” where the demoralizing effects of unemployment upon the -laborer are clearly indicated. - -[15] _Final Report of the Commission on Industrial Relations_ -(1915), p. 157. - -[16] See Bibliography, p. 287. - -[17] _The Individual Delinquent_, pp. 776-79. - -[18] _One Thousand Homeless Men_, pp. 88-89. - -[19] L. M. Terman, _The Measurement of Intelligence_, p. 18. - -[20] Rudolph Pintner and H. A. Toops, “Mental Tests of Unemployed -Men,” _Journal of Applied Psychology_, I (1917), 325-41; II (1918), -15-25. - -[21] “Unemployment and Feeble-mindedness,” _Journal of -Delinquency_, II (1917), 59-73. - -[22] Herman M. Adler, “Unemployment and Personality--A Study of -Psychopathic Cases,” _Mental Hygiene_, I (January, 1917), 16-24. - -[23] R. E. Park and H. A. Miller, _Old World Traits Transplanted_, -p. 27. - -[24] Rexford Tugwell, “The Gypsy Strain,” _Pacific Review_, pp. -177-78. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE HOBO AND THE TRAMP - - -The term “homeless man” was used by Mrs. Alice W. Solenberger -in her study of 1,000 cases in Chicago to include all types of -unattached men, tramps, hobos, bums, and the other nameless -varieties of the “go-abouts.” - - Almost all “tramps” are “homeless men” but by no means - are all homeless men tramps. The homeless man may be an - able-bodied workman without a family; he may be a runaway - boy, a consumptive temporarily stranded on his way to a - health resort, an irresponsible, feeble-minded, or insane - man, but unless he is also a professional wanderer he is - not a “tramp.”[25] - -There is no better term at hand than “homeless men” by which the -men who inhabit Hobohemia may be characterized. Dr. Ben L. Reitman, -who has himself traveled as a tramp, in the sense in which he uses -the word, has defined the three principal types of the hobo. He -says: - - There are three types of the genus vagrant: the hobo, the - tramp, and the bum. The hobo works and wanders, the tramp - dreams and wanders and the bum drinks and wanders. - -St. John Tucker, formerly the president of the “Hobo College” in -Chicago, gives the same classification with a slightly different -definition: - - A hobo is a migratory worker. A tramp is a migratory - non-worker. A bum is a stationary non-worker. Upon the - labor of the _migratory worker_ all the basic industries - depend. He goes forth from the crowded slavemarkets to - hew the forests, build and repair the railroads, tunnel - mountains and build ravines. His is the labor that harvests - the wheat in the fall and cuts the ice in the winter. All - of these are hobos. - -M. Kuhn, of St. Louis (and elsewhere), a migrant, a writer, and, -according to his own definition, a hobo, in a pamphlet entitled -“The Hobo Problem” gives a fairly representative statement of the -homeless man’s explanation of his lot. - - The hobo is a seasonal, transient, migratory worker of - either sex. Being a seasonal worker he is necessarily - idle much of the time; being transient, he is necessarily - homeless. He is detached from the soil and the fireside. - By the nature of his work and not by his own will, he is - precluded from establishing a home and rearing a family. - Sex, poverty, habits and degree of skill have nothing - whatever to do with classifying individuals as hobos; the - character of his work does that. - - There are individuals not hobos who pose as such. They are - enabled to do this for two reasons: first, hobos have no - organization by which they can expose the impostor; second, - the frauds are encouraged and made possible by organized - and private charity. The hobo class, therefore, is unable - to rid itself of this extremely undesirable element. With - organization it can and will be done even if charity, which - is strongly opposed by the hobo class, is not abolished. - -Nicholas Klein, president of the “Hobo College” and attorney and -adviser to James Eads How, the so-called hobo millionaire, who -finances the “Hobo College,” says: - - A hobo is one who travels in search of work, the migratory - worker who must go about to find employment. Workers of - that sort pick our berries, fruit, hops, and help to - harvest the crops on the western farms. They follow the - seasons around giving their time to farms in spring, - summer, and autumn, and ending up in the ice fields in - winter. We could not get in our crops without them for the - hobo is the boy who does the work. The name originated from - the words “hoe-boy” plainly derived from work on the farm. - A tramp is one who travels but does not work, and a bum is - a man who stays in one place and does not work. Between - these grades there is a great gulf of social distinction. - Don’t get tramps and hobos mixed. They are quite - different in many respects. The chief difference being - that the hobo will work and the tramp will not, preferring - to live on what he can pick up at back doors as he makes - his way through the country.[26] - -[Illustration: LEADERS IN THE EDUCATIONAL MOVEMENT AMONG THE HOBOS] - -[Illustration: A POPULAR RESORT IN HOBOHEMIA] - -Roger Payne, A.B. and LL.B., who has taken upon himself the title -“hobo philosopher,” sees only one type of the wanderer and that is -the hobo. The hobo to him is a migratory worker. If he works but -does not migrate, or if he migrates but does not work, he is not a -hobo. All others are either tramps or bums. He makes no distinction -between them. The hobo, foot-loose and care-free, leads, Mr. Payne -thinks, the ideal life. - -Although we cannot draw lines closely, it seems clear that there -are at least five types of homeless men: (_a_) the seasonal -worker,[27] (_b_) the transient or occasional worker or hobo, -(_c_) the tramp who “dreams and wanders” and works only when it -is convenient, (_d_) the bum who seldom wanders and seldom works, -and (_e_) the home guard who lives in Hobohemia and does not leave -town.[28] - - -THE SEASONAL WORKER - -Seasonal workers are men who have definite occupations in different -seasons. The yearly circuit of their labors takes them about the -country, often into several different states. These men may work -in the clothing industries during cold weather but in summer are -employed at odd jobs; or they may have steady work in summer and -do odd jobs in winter. One man picks fruit in summer and works -as a machinist in winter. He does not spend his summers in the -same state nor his winters in the same city but follows those two -occupations throughout the year. - - 41. Bill S. is a Scotchman and a seasonal worker. During - the winter he is usually in Chicago. He works as a - practical nurse. He is efficient and well liked by his - patients and a steady worker during the winter. In summer - he quits and goes to the harvest fields or works on a - construction job. Since leaving his winter job (March to - October, 1922) he has had several jobs out of Chicago none - of which lasted more than a week or two. Between times he - loafs on West Madison Street. He does not drink. He is well - behaved. Seldom dresses up. When last heard of he was in - Kansas City, Missouri, where he thought he would spend the - winter. - - 42. Jack M. works on the lake boats during the sailing - season. When the boats tie up for the winter he tries to - get into the factories, or he goes to the woods. Sometimes - during the tie-up he takes a notion to travel and goes West - or South to while away the time. He has just returned from - a trip East and South where he has been “seeking work” and - “killing time” a week or so before the season opened. He - has already signed up for the summer. He is loafing and - lodging in the meanwhile on West Madison and South State - streets. - -The seasonal worker has a particular kind of work that he follows -somewhere at least part of the year. The hotels of Hobohemia are a -winter resort for many of these seasonal workers whose schedule is -relatively fixed and habitudinal. Some of these who return to the -city regularly every winter come with money. In that case, they -do not work until next season. Others return without money. They -have some kind of work which they follow in the winter. The hobo, -proper, is a transient worker without a program. - - -THE HOBO - -A hobo is a migratory worker in the strict sense of the word. He -works at whatever is convenient in the mills, the shops, the mines, -the harvests, or any of the numerous jobs that come his way without -regard for the times or the seasons. The range of his activities is -nation wide and with many hobos it is international. He may cross -a continent between jobs. He may be able in one year to function -in several industries. He may have a trade or even a profession. -He may even be reduced to begging between jobs, but his living is -primarily gained by work and that puts him in the hobo class. - - 43. E. J. is a carpenter. He was at one time a good workman - but due to drink and dissipation he has lost his ability to - do fine work and has been reduced to the status of a rough - carpenter. At present he follows bridge work and concrete - form work. Sometimes he tries his hand at plain house - carpentry but due to the fact that he moves about so much, - he has lost or disposed of many of his tools. A spree lasts - about three weeks and he has about three or four a year. - Sometimes he travels without his kit and does not work - at his trade. He never drinks while working. It is only - when he goes to town to spend his vacations that he gets - drunk. He is restless and uncomfortable and does not know - how to occupy his mind when he is in town and sober. He is - fifty-six years old. He never married and never has had a - home since he was a boy. - - 44. M. P. is interesting because he has a trade but does - not follow it seasonally. He is a plasterer and he seems to - be a good one. In his youth he learned the trade of stone - mason. He came to this country from England in his twenties - and he is past fifty now. He married in Pennsylvania where - his wife died and where a daughter still lives. He became - a wanderer and for many years did not work at his trade. - He did various kinds of work as the notion came to him. As - he is getting older he is less inclined to wander and he - makes fewer excursions into other lines of work outside his - trade. During the past year he has not left Chicago and - he has done little other than to work as a plasterer. He - lives in the Hobohemian areas and is able to get along two - or three weeks on a few days’ work. He seldom works more - than a week at a time. He takes a lively interest in the - hobo movement of the city and has been actively engaged in - the “Hobo College.” Recently he won a lot in a raffle. It - is located in the suburbs of the city. During the summer - (1922) he had a camp out there and he and his friends from - Madison Street spent considerable time in his private - “jungle.” - -The hobo group comprises the bulk of the migratory workers, in -fact, nearly all migrants in transit are hobos of one sort or -other. Hobos have a romantic place in our history. From the -beginning they have been numbered among the pioneers. They have -played an important rôle in reclaiming the desert and in subduing -the trackless forests. They have contributed more to the open, -frank, and adventurous spirit of the Old West than we are always -willing to admit. They are, as it were, belated frontiersmen. -Their presence in the migrant group has been the chief factor in -making the American vagabond class different from that of any other -country. - -It is difficult to classify the numerous types of hobos. The -habits, type of work, the routes of travel, etc., seem to differ -with each individual. Some live more parasitic lives than others. -Some never beg or get drunk, while others never come to town -without getting intoxicated and being robbed or arrested, and -perhaps beaten. One common characteristic of the hobo, however, is -that he works. He usually has horny hands and a worker’s mien. He -aims to live by his labor. - -As there are different types of homeless men, so different varieties -of this particular brand, the hobo, may be differentiated. A part -of the hobo group known as “harvest hands” follows the harvest and -other agricultural occupations of seasonal nature. Another segment of -the group works in the lumber woods and are known as “lumber jacks” -or “timber beasts.” A third group is employed in construction and -maintenance work. A “gandy dancer” is a man who works on the railroad -track tamping ties. If he works on the section he may be called a -“snipe” or a “jerry.” - - A “skinner” is a man who drives horses or mules. - - A “mucker” or a “shovel stiff” is a man who does manual - labor on construction jobs. - - A “rust eater” usually works on extra-gangs or track-laying - jobs; handles steel. - - A “dino” is a man who works with and handles dynamite. - - A “splinter-belly” is a man who does rough carpenter work - or bridge work. - - A “cotton glaumer” picks cotton, an “apple knocker” picks - apples and other fruit. - - A “beach comber” is a plain sailor, of all men the most - transient. - -For every vocation that is open to the migratory worker there is -some such characteristic name. In the West the hobo usually carries -a bundle in which he has a bed, some extra clothes, and a little -food. The man who carries such a bundle is usually known as a -“bundle stiff” or “bundle bum.” The modern hobo does not carry a -bundle because it hinders him when he wishes to travel fast. It is -the old man who went West “to grow up with the country” who still -clings to his blanket roll. - - -THE TRAMP - -While the word “tramp” is often used as a blanket term applied -to all classes of homeless and potentially vagrant or transient -types, it is here used in a stricter sense to designate a smaller -group. He is usually thought of, by those familiar with his natural -history, as an able-bodied individual who has the romantic passion -to see the country and to gain new experience without work. He is -a specialist at “getting by.” He is the type that Josiah Flynt -had in mind when he wrote his book, _Tramping with Tramps_. He -is typically neither a drunkard nor a bum, but an easy-going -individual who lives from hand to mouth for the mere joy of living. - - 45. X. began life as a half orphan. Later he was adopted - and taken from Ohio to South Dakota. In his early teens he - grew restive at home and left. But for brief seasons he has - been away ever since and he is now past forty-five. He has - traveled far and wide since but has worked little. He makes - his living by selling joke books and song books. Sometimes - he tries his hand at selling little articles from door to - door. A few years ago he wrote a booklet on an economic - subject and sold several thousand copies. During the winter - of 1921-22 he sold the _Hobo News_ each month. He is able - to make a living this way. Any extra money he has he - loses at the gambling tables. He spends his leisure time - attempting to write songs or poetry. He knows a great deal - about publishers but it is all information that has come in - his efforts to sell his songs. He claims that he has been - working for several years on a novel. He offered his work - for inspection. He tries to lead the hero through all the - places that he has visited and the hero comes in contact - with many of the things he has seen or experienced in many - cities but nowhere does his hero work. He enjoys life just - as X. endeavors to do now. During the summer (1922) he has - taken several “vacations” in the country for a week or more - at the time. - - 46. C. is twenty-five years old. His home is in New York - but he has not been home for more than ten years. He - introduced himself to the “Hobo College” early in the - spring of 1922 as “B-2.” This name he assumed upon the - conviction that he is the successor of “A-1,” the famous - tramp. He said that he had read “A-1’s” books and although - he did not agree in every respect, yet he thought that - “A-1” was the greatest of tramp writers. “B-2” claimed - that he had ridden on every railroad in the United States. - His evidence of travel was a book of postoffice stamps. - When he comes to a town he goes to the postoffice and - requests the postmaster to stamp his book much as letters - are stamped. Another hobby he has is to go to the leading - newspapers and endeavor to sell a write-up. He carries an - accumulation of clippings. He has an assortment of flashy - stories that take well with newspaper men. He claims that - he has been pursued by bloodhounds in the South, that he - has been arrested many times for vagrancy, that he is the - only man who has beat his way on the Pikes Peak Railroad. - He always carries a blanket and many other things that - class him among wanderers as an individualist. He has been - in the Army, saw action and was in the Army of Occupation. - He does not seek work. He says his leisure time can be - better spent. He carries a vest pocket kodak. He says that - the pictures and notes he takes will some day be published. - -The distinctions between the seasonal worker, the hobo, and the -tramp, while important, are not hard and fast. The seasonal worker -may descend into the ranks of the hobos, and a hobo may sink to the -level of the tramp. But the knowledge of this tendency to pass from -one migratory group to another is significant for any program that -attempts to deal with the homeless man. Significant, also, but not -sufficiently recognized, is the difference between these migratory -types and the stationary types of homeless men, the “home guard” -and the “bum.” - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[25] _One Thousand Homeless Men_, p. 209. - -[26] _Dearborn Independent_, March 18, 1922. - -[27] The seasonal worker may be regarded also as the upper-class -hobo. - -[28] The first three types of homeless men are described in this -chapter; the last two types are considered in chapter vii. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THE HOME GUARD AND THE BUM - - -The seasonal worker, the hobo, and the tramp are migratory types; -the home guard and the bum are relatively stationary. The home -guard, like the hobo, is a casual laborer, but he works, often only -by the day, now at one and again at another of the multitude of -unskilled jobs in the city. The bum, like the tramp, is unwilling -to work and lives by begging and petty thieving. - - -THE HOME GUARD - -Nearly if not quite one-half of the homeless men in Hobohemia are -stationary casual laborers. These men, contemptuously termed “home -guards” by the hobo and the tramp, work regularly or irregularly -at unskilled work, day labor, and odd jobs. They live or at least -spend their leisure time on the “main stem,” but seldom come to -the attention of the charities or the police, or ask alms on the -street. Many of them have lived in Chicago for years. Others after -a migratory career as hobos or tramps “settle down” to a stationary -existence. This group includes remittance men, often the “black -sheep” of families of standing in far-off communities who send them -a small regular allowance to remain away from home. - - 47. L. E. was born on the West Side and at present his - family lives in Logan Square. He is twenty-three years old - and has been away from home a year. He claims that after - his mother’s death he and his father could not agree. He - immediately found his way to West Madison Street where - he has lived since. During the winter (1921-22) he was - converted in the Bible Rescue Mission but later he got - drunk and would not try again. However, he used to visit - the mission after that when he had no bed and was hungry. - He is a teamster and works regularly though he saves no - money. He has no decent clothing and cares for none. He - cares only to spend his Sundays and leisure time on West - Madison Street, where he has a few acquaintances. He - usually returns to work Monday morning after such visits, - sick from the moonshine whisky. His health is not good. - Most of his teeth are decayed but he will not save money to - get dental work done. If he has any money to spend aside - from that wanted for booze he goes to the movies and loafs - the time away. He also attends the Haymarket or the Star - and Garter theaters. He left his job two or three times - during the summer. While he was not working he slept in - stables. He doesn’t go home nor communicate with his people. - -The tendency for the casual worker to sink to the level of the bum -is illustrated by the case of “Shorty”: - - 48. “Shorty” claims that he has lived in the Hobohemian - areas on South State and West Madison streets for - thirty-nine years. He has never lived anywhere else. He - doesn’t care to go anywhere else. He tried married life - a while but failed because of drink and returned to the - “street.” Drink is still getting him into trouble. He has - dropped down the economic scale from an occasional worker - to the status of a bum. This summer (1922) he has been - arrested several times, and he has served two terms at the - House of Correction. All the arrests were for drunkenness - and disorder. He is developing into a professional - panhandler or beggar. During the summer he has had two or - three jobs. Once he was at the stockyards where he claims - to have worked steadily in the early days. Being well known - on the “streets” he is able to get odd jobs now and then - that give him money enough to “get by.” He has not been - divorced from his wife. She won’t live with him and he does - not care. He has a child twelve or thirteen years old but - he has not seen her for several years. He does not know - where she is. He is not interested. He spends his leisure - time on Madison Street near Desplaines where he may be - found almost every day standing on the corner or sitting on - the curb talking to some other “bo.” - - -THE BUM - -In every city there are ne’er-do-wells--men who are wholly or -partially dependent and frequently delinquent as well. The most -hopeless and the most helpless of all the homeless men is the bum, -including in this type the inveterate drunkard and drug addicts. -Old, helpless, and unemployable, these are the most pitiable and -the most repulsive types of the down-and-outs. From this class are -recruited the so-called “mission stiffs” who are so unpopular among -the Hobohemian population. - - 49. L. D., forty-five years old, is a typical so-called - “mission bum.” He has not been known to work for eight - months. During winter he is always present in some mission. - Once he permitted himself to be led forward and knelt - in prayer but was put out of the same mission later for - being drunk. He claims that he was a prize fighter in his - youth. He has traveled a great deal but he has always been - a drinking man. When he is sober he is morose and quiet. - As soon as spring permitted him to sleep out he ceased to - visit the missions. - - He has spent most of the summer on the docks along the - river where he sleeps nights and where he has been getting - work now and then unloading the fruit boats that ply - between Chicago and Michigan. During the eight months he - has been observed he has bought no new clothes. Not once - during the summer has he left the city. He says that he - has been in town for three years. The future seems to mean - nothing to him. He does not worry about the coming winter. - - 50. A. B. is an habitual drunkard. He migrates a great - deal but it seems that his migrations are to escape - tedium and monotony rather than to work. He is a little, - hollow-chested, undersized man and he claims to be - thirty-two. He says that his health has not been good. He - has a work history, it seems, but it is a record of light - jobs. He picked berries, washed dishes, peddled, but he was - also a successful beggar. His success in begging seems to - lie in the ability to look pitiful. He has been in but four - or five states of the Middle West but has been in most - of the large cities. He does not patronize the missions - because he says he can do better begging. - - -OTHER TYPES OF HOMELESS MEN - -Many of the terms which are epithets picturesquely describe special -types of homeless men. The popular names for the various types of -tramps and hobos are current terms that have been picked up on the -street as they pass from mouth to mouth. Some of them are new, -others are old, while all of them are in flux. Names of types are -coined by the men themselves. They serve a while and then pass out, -giving place to new and more catchy terms. Change is characteristic -of tramp terminology and tramp jargon. Words assume a different -meaning as they are extensively used, or they become too general in -their use and newer terms are invented. Many of the names by which -types are designated were at first terms of derision, but terms -seem to lose their stigma by continued use.[29] - -Among tramps who seldom if ever work are those who peddle some kind -of wares or sell some kind of service. - - The Mushfaker is a man who sells his services. He may be - a tinker, a glazier, an umbrella mender, or he may repair - sewing machines or typewriters. Some mushfakers even - pose as piano tuners. The mushfaker usually follows some - occupation which permits him to sit in the shade while he - works. Often the trade or art he plies is one that he has - learned in a penal institution. - - The Scissor Bill is a man who carries with him tools to - sharpen saws, knives, razors, etc. Often he pushes a - grindstone along the street. - - Beggars among tramps are usually named with reference to - the methods they employ. - -The following classification is taken from a narrative work by -“A No. 1, The Famous Tramp,” who claims to have traveled 500,000 -miles for $7.61. His books are more or less sensational and are -not popular among many tramps, because they say the incidents he -relates are overdrawn.[30] - - -THE RATING OF THE TRAMPS BY “A NO. 1” - - 1. Pillinger Solicited alms at stores, offices, and - residences - - 2. Moocher Accosted passers-by in the street - - 3. Flopper Squatted on sidewalk in business - thoroughfares - - 4. Stiffy Simulated paralysis - - 5. Dummy Pretends to be deaf and dumb - - 6. Wires Peddling articles made of stolen telegraph - wires - - 7. Mush Faker } - } Umbrella mender who learned trade in penal - } institution - 8. Mush Rigger} - - 9. Wangy Disguised begging by selling shoestrings - - 10. Stickers Disguised begging by selling court plaster - - 11. Timbers Disguised begging by selling lead pencils - - 12. Sticks Train rider who lost a leg - - 13. Peg Train rider who lost a foot - - 14. Fingy or Fingers Train rider who lost one or more fingers - - 15. Blinky Train rider who lost one or both eyes - - 16. Wingy Train rider who lost one or both arms - - 17. Mitts Train rider who lost one or both hands - - 18. Righty Train rider who lost right arm and leg - - 19. Lefty Train rider who lost left arm and leg - - 20. Halfy Train rider who lost both legs below knee - - 21. Straight Crip Actually crippled or otherwise afflicted - - 22. Phoney Crip Self-mutilated or simulating a deformity - - 23. Pokey Stiff Subsisting on handouts solely - - 24. Phoney Stiff Disposing of fraudulent jewelry - - 25. Proper Stiff Considered manual toil the acme of - disgrace - - 26. Gink or Gandy Stiff Occasionally labored, a day or two at the - most - - 27. Alkee Stiff } - } Confirmed consumers of alcohol - 28. White Line Stiff} - - 29. Rummy Stiff Deranged intellect by habitual use of raw - rum - - 30. Bundle Stiff } - } Carried bedding - 31. Blanket Stiff} - - 32. Chronicker Hoboed with cooking utensils - - 33. Stew Bum } - } - 34. Ding Bat } - } - 35. Fuzzy Tail } The dregs of vagrantdom - } - 36. Grease Tail } - } - 37. Jungle Buzzard} - - 38. Shine or Dingy Colored vagabond - - 39. Gay Cat Employed as scout by criminal tramps - - 40. Dino or Dynamiter Sponged food of fellow hobos - - 41. Yegg Roving desperado - - 42. Gun Moll A dangerous woman tramp - - 43. Hay Bag A female stew bum - - 44. Jocker Taught minors to beg and crook - - 45. Road Kid or Preshun Boy held in bondage by jocker - - 46. Punk Boy discarded by jocker - - 47. Gonsil Youth not yet adopted by jocker - -The beggar is one who stands in one place. He supplicates help -by appealing to the pity of the passers-by. The moocher is an -individual who is somewhat more mobile than the beggar. He moves -about, going to the houses and asking for food, clothing, and -even money, if he can get it. The panhandler is a beggar of a more -courageous type. He hails men on the street and asks for money. -He does not fawn nor whine nor strive to arouse pity. Dr. Reitman -says: “The only difference between a moocher and a panhandler is -that the moocher goes to the back door while the panhandler goes to -the front door.” - -The beggar types may also be divided into the able-bodied and the -non-able-bodied. The non-able-bodied beggars are more numerous in -the cities. They are forced, because of their handicaps, to remain -where the greatest number of people are. Some handicapped beggars, -however, are able to travel with marvelous speed over the country. -These non-able-bodied types go by different names according to -their afflictions. - - Peggy is a one-legged man. Stumpy is a legless man. Wingy - is a man with one or both arms off. Blinky is a man with - one or both eyes defected. A Dummy is a man who is dumb or - deaf and dumb. Some of these types do not beg. They make a - livelihood by peddling or working at odd jobs. A Nut is a - man who is apparently mentally deranged. - -The Hop Head is an interesting type. He is usually in a pitiful -condition, for he has small chance, living as he does, in the tramp -class, to get money to buy “dope.” Frequently he resorts to clever -and even desperate means to secure it. One type of dope fiend is -the Junkie. He uses a “gun” or needle to inject morphine or heroin. -A Sniffer is one who sniffs cocaine. More frequent than the drug -habit is the drink habit. - -The tramp class has different types of predatory individuals and -petty or even major offenders: - - The Gun is a man who might be termed a first-class crook. - He is usually a man who is living in the tramp class to - avoid apprehension. He may be a robber or a burglar. - - The Jack Roller is a tramp who robs a fellow-tramp while he - is drunk or asleep. There is a type of “Jack” who operates - among the men going to and from the harvests. He may hold - them up in a box car with a gun or in some dark alley. He - is usually called a Hi-Jack. - -Among other types of tramps are: - - The Mission Stiff who preys upon the missions. He will - often submit to being converted for his bed and board. - - The Grafter is frequently a man who is able to exploit the - private and public charity organizations, or the fraternal - organizations. - - The Bad Actor is a man who has become a nuisance to his - people and they pay him money provided he does not show - himself in his home town. - - The Jungle Buzzard is a tramp who lives in the jungles from - what he can beg. He will wash the pots and kettles for the - privilege of eating what is left in them. - -From the point of view of abnormal sex relations there are several -types of tramps: - - A Punk is a boy who travels about the country with a man - known as a jocker. - - A jocker is a man who exploits boys; that is, he either - exploits their sex or he has them steal or beg for him - or both. The term “wolf” is often used synonymously with - jocker. - - Fairies or Fags are men or boys who exploit sex for profit. - -From the economic standpoint, migratory workers are employables and -unemployables. Between the extremes there are individuals of every -shade of employability. The ability of a man to support himself -is presumed to be related to his ability and to his opportunity -to work. The tramp problem has been interpreted first of all as -an unemployment problem, but this does not take account of the -unemployables. - -First of all, there are the physically handicapped, the crippled, -the blind, the deaf, and the aged, and many who are too fat or too -puny or too sickly to do heavy manual work. Perhaps a half of the -whole group in a city like Chicago are physically handicapped to a -greater or less extent. - -Second, the psychopathic types include many irresponsible and -undependable persons found in the population of Hobohemia. These -either cannot hold a job, or do not care to; they have other -ideals. They could, no doubt, do some sort of work but most of them -would have to be supervised. - -To what degree homeless men are employable, to what degree some of -them are partially employable, and to what extent the whole group -is unemployable is a question that cannot be finally answered.[31] - -The problem of the homeless men is variously interpreted. The -courts and the police are interested in them as offenders. As -offenders, they are generally recidivists; to the social worker and -the missionary they represent a body of men who have no purpose or -direction. - -One mission worker says: - - A few of them can hold their own. They manage to work most - of the time and pay their way, but most of them are “broke” - some of the time and some of them are without money all the - time. They are always making resolutions and never keeping - them. They don’t seem to have any stiffening in their - backbone. - -However we may classify this group, the fact remains that we have -here a great body of persons, probably more than a million in the -United States,[32] and that they furnish a problem that seems to be -ever present. It is, as we shall see later, a great heterogeneous -group, unorganized and incapable of being organized. They have -been gathered from every walk of life and for a thousand different -reasons find themselves in this class. There are restless and -normal boys and young men who are out in the world for adventure -and whose stay in the class is more or less temporary; there -are able-bodied men of more mature age who are either wholly -self-supporting or are self-supporting most of the time; and there -are old men who are too aged and infirm to work and too proud to -surrender themselves to an institution. There are the physically -incapacitated and the mentally inadequate who are more or less -dependent and are likely to continue so, and there are many types -of persons who are the victims of lingering diseases or who are -addicted to drink or drugs and are not able to hold their own. All -these are making the best struggle that their wits, their strength, -and their opportunities permit to get a living. Some of them are in -the group by choice and have their minds clearly made up to climb -out, others hope to get out and strive to but never will, and yet -others never have any such visions. - - -RELATIVE NUMBERS OF DIFFERENT TYPES - -An estimate has already been made that the number of homeless -men in Chicago range from 30,000 in the summer to 60,000 in the -winter, reaching 75,000 in periods of unemployment. Any attempt -to state the numbers of the different types of homeless men can be -little more than a guess. The difficulty is the greater because -individuals are continually passing from one group into another -group. One man in his lifetime may perchance have been, in turn, -seasonal laborer, hobo, tramp, home guard, and bum. - -The public generally fails to distinguish between these types. -The group of bums, beggars, and petty thieves, often mistakenly -thought of as representative of the homeless men’s group, probably -does not exceed in Chicago a total number of 2,500. The number of -the home-guard type, the stationary casual worker, has been placed -at 30,000, the summer population of Hobohemia on the basis of the -number of permanent guests at lodging-house and hotel, and the -number of registered voters among the homeless men.[33] The number -of tramps who visit Chicago each year can only be roughly estimated -at 150,000,[34] or an average of perhaps 5,000 at any given time. -The migratory worker, including both the seasonal laborer and the -hobo, number on the average around 10,000 and reach a total of -300,000 or more persons who come to Chicago for the winter or to -secure a shipment to work outside the city. In periods of economic -depression the numbers of homeless men in Hobohemia are swollen -with men out of work, the majority of whom for the first time have -been turned adrift on the “main stem.” - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[29] The term “punk” is an instance; it had a special meaning at -one time but is beginning to have a milder and more general use and -the term “lamb” is taking its place. - -[30] _Mother Delcassee of the Hobos_, pp. 43-44. - -[31] The unemployables are a more or less permanent class and do -not come and go with the seasons as do the employables. Able-bodied -employables are an effect of economic depression. - -[32] Estimates vary; Lescohier (Commons, _Trade Unionism and Labor -Problems_, 133) gives the number as “more than half a million men,” -while Speek (_Annals of the American Academy_, 1917) refers to -estimates that go as high as five million. - -[33] See p. 14 n. - -[34] These numbers indicate the number of visits rather than the -number of separate individuals since a certain proportion of men -visit Chicago two or more times during the year. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -WORK - - -The occupations that select out of the foot-loose males in our -population the most restless types are: - -1. _Agriculture or crop moving._--When the crops are ready to be -garnered labor must be imported at any cost. The leading crops -in these seasonal demands are grain harvesting, corn shucking, -fruit picking, potato digging, beet topping, cotton picking, -hop picking, etc. If a man follows the wheat harvest, he may be -occupied from the middle of June when the crop is ready in Oklahoma -until November or December when the season ends with threshing in -North Dakota and Canada. Workers who pick fruit may remain in one -locality and have some kind of fruit always coming on. - -2. _Building and construction work._--Next to crop moving the -building trades and construction jobs make the heaviest seasonal -demands upon the labor market. Railroad construction, ditch -digging, and similar occupations are generally discontinued during -the winter. Carpentry, masonry, brick and concrete work are only -carried on with reduced numbers of men through the cold months. - -3. _Fishing._--Salmon fishing on the Pacific Coast and oyster -fishing on the Atlantic Coast are also seasonal industries. In the -fishing industry, as in other seasonal occupations, there is a -demand for experienced workers that cannot always be had when most -needed. - -4. _Sheep shearing._--Sheep shearing is a skilled trade. Thousands -of men are needed to harvest the wool crop each year and these -men are forced to become migratory. The shearing season, like the -harvest, moves from border to border during a period of three or -four months. In the Southwest the sheep are sometimes clipped twice -a year. The shearing jobs are usually short but lucrative. - -5. _Ice harvesting._--Formerly the ice harvest furnished employment -to an army of men for two months or more during the winter. -Ice-manufacturing plants have diminished the demand for natural -ice, though ice cutting still furnishes winter jobs for many men. - -6. _Lumbering._--Working in the lumber woods and in the saw mills -is not now so much of a seasonal job as it was when the industry -centered around the Great Lakes. The industry has gone West or -over the border into Canada, where, with the longer winter season -and improved facilities, it operates almost all year. It is not -necessary in Washington, Oregon, and California to wait for the -snow to begin work in the woods as in Michigan and Wisconsin in the -early days. - -Certain occupations not essentially seasonal have a tendency to -contribute to migrancy. In many metal mines a man’s health will not -permit him to work long. He leaves and goes into some other mine in -the same or a different district where the danger is not present. A -miner tends to become a migrant for the sake of his health. There -are other industries in which hazards exist that force workers to -become transient. - -The American hobo has been a great pioneer. New mining camps, oil -booms, the building of a town in a few weeks, or any mushroom -development utilizes a great many transient workers. After a -flood, a fire, or an earthquake, there is a great demand for labor. -The migratory worker is always ready to respond. It is his life, -in which he finds variety and experience and, last but not least, -something to talk about. - - -JOB HUNTING AMONG THE CASUAL WORKERS - -In seasonal and casual work, as in all types of industry, a process -of selection takes place. Great numbers of men are attracted into -seasonal occupations because of the good wages offered. But only -those remain who are content to migrate from one locality to -another in response to the demands for labor. The average man soon -realizes that in the course of a year seasonal work does not pay -even if fabulous wages are received for short-lived jobs. The man -who continues as a migratory worker is likely, therefore, to be a -person who is either unable to find or unable to hold a permanent -job. Some workers become restless after a few weeks or months in -one place. Seasonal and casual work seems to have selected out -these restless types and made hobos of them. - -Migratory workers have a certain body of traditions: they know -how to get work; what kind of work to look for; when to look for -certain kinds of work, and where certain work may be found. They -fall in with the seasonal migration of workers and drift into -certain localities to do certain jobs; to the potato fields, the -fruit picking, the wheat harvest. - -The hobo worker finds his way to out-of-town jobs more often than -to city work. Upon leaving an out-of-town job he is likely to -return to the city in order to locate another job out of the city -or even out of the state. This tendency of the foot-loose worker -to drift into the city has turned the attention of the employer to -the city whenever he needed help. Both the worker and the employer -have been attracted to the city in an effort to solve their labor -difficulties. Intermediate agencies spring up to bring together -the jobless man and the man with jobs to offer. Employment agents, -congregating in the Hobohemian sections of the city, convert those -areas into labor markets. - -Chicago is probably the greatest labor exchange for the migratory -worker in the United States, if not in the world. Probably no other -city furnishes more men for railroad work. In days past, when so -many new railroads were being built, there were great demands -for men in the West, and it was not uncommon to get a 1,000-mile -shipment any time in the year. One is still able to secure free -shipments of from 400 to 600 miles. - -There are more than 200 private employment agencies in Chicago. -There were, on August 14, 1922, 39 licensed private agencies of -the type patronized by the homeless man. Eighteen of these were on -Canal Street, thirteen were on West Madison Street, and the rest in -close proximity to that area. In addition to these there are many -agencies not operating on a commission basis which hire men for a -private corporation and are maintained by that corporation. As such -they are not licensed nor does the law affect them. - -No figures are at hand to show how many men these private agencies -place during the year. Their records are not merely inadequate; -they are a joke. In fact, few of them keep records that list all -applicants, all men placed, jobs registered, etc., though the state -law definitely declares that this must be done. - -The inclusion of the non-fee-collecting agencies will raise the -number from 39 to over 50. If each agency sends out, at a low -estimate, 10 men a day, and if each operates 300 days a year, a -total of 150,000 men are placed in jobs annually. Over 57,000 -men in 1921-22 were placed by the free employment agency. Many -of these homeless men have access to other private agencies than -those situated on the “stem,” and often they prefer to go to such -agencies. If 100 of these agencies furnished jobs to 2 homeless -men a day for 300 days a year, we would have an additional 60,000. -About 250,000 homeless men pass through the Chicago employment -agencies every year. - -Employment agencies fall into two classes--the public, or those -operated by the federal government, the state, or the municipality -and those conducted under private management. The private agency is -the pioneer. It was not only the outgrowth of a certain condition -in the labor market but it was the reason for the creation of the -public employment bureau. - - -PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES - -The idea is becoming general that employment offices have a -social responsibility. They have duties to the applicants, to the -employers, and to the public that are more than economic; more than -a business of selling jobs to jobless men. It is a responsibility -that is not imposed upon the ordinary business man and that has no -prominent place in the code of business ethics. - -The private employment agencies that cater to the homeless men -are chiefly located on the West Side. The 1919-20 _Report of the -Illinois Department of Labor_[35] shows that during that period -there were 295 licensed private employment agencies in Chicago. As -we noted above, about fifty of these serve the homeless men. Most -of these fifty agencies are located along Canal Street opposite the -Union Depot, or along Madison Street between the Chicago River and -Halsted Street. Some of these operate the year round, while others -come and go with the seasons, opening up in prosperous times and -going out of existence when the demand for labor falls. - -A few of the private agencies are fairly well equipped; that is, -they have desks, counters, telephone, chairs or benches, and a -waiting-room which in cold weather is kept warm for the patrons. -Others, the majority, have very little equipment, perhaps a chair -and a table in a single, bare room. They keep no books other than -what they carry in their pockets. For the average small labor agent -an office is only used as a place to hang the license. He gets his -patrons by standing on the street and soliciting. The other private -agents are playing the rôle of man catcher, and he must do the same -if he would succeed. - -There are two types of private labor agencies--the commission -agencies, and the boarding or commissary agencies. The commission -agency is the pioneer job-selling institution which survives by -charging a fee to the employer who seeks workers, or by charging -a fee to the applicants, or by charging both. Usually they charge -both the applicant and the employer, and formerly their prices -were governed by the demand for jobs, on the one hand, and for -workers, on the other. (If the competition is for workers they can -raise the price charged the employer. If jobs are scarce they can -raise the price charged the applicant.) The boarding and commissary -agency charge no fee for the job. Their profit is made in keeping -the boarding-house for the men they hire. - -In the past it was proverbial that better shipments could be had -from the private agencies in Chicago than from any other city. A -few years ago the Chicago agencies were shipping men to all the -big jobs within a radius of from 500 to 1,000 miles, and men would -come to Chicago from 500 to 1,000 miles in one direction to be -sent by the agencies to work on some job equally as far in another -direction. These long-distance interstate shipments have been the -chief factor in the prosperity of the private agencies. High prices -were charged for the long shipments but the men were willing to -pay them whether the job was good or not in order to secure free -transportation west or south or east. The long shipments are not so -numerous at present and the high fees are no longer permitted. - - The charge sometimes made that the private agencies are - gruff and discourteous would seem well founded if one - failed to consider the behavior of homeless men on the - street. These men would not pass the same judgment. They - are used to speaking roughly to each other. They take and - give hard blows in their dealings with the “labor shark.” - Many men can get along much better with the blunt and - unceremonious private agent than with the sleek, precise, - courteous, and business-like officials in the public - agencies. Their preference for the private agent is not for - his gruffness or the ease with which they may approach - him. It is mainly because he serves them better. They hate - him for his fees but he gets the jobs they want. - -The migratory worker resents the idea of being obliged to pay for -the privilege of securing work. In every program that the hobo has -advocated to change society he has made reference to the “labor -shark.” The hobo worker is never disappointed to find that the job -has been misrepresented by the agency. Nor is the agency surprised -if the applicant does not go to work when he arrives on the job. - - -PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES - -The state has been forced into the employment business because of -the problems presented by private agencies. The public employment -agency in Chicago has not displaced or even seriously affected the -private employment agency. It is still only in the experimental -stage, a laboratory in which the employment problem may be studied. - -There are three public free employment offices in Chicago: one at -116 North Dearborn for skilled workers, one at 105 South Jefferson -Street for unskilled workers, and one at 344 East Thirty-fifth -Street, chiefly for Negro workers. The homeless man is chiefly -interested in the Federal and State Labor Exchange located at 105 -South Jefferson Street. However, the central office on Dearborn -Street, which specializes in skilled and permanent employment, -attracts two or three hundred homeless men a day, mainly from South -State Street. This office is careful not to send out on jobs “dead -line men.” - - By “dead line men” are meant men who live on Madison west - of Canal Street. Men “living” on Clark, State, and Dearborn - streets are more reliable and stand a better chance than - the “dead line men” to get jobs. The firms that place - their demand for help with the Dearborn Street bureau - generally want references, showing place of residence and - name of former employer. Such firms will not consider a - West Madison Street man. The clerks sometimes advise an - applicant to change his address to that of some relative - in case the applicant makes a favorable impression with - the clerk. If a man looks and speaks intelligently but is - too ragged and dirty to send out on a job, the suggestion - is sometimes made to clean up and spruce up a bit. The - transformation in some cases is astonishing.[36] - -Probably four or five times as many men are placed by the private -as by the public employment agencies. It seems paradoxical that -the migratory worker should patronize the private labor agent whom -he regards as an exploiter and a parasite rather than the free -employment office, yet there are good reasons for his behavior. - -In the first place, the office of the public agency, although -little more than a block away, is not on the “main stem.” Strangers -in the city find their way to the “slave market” without difficulty -but may never become aware of the existence of the free employment -office. A migratory worker likes to do a little “window shopping” -before he takes a job. He likes to go along the streets reading -the red or blue or yellow placards announcing jobs and shipments -until he has made up his mind. The signs and scribbled windows of -the private agency are maneuvers of salesmanship. The public agency -has no such signs on the outside. The men must go inside to see the -blackboard upon which the jobs are written. - -Further, the public agency is in duty bound, as the private agency -is not, to keep records and to get certain information from the -workers who apply for jobs, and from the employers as well. The -men who patronize these agencies dislike the “red tape” of the -public agency; they are often unwilling to be catalogued and -given a number, or go through the other formalities so necessary -for efficiency. The decisive reason why the migratory worker -patronizes the private agency is because it carries a better class -of jobs. Jobs involving interstate shipments are usually given to -the private agencies, partly because it is customary, and partly -because they know how to solicit such contracts for labor. It is -difficult for a man to get an out-of-state job in the public agency -since it is more or less local in its jurisdiction. The private -agencies attract the hobos also because they make no effort to see -that he goes to work after he has been sent. Indeed, it is to their -advantage if he does not go to work, for then they have the chance -to send another man. The public agency makes an effort to “follow -up” the applicants and to “keep tab” on them. The hobo worker shies -from such solicitous treatment. - -Mr. J. J. Kenna, chief inspector of private employment agencies, -believes that the private agencies should be obliged to do -likewise. He wrote in his report to the State Department of Labor -in 1920: - - Another question that might be given consideration is the - subject of public information pertaining to the business of - private employment agencies for the instruction of those - interested in labor problems and legislation, namely: - - A law compelling the agencies to furnish the State - Department of Labor with a monthly report of the number of - all applicants applying for positions, their ages, etc., - and also the number of persons brought into the State - and sent out of the State and to where sent, the kind of - employment for which they were engaged, etc.[37] - -Nothing would do more for efficiency in the employment office -business than to compel the private agencies to keep as efficient -records as the public bureau. The spirit of competition so -prevalent in the private agencies is not present in the public -labor bureau. The public agency stands complacently on the side, -never entering the struggle to get jobs and men together. It is too -much of an office and too little of an agency. - -The public and private agencies operate upon diametrically opposing -assumptions. The assumption of the public agency is that the man -once placed will remain so long as the job lasts, and a large -proportion of their jobs, especially in the Dearborn Street office, -are for “long stake” men. A man’s record, his qualifications, are -taken and he is sent out to the job with the notion that he will -work steady. The private agencies, on the contrary, assume that few -of these men will remain long on the job; that they may stay ten -days or two weeks and seldom longer than three months. The public -agency with an eye to permanency may be expected to move slowly in -placing men on jobs, whereas the private agency will send anyone to -any job that he says he can do and that he is willing to pay for. - - -THE CASUALIZATION OF LABOR - -The casualization of labor, in spite of its concern to place men -permanently, has a tendency to attract “home guards,” i.e., men who -do not care to leave the city and yet do not want steady work. They -may work from a day to a week, then they return for another job. - -The following are a few of the names taken at random from a list of -men who had been given ten or more jobs by the Federal and State -Labor Exchange between March 1, 1922, and August 15, 1922 (five and -one-half months): - - Number Jobs - Wm. Mitchell 1,735 20 - Jas. Perry 5,878 10 - Tony Felk 1,195 10 - Jas. Griffin 5,811 12 - F. Mullen 5,069 21 - Ed. Moorhead 635 20 - Fred Wagoner 5,334 15 - Jas. Purl 682 16 - F. A. Murlin 5,390 13 - W. Galvin 628 18 - A. Myers 3,700 17 - W. Slavis 2,202 19 - P. Myshowi 2,408 15 - C. Carroll 4,742 16 - Jas. Lewis 3,872 16 - -The records show hundreds of similar instances. Some men have been -sent to as many as forty or fifty jobs during a period of six -months and few stayed with a job more than a month or two. - - John M. secured 26 jobs from the Free Employment Bureau - in less than three months between May 4 and July 26. The - following is the list of employers with the dates of - employment:[38] - - 1. Morris and Co. May 4 - 2. Ravina Nursery May 6 - 3. Edison Co. May 10 - 4. Ed Katzinger May 18 - 5. New Era Coal Co. May 24 - 6. Ravina Nursery May 26 - 7. Home Fuel Co. May 27 - 8. Morris and Co. May 31 - 9. Ill. Bell Telephone Co. June 8 - 10. Flazman Iron Co. June 12 - 11. Greenpoint Beef Co. June 13 - 12. Astrid Rosing Co. June 14 - 13. Armstrong Paint Co. June 21 - 14. Const. Mattress Co. June 22 - 15. Armour Co. June 26 - 16. Oxweld Acetylene Co. June 27 - 17. Oxweld Acetylene Co. June 29 - 18. Wisconsin Lime Co. June 30 - 19. American Express Co. July 1 - 20. Wisconsin Lime Co. July 5 - 21. Oxweld Acetylene Co. July 10 - 22. Oxweld Acetylene Co. July 11 - 23. Edison Co. July 15 - 24. Low Pipe Co. July 24 - 25. International Har. Co. July 25 - 26. J. A. Ross July 26 - -John M. is a casual laborer. He is one of a type that works by the -day, is paid by the day, and lives by the day. Don. D. Lescohier -has described the characteristics of the casual workers: - - A man becomes a casual when he acquires the casual state - of mind. The extreme type of casual never seeks more than - a day’s work. He lives strictly to the rule, one day at a - time. If you ask him why he does not take a steady job, he - will tell you that he would like to, but that he hasn’t - money enough to enable him to live until pay-day, and no - one will give him credit. If you offer to advance his board - until pay-day, he will accept your offer and accept the - job you offer him, but he will not show up on the job, or - else will quit at the end of the first day. He has acquired - a standard or scale of work and life that makes it almost - impossible for him to restore himself to steady employment. - He lacks the desire, the will-power, self-control, - ambition, and habits of industry which are essential to - it.[39] - -The demoralizing effect of a period of unemployment upon the -migratory and casual worker is indicated in an interview given to -the investigator by Mr. Charles J. Boyd, general superintendent of -the Illinois Free Employment Offices in Chicago. - - Depending on one’s point of view, the homeless man, owing - to the serious industrial depression during the winter of - 1921-1922 had remarkable success in begging or panhandling. - The spirit of the public during the depression was to help - the unemployed man and advantage of this situation was - not lost sight of by the hobo who worked on the sympathy - of the public. With the approach of summer and improved - industrial conditions, the hobo continued to make a living - in other ways than by working for it. There seems to be - an understanding among this class of men not to work for - less than 50c an hour, and they are loath to accept steady - employment at 35c to 37½c hour when they can do temporary - work, and work at a different job every day, or any day - one pleases, at 45c to 50c an hour. The hobo is reluctant - to work in foundries or steel mills. He likes the open and - when winter is past, the hobo, with few exceptions, refuses - inside work. - - The hobos of today are made up of young men, ranging in - ages from 18 to 35 years. They form in groups of six or - seven, camp in the “brush” and send a different one of - their group out each day to panhandle in the town or - village near which they may be camping. Then too, these men - have very decided views on the Volstead law, before the - enactment of which the hobo felt he had some inducement to - work, for he liked his beer, if it was only 1½ per cent, - and he did not know it. But since prohibition, his attitude - seems to be “Why should I work any more than I really have - to?” or in other words, more than to get enough for food - and a place to sleep.[40] - -The hobo is not unfamiliar with strike jobs. Corporations, when -forced to the wall in a labor crisis, often come to the “stem” -for their strike-breakers. By offering alluring wages and the -assurance of security, they are able to attract from ranks of -even the casual workers enough men to keep the plants running. -Labor agencies of this kind are not popular on the “stem”; neither -are the men who hire out as strike-breakers. But in spite of this -stigma they survive as during the railroad strike in the summer -of 1922. These railroad agencies crowded even to the heart of the -Madison Street mart and eventually forced the private agencies to -deal in strike jobs. - -Strike-breakers or “scabs” are of four varieties: (1) men who are -innocently attracted to the job (it is generally charged that this -was the case in the Herrin affair); (2) men who are “too proud to -beg and too honest to steal”; (3) men who have a grudge against -some striking union, or against organized labor in general; and (4) -men who hire out as bona fide workers but really “bore from within” -and in the language of the radical “work sabotage.” - - -A NATIONAL PROBLEM - -All the problems of the homeless man go back in one way or another -to the conditions of his work. The irregularity of his employment -is reflected in the irregularity of all phases of his existence. -To deal with him even as an individual, society must deal also -with the economic forces which have formed his behavior, with the -seasonal and cyclical fluctuations in industry. This means that the -problem of the homeless man is not local but national. - -The establishment during the war of the United States Employment -Service gave promise of an attempt to cope with the problem -nationally. The curtailment of this service since 1919 through -inadequate appropriations has prevented its functioning on a scale -which the situation demands. - -The emphasis upon the development of a national program means no -lack of recognition of the service of local employment agencies. -They are indispensable units in any effective plan of nation-wide -organization. The bureaus and branches, in Chicago, of the Illinois -Free Employment offices are now co-operating with the United States -Employment Service. - - -A CLEARING HOUSE FOR HOMELESS MEN - -The accumulated experience of the local employment agencies will -be valuable not only in the future expansion of the national -employment service, but in pointing the way to the next steps to -be taken locally in dealing with the homeless man as a worker. -The officials of these agencies have learned that the problem -of adjusting the migratory casual worker in industry involves -human nature as well as economics. A conviction is growing that -in connection with, or in addition to, the public employment -agency designed to bring together the man and the job, there is -need of a clearing house which offers medical, psychological, -and sociological diagnosis as a basis for vocational guidance, -after-care service, and industrial rehabilitation. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[35] P. 51. - -[36] Koster, unpublished manuscript, pp. 17-18. - -[37] _Third Annual Report of the Department of Labor_ (1920), p. 50. - -[38] E. H. Koster, unpublished notes, pp. 42-43. - -[39] Lescohier, _The Labor Market_, p. 264. - -[40] From the unpublished notes of an interview by E. H. Koster. - - - - - PART III - - THE HOBO PROBLEM - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -HEALTH - - -No extended study has ever been made that would afford an adequate -index for the physical fitness of homeless men. Municipal -lodging-houses, jails, hospitals, and other institutions have -collected certain data. But such information is indicative of -the physical and mental condition of those only who have become -problems of charity or correction. They do not represent the -whole group of homeless men. However, it is evident from these -studies that a large proportion of the entire group is below par -physically. They indicate at least that defective individuals are -comparatively numerous among hobos and tramps. - - -THE PHYSICALLY DEFECTIVE - -Mrs. Alice W. Solenberger found that two-thirds of her 1,000 cases -were either physically or mentally defective. Of these, 627 men -and boys were suffering from a total of 722 physical and mental -deficiencies.[41] - - Condition Instances - - Insanity 52 - Feeble-mindedness 19 - Epilepsy 18 - Paralysis 40 - Other nervous disorders 21 - Tuberculosis 93 - Rheumatism 37 - Venereal diseases 21 - Other infectious diseases 15 - Heart disease 14 - Disorders of organs other than heart 19 - Crippled, maimed, or deformed; from birth or accident 168 - Rupture 11 - Cancer 6 - Blind, including partly blind 43 - Deaf, including partly deaf 14 - Defective health through use of drugs and drink 16 - Defective health from lack of nourishment and other - causes 24 - Convalescent 33 - Aged 35 - All other diseases and defects 7 - Doubtful 16 - --- - Total instances 722 - Total number of different men in defective health or - condition 627 - -She tells us that of the 222 more or less permanently handicapped, -106 men had been entirely self-supporting before their injuries -while 127 were entirely dependent after injury. - -A careful study of 100 homeless men made in the Municipal Lodging -House of New York City by F. C. Laubach showed the following -defects:[42] - - Tubercular 7 - Venereal 26 - Bronchial 4 - Feeble 14 - Senile 16 - Deformed 4 - Maimed 14 - Malnutrition 13 - Poor sight 9 - Poor hearing 1 - Impediment of speech 2 - Physically sound 28 - -Laubach’s 100 cases were selected from more than 400 men. They -represented the 100 who remained longest to be examined (perhaps -the 100 the least able to get away). He found 28 per cent -able-bodied while Mrs. Solenberger reported 37.3 per cent without -observable defects. That this per cent of defectives is high for -more unselected groups will be shown by the following extract from -the report of the Municipal Lodging House of New York City for 1915. - - ... Fifteen hundred men were studied by a staff of fifteen - investigators. At the same time a medical examination - of two thousand men was conducted by fifteen medical - examiners. This investigation represented the first large - attempt in America to find out about the men who take - refuge in a municipal lodging house.... - - Of the 2,000 men who were given a medical examination, - 1,774, approximately 9 out of every 10, were, according to - the adjudgments of the examining physicians, physically - able to work. Twelve hundred and forty-seven, or 62 per - cent of the total, were considered physically able to do - regular hard manual labor; 254, or 18 per cent, to do - medium hard work; and 173, or 9 per cent, to do light work - only. Two hundred and twenty-six, 1 out of every 10, were - adjudged physically unable to work.[43] - -This investigation showed that in a lean year, when many men were -out of work, a large proportion of the lodging-house population is -composed of handicapped men. The physical condition of 400 tramps -interviewed by the writer is not so much in contradiction as in -supplement to the foregoing studies.[44] Only men in transit were -tabulated. Nearly all of them were the typical migratory workers -or hobos. Observation was limited to apparent defects that would -hinder in a noticeable manner the working capacity of the men. - - Senile 6 - Maimed 8 - Eye lost or partly blind 5 - Eye trouble 5 - Venereal disease 1 - Partly paralyzed 2 - Tuberculosis 2 - Feeble-minded 7 - Chronic poor health 4 - Impediment of speech 2 - Temporarily injured 4 - Oversized or undersized 4 - - These 50 defects were distributed among 48 persons - -Subtracting those who could be classed mentally defective, we have -but forty-one persons who were apparently physically handicapped. -It will be noted that the percentage of the aged is considerably -lower than the previous tables show. The same is true of the maimed -and injured. They were all men who were able to “get over the -road.” One of the maimed men had lost an arm while the two others -had each lost a foot. - -Eye trouble was listed separately because these were ailments that -were passing. Three of the men had weak eyes and this condition had -been aggravated by train riding and loss of sleep. One man had been -gassed in the army and his eyes suffered from the wind and bright -light. Only one man admitted that he was suffering from a venereal -disease. - -Both men suffering from tuberculosis were miners. Both had been in -hospitals for treatment. One of them was in a precarious condition. -The men listed as oversized and undersized might be properly -considered physically handicapped. Two of them were uncomfortably -fat while the other two were conspicuously under weight and height. - - -THE HOBO’S HEALTH ON THE JOB - -Often the seasonal work sought by the migratory worker is located -in out-of-the-way places or with little or no medical or sanitary -supervision. Sometimes there are not even tents for the men to -sleep in. Life and work in the open, so conducive to health on -bright, warm days, involves exposure in cold and stormy weather. -In the northwest, where rain is so abundant that workers suffer -considerably from exposure, strikes have even been called to -enforce demands for warm, dry bunkhouses. - -In addition to the exposure to the elements there are other hazards -the migratory and casual workers run. On most of his jobs, whether -in the woods, the swamps, in the sawmills, or the mines and -quarries, in the harvest, on bridges or on the highways, the hobo -faces danger. Since he is in the habit of working only a few days -at the time, a well-paying, hazardous job appeals to him. The not -infrequent accidents are serious since few of these foot-loose men -carry insurance. - -Seasonal labor generally consists of hard work like shoveling or -lifting and carrying heavy loads. Only men who can do hard work -are wanted. Not much so-called “light work” aside from a few jobs -in kitchens, in stables, or about camps is open to the transient. -Many homeless men are not physically able to do eight or ten hours’ -hard labor without suffering. They are often weak from eating poor -food or from dissipation. Even if they go on a job with their minds -made up to remain one or two months they are often obliged to leave -after a few days. Often the hobo works on jobs where there is no -medical attention. Sometimes, where the job includes large numbers -of men, a physician is hired to go from camp to camp. He is usually -known as a “pill peddler” and all he pretends to do is give first -aid to the injured and treat passing ailments. Serious cases he -sends to the hospital. - -Big industrial organizations usually carry some sort of medical -insurance and in some cases accident insurance. This system of -workingmen’s compensation for industrial accidents is maintained -sometimes by fees taken from the pay of the men, sometimes entirely -by the employer. The accident compensation, the hospital, and -medical privileges apply only to ailments and injuries caused by -his work. - -The food the hobo receives on the job is not always palatable, nor -does it always come up to the requirements of a balanced diet or -the caloric needs of a workingman. In the business of feeding the -men, considerable exploitation enters which the men are powerless -to prevent. The boarding contracts are often left to boarding -companies that agree to feed the men and furnish bunks for prices -ranging (since the war) from five to eight dollars a week. For the -privilege of boarding the workers, they agree to keep the gangs -filled. Often in the West the men furnish their own beds, but -private “bundle beds” are passing. Some companies furnish good -beds, but the general rule is to supply a tick that may be filled -with straw and a couple of quilts which are charged to the worker -until he returns them. These quilts and blankets are often used -again and again by different men without being cleaned during a -whole season. - -Several boarding companies maintain free employment agencies in -Chicago, well known to the hobo and generally disliked. The -chief complaint against them is that in hard times, when men are -plentiful, there is a tendency to drop on the quality and the -quantity of the food. In such an event the monotony of the menu -and the unsavory manner in which food is prepared is a scandal -in Hoboland. However, all complaints against boarding companies -are not due to bad food. Poor cooking is another ground for much -dissatisfaction. Efficient camp cooks are rare and too high priced -for the average boarding company. - - -THE HEALTH OF THE MAN ON THE “STEM” - -The hazards the homeless man takes while at work in the city are -far less than on the seasonal out-of-town work. The health problem -of the transient “on the stem” is nevertheless serious. It is not -so much a problem of work conditions as of hotels and lodging -accommodations and restaurants. - -The cheap lodging-houses and hotels in Chicago are under the -surveillance of the Chicago Department of Health. The department -has done much to keep down contagion and to raise the standards -of these places. Infectious diseases have been more rare here -than in hotels in the Loop. These hotels survived the influenza -epidemics as well as any in the city. There has been a gradual -rise in the standards of health and sanitation of the hotels and -lodging-houses, but just how much this is due to the watchful -care of the Department of Health cannot be said. Other factors, -such as business competition, may also have entered in to improve -conditions. - -In many respects the cheap workingmen’s hotels still fall far -below the standards set by law. Indeed, if all of them lived up -to the letter of the law in every respect, many would find it -unprofitable to operate. These hotels are in buildings that were -erected for other purposes, buildings that cannot be adequately -made over to accommodate comfortably hundreds of men. - -The problem of ventilation is present in the older hotels for men. -In some corners, in hallways and isolated rooms, there is never any -circulation of air. The smells accumulate from day to day so that -the guest on entering a room is greeted by a variety of odors to -which each of his predecessors has contributed. - -The following statement of an investigator indicates what is one of -the most objectionable features of the cheap hotel. - - The lack of adequate toilet facilities is deplorable. In - one hotel I found two toilets for one hundred and eighty - men and in another seven for three hundred and eighty. Some - of the toilets have absolutely no outside ventilation, - opening on sleeping rooms. Some of them are located in - halls with no partition separating them from sleeping rooms - and are a source of foul and nauseating odors.[45] - -With respect to wash basins and bath facilities the condition is no -better. Many do not even have hot water. In some places from twenty -to forty men use the same wash bowl. - -The Department of Health has taken an active part in the campaign -against vermin, and co-operates whenever a complaint is made. -Their task seems hopeless since the patrons are so transient and -so frequently carry vermin from one place to another. The very -buildings are often breeding places for bedbugs, lice, and roaches. - - -SICKNESS AND DISEASE - -If the homeless man becomes sick or injured while at work he likely -will be cared for by the hospital maintained by the industry. -But he is in dire distress when he has no job and is in need of -medical attention. Occasionally men without funds go to private -physicians and not infrequently they get free treatment, but the -traditional and easier method of meeting such situations is to -go to an institution. Chicago, with its numerous hospitals and -medical colleges, is a Mecca for the sick and the afflicted of the -“floating fraternity.” Homeless men come sometimes several hundred -miles for treatment to this great healing center of trampdom. They -have no scruples against entering an institution as a charity -patient. To them it is not charity, but something due to the sick. - - -VENEREAL DISEASE - -Venereal disease and ailments growing out of venereal disease play -a considerable rôle among the tramp population. The Chicago Health -Department on the basis of the medical examination of inmates of -the House of Correction estimates that 10 per cent of the homeless -men are venereally infected.[46] This is double the rate of -infection found in drafted men.[47] - -The transient does not take venereal disease seriously. He takes no -precautions to protect himself after exposure. Necessity forces him -out on some job where he must work, sometimes even in an active -stage of infection. Often he tries to treat himself with remedies -recommended by druggists or friends. Once the transient submits to -treatment in a hospital or by a physician he will seldom continue -it after the active stage of his case has been passed. - -Along the “stem,” sex perversion is not infrequent and occasionally -from such contacts infections occur. Embarrassing as it is for the -homeless man to apply to a hospital or clinic for treatment for -social disease, it is doubly so when thus infected. That such cases -are not numerous is true, but they do exist, and they provide an -answer to the pervert who holds that homosexuality is safe from -disease.[48] - - -ALCOHOLISM AND HEALTH - -Practically all homeless men drink when liquor is available. The -only sober moments for many hobos and tramps are when they are -without funds.[49] The majority, however, are periodic drinkers -who have sober periods of a week, a month or two, or even a year. -These are the men who often work all summer with the avowed purpose -of going to some lodging-house and living quietly during the -winter, but usually they find themselves in the midst of a drunken -debauch before they have been in town more than a day or two. -Rarely does one meet a man among migratory workers who does not -indulge in an occasional “spree”; the teetotalers are few indeed. - -The homeless man on a spree usually drinks as long as his money -lasts, and then he usually employs all the devices at his command -to get money to prolong the debauch. For the time being he will -disregard all other wants. After he sobers up and finds himself -sick, weak, and nervous, his plight is a sad one. He has no -appetite for the only food he is able to buy and the food he -craves he cannot afford. He is too weak and shaky to work, and -too disheartened to beg. In summer he can go to the parks or the -docks and sleep it off. Getting drunk in winter means more or less -exposure for these men, and their sobering up not infrequently -takes place in the hospital--or in jail. In view of these -after-effects, drinking is more serious for the homeless man than -for any other. - -Chronic or periodic drunkenness with its accompanying exposure -leaves a stamp on the constitution of the homeless man that is not -easily erased. It aggravates any latent weaknesses that he may -have, and if he does not go to the hospital after a debauch with -lung trouble, nervous diseases, heart trouble, or rheumatism, he -is at least lowering his resistance to these and other diseases. -The man who survives best spends long periods on the job and only -occasionally visits the city. - -When the amount of exposure, the extent of dissipation, and the -malnutrition that falls to the lot of the homeless man are taken -into consideration, it is remarkable that he is as free from -sickness as he is. The fact that he is outdoors much of the time -may have something to do with this. - - -THE PROBLEM OF HEALTH - -Disease, physical disability, and insanitary living conditions seem -to be, as things are, the natural and inevitable consequences of -the migratory risk-taking and irregular life of the homeless man. -These effects of his work and life upon his physical constitution -will be considered by many the most appalling of all the problems -affecting the hobo and the tramp. Municipal provision and -philanthropic effort have been and will continue to be directed to -the treatment of his diseases and defects and to the improvement -of his living conditions. The efficiency of the homeless man as a -worker and his chance of regaining his lost economic and social -status depend upon his physical rehabilitation. A clearing house -for the homeless man when established should, therefore, include -as one of its activities facilities for diagnosis of the needs, -medical, vocational, social, of each individual. - -The living conditions of the homeless man, although revolting to -the public, are intolerable to him, chiefly as a symbol of his -degradation. Lodging-house sanitation and personal hygiene are of -minor import, in his thinking, as compared with working conditions, -or, for that matter, with the problems of his social and political -status, to be discussed in the next two chapters. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[41] Alice W. Solenberger, _One Thousand Homeless Men_, p. 36. - -[42] F. C. Laubach, _Why There Are Vagrants_, p. 21 - -[43] _Report of the Advisory Social Service Committee of the -Municipal Lodging House_, pp. 9-11. New York City: September, 1915. - -[44] This unpublished study of 400 tramps was made while riding -freight trains from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Chicago in the summer -of 1921. All the cases tabulated were cases in transit. A large -part of them were men who regularly beat their way about the -country. Document 115. - -[45] George S. Sobel, _Report to Committee_, summer, 1922. - -[46] Letter from Chicago Health Department to Committee on Homeless -Men. - -[47] U.S. Surgeon General’s Office, _Defects Found in Drafted Men_. - -[48] Unpublished Document 87 is a statement from Dr. Ben L. -Reitman, based upon cases in his practice of venereal infection -caused by homosexual relations. - -[49] It is of interest to note the findings of the study of 2,000 -men in connection with the Municipal Lodging House of New York -City, 1914: - -“Of 1,482 men who made statements regarding their habits, -1,292--approximately 9 out of every 10--said they drank alcoholic -liquors. Six hundred and fifty-seven or 44 per cent said that -they drank excessively; 635, or 43 per cent, said that they drank -moderately; and 190, or 13 per cent, claimed to be total abstainers. - -“Of the 2,000 who were given a medical examination, 775, or 39 per -cent, were diagnosed as suffering from alcoholism. According to Dr. -James Alexander Miller, these ‘figures probably do not represent -by any means the number of individuals who were alcoholic ... but -rather indicate only the number who manifested acute evidence at -the time of investigation.’”--From the _Report of the Advisory -Social Service Committee of the Municipal Lodging House_, pp. 9-22. -New York: September, 1915. - -Here we have in a few words a cross-section of the drinking -population among the homeless men in New York where conditions are -not materially different and where the population is essentially -the same as in Hobohemia. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -SEX LIFE OF THE HOMELESS MAN - - -Tramping is a man’s game. Few women are ever found on the road. The -inconveniences and hazards of tramping prevent it. Women do wander -from city to city but convention forbids them to ride the roads and -move about as men do. One tramp who had traveled 8,000 miles in six -months said: “I even saw two women on the road, and last summer I -saw a woman beating her way in a box car.” - -Tramping is a man’s game. Few pre-adolescent boys are tramps. They -do not break away permanently until later in their teens. How does -the absence of women and children affect the life of the migratory -worker? What difference would it make if tramps traveled like -gypsies, taking their women and children with them? How does the -absence of women and children affect the fantasy and the reveries -and eventually the behavior of the homeless man? - -The majority of homeless men are unmarried. Those who are married -are separated, at least temporarily, from their families.[50] Most -homeless men in the city are older than the average man on the road -and would be expected, therefore, to have had marital experience. -They are content to live in town while the younger men are eager to -move in the restless search for adventure and new experience. - - -THE TRAMP AND HIS ASSOCIATIONS WITH WOMEN - -The homeless man has not always been homeless. Like most of us, -he was reared in a home and is so far a product of home life. -He enters upon the life of the road in his late teens or early -twenties. He brings with him, as a rule, the habits and memories -gained in the more stable existence in the family and community. -Frequently it has been his conflict with, and rebellion against, -that more stable existence that set him on the road. - -Most of these men have mothers living. If their mothers are dead, -they speak of them reverently. The mission workers often direct -their appeals to these early memories, “the religion of our -mothers.” The only correspondence that some homeless men carry on -is with their mothers. Some of them only write one or two letters a -year but these are letters home. In most of the missions there is a -sign with the inscription, “When Did You Write to Mother Last?” - -Other women may, and sometimes do, exert a wholesome influence upon -him. He is often profoundly touched by the women of the missions -who stand on the street corner and plead with him for his soul’s -sake. Young and attractive women invite more attention because -of their sex than their message. Though he may have little or -no interest in the religious appeal, feeling for these women is -generally idealized and wholesome. The missions have learned the -value of young and attractive women and employ them extensively as -evangelists. - -Women in places where the hobo has worked or boarded, generally -older women, frequently take a mother’s interest in him. “Mother” -Greenstein, who keeps a restaurant on South State Street, is the -idol of a great many “bos.” She never turns a hungry man away. She -is known far and near by tramps and hobos. Many men know her by -reputation who have never seen her. - -Another woman who has become well known to many homeless men is -“Aunt” Nina S. She kept a rooming-house for years and always gave -any man who came to her in winter some place to sleep. She could -always find room. Her only compensation was the good will of the -homeless man. - - 51. Another woman who has won a place in the hearts of men - of West Madison Street is an old lady whom the “bos” call - “Mother.” She does not give them anything; on the contrary - she begs from them but she takes a motherly interest in all - the “boys.” She is against anyone who makes life hard for - them and hates the bootleggers, the gypsies, the gamblers, - and all who exploit them. She will denounce and curse - anyone who dares to call them “bums” in her presence. Her - hobby is cats. She spends several hours a day going up and - down the street feeding cats. All the “boys” are tolerant - of all cats on the street because they belong to “Mother.” - He is a poor “bo,” indeed, who will not spare “Mother” a - dime now and then for milk for her “kitties.” - -When the tramp works he usually goes out on some job where there -are no women. He may spend six months in a lumber camp and not -see a woman during all that time. He may work for a whole summer, -along with hundreds like himself, and never meet a woman. Sometimes -there are women on such jobs, but they are generally the wives of -the bosses and have no interest in the common workers. Children in -such families frequently strike up a more intimate acquaintance -with them. The only company for such a man is men, and men who are -living the same unnatural life as himself. - -There are jobs open to the homeless man that are more wholesome. -Sometimes he finds himself in communities where he is neither -isolated nor an outcast. The tramp is not often interested in -small-town or country associations, because they generally tend to -terminate seriously and he does not want to be taken seriously. If -he has the money to spend, and he usually has while he is working, -he can meet women, but he meets them in town when he has leisure. -He may have a hundred reasons for going to town, but the major -reason, whether he admits it or not, is to meet women. The types -of women he meets depends upon his personality, his taste, and his -purse. In this he is like the soldier or the sailor. - -The younger hobos, especially those who are on the road and off -again by turns, are able at times to save money and put on a -“front.” These younger men are frequently able, therefore, to -get into the social life of the communities in which they find -themselves. When they are in town with money to spend they “go -the limit” while it lasts, and then they go out to work and save -up another “stake.” Usually they have a number of women on their -correspondence lists. As they go from one city to another they make -new acquaintances and forget the old friends. Usually they are as -transient in their attachments to women as to their jobs. - -Many of these younger men ultimately settle down, but they do not -always have the ability to make permanent attachments though they -may try again and again. They invariably seek greener pastures. -Wherever they are, they will be found “burning the candles at both -ends.” As long as they are young and attractive they have little -difficulty in finding girls who are willing to assist them in -scattering their cash. - -Among these are the show girls who sing or dance in the cheap -burlesque theaters on South State and West Madison streets. -Thousands of hobos, who never can hope to come in personal contact -with chorus girls, throng the cheap playhouses of Hobohemia. -The titillations of a State Street vaudeville are vulgar and -inexpensive. The men, many of them, at least, would not and could -not appreciate a higher grade of entertainment. - -The hobo has few ideal associations with women. Since most of -them are unmarried, or living apart from their wives, their sex -relations are naturally illicit. The tramp is not a marrying man, -though he does enter into transient free unions with women when the -occasion offers. There are many women in the larger cities who have -no scruples against living with a man during the winter, or for -even a year or two, without insisting upon the marriage rite. They -are not prostitutes, not even “kept women.” - - 52. M. lived with Mrs. S. N. for four or five years, off - and on, whenever he was in town. What little money he - earned he brought home, though he took money from Mrs. N. - more frequently. She worked and usually when she came home - very tired he would have the house work done and a meal - ready. When she was sick he waited on her. He listened to - her troubles and was patient and good natured. In winter he - always got up and made the fires. She was always jealous - of him and when he would leave town for a month or two she - fancied that it was to get away from her and to live with - some other woman. Finally they separated, but they are - still good friends. He is living with another woman and she - with another man. Of late he is only in Chicago in winter. - -The tramp who succeeds in living in idleness with a woman in such -a companionship considers himself fortunate. The woman who can -find a man like M. is often content, provided he is faithful to -her, although she prefers a man who can be depended upon to earn a -little money. The women who enter these free unions have the least -to gain and the most to lose. The general experience of women who -keep their “men” is that when they are in the direst need the men -will desert them; on the other hand, when the men are in need they -will return. - -A certain class of detached men makes a practice of getting into -the good graces of some prostitute for the winter. The panderer is -not a characteristic tramp type, but certain homeless men are not -averse to becoming pimps for a season. These attachments between -homeless men and prostitutes are often quite real. Some of them -even become permanent, others last a year or two, but most of them -are only of a few months’ duration. While they do persist they are -often more or less sentimental. - - -THE HOBO AND PROSTITUTION - -Most hobos and tramps because of drink, unpresentable appearance, -or unattractive personality, do not succeed in establishing -permanent, or even quasi-permanent, relationships with women. For -them the only accessible women are prostitutes and the prostitutes -who solicit the patronage of the homeless man are usually forlorn -and bedraggled creatures who have not been able to hold out in the -fierce competition in higher circles. - -These women, otherwise so isolated and so hard pressed by their -exigent wants, do not live on the “main stem,” but adjacent to -it. They are conveniently located so that even the “floater,” who -comes to town with a few months’ savings, has no trouble in finding -them. The upper-class prostitutes keep men on the street getting -the business for them. Pandering is an art, and many of these -pimps have become adept in catching the men who come to town with -“rolls.” Only a small part of the commerce of the homeless man is -with the “live ones.” He usually has so little money that he is -forced to bargain for the attention of the lowest women that walk -the streets. - -Men with “rolls” are scarce in Hobohemia. One man met on West -Madison Street said: “I came in last night with $380 and now I’m -flatter’n a pancake. I didn’t even get a pair of sox. Hallelujah! -I’m a bum.” He was still too drunk to realize the situation, but -next day he was uncertain whether he had been robbed by a woman or -by a “jack roller.” He did not even know whether he had been robbed -or had lost his money. He had worked all winter and spring on a -ranch near Casper, Wyoming, and had come to town with a trainload -of cattle.[51] It is seldom that the second-rate prostitute gets -hold of so much money. - -From these “second raters” the tramp is doubly liable to infection. -Most of them have been diseased at some time while some of them -are infected all the time. More than one-third of them, according -to Dr. Ben L. Reitman, of the Chicago Health Department, are -constantly spreading infection. The homeless man is well aware of -the risk he runs when he patronizes the prostitute, but he does not -realize the gravity of the danger. - - -PERVERSION AMONG THE TRAMPS - -All studies indicate that homosexual practices among homeless -men are widespread. They are especially prevalent among men on -the road among whom there is a tendency to idealize and justify -the practice. Homosexuality is not more common among tramps than -among other one-sex groups. In the prison and jail population, the -authorities are forced to wage a constant warfare against it. The -same condition prevails also in the navy or merchant marine, and, -to a lesser extent, in the army.[52] - -Among tramps there are, it seems, two types of perverts. There -are those who are subjects, in the words of Havelock Ellis, “of a -congenital predisposition, or complexus of abnormalities.” Ellis -contends that certain individuals, different temperamentally and -physically from the rest of us, are not attracted by the opposite -sex but are easily attracted by their own sex. Most of them are men -who have developed from childhood feminine traits and tastes, and -they may be regarded as predisposed to homosexuality. The second -group is composed of individuals who have temporarily substituted -homosexual for heterosexual behavior. Most of these perverts by -conversion are men who, under the pressure of sex isolation, have -substituted boy for woman as the object of their desires. This is -chiefly because boys are accessible while women are not. - - -THE BOY TRAMP AND PERVERSION - -The boy does not need to remain long in hobo society to learn of -homosexual practices. The average boy on the road is invariably -approached by men who get into his good graces. Some “homos” claim -that every boy is a potential homosexual. This is without doubt an -exaggeration as well as a defense, for not all boys are subject to -persuasion. Sometimes boys will travel alone or with other boys to -avoid the approaches of older men. Often boys will refrain from -traveling with adults, even well-behaved adults, because they -realize that they will be under suspicion. It is not uncommon to -hear a boy who is seen traveling with an older man spoken of as the -“wife” or “woman.” It is only natural that many boys fear to be -alone with adult tramps. - - 53. The case of M. is typical. He is a sixteen year old boy - who travels alone. He is a handsome lad; small for his age - and neat in appearance. He is just the type of boy that - would attract the average “wolf” who idealizes pink cheeks - and an innocent appearance. He travels alone because of - his fear of “wolves.” He had not been away from home three - weeks and he says that he has been accosted several times. - Although he had been in Chicago but a day he had received - advances from two men who tried to persuade him to go to a - room. - -Many devices are employed by them to place the lad in their debt -or under their protection. If methods of persuasion do not work, -force is sometimes used. One man gave a brakeman a dollar to put -a boy off the train at a lonely siding. Another man learned which -direction a certain boy was traveling and followed him from town -to town, “accidentally” meeting him at each place. The lad was -without funds, and so was the man, but the latter was able to beg -and usually had a “lump” when he met the boy and he always divided. -Another man led a boy a mile or so out in the country to a place -where he claimed he had worked during the previous year and where -he knew they could both get something to eat. - -Another common ruse is to take a boy to a room or a box car to -sleep. The man suggests that he knows a clean car in a safe place -with plenty of straw or paper on the floor. In a big city the boy -is often enticed to a room for the same purpose. There are many -cases on record in the Chicago courts.[53] - - 54. A. F., a boy sixteen years old, was being held in a - room on West Ohio Street to which he had been enticed for - immoral purposes by John M. J. M. was arrested on complaint - of one F. He was found in company with another boy in a - room in the E. Hotel on South State Street. John was held - for trial on $3,000 bonds which he could not furnish. He - died in jail waiting for trial. - - 55. C. J. This man worked on a boat plying between Michigan - ports and Chicago. He persuaded a Michigan boy whose home - was near Lansing but who had run away and was loafing about - the docks on the lake front, to come with him to Chicago. - He promised to help the boy get a job, etc. He took him to - a room on South State Street where he held him for three - days and had improper relations with him. Prior to his - apprehension he had turned the boy over to another man for - the same purpose. - -Josiah Flynt, who was familiar with tramp life, seems to be of the -opinion that most boys are forced into the practice. However, it -does not seem probable that force is so extensively employed as is -sometimes believed. These accounts serve as a defense reaction on -their part, yet we cannot say that such forced initiations do not -occur. But even those who at the outset were the victims of “strong -arm” methods often become reconciled to the practice and continue -it. Often they become promiscuous in their relations and many of -them even commercialize themselves. - -Writers on the sex behavior of men and boys often refer to the -relationship as it exists among tramps as a sort of slavery. By -slavery is meant that boys are held in bondage to men and forced -to steal and beg for them. This condition may exist in isolated -instances but it is not general. It is even suggested by some -authorities that there exists some sort of organization among -tramps through which boys have been “caught” and kept in servitude. -The best evidence that such an organization does not exist is the -fact that perverted sex practices are frowned upon by the tramps -themselves. - -The court records show, however, that not infrequently boys are -held in rooms, or taken to lonely buildings, or out on the lake -front, or in the parks, but the case that gets into court is seldom -one in which both parties were free agents. If there is slavery in -these latter cases it is slavery to their passions, or to a state -of mind growing out of their habits and their isolation. - -The duration of an intimacy of this kind in the city is seldom more -than a few days. On the road, however, the “partnership” may last -for weeks. Whereas, out of town the pair can travel as companions -aiding each other, in the city they can get along better alone. -It is difficult for partners to remain together long in the city, -especially if one has money and the other none, or if one drinks -and the other does not. Living in a metropolis is a problem the -tramp can solve better alone. - - -ATTITUDES OF THE PERVERT - -Tramp perverts argue that homosexual intercourse is “clean” and -that homosexuals are less liable to become infected with venereal -disease. The Vice Commission of Chicago, in its report for 1911, -states that homosexual individuals “are not known in their true -character to any extent by the physicians because of the fact that -their habits do not, as a rule, produce bodily disease.”[54] - -It is also urged by perverts that in the homosexual relation there -is the absence of the eternal complications in which one becomes -involved with women. They want to avoid intimacies that complicate -the free life to which they are by temperament and habit committed. -Homosexual attachments are generally short lived, but they are -real while they last. Sometimes a man will assume a priority over -a boy and will even fight to maintain it. The investigator during -his study of this phase of the tramp problem made two unsuccessful -attempts to step between men and their boys, or “lambs.” In one -case his interference was resented by both the man and the boy, but -in the other it was rather enjoyed by the boy, though he would not -be separated from his “wolf.” - -The investigator met S., a veteran “wolf” on Madison Street. -When he was asked why his face was so badly bruised he said that -he and another man had fought over a boy. “He was trying to get -my kid into a room with him.” He claimed that he hit the man -and ran but that he was arrested. He was held over night in the -Desplaines Street Station on a charge of disorderly conduct, but -was discharged the next morning. What hurt him most was not the -night in jail or his bruised face but the fact that the other man -had left town with the boy. - -In his sex life, as in his whole existence, the homeless man moves -in a vicious circle. Industrially inadequate, his migratory habits -render him the more economically inefficient. A social outcast, he -still wants the companionship which his mode of life denies him. -Debarred from family life, he hungers for intimate associations -and affection. The women that he knows, with few exceptions, are -repulsive to him. Attractive women live in social worlds infinitely -remote from his. With him the fundamental wishes of the person for -response and status have been denied expression. The prevalence -of sexual perversion among the homeless men is, therefore, but -the extreme expression of their unnatural sex life. Homosexual -practices arise almost inevitably in similar situations of sex -isolation. A constructive solution for the problems of the sex life -of the homeless man strikes deeper into our social life than this -study can carry us. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[50] Of the 1,000 men studied by Mrs. Solenberger, 74 per cent -gave their marital status as single. Of the 400 interviewed by the -writer 86 per cent stated that they were unmarried. Only 8 per cent -of the former and 5 per cent of the latter survey claimed they were -married. The others claimed to be widowed, divorced, or separated -from their wives. Unpublished Document 142. - -[51] Unpublished Document 114. - -[52] Iwan Bloch, _Sexual Life of Our Times_, p. 540. - -[53] Unpublished Document 32. - -[54] _The Social Evil in Chicago_, pp. 296-97. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -THE HOBO AS A CITIZEN - - -Where are we to place the hobo as a citizen? What is his actual -status as a member of society or as a functioning unit in the -state? Where does he stand in relation to organized society and its -laws and its mores? - -The public dismisses these questions by assigning the hobo and the -tramp to the class of “undesirables.” This reaction of the public -is, of course, emotional and superficial, based partly on the -shabby and unkempt appearance of the men of the road and partly -on their reputation as beggars, vagrants, drunkards, and petty -thieves. Any study of the homeless man as a citizen must go farther -and take into account such factors as nativity, naturalization, and -patriotism; legal residence and the right and opportunity to vote; -obedience to law; and his political aspirations. - - -NATIVITY, NATURALIZATION, AND PATRIOTISM - -Students of hobos and tramps have been struck by the fact that the -great majority of homeless men are native-born Americans. Mrs. -Solenberger found that of 1,000, 623 were native born. Of the 400 -tramps interviewed by the writer during the summer of 1921, only -61 were foreign-born and 23 of these had taken out naturalization -papers. From these and other studies it appears that from 60 to 90 -per cent of hobos and tramps are native born. - -The tramp is an American product. The foreign-born in this group -are chiefly of the older immigration. Among these, Englishmen, -proverbial as “globe-trotters,” are conspicuous. The number -of homeless men from the newer immigration is small, and the -individuals who are found in the tramp and hobo group seem often -out of place. - -One test of patriotism is military service. The writer found that -of the 400 he interviewed, 92 had seen military service. This -figure is high, since there were only 183 men of the whole group -between the ages of twenty and thirty-four. These men were listed -in 1921 and would include many who were not in the draft age when -the allotments were drawn in 1918. There were of the 400, 58 who -were probably under the draft age in 1918. When we consider the -proportion of physically and mentally unfit, it seems that this -figure is high.[55] - - -THE HOBO AND HIS VOTE - -What is the status of the hobo as a voter? He seldom remains in one -place long enough to acquire legal residence. His work, because -of its seasonal character, often takes him away from his legal -residence just at the time when he should be there to register or -vote. Whether he has a desire to cast his ballot or not, he is -seldom able to do so. - -A canvass of thirty-five Hobohemian hotels in Chicago has shown -that about a third of the guests are voters. In March, 1923, there -were 3,029 registered voters from these hotels, which have a total -capacity of 9,480. Many of these, though they are in the city -only in winter or for a few weeks at a time, manage to maintain -a residence here and, if they are in the city during an election, -they vote. - -Charges are even made that tramps and hobos sell their votes, that -they often engage in “repeating.” There is not as much ground for -such charges as one would expect. The average tramp does not have -the courage to take the chances that the “repeater” must expect -to run. He realizes also that he is always under more or less -suspicion even when he is going straight, and this serves as a -brake. - -Homeless men as a group make much of the fact that they are -excluded from the ballot, and they remind all who have the patience -to listen that the exclusion is unjust because they perform an -important and legitimate function in the labor world. They seem to -protest against their exclusion more than to demand the ballot. One -man said that he did not know if he would vote if he had a chance, -“but it’s the principle of the thing.” - -The International Brotherhood Welfare Association has repeatedly -stood for some form of universal suffrage that would permit -migratory workers to vote, regardless of the length of their -residence in a community. - - During the latter part of May, 1922, a convention of the - Farmer-Labor Party was held in Chicago. Certain members of - the hobo group failed in the attempt to get a resolution - through the convention in favor of giving the vote to - migratory workers. Certain delegates feared that the - hobo was too irresponsible to use the ballot. The farmer - element in the Farmer-Labor Party resented the idea of - giving support to the tramp group by whom they had been - harassed so much in the harvest fields. Nor is the I.W.W. - particularly interested in “votes for the hobos,” because - in their opinion the ballot is at best an indirect method - of accomplishing what can be easier secured by direct - action. - -Forty-eight of the 400 homeless men studied by the writer claimed -to have voted in the presidential election of 1920. - - 56. One of the men interviewed in this study said: “I - happened to drop into Salt Lake the last day of the - registration so I got my name on the dotted line. I swore I - had been in the state a year. They couldn’t prove I wasn’t, - so it passed. I’d been in ten or fifteen states that year. - Well, when election came I was working in Bingham. My boss - was short of help and didn’t want me to lay off to vote, - so I quit and went to Salt Lake. Got there just before the - polls closed.” - -One man said that he beat his way 1,000 miles to cast his ballot. -Most of the 48, however, had voted because at election time they -were living in or near their legal residence. What was the attitude -of the 352 who did not vote? The following are the reasons given -(with reference to 1920 election):[56] - - No desire to vote and no legal residence 28 - Having legal residence but no desire to vote 54 - No legal residence but desire to vote 129 - Under twenty-one 88 - Aliens 38* - In military service 9 - Disfranchised 2 - Not known 4 - --- - Total 352 - - * Sixty-one foreign-born in 400; 23 naturalized. - -There were 28 men both ineligible to vote and indifferent to the -ballot. The group of 54 who had no desire to vote included men -who were at home, or near their legal residence, and could have -voted had they been interested. The two listed as disfranchised -were both men who had been dishonorably discharged from the navy. -Both were under twenty-one and had enlisted under the pressure of -wartime enthusiasm. One of these was not interested in voting and -the other said that the vote was a joke anyway. - - -THE HOMELESS MAN AND THE LAW - -The migratory worker is not saddled with responsibility for law and -order. As he makes his way about the country, he is unincumbered. -He has nothing to lose and nothing to protect but his person, -and that he protects best by constantly moving. The homeless man -has no interest in common with the settled man of the community -who has attachments and property, and at whose expense he often -lives. The migratory worker, for a time, may be physically a part -of a community, but he actually does not become absorbed into its -social life. The wanderer who fails to win a place in the life of a -community often takes his own course. This course is sometimes in -harmony with the interests of the community, but more often counter -to them, and he fails under the surveillance of the law. - -To the tramp and the hobo the police are the guardian angels -of organized society, created to protect the community against -criminals and migrants. To him there are two varieties of -police--civil and private. The uniformed upholder of the law, -the civil police, is given the uncomplimentary epithet, “harness -bull.” The plain-clothes men are called “dicks,” “fly cops,” and -“stool pigeons.” The private police who protect the property of the -railroad are held in even lower contempt. - - -THE PRIVATE POLICE - -The chief job of the “dicks” is to keep the “bos” off the trains. -The private police are unpopular, not only among homeless men, but -also among the employees of the railroads. Brakemen and switchmen -will often aid tramps in their effort to avoid the police. Railroad -police must often contend with a lack of co-operation by the civil -police. The town police, or “town clown” as he is called, may order -the tramps to leave on the “next train,” while the railroad police -may be making every effort to prevent their riding the trains. The -town police are not anxious to fill the jail; they prefer that the -transients move on; they reason that the railroad should take away -what the railroad brought. - -The railroad policeman shows results, not by the number of -convictions as the civil police, but by his ability to keep at -a minimum the number of offenses against railroad property. His -endeavor is to put fear into the hearts of all trespassers on the -right-of-way. He becomes a hunter of men, not to seize and detain -them, but to pursue and terrorize them. He is to the railroad -property what the scarecrow is to the cornfield. - -Railroad police sometimes drive men off fast-moving trains by -throwing stones or shooting at them. Not infrequently they catch -and maltreat a tramp; however, they are seldom able to get hold of -a veteran tramp. The inexperienced man or the boy is more likely -to be caught. These means of putting fear into men do not stop -tramping. As they become fearful of the railroad “bull,” they -become more cautious, and the “bull’s” problem is increasingly -difficult. - - -WHAT THE TRAMP THINKS OF THE PRIVATE POLICE - -To migrants the railroad is “the tramp’s traditional highway.” The -tramp, however, expects opposition from the railroad police and -even from the train crews; nevertheless he measures his success as -a “boomer” by his ability to outwit this opposition. Encounters -with the railroad police are a favorite theme of conversation in -the “jungles” and along the “stem.” - -One man tells of being held in Hutchinson, Kansas, on suspicion: - - 57. A bunch of us came in on a freight and started up town. - It was about midnight and the moon was shining. We were - sneaking along the shade of a row of box cars. A couple of - men halted us and ordered us to come out into the light. I - had a notion to run but one of the other fellows said they - had “gats” and we’d better take no chances. It was a good - thing we didn’t run because we found out that a couple of - men had escaped from the jail. All the police and a lot of - the citizens had been drafted to find them. Most of them - carried guns and nothing would have suited them better than - to have had some one to shoot at. - - They rounded up about ten “bos” out of the yards and took - us to a room in the depot where they held us for about an - hour till one of the guards came from the jail. He did - not see the escaped men in the crowd so we were turned - loose. The railroad “bull” ordered us to walk out of town. - We walked out a ways and then sneaked back and caught a - freight. - - I think we got off easy. I had a buddy once who was held a - week until the police could get a picture. He was caught by - the railroad “bull” and turned over to the “town clown.” - They are always sorry if they can’t get something on a “bo” - they hold. - -Youths in their first adventures on the road accept with zest the -conflict with the private police. A student who made a practice of -“working the harvest” each summer gives the following statement: - - 58. My first experience with a bull was at Marshalltown, - Iowa. I had been selling books up near Mason City, Iowa, - and after three weeks of that loathsome occupation, I threw - my prospectus into the ditch and started for home. Late - one night I caught an express train on the Northwestern - from Ames, Iowa, bound for Chicago, and rode from there - to Marshalltown; unfortunately the train pulled into the - station very slowly and the long string of lights on the - station platform shed a great deal of light on the train. I - started to get off when a rough voice cursing loudly told - me to get off on that side. He took me by the shoulder and - asked me what in hell I was doing riding on that train. - “Don’t you know,” he said, “what we do with fellows who - ride the front ends of these trains?” He gave me a kick and - told me to get out of the yards. It was my first encounter - with the “bulls” and I have since learned that “bull” - tactics are very much the same. - - Another time I crawled off the train into the waiting arms - of a Rock Island “bull” in Council Bluffs, Iowa. He showed - me his star and searched me over carefully, feeling every - lump in my clothing. During the search he said, “Will you - give me all I find on you?” The question rather startled me - but I quickly replied, “Yes.” Finding nothing, he seemed - disappointed and said, “I can’t understand why you haven’t - more money on you! What are you, anyway?” I told him I was - a college student looking for work. “The hell you are!” - he sneered, “you’re a Weary Willie, now get out of here, - quick.” - - At Grand Island some fifty of us tried to ride a - merchandise freight out of the yards, when an energetic - “bull” pulled himself out of a car and waved a revolver - wildly warning all not to get on. It was a long freight and - the men strung themselves up and down the track the full - length of it. In spite of his efforts, several got aboard. - My companion and I were quite close to him and made no - effort to get on. - - My next encounter occurred at Bureau, Illinois, a division - point on the Rock Island. There were four of us on the - tender (behind the engine), my room mate and I and two lads - who had jumped on some miles down the line. They had been - jumping on and off and having a good time generally. Both - of them had on white shirts and could be easily recognized - by the train men. At Bureau a rough looking “bull” poked - his head over the tender, waved a gun, cursed madly and - told us to get down from there. We were lying flat on one - corner and I did not believe he had seen us. The two boys - did as they were told while I held my room mate down and - told him not to move. I heard him swearing at the boys as - the train pulled out. - - With a companion I left a Rock Island freight one afternoon - to get a drink of water. We came back to see our train - far up the track toward Des Moines. I noticed by my table - that an express train would soon be in. My companion was a - long, lean individual, a bluffing, blustering type probably - weighing about 175 pounds. A “bull” was waiting for us at - Valley Junction, just outside of Des Moines. He pulled us - off and marched us out in front of all the passengers and - into the station. We both noticed that we had climbed a - mail train and that our future was not very bright. The - station agent was not in and I sized Mr. “Bull” up as he - searched us. He was a young fellow, not over twenty-five - and did not look nearly as hard as he talked. My companion - was as pale as a sheet and would say nothing. I talked to - him as best I could, and after scaring us to the best of - his ability he finally turned us loose, actually buying us - a ticket on the auto bus to Des Moines. He acted almost - human toward us. - -A man, prominent in Hobohemia as a soap-boxer, recites this -experience out of a great number that he has had with railroad and -other private police. - - 59. I was traveling in Indiana with a man by the name of - Sullivan, known around the country as “Sully.” We got off - at Flora, a railroad town in Indiana. It was cold and the - town was “hostile” because so many “bos” had been there - that the people were hardened to them. We knew better than - to hang around the railroad yards so we decided to go out - of town a ways and build a fire to keep warm while we - waited for a train. We started out but Sully decided to - return and learn from the switchman when a train would be - leaving. I said that I would go out along the track and - build a wind break with some old ties and make a fire. - - I dragged some ties together and had the wind break up by - the time Sully returned. I had the fire going too and was - taking off my shoes. I had stepped in some water while - dragging ties and my feet were wet and cold. - - Everything went fine for about half an hour. I was drying - my shoes and socks and Sully and I were talking about where - we were going and what to do. It was at the time of the - Steel Strike, and Sully was planning on going up there to - get a job as a “scab herder.” He said that by that means he - would get in with the company and that he could work some - “sabotage” in the interest of the workers. At that time I - was traveling and selling literature, and holding street - meetings in the interests of the I.B.W.A. - - All of a sudden something hit me in the back between the - shoulder blades. I looked around quickly and there were two - “bulls.” We were on railroad property and I knew we were - in for it. Sully ducked and went over the fence. I had my - shoes off and couldn’t run. One of them gave me another tap - on the back with a black jack. “What are you here for?” “I - am drying my shoes,” was the only answer I could think of. - As I hurried to get my shoes on one of them slapped me on - the side of the head. I jumped and ran while they cursed me - and told me never to let them catch me again. I met Sully - an hour later and together we cursed all railroad “bulls” - as cowards and sneaks. - - Sometime after that I was told by a friend that Sully was - an employee of the Pinkerton agency. I did not believe it - but before a year was out I heard it from two or three - sources. I made an effort to find out and I learned it - was true; that he was in their employ at the time we got - chased. Then it came to me why he went back to talk to the - switchmen and how he got away without being hit. He was - traveling with me because he was trying to get a line on me - as an agitator. - -These stories are typical of those that any experienced tramp can -tell. - -The private police “talks by hand” because it is the most practical -method at his command. The argument of the club coincides most -admirably with the mood he is in when on duty searching trains and -keeping trespassers off railroad property. He is a hunter and the -tramp is his prey. If it is a game to the police, it is no less so -to the tramp. One lad who had been caught a time or two said: “I -get a lot of ‘kick’ out of riding trains out of a place when I know -the ‘dicks’ are trying to keep me off.” - -When a town has a railroad policeman who is “hard,” the fact is -soon noised about. A few years ago, Galesburg, Illinois, was known -throughout the country for the “bad” colored policeman who guarded -the yards. The hobo who could tell a story of an encounter with -the big “nigger bull” had an exploit to be proud of. For some time -Green River, Wyoming, boasted a “hard bull” known to the “floating -fraternity” as “Green River Slim.” As the reputation of a “bad” -policeman travels ahead, so the information about his tactics and -methods. Where he may be found, how avoided, how he watches the -trains, are usually common knowledge to the average “bo” before he -reaches a town. - - -ATTITUDE OF THE PRIVATE POLICE - -The _Hobo News_ for April, 1922, reprinted an article “The Hobo; -a Real Problem to the Railroad,” by T. T. Kelihor, chief special -agent of the Illinois Central Railroad. The article was given space -in the _News_ in order that the hobos might see how the “bulls” -regarded them. It was followed by a caustic criticism from the -editor who charged that the writer “like the rest of his fraternity -cannot distinguish between Hobos and Bums and Tramps and Yeggs.” - - The railroads of this country are the chief sufferers from - this cancerous social growth. There is no property right or - other rights of the railroad that the modern hobo feels - called upon to consider or respect. Millions of dollars’ - worth of railway property and merchandise in transit are - destroyed and stolen annually by this class. The actual - value of merchandise stolen is only a small part of the - loss of merchandise in trains. - - The average hobo realizes that he is not provided with - means of carrying away a large amount of bulky goods. - Consequently when hobos enter a merchandise car, they - break open a great many cases and dump or throw out the - contents on the floor in searching for small, compact, - valuable goods that they can carry off concealed about - their persons. It often happens that they will not take - more than $50.00 value in valuable articles, but they will - destroy and damage $500.00 worth of goods by destroying the - original containers and soiling the contents by trampling - on them on the dirty floor of the car and otherwise - damaging them. - -The amount of property the tramp actually steals and destroys is -not known. He probably is blamed for more damage than he does. -Those who speak for the hobo class claim that most of the goods -stolen from cars is taken by train crews who shield themselves -by pointing to the tramp, who is already an outlaw as far as the -railroad is concerned, because he steals rides. Aside from the loss -of property, Mr. Kelihor calls attention to the great loss of life -attributed to tramping. - -The loss of life and limb on account of hobos riding trains and -trespassing on the right-of-way, and the consequent financial and -economic loss to the country and the railroads, is appalling. The -reports for all railroads during 1919 show: - - Trespassers killed 2,553 - Trespassers injured 2,658 - ----- - Total 5,211 - -And during 1920: - - Trespassers killed 2,166 - Trespassers injured 2,362 - ----- - Total 4,528 - - During 1921, on the Illinois Central and the Yazoo and - Mississippi railroads, 98 trespassers were killed and 221 - injured. - -How many of these persons killed were actually hobos, perhaps even -the railroads could not say. To the railroad officials anyone is a -trespasser on railroad property who is not a patron or an employee. -On the other hand, all the instances of tramps killed or injured on -the railroad are not recorded. - -In a communication of August 2, 1922, to the Homeless Man -Committee, W. P. Riggs, chief special agent of the American Express -Company, says in part: - - On our more important exclusive trains we have inspectors - employed to ride them for the purpose of keeping tramps and - other unauthorized persons off such trains. As in the past - we have suffered serious loss through such parties breaking - into our sealed cars and robbing them. There have also been - instances where parties under the guise of tramps beating - their way around the country turned out to be real bandits, - who would at the opportune time hold up the mail clerks and - messengers. - - The tramp situation is the worst in this section during the - spring, summer, and fall; yet we also have more or less - trouble with them in winter months. - - Generally speaking, we do not receive much assistance from - civil authorities in combatting tramps. - -J. H. Hustin, Jr., superintendent of property protection for the -New York Central Railroad, writes the committee as follows: - - It is the endeavor of our police officers to keep the tramp - off our right-of-way. Many of our freight trains on the - Western territory are protected by police officers enroute - between terminals, and it is part of their duty to keep - such train riders off our trains. Usually the tramp is - placed under arrest and taken before the local authorities - for disposition. - - During the spring and fall we experience most of our - difficulties with train riders, especially in connection - with the opening and closing of navigation. - - In general, we receive the co-operation of the city - authorities. When business is quiet and a large number of - men are out of work, we obtain little direct assistance - from the local police and courts; while, when business is - good and there is little unemployment, such co-operation is - very satisfactory. - - -THE CIVIL AUTHORITIES AND THE TRAMP - -The average man on the street, or the average housewife, sees in -the tramp either a parasite or a predacious individual. The average -man may admit that there are many migratory men who would work, but -he feels that most of them will not, and that they have neither -permanent habits nor good intentions; they need to be watched. If -the public opinion decrees that the town needs to be protected -against tramps, it is the duty of the police to do it. There seems -to be a relation between the pressure that the police bring to -bear on the tramp and the pressure that the tramps impose upon the -community which is reflected in the pressure the residents place -on the police. In towns where vagrancy has become a problem, the -police are very energetic in keeping down the number of apparently -idle men. - -In small towns, especially railroad towns, through which many -tramps move, the police are “hostile.” A policeman in a Wyoming -town on the Union Pacific Railroad asserts: “We’ve got to be hard -on these fellows or they will eat us out of house and home in -a week.” In the larger towns the police are sporadic in their -harshness. Men of the road will ask one another about the attitude -of the police in certain cities. “Omaha was good the first part -of the winter,” reported a man in a circle about a camp fire, “I -think I’ll go to Chi this winter if I don’t go to the Coast. I -heard they were pretty easy on them there last winter.” Again, “I -was in Chicago the most of the winter. They are all right there if -you stay on the ‘stem.’” “How has K. C. been lately? I haven’t been -there for five years.” - -The average hobo will often avoid certain towns because he has -heard that the “bo” will not be well received. He will sometimes go -to a town even when he has heard of its drastic method of treating -the transients. A “hard” police force and a drastic policy of -repression do not keep tramps away. It selects out those who are -willing to run the risk. Timid and inexperienced men are kept away, -but the daring and veteran tramps who cause the police the most -trouble are not so readily frightened off. - -The police do not regard the tramp as a serious offender. If he -steals, it is generally for something to eat or to wear. Every man -on the road steals potatoes or green corn from the nearby fields, -or fruit from the neighboring orchard, or chickens that stray -within reach of the jungle. - -Tramps will boast about what they will do when times get hard and -cold weather crowds them. “I won’t starve. I worked all summer, and -I won’t go hungry this winter.” This man was “broke” in spite of -a summer’s hard labor in the harvest fields. His earnings quickly -went for drink. He did get hungry, and his clothes were torn to -tatters before spring, but he did not break in any windows as he -had threatened. There are “crooks” among the tramps, but not so -many as might be supposed. The average tramp does not possess the -courage to be a first-class crook. - -Warden Wesley Westbrook, of the Cook County jail, supports this -estimate of the tramp as an offender: - - I am convinced that the tramp does not have the courage to - be a criminal. He will steal something to eat or wear, and - he may steal a door mat or some article he may sell for a - quarter to get a coffee-an’; or, if he is drinking, to get - the price of a pint of whiskey. But tramps do not become - criminal in the serious sense. They make noise and threats - sometimes but I have found them an easy group to get along - with. It takes considerable courage to break into a house - or to hold a person up and the tramp will not do this. He - seems to think that he can get a living easier and with - less risk. - -But whether a major offender or not, the fact is that the homeless -man is almost always liable to arrest as a vagrant. He is marked -as a potential offender. He always faces the possibility of being -arrested on suspicion. Where the ex-convict is harassed by the -authorities because they have his record, the tramp is often held -because they do not have his record. Often migrants are taken from -freight trains and transported many miles to the scenes of some -offense only to be turned loose. Often they are held for days in -local jails until they can prove an alibi or their identity can be -established. For them there is no redress. - -The status of the homeless man in the courts is not high. Again and -again men are arraigned before the judge for vagrancy, fighting, -drunkenness, begging, petty stealing, and other minor offenses. -Any policeman can walk along West Madison Street any day and -see some man or perhaps a dozen who could be arrested on some -charge. If all policemen did this the jails would be full and the -police courts in which these cases are tried would be continually -overflowing. Only the most conspicuous cases are arrested. Those -are numerous enough to keep an average judge busy in an average -police court. - -The judge who sits in the Desplaines Street police court, where -more tramps are arraigned than in any other court in Chicago, faces -sometimes as many as 100 men whose cases must be disposed of within -a few hours. One morning the investigator visited Judge LaBuy’s -court in the Desplaines Street station and saw more than fifty -cases of vagrancy, disorderly conduct, drunkenness, etc., disposed -of in less than half an hour. There was little material at hand by -which the judge could arrive at a just decision, consequently he -disposed of the cases with only that evidence that was apparent. -Apparently neither the needs of the individual were being met nor -the demands of justice satisfied.[57] - -The experiences of the tramp or hobo in the police court do not -increase his respect for the law and the administration of justice. -He finds the administration of justice a mechanical process. At -the points where the law touches his life it has lost every trace -of the human touch unless it be the brutal “third degree” or the -traditional “sixty days.” The courts sometimes put fear into his -heart but they do not reform him. - -What status as a citizen does the hobo wish? His attitude toward -the police and his reaction toward the civil authorities that -represent organized society seem to be tempered with antipathy. -Most of the songs he sings are songs of protest. The organizations -to which he allies himself are antagonistic to things as they are. - -In many ways, the migratory worker is “a man without a country.” -By the very nature of his occupation he is deprived of the ballot, -and liable when not at work to arrest for vagrancy and trespassing. -The public ignores him generally, but now and again pities or is -hostile to him. With no status in organized society, he longs for -a classless society where all inequalities shall be abolished. In -the I.W.W. and other radical organizations, he finds in association -with restless men of his own kind the recognition everywhere else -denied him. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[55] It must be remembered that the 400 include tramps in transit -who are, perhaps, the better and most fit of all the types. -At least there would be in such a group a greater number of -able-bodied men than in any 400 selected at random in the “stem” of -one of our cities. Again, 400 is not a sufficient number to permit -more than a tentative conclusion. - -[56] From an unpublished study by the author of 400 tramps, -Document 115. - -[57] Unpublished Document 80. - - - - - PART IV - - HOW THE HOBO MEETS HIS PROBLEM - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -PERSONALITIES OF HOBOHEMIA - - -Like other communities, Hobohemia has its eminent persons. In the -flux and flow of the life on the “main stem” certain individuals -are conspicuous. They are for the most part the soap-box orators, -the organizers and promoters of utopias. These men are the most -loved or the most hated of all the Hobohemian celebrities. They -are either overwhelmingly approved or are unsparingly condemned as -grafters and parasites. But whether exploiters or benefactors they -are centers of interest. They are powers. Among the many men of -this group are: James Eads How, Dr. Ben L. Reitman, John X. Kelly, -Michael C. Walsh, Daniel Horsley, and A. W. Dragstedt. - -Outside of these leaders of the migratory workers are mission -workers, like Charles W. Langsman, of the Bible Rescue Mission; and -John Van de Water, of the Helping Hand Mission; and Brigadier J. -E. Atkins, of the Salvation Army, which is neither a mission nor a -church. - -It has been the policy of the Baptist Church on North LaSalle -Street and the Immanuel Baptist Church on South Michigan Avenue -more than other churches to feed homeless men. Dr. Johnston Myers -is pastor of the latter church, and probably the most talked-of -minister in Hobohemia when times are hard. Dr. Myers is contrasted -by homeless men with the Greensteins on South State Street. -“Mother” Greenstein’s “bread line” is known the country over. - -These or their counterparts may be found in any city where hobos -gather. - - -DR. JAMES EADS HOW, “THE MILLIONAIRE HOBO” - -How, a man of wealth and education, renounced all to share the -lot of the hobos. He is not an imposing personality, but he is a -kindly, ingratiating, almost saintly man. He is a dreamer and a -visionary with a program for reforming the world. Every cent that -he does not spend for doughnuts and twenty-five-cent flops goes to -the “cause.” He hopes that other millionaires will see his good -works and imitate him. - -How is a bachelor in his late forties. According to rumor, which -he neither affirms nor denies, he has two college degrees, one -of them in medicine. He plans soon to enter a college for a year -to study law, so as to be the better prepared to promote the -interests of the International Brotherhood Welfare Association and -the “Hobo College.” The I.W.W. believes the world will be reformed -by organization and direct action first, and education second. -How puts education first. He hopes to establish a central hobo -university to which the numerous hobo colleges in the large cities -will be feeders. - -To How the hobos are a “chosen people” who have been denied their -own. They will come into their own in time. All his repeated -failures to build up a strong organization of migratory workers -have not shaken his faith in his vision. How still believes that -hobos and millionaires will sooner or later work together in -harmony to construct the House of Happiness for humanity. - - -DR. BEN L. REITMAN, “THE KING OF THE HOBOS” - -With the exception of James Eads How, “the millionaire hobo,” -Reitman is known to more migratory workers than any other man in -the country. Several years ago, while he was roaming casually -over the United States, Reitman was dubbed by the papers the “King -of the Hobos.” This title was well earned by more than twenty years -on the road, including two or three tramps around the world. - -[Illustration: DR. BEN L. REITMAN] - -His own description of himself given to the papers several years -ago still holds: - - I am an American by birth, a Jew by parentage, a Baptist - by adoption, a physician and teacher by profession, - cosmopolitan by choice, a Socialist by inclination, a - celebrity by accident, a tramp by twenty years’ experience, - and a reformer by inspiration. - -The only modification that he would make today is that he has -settled into the routine of his profession. He still lectures at -the “Hobo College.” He still intercedes for hobos and guarantees -their bills in case they do not make good. He is still a refuge -for the sick and afflicted and not a day passes that he does not -treat some down-and-outer free. He is still a reformer but he has -lost that “lean, hungry look” of his hobo days, and since he owns a -Ford, the hobos charge him with being an aristocrat. - - -JOHN X. KELLY, SOAP-BOXER AND ORGANIZER - -John Kelly has been associated with James Eads How for more than -fifteen years. Before he met How he was a curbstone orator. Beating -his way from city to city, he has talked in the “slave markets” of -every metropolitan city in the United States. He has been jailed -many times for his “soap-boxing,” and has often been forced to -leave town between the suns because of free-speech fights. He has -often beaten his way 1,000 miles to be present at a hobo convention -and to participate in the demonstrations of the hobo against the -upper strata of society. - -Kelly is still an organizer, though he is not an enthusiastic or -hopeful one. He still has faith, but he is no longer the staunch -advocate of democratic hobo organizations he formerly was. Years of -bitter experience have taught him that the average hobo will not -stand up under any responsibility. At one time he was an I.W.W. -soap-boxer, but he no longer believes that the “Wobblies” are doing -anything for the hobo, and he frankly tells them so. - -From a champion of democracy, he has swung over to an advocate of -benevolent autocracy. He is still active in the “Hobo College,” -but is often at variance with How and opposes him bitterly on some -issues. - -How, an idealist, has never learned that the ordinary hobo -organization is almost sure to fail if left to manage itself. -“But,” says Kelly, the organizer, “they’ll never succeed. They will -never be cured of quarreling over trifles. They have got to be -saved by some other method than their own power.” - - -MICHAEL C. WALSH, ORGANIZER AND PROMOTER - -Walsh has long been a factor in the hobo life of Chicago. At -present he is the head of a struggling organization of workers -known as the United Brotherhood of American Laborers, which seeks -to organize workers around an insurance program. Walsh designates -himself “Journalist and Lecturer, Founder of the Famous Hobo -College,” “The Society of Vagabonds,” and “The Mary Garden Forum.” -He further styles himself, not without reason, a graduate of the -“University of Adversity.” - -Left an orphan at an early age, he began wandering, working -casually at his trade as an iron-worker. He traveled extensively -over the United States and went abroad as a tramp worker and a -beach-comber. In 1906-7, becoming interested in the problem of -the down-and-outs, he conducted the Liberty Hotel in Seattle for -the unemployed. Later in San Francisco he was again active in the -interest of the unemployed. Still later he joined James Eads How -in St. Louis and aided in organizing the “penniless men of his own -city.” In 1915 he came to Chicago and organized the “Hobo College.” -Other hobos say that the “college” had been in existence years -before Walsh arrived on the scene, but that he did play a part in -making it popular. - -Walsh, as president of the “college,” was able to attract the -assistance of many leading citizens. He won the services of Mary -Garden, who took special pride in singing there occasionally. He -has been active among the unemployed, and at one time attracted -considerable public notice which got him into disrepute with the -local police. - -Walsh has also sought the limelight as a lyceum and chautauqua -lecturer. His subjects dealt with the various aspect of the hobo -problem. Walsh, like many of the hobo celebrities, only sees in -the tramp problem one cause, and that is, unemployment. “Give the -boys plenty of jobs and there will be no tramps.” This is a popular -interpretation among the tramps themselves. - - -DANIEL HORSLEY, “PROFESSOR” AND BOOKDEALER - -Daniel Horsley is a bookseller. His establishment, at 1237 West -Madison Street, is called the hobo bookstore. The place is known -as the “Proletariat” to the men on the “stem.” Here many men who -have no other address receive their mail. Says one man, “Where is ----- lately, Dan?” “I don’t know, but I suppose he is on his way to -Chicago. I have had some mail for him for two weeks.” The men meet -their friends at the “Proletariat,” or they leave things there for -safekeeping. They all know Mr. Horsley, and he has the good will of -all the “bos.” - -Horsley has been somewhat of a hobo himself, as the following -excerpt will show: - - My occupation during the past 14 years has carried me - through many grades of labor. First, the coal mining - industry was for many years my sole occupation. The miner, - having more dangers to confront than most workers, does not - last long. The industry claimed two of my brothers. After - having received a dose of black damps (foul air), my health - was not of the best so I decided the open air would be the - most beneficial. - - I started with a picture machine to earn my living as I - recuperated. I traveled through Nebraska, Dakota, Wyoming, - Montana, and Alberta, Canada. In every small town we would - generally come across some of the boys (hobos). Returning - from the Northwest I came back East without the machine. - I stayed a while in Iowa and then went back to the West. - Previous to and during the war I was in the shipbuilding - industry. Leaving there I worked for a short while in the - woods but decided to come East again. Visiting the eastern - seaboard I saw great industries closing down so I finally - landed in Chicago. - -Dan’s work is selling books and periodicals but he gets his -recreation by mounting the soap box occasionally. He is a devout -student of Marxian economics, and he likes nothing better than to -talk economics to an audience of workers. At the “Hobo College” he -is known as “professor,” and he gives lectures there now and then -on economics, or his other favorite topic, current history. - -The _Hobo News_ has printed a number of his articles on economic -subjects. His writing, like his teaching and soap-boxing, is along -Marxian lines. He has little patience for anyone who sees things -differently. His hobby is education, and the book business gives -him a chance to get to the homeless man and all other workers the -kind of literature that he thinks will start them thinking. - - -A. W. DRAGSTEDT, “THE HOBO INTELLECTUAL” - -Mr. Dragstedt is one of the numerous ex-secretaries of the “Hobo -College” for the year 1922-23. As secretary of the “college,” it -was his business to attend to the finances of the institution and -to manage the programs. It is the secretary’s job to find speakers -for various occasions, and to advertise the meetings. In short, the -secretary must be a diplomat and an executive. Dragstedt has all -the earmarks of a good hobo secretary. - -Born in Sweden some forty years ago, he emigrated to this country -and settled in Montana before he was out of his teens. He did not -remain settled long, but went here and there in search of work -until he developed into a regular hobo. He has worked at nearly all -the migratory occupations and has seen nearly all the states of -the Union. He is now one of the seasoned veterans of the floating -fraternity. He is getting over his passion for travel, but he has -not yet learned to settle down. He still likes to feel that he is -free to go whenever the notion strikes him, although for a year or -so he has not gone very far from the city. - -Dragstedt is a man of wide and varied experience, but he seldom can -be persuaded to talk about himself. He did his bit in the late war -and went as far as France. Most hobos who have been across like -to tell about it, but not he. But Dragstedt talks. He has ideas -and he talks about them. He has a great many ideas, some of them -consistent and others not, but they keep him occupied and he is -generally keeping someone else interested. He is a type of the hobo -intellectual. - -As a high brow, Dragstedt is a poet of no mean ability. His poems -either protest against the “system” or idealize tramp life. He is -also an artist. The walls of the “Hobo College” are adorned with -samples of his workmanship such as cartoons and decorated placards. -He has an ambition to become a cartoonist, but he is a hobo, and -hobos are men who will not apply themselves. He has two or three -scenarios that might be developed into fair picture plays, but he -will not go back to them to polish them up. This calls for more -application than he cares to give. In this, again, he is a hobo, -but he does not grieve about that. - - -CHARLES W. LANGSMAN, EXPONENT OF LOVE - -Recently, Superintendent Langsman celebrated his twentieth -spiritual birthday. For twenty years he has been connected with the -Bible Rescue Mission. Before he became converted, to use his words, -he was an “ordinary bad man of the street.” He has lived the life -of the tramp. He knows hobos from the human side. He knows their -weaknesses, their temptations, and their trials. For twenty years -he has worked with them to aid them. Hundreds of men have been -lifted out of the quicksands of a transient and aimless life by -him, while he has inspired thousands to make an effort. - -In his official capacity he is the superintendent of the Bible -Rescue Mission. He is also vice-president of the midwest district -of the International Mission Union. To the men on the street he is -known as “Charley.” No mission man in Chicago is better known. - -The Bible Rescue Mission is the only one that feeds men the year -around. Mr. Langsman feels that hungry men need food just as much -in summer as in winter. To him feeding is an evidence of the spirit -of Christianity. Because of this policy of feeding, he has been -severely criticized by the homeless men themselves and by missions. -Many of the “bos” say that “Charley” has a “doughnut philosophy.” -They maintain that religion is not worth much if it can only get -into a man’s heart through his stomach. These criticisms come back -to Superintendent Langsman, but they have not changed his policy. - -One of Langsman’s hobbies is a homeless man’s picnic each year. -When “Charley” stages a picnic it is a gala day for West Madison -Street. All the “boys” come out for a ride to the country in trucks -furnished by various firms and to eat sandwiches provided by the -churches. - - -JOHN VAN DE WATER, THE FRIEND OF THE DESERVING - -The Helping Hand Mission at 850 West Madison Street is essentially -a family mission with Sunday-school, parents’ classes, and other -auxiliary activities. It does not, however, neglect the homeless -man. Superintendent John Van de Water, for the last eight years -superintendent of the Helping Hand Mission, is one of the few -practical men in the mission work. Throughout the winter his -organization feeds, upon an average, 100 men a day. However, no -one is fed who will not work. He operates a wood yard and any -able-bodied man who asks for aid is given a chance to work. His is -the only mission that has such a test. - -Mr. Van de Water does not care for converts that must be “bought” -with doughnuts and coffee, and he has little patience with the -missions imposed upon by men who become converted only for a -place to sleep or something to eat. He is in favor of concerted -action among missions, because where they work separately they lay -themselves open to exploitation. - -The homeless man is often an ungrateful individual, but Mr. Van -de Water feels that more than a fourth of the men aided really -appreciate the help they get. Many men prefer the mission floor -in cold weather to the floor in the “flophouse,” which is seldom -scrubbed. - - -BRIGADIER J. E. ATKINS AND THE SALVATION ARMY HOTELS - -Most exploited and least loved by the hobos is the Salvation Army. -But the Salvation Army does more for the hobo than any other -agency. In every city of the country it is the “good Samaritan” to -the down-and-outs. Not only is it interested in working upon the -hearts of men, but it seeks to help people to walk alone. One of -the pioneers in this program of practical salvation is Brigadier J. -E. Atkins. - -Brigadier Atkins, a native of Wales, enlisted with the Salvation -Army forty-three years ago. He was sent to this country in 1886 as -a worker at the time when the first split occurred in the ranks. At -that time he was a regular officer in the ranks, and later became -a division officer. Before the war he was placed in charge of the -Salvation Army industrial work in Denver, Kansas City, and Des -Moines. - -He entered the army as a chaplain, and was assigned to the -first division. He was attached to “Young Teddy” Roosevelt’s -organization, and as a consequence saw considerable action. In this -capacity he spent twenty-one months overseas, serving with his -organization in all its major offensives. Twice he was gassed, and, -as a result, his voice has been permanently impaired. - -Since his discharge from the army, Brigadier Atkins has been in -charge of the four Salvation Army hotels for men in Chicago which -cater to the superior class of homeless men. These hotels are -operated on the usual Salvation Army business-like basis. The -policy is to make them pay their way, if possible, but not to -charge prices greater than the commercial hotels. It is the Atkins -aim to give all the service that is consistent with the price: to -keep the price as low as possible, and to keep the places clean and -orderly. He is insistent on getting clean, sober guests in the Army -hotels, and no apparently clean, sober man without funds need go -away. The contrary is said to be true by many “bos,” but they are -generally men who have been “found out.” - - -DR. JOHNSTON MYERS AND THE IMMANUEL PLAN - - We have knocked out the heavy stone barrier which stood - between us and the people and placed in its stead a glass, - business, inviting front, bearing such announcements - as, “We worship, we heal, we clothe, we feed, we find - employment for those in need”; “Your friends are inside, - come in.” Between five hundred and one thousand people - accept this invitation daily. We are prepared to meet and - help them. - -This is what Dr. Myers has done with a typical, forbidding, -gray-stone church, the Immanuel Baptist Church, at 2320 Michigan -Avenue. For twenty-seven years he has been pastor of this church, -and all that time he has been adhering to the Immanuel plan -outlined above. For ten years previous to his coming to the -Immanuel Church, he was pastor of the Ninth Street Baptist Church -of Cincinnati, where he followed this scheme of serving humanity as -well as God. - -Dr. Myers is a practical religionist. He is bringing religion out -of the clouds, and has made it an everyday, functioning affair. -In his mind it does not hurt a church to have a kitchen in the -basement nor to operate a restaurant in the building. His church -serves an excellent meal for thirty cents. Many of the workers in -the automobile salesrooms and the students from the medical college -near by are in the habit of taking lunch at the church. - -Most of the churches in the business area have closed their -doors, but the Immanuel Baptist is more conspicuous today than -ever before. The business men on the street are proud of it. They -contributed recently to help rebuild it after the steeple had been -blown down by a gale. The church does not serve its members as it -used to, because most of the families have moved away and now most -of its congregation is composed of homeless men. - -Dr. Myers does not try to preach to the men, nor does he try to -use the material aid he gives as a means of coaxing men to become -converted. He does not believe in such conversions. He and his -staff have learned that the average homeless man cannot hold money. -The men who apply know this too. “Johnston Myers will feed anyone -but it is pretty hard to get any ‘jack’ from him.” - - -THE GREENSTEINS AND “MOTHER’S RESTAURANT” - -Few hobos enter Chicago who have not heard of “Mother” Greenstein. -For years Mother and Father Greenstein ran a saloon on South State -Street. It was a barrel-house and the “bos” flocked to it when they -had money. It was one of the few saloons in that area that was -on “the square.” Among the hobos it is asserted that “Mother” is -the richest woman in Chicago. But her wealth has not changed her -habits. She reared a family of seven children, and most of them -have gone through college and into business for themselves. The -Greensteins are proud of their family, but no less proud of their -work. With the coming of prohibition, they closed the saloon and -opened a restaurant on the corner of Ninth and State streets. - -The place is known as “Mother’s Restaurant,” and it is one of the -few places in Hobohemia that has the right to write “Home Cooking” -on the window. Day after day “Mother” is on the job, cooking steaks -and chops and French-fried potatoes, while “Father” waits table -and serves at the bar. Mother lives in her work. She is proud of -her kitchen, and she likes to serve hungry men. The hobos say no -chef in the Blackstone or Drake can prepare more savory dishes. The -Greensteins did not earn their reputation by serving hungry men who -could pay their way, but by serving the penniless and hungry at -times when it is hard for hungry men to get food. - -A sign is painted on the wall outside the restaurant: “Mother’s -Restaurant. Don’t Go Hungry. See Mother.” Last winter another sign -placed in the window read: “Attention! Starting Monday, Dec. 20 -[1921], ‘Mother’ Will Serve Hot Coffee and Rolls Free ... from 5 -A.M. to 7 A.M.” Some mornings the bread line at 901 South State -Street contained as many as 500 men who were out to get a bowl of -coffee and something to eat, but none were ever turned away. There -is always plenty of bread and plenty of coffee, and good coffee, -too. - -The hobos do appreciate “Mother.” The old-timers of South State -Street swear by her. - - -HOBO LEADERSHIP - -This rapid sketch of a few persons in the _Who’s Who_ of Hobohemia -gives a picture of the local leadership among the homeless men. All -these persons, and many others who embody either the aspirations of -the hobos or the organized religious and philanthropic impulses of -the larger community toward the migrant, must be taken into account -in any fundamental policy and program for his welfare. All these -leaders are dealing with the homeless man as a human being, that -is, with his personal needs, his memories, and his hopes. Working -with these leaders, the social agencies may secure both insight -into his attitudes and wishes and his co-operation for his own -well-being. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -THE INTELLECTUAL LIFE OF THE HOBO - - -The homeless man is an extensive reader. This is especially true -of the transients, the tramp, and the hobo. The tramp employs his -leisure to read everything that comes his way. If he is walking -along the railroad track, he picks up the papers that are thrown -from the trains; he reads the cast-off magazines. If he is in the -city, he hunts out some quiet corner where he may read. The tramp -is a man with considerable leisure, but few books. - -The libraries are open to them, but comparatively few use them. -Public libraries are generally imposing structures and, dressed as -he usually is, the tramp hesitates to enter them. Dan Horsley, who -is a newsdealer and runs a bookstore on West Madison, in an article -in the _Hobo News_ for October, 1922, writes: - - Just as a hobo would feel out of place in a Fifth Avenue - church, so he would feel in the average library. He does - not make general use of the libraries because of the - menacing fear of the law. He is always watching lest he - be caught as a vagrant, and this prevents him seeking - recreative study; so he gets his own literature to read and - seeks some quiet place. - -There are men in the hobo class who are not deterred by these -scruples. Some of the most persistent users of the library have -been initiated during the winter time when they were forced inside -for shelter. The newspaper reading-room of the Chicago Public -Library has become for them a favorite retreat during the cold -winter days. It is also a good resting place in the hot summer -months. - -Lodging-houses sometimes have reading-rooms in which guests may -find the local newspapers and current periodicals. Such reading -material is usually extensively read and much thumb-marked. Most -lodging-houses and rooming-houses do not provide reading matter for -their guests. Seldom does a tramp throw away a paper. He passes -it on to someone else, and after it has served its usefulness -as reading matter, he may use it at night for a bed either in a -“flophouse” or a park, along the docks, or in box cars. - -The hobo reads the daily papers but does not indorse them. He looks -with disapproval upon the so-called “capitalist” press. If he -belongs to the radicals he is sure that the press is against him. -But in spite of this he reads it. He reads it for the news. - -Radical papers, to be sure, are steadfast in their efforts to -promote his interests and champion his cause, but it is a cause -that is so well known to the homeless man that it has lost its -novelty. There are many radical papers. Among them are the _Weekly -People_, the _Truth_, the _Industrial Solidarity_, the _Worker_, -the _Hobo News_, the _Liberator_, the _Voice of Labor_. These -are not printed primarily for the homeless man, but have a wide -circulation among the so-called “slum proletariat.” - -The homeless man reads a certain amount of religious literature, -but little of it is perused in the spirit hoped for by the mission -worker or street evangelist. He reads it because it is handed to -him and it kills time. - -Short-story magazines are popular. Next to short-story magazines -would come railroad or engineering journals and other magazines -dealing with popular mechanics. - -[Illustration: MEMBERS OF THE JEFFERSON PARK INTELLIGENTSIA] - -[Illustration: THE HOBO READS PROGRESSIVE LITERATURE] - -Sex stories are, of course, popular. The tramp has a preference for -books of adventure and action. Jack London is the most widely read -of novelists among the “bos.” Books on mechanics, _How to Run an -Automobile_, _Uses of the Steel Square_, _Block Signal Systems_, -_Gas Engines_, have a wide sale. - -Works on phrenology, palmistry, Christian Science, hypnotism, and -the secrets of the stars, etc., are of perennial interest. Joke -books and books explaining tricks with cards or riddles, detective -stories, and books in the field of the social sciences are -surprisingly popular. Bookstores patronized by tramps keep in stock -special pocket-size editions of works on sociology, economics, -politics, and history. The radical periodicals recommend books to -the serious-minded hobo reader. Following is a list from the _Hobo -News_: - - _Easy Outlines on Economics_, by Noah Ablett - _A Worker Looks at History_, by Mark Starr - _Philosophical Essays; Positive Outlines of Philosophy_, by J. - Dietzgen - -Among the books recommended for the proletariat in the I.W.W. -literature list for April, 1922, are the following: - - _The Ancient Lowly_, C. Osborne Ward - _Ancient Society_, Lewis H. Morgan - _Capital_, Karl Marx - _Capital Today_, Herman Cahn - _The Economic Causes of War_, Achille Loria - _Essays on the Materialistic Conception of History_, Antonio - Labriola - _Evolution of Man_, Wilhelm Boelache - _Evolution of Property_, Paul Lafargue - _Social and Philosophical Studies_, Paul Lafargue - _Stories of the Great Railroads_, Charles Edward Russell - _The Universal Kinship_, J. Howard Moore - _History of Great American Fortunes_, Gustavus Myers - _History of the Supreme Courts_, Gustavus Myers - _Origin of the Family; Private Property and the State_, Frederick - Engels - _The History of the I.W.W._, Frederic Brissenden - -These books are kept in stock at the I.W.W. headquarters and -extensively sold and read by the intellectuals. Soap-box orators -get fuel for the fires they seek to kindle from books of this sort. -It is common knowledge on the “stem” that one can tell the books -a speaker reads by the opinions he expresses and the programs he -favors. - - -THE HOBO WRITER - -The hobo who reads sooner or later tries his hand at writing. A -surprisingly large number of them eventually realize their ambition -to get into print. It is not unusual to meet a man of the road with -a number of clippings in his pocket of articles he has contributed -to the daily press. Most of the great dailies have columns that are -accessible to the free-lance writer, and the pages of the radical -press are always open to productions of the hobo pen. Most of these -contributions are in the form of letters to editors. One man who -writes many such letters proudly exhibited an article recently -published in the _Chicago Daily Tribune_. It was signed “F. W. B.” -He explained that these letters stood for “Fellow Worker Block.” -That was his nom de plume. - -The hobo writer does not concern himself with letters alone. A -number of them are ambitious to become novelists, essayists, and -even dramatists. Some of these men have manuscripts that they have -carried about with them for years in search of a publisher. One -such author, an old man, said: “I have material enough together -to write a book. All I want is to get someone to help me organize -it. I want someone to go over it with me. You see, I never had -much schooling and my grammar is not very good.” Another man -carried about a great roll of manuscript which purported to be a -“society novel.” It was entitled _The Literary in Literature_. It -was written in lead pencil and represented the accumulated effort -of several years. When the mood struck him, he added a chapter or -a paragraph. Before the last page had been written, however, the -first was so badly dimmed from being carried around that it could -not be deciphered. - -Some hobo writers have visions of a financial success that will -put them on “easy street.” One man offered to share the proceeds -from the publications of a series of essays on economics if the -investigator would typewrite it. “Why, this will bring thousands of -dollars,” he said. “If I can only get a publisher interested, but,” -he added, “they don’t seem to care for live subjects.” - -Another hobo writes songs and has the same difficulty with -publishers. He still feels, after hundreds of failures, that he -will eventually get into the limelight. - -The hobo writer who plies the pen for the love of it is not -unusual. One man has been working on a play for several months. -He cannot get anyone interested, but that has not quenched -his enthusiasm. Another man spends most of his leisure on the -north side of Hobohemia, writing fantastic paragraphs. They are -interesting and amusing. He does not try to publish them. He writes -them because he enjoys it. Most numerous of the hobo writers are -the propagandists and dreamers. They are the chief contributors to -the rebel press. Many of them care to be identified with no other. -They are not artists nor do they write for gain. They have little -patience for the writer who lives for the so-called “filthy lucre.” - -But whatever their motive, most of these hobo writers, for the -want of a better medium, become contributors to the radical press. -Without them radical sheets like the I.W.W. publications and the -_Hobo News_ would not appeal to the homeless man. The radical press -in turn serves as a pattern by which hobo writers fashion and color -their literary productions. - - -THE “INDUSTRIAL SOLIDARITY” - -The _Industrial Solidarity_ is a typical I.W.W. paper. It comes -nearer than any other I.W.W. paper to reflecting the mind and the -spirit of the average hobo. It is a six- or eight-page weekly and -sells for five cents. It is published in Chicago from where it is -distributed to individual subscribers or in bundles to the peddlers -or newsdealers. - -The issue of July 1, 1922, contains the following articles: - - In bold headlines across the front page under the caption, - “Company Brought on Herrin Mine War” is a detailed - narrative of the whole affair written by George Williams - who is supposed to have been an eye-witness. This article - contains four full columns, two of them on the front page. - Another front-page article is devoted to the freeing of - political prisoners. It has special reference to the - fifty-two I.W.W. in Leavenworth who refused to ask the - President for pardon. The article is headed, “Hundreds of - Cities in Million Signature Petition Drive.” The slogan - was “Let Them Go Free.” Attorney-General Daugherty, who - at best is not popular with the floating population, is - shown in a cartoon on the front page marching in a parade - carrying a banner on which is inscribed, “Please, Let Morse - out of Prison.” Over the cartoon is written the ironical - legend, which harks back to some remark that had been used - against the “Wobblies,” “This is no Children’s Crusade.” - - Considerable space is devoted to the spring drive for - membership. At the time of the publication of this number - the drive was on in full blast in the harvest fields where - the so-called “slugging committees” were out enrolling - members. One long article was published telling of - “conditions” in Kansas and Oklahoma where the Ku Klux Klan - was offering active opposition to the I.W.W. The articles - had been sent in by some “bo” who told in detail how the - “Wobblies” outwitted the “town clowns,” or local police, - and the K.K.K. - -According to the I.W.W. literature list for April, 1922, the -following periodicals are issued regularly: - - ==================+===========+===========+==========+============= - Name | Issued | Where | No. Each | Language - | | Published | Issue | - ------------------+-----------+-----------+----------+------------- - _Industrial | | | | - Solidarity_ | Weekly | Chicago | 12,000 | English - _Industrial | | | | - Worker_ | Weekly | Seattle | 10,000 | English - _Industrial | | | | - Unionist_ | Bi-weekly | New York | (?) | English - _Golos Truzenika_ | Bi-weekly | Chicago | 3,000 | Russian - _A Felszabadulas_ | Weekly | Chicago | 5,000 | Hungarian - _Il Proletario_ | Weekly | Chicago | 6,000 | Italian - _Solidaridad_ | Weekly | Chicago | 5,500 | Spanish - _Rahotnicheska | | | | - Mysl_ | Weekly | Chicago | 2,800 | Bulgarian - _Muncitorul_ | Bi-weekly | Chicago | 4,200 | Roumanian - _Jedna Velka Unie_| Monthly | Chicago | 2,700 |Czecho-Slovak - _Tie Vapauteen_ | Monthly | Chicago | 7,000 | Finnish - _Industrialisti_ | Daily | Duluth | 16,000 | Finnish - _Snaga Radnika_ | Bi-weekly | Duluth | 3,500 | Croatian - ------------------+-----------+-----------+----------+------------- - -“Wobbly” papers are extensively used as lesson sheets. _Solidarity_ -has one long article of this character which is an analysis -and criticism of craft unionism. Finally, there are several -communications from members on the road and four or five -editorials on questions of the day. - -The _Solidarity_ is only one of a number of I.W.W. publications, -but the most important as far as the hobos are concerned. The -organization maintains a publishing company of its own, the Equity -Press, which is situated at the I.W.W. headquarters in Chicago. - - -THE “HOBO NEWS” - -The _Hobo News_, published in St. Louis, contains sixteen pages and -carries no advertising. It is published monthly and sells for ten -cents. It is distributed, like _Solidarity_, by bundle orders or -subscription. - -The July, 1922, issue of the _Hobo News_ has the following contents: - - An article by Laura Irwin entitled, “Half Dead (Unnecessary - Movement a Crime).” It laments the fact that more care - is given to machines and animals than to men by the big - interests. Another article is a reprint entitled, “Hobos - in Missouri.” It is a description of life on the road. - Daniel Horsley, a Chicagoan, has an article on “Hobo Life - and Death: Something to Think About.” It is a discussion - of the struggle for existence. There is also a short story - entitled “Callahans’s Castle” depicting jungle pastimes. - - Under the heading “Near Poetry” are several short poems - by different hobo contributors. Some of the titles are: - “History,” “Adrift,” “To a Hobo,” “Labor’s March,” “Our - Boss,” “The Hobo: of Course,” and “The Glory of Toil.” - Several letters to the editor deal with subjects of general - interest to the hobos. The editor writes on the prospects - for work the coming winter. There are two cartoons. One - shows the figure of a worker hewn out of stone at the top - of a mountain. He is being assailed by politicians and - capitalists. Over the cartoon is this legend, “These Shall - Not Prevail against Him.” Another cartoon shows a tramp - waiting at the water tank. A train is approaching in the - distance. It is entitled, “The Regular Stop.” - -No class of men are in a better position to know life than the -migratory population. These men have a large fund of experience, -but they do not seem to have developed any sense of the relative -values. With all this experience and with all these contacts with -life, they are not able to interpret it. The intellectuals are -obsessed by the class struggle, and instead of writing literature, -they prefer to repeat the formulas and play with the mental toys -which the doctrinaire reformers and revolutionists have fashioned -for them. - -We cannot say therefore that the radical press in monopolizing -the hobo pens has robbed art. Among all these contributors to the -radical publications, there are few who might produce literature. -Many of them do not have patience to write literature nor the -courage to formulate a new idea. They prefer to ride a hobby and -repeat familiar formulas. - -Writers who do find themselves do not remain in the hobo class. -Others have the ability to rise, but because of drink or drugs are -unable to do so. These men may find a place on the staff of one of -the radical papers. They may even aspire to an editorship. Such a -goal is not uncommon among the intellectuals. The _Hobo News_ is -one paper that the hobo writer likes to be identified with because -it is more than a doctrinaire propagandist sheet. It maintains some -literary features, and every issue has one or more articles or -poems that portray hobo life. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -HOBO SONGS AND BALLADS - - -Much so-called hobo verse which has found its way into print was -not written by tramps, but by men who knew enough of the life of -the road to enable them to interpret its spirit. The best hobo -poems have been written behind prison bars. Many of the songs of -the I.W.W. have been written in jail. - -The poetry most popular among the men on the road are ballads -describing some picturesque and tragic incident of the hobo’s -adventurous life. The following by an unknown author illustrates -the type. Here is an incident told in the language of the road in a -manner that every “bo” can understand and appreciate. - -THE GILA MONSTER ROUTE - - The lingering sunset across the plain - Kissed the rear end of an east-bound train, - And shone on the passing track close by - Where a dingbat sat on a rotten tie. - - He was ditched by the “shack,” and cruel fate, - The “con” highballed, and the manifest freight, - Pulled out on the stem behind the mail, - And beat it east on a sanded rail. - - As she pulled away in the fading night - He could see the gleam of her red tail lights. - Then the moon arose, and the stars came out; - He was ditched on the Gila Monster Route. - - There was nothing in sight but sand and space; - No chance for a bo to feed his face; - Not even a shack to beg for a lump. - Nor a hen house there to frisk for a gump. - - As he gazed far out on the solitude - He dropped his head and began to brood. - He thought of the time he lost his pal - In the hostile berg of Stockton, Cal. - - They had mooched the stem and threw their feet, - And speared four bits on which to eat; - But deprived themselves of their daily bread, - And sluffed the coin for dago-red. - - Then, down by the tracks, in the jungle’s glade, - On the cool, green grass in the tule’s shade, - They shed their coats, and ditched their shoes, - And tanked up full of that colored booze. - - Then, they took a flop with their hides plumb full, - And did not hear the harness bull, - Till he shook them out of their boozy nap, - With a husky voice and a loaded sap. - - They were charged with vag, for they had no kale, - And the judge said sixty days in jail; - But the john had a bundle, the worker’s plea, - So he gave him a floater and set him free. - - They had turned him out, but ditched his mate, - So he grabbed the guts of an east-bound freight; - He had held his form to the rusty rods - Till the brakeman hollered, “Hit the sod.” - - So the bo rolled off and in the ditch, - With two switch lights and a rusty switch, - A poor, old, seedy, half-starved bo - On a hostile pike without a show. - - Then all at once from out of the dark - Came the short, sharp notes of a coyote’s bark; - The bo looked up and quickly rose, - And shook the dust from his threadbare clothes. - - Far off in the west through the moonlight night - He saw the gleam of a big head light; - An east-bound stock run hummed the rail, - It was due at the switch to clear the mail. - - As she pulled up close the head-end “shack” - Threw the switch to the passing track, - The stock rolled in and off the main, - The line was clear for the west-bound train. - - As she hove in sight far up the track, - She was working steam with the brake shoes slack; - Whistling once at the whistling post, - She flittered by like a frightened ghost. - - You could hear the roar of the big six wheel, - As the drivers pounded the polished steel, - And the screech of the flanges on the rail, - As she beat it west o’er the desert trail. - - The john got busy and took a risk, - He climbed aboard and began to frisk, - He reached up high and began to feel - For an end-door pin, then he cracked a seal. - - ’Twas a double-deck stock loaded with sheep; - The john got in and went to sleep; - The “con” highballed, and she whistled out, - They were off--down the Gila Monster Route. - -The following ballad by Harry Kemp, the “tramp poet,” describes a -situation that is familiar to those who know Hobohemia. Many men -in the tramp class, to escape cold and hunger, have yielded to a -similar temptation. - -THE TRAMP CONFESSION - - We huddled in the mission - Fer it was cold outside - And listened to the preacher - Tell of the Crucified; - - Without a sleety drizzle - Cut deep each ragged form, - An’ so we stood the talkin’ - Fer shelter from the storm. - - They sang of Gods and Angels - An’ Heaven’s eternal joy - An’ things I stopped believin’ - When I was still a boy; - - They spoke of good an’ evil - An’ offered savin’ grace - An’ some showed love for mankind - Ashinin’ in their face. - - An’ some their graft was workin’ - The same as me and you; - But some was urgin’ on us - What they believed was true. - - We sang an’ dozed an’ listened, - But only feared, us men - The time when, service over, - We’d have to mooch again. - - An’ walk the icy pavements, - An’ breast the snow storm gray, - Till the saloons was opened, - An’ there was hints of day. - - So, when they called out, “Sinners, - Won’t you come?” I came.... - But in my face was pallor - An’ in my heart was shame.... - An’ so fergive me, Jesus, - Fer mockin’ of thy name. - - Fer I was cold an’ hungry; - They gave me food and bed - After I kneeled there with them, - An’ many prayers was said. - - An’ so fergive me, Jesus, - I didn’t mean no harm.... - Fer outside it was zero - An’ inside it was warm. - - Yes, I was cold an’ hungry - An’ Oh, Thou Crucified, - Thou Friend of all the Lowly, - Fergive the lie I lied.[58] - - -WANDERLUST - -Many men have seen charms in the life on the road; Walt Whitman -and Vachel Lindsay are or were tramp poets. For men who cannot -endure the security and the tyranny of convention, this care-free -existence has an irresistible appeal. The following swinging poem -by H. H. Knibbs vibrates with the call of the road. - -NOTHING TO DO BUT GO - - I’m the wandering son with the nervous feet, - That never were meant for a steady beat; - I’ve had many a job for a little while, - I’ve been on the bum and I’ve lived in style; - And there was the road, stretchin’ mile after mile, - And nothing to do but go. - - So, beat it, Bo, while your feet are mates; - Take a look at the whole United States; - There’s the little fire and the pipe at night; - And up again when the morning’s bright; - With nothin’ but road and sky in sight, - And nothin’ to do but go. - - So, beat it, Bo, while the goin’s good, - While the birds in the trees are sawin’ wood; - If today ain’t the finest for you and me, - Then there’s tomorrow that’s going to be, - And the day after that, that’s comin’, see, - And nothin’ to do but go. - - Then beat it, Bo, while you’re young and strong; - See all you can, for it won’t last long; - You can tarry for only a little spell, - On the long, gray road to Fare-Ye-Well, - That leads to Heaven or maybe Hell, - And nothin’ to do but go.[59] - -“Away from Town,” by Harry Kemp, is a vivid picture of the -springtime yearning that the hobo feels to be off to the country -after spending the winter in the city’s slums. Not all tramps who -feel, with the passing of winter, the urge to move, are enticed -from the “gaunt, gray city” in search of “country cheer,” but -a goodly number love the grass and shade and a season in the -“jungles.” It is the same call that makes truants of school boys -and fishermen of staid business men. - - High perched upon a box-car, I speed, I speed today; - I leave the gaunt, gray city some good, green miles away, - A terrible dream in granite, a riot of streets and brick - A frantic nightmare of people until the soul turns sick-- - Such is the high, gray city with the live green waters ’round - Oozing up from the Ocean, slipping in from the Sound. - I’d put up in the Bowery for nights in a ten-cent bed - Where the dinky “L” trains thunder and rattle overhead; - I’d traipsed the barren pavements with pain of frost in my - feet; - I’d sidled to hotel kitchens and asked for something to eat. - But when the snow went dripping, and the young spring came as - one - Who weeps because of the winter, laughs because of the sun - I thought of a limpid brooklet that bickers through weeds all - day, - And I made a streak for the ferry, and rode across in a dray, - And dodged into the Erie where they bunt the box cars round. - I peeled my eye for detectives, and boarded an outward bound. - For you know when a man’s been cabined in walls for part of a - year, - He longs for a place to stretch in, he hankers for country - cheer.[60] - - -POEMS OF PROTEST - -In spite of its transient charms, the life of the tramp is a hard -one. It is fine to be free, but it is good to have a home. The -hobo likes freedom, but is not satisfied to be an Ishmaelite. His -speeches and his poetry are filled with protests against the social -order which refuses to make a place for him; against the system -that makes him an outcast. - -The following poem entitled “The Dishwasher” was written by Jim -Seymour, the “Hobo poet.” The second half, omitted here, is a -prophecy of the overthrow of the “system.” - - Alone in the kitchen, in grease laden steam, - I pause for a moment--a moment to dream: - For even a dishwasher thinks of a day, - Wherein there’ll be leisure for rest and for play. - And now that I pause, o’er the transom there floats, - A strain of the Traumerei’s soul stirring notes. - Engulfed in a blending of sorrow and glee, - I wonder that music can reach even me. - - But now I am thinking; my brain has been stirred. - The voice of a master, the lowly has heard. - The heart breaking sobs of the sad violin, - Arouse the thoughts of the sweet might have been. - Had men been born equal, the use of their brain, - Would shield them from poverty: free them from pain, - Nor would I have sunk into the black social mire, - Because of poor judgment in choosing a sire. - - But now I am only a slave of the mill, - That plies and remodels me just as it will; - That makes me a dullard in brain burning heat; - That looks at rich viands not daring to eat; - That works with his red, blistered hands ever stuck, - Down deep in the foul indescribable muck; - Where dishes are plunged seventeen at a time; - And washed in a tubful of sickening slime. - - But on with your clatter; no more must I shirk. - The world is to me but a nightmare of work. - For me not the music, the laughter and song; - For no toiler is welcome amid the gay throng. - For me not the smiles of the ladies who dine; - Nor the sweet, clinging kisses, begotten of wine. - For me but the venting of low, sweated groans, - That twelve hours a night have instilled in my bones. - -Arturo Giovannitti won his reputation as a poet by a poem in blank -verse which pictures the monotony of prison life. “The Walker” was -written in jail, as was “The Bum,” the poem by which Giovannitti -is best known among the hobos. As an I.W.W. and a radical, his -writings breathe the spirit of protest. “The Bum,” the first three -verses of which follow, is an eloquent tirade against religion: - - The dust of a thousand roads, the grease - And grime of slums, were on his face; - The fangs of hunger and disease - Upon his throat had left their trace; - The smell of death was in his breath, - But in his eye no resting place. - - Along the gutters, shapeless, fagged, - With drooping head and bleeding feet, - Throughout the Christmas night he dragged, - His care, his woe, and his defeat; - Till, gasping hard, with face downward - He fell upon the trafficked street. - - The midnight revelry aloud - Cried out its glut of wine and lust - The happy, clean, indifferent crowd - Passed him in anger and disgust: - For--fit or rum--he was a bum, - And if he died ’twas nothing lost.[61] - -In the following poem, by an unknown writer, “The Bum on the Rods -and the Bum on the Plush” states the case of labor against capital -in the language and accents of the hobo: - - The bum on the rods is hunted down - As the enemy of mankind, - The other is driven around to his club - Is feted, wined, and dined. - And they who curse the bum on the rods - As the essence of all that is bad, - Will greet the other with a winning smile, - And extend the hand so glad. - - The bum on the rods is a social flea - Who gets an occasional bite, - The bum on the plush is a social leech, - Blood-sucking day and night. - The bum on the rod is a load so light - That his weight we scarcely feel, - But it takes the labor of dozens of men - To furnish the other a meal. - - As long as you sanction the bum on the plush - The other will always be there, - But rid yourself of the bum on the plush - And the other will disappear. - Then make an intelligent, organized kick, - Get rid of the weights that crush. - Don’t worry about the bum on the rods, - Get rid of the bum on the plush. - -The following verses are taken from a selection written by Henry A. -White, who is a veteran of the road and for many years connected -with the publication of the _Hobo News_. It is entitled “The Hobo -Knows.” In it one can detect an unfamiliar note of resignation, the -resignation of an old man who has hoped and struggled, and learned. - - He knows the whirr of the rolling wheels, - And their click on the time-worn joints; - His ear is attuned to the snap and snarl - Of the train, at the rickety points. - - He knows the camp by the side of the road, - And the “java” and “mulligan” too; - The siding long, and the water tank - Are as home to me and you. - - He knows the fright of hunger and thirst, - And of cold and of rain as well; - Of raggedy clothes and out-worn shoes, - An awful tale he can tell. - - He knows what it means to slave all day, - And at night eat the vilest of fare; - What a tale he can tell of loathsome bunks, - Cramped quarters, and noisome air. - - He knows what the end of it all will be - When he crosses the line at the goal; - A rough, pine box, and a pauper’s grave - And he has paid his toll. - - -THE HOBO’S OBSERVATIONS AND REFLECTIONS ON LIFE - -The poets who have written best about the tramp are those who -have recorded their reflections on their own life and his. Robert -W. Service sees in “The Men That Don’t Fit In” a great group of -wanderers who move here and there in response to an imperious -wanderlust. - - There’s a race of men that don’t fit in, - A race that can’t stay still; - So they break the hearts of kith and kin, - And roam the world at will. - They range the field and they rove the flood, - And they climb the mountain crest, - Theirs is the curse of the gypsy blood, - And they don’t know how to rest. - - If they just went straight they might go far; - They are strong and brave and true; - But they’re always tired of the things that are - And they want the strange and new. - They say, “Could I find my proper groove - What a deep mark I would make!” - So they chop and change, and each fresh move - Is only a fresh mistake. - - And each forgets as he strips and runs - With a brilliant, fitful pace, - It’s the steady, quiet, plodding ones - Who win the lifelong race. - And each forgets that his youth has fled, - Forgets that his prime is past, - Till he stands one day with a hope that’s dead, - In the glare of the truth at last.[62] - -There are men in the tramp class who are always chasing rainbows, -always expecting to “strike it rich” sometime and somewhere. Bill -Quirke, for many years contributor to the _Hobo News_, gives -expression to this sentiment in the poem, “One Day; Some Way, I’ll -Make a Stake.” This poem was written a few months before Bill was -killed by an automobile in California. From the heart of it we -quote: - - For years I’ve drilled the rough pathway, - And weathered many a wintry blast, - I’ll make another stake some day - For luck must turn my way at last. - I’m far too old for working, too - They say my work is almost through; - My ore assesses never a flake - But still I hope to make a stake. - -In the _Hobo News_ of August, 1921, Charles Thornburn records his -reflections while he contemplates the empty, beaten faces of the -men of the “stem”: - - With ever restless tread, they come and go, - Or lean intent against the grimy wall, - These men whom fate has battered to and fro, - In the grim game of life, from which they all - Have found so much of that which is unkind, - Still hoping on, that fortune yet may mend, - With sullen stare, and features hard and lined, - They wander off to nowhere, and the end. - - Their thoughts we may not fathom, in their eyes - One seems to sense a vision, as though fate - Had let one little glimpse of fairer skies - Brighten their souls before she closed the gate. - Yet have they hopes and dreams which bring them peace, - Adding to life’s flat liquor just the blend - Called courage, that their efforts may not cease - To seek the gold, hid at the rainbow’s end. - -“The Wanderer” is from the pen of Charles Ashleigh. It is said to -have been written in jail. It is a justification, not complete, -of the hobo principle of living for the day and by the day, of -enjoying the sweets of life, if they can be secured, and of -avoiding its problems. - - Is there no voice to speak for these, our kin; - The strange, wild sorrows for the wanderer’s soul; - The shining comradeship we sometimes win - When on our wilful way to visioned goals? - - We are the ones to whom the forests speak, - For whom the little by-streets run awry; - Ships are our mistresses, and vaulted peaks - Draw us unconquered to the tyrant sky. - - And what if we in sordid corners sink, - Or perish in the crash of lawless fight; - Our souls have had the wine of life to drink, - We’ve had our blazing day. Let come the night. - -The hobo characterizes the district where the employment agencies -are located as the “slave market.” Louis Melis, prominent in -Hobohemia as a soap-boxer, has written a poem entitled “The Slave -Market” from which the following verses have been taken: - -THE SLAVE MARKET - - This is the city of lost dreams and defeated hopes; - Always you are the mecca of the Jobless, - The seekers after life and the sweet illusions of happiness. - Within your walls there are the consuming - Fires of pain, sorrow and eternal regrets. - Roses never bloom here; silken petals - Cannot be defiled. - - Streets in ragged attire, sang-froid in their violence; - Years come and go; still your hideousness goes on - And mute outcasts garnish - Your every rendezvous. - Blind pigs, reeking with a nauseous smell everywhere; - The so-called “flops,” the lousy beds - Where slaves of mill and mine and rail and shop - Curl up and drop away unconscious, - In fair pretense of sleep. - Employment sharks entrapping men, - Human vultures in benign disguise, - Auctioning labor at a pittance per day. - And it’s always “What will you give?” - “What will you take?” - The pocketing of fat commissions; - Old men, young men, tramps, bums, hobos, - Laborers seeking jobs or charity - Each visioning happiness from afar. - - They swarm the city streets, these slaves, - For all must live and strive, - And always the elusive job sign - Greets their contemplative glance. - A job--food, clothing, shelter; - Wage slaves selling their power; - Oh, you Slave Market, I know you! - - From timbered lands, North, East, South and West - From distant golden grain belts, - From endless miles of rail, - These workers float to the city. - Timber beasts, harvesters, gandy dancers-- - Adventurers all. From every clime and zone, - Each comes with hope of work or - Else to blow his pile. - - -BATTLE SONGS OF THE HOBOS - -There are many types of tramp songs but most conspicuous are the -songs of protest. The I.W.W. have done much to stimulate song -writing, mostly songs of the struggle between the masses and the -classes. - -Most hobo songs are parodies on certain popular airs or on hymns. -One can easily determine when certain songs were written if he -knows when certain popular airs, to which they are fitted, were -the rage. The tunes most used by the tramp song writers are those -that are so well known that the song may be sung by any group of -transients. When the songs are parodies on hymns there is usually -a note of irony running through them. The following is called the -hobo’s “Harvest War Song.” It was written by Pat Brennan and is -sung to the tune of “Tipperary.” - - We are coming home, John Farmer; We are coming back to stay. - For nigh on fifty years or more, we’ve gathered up your hay. - We have slept out in your hayfields; we have heard your morning - shout; - We’ve heard you wondering where in hell’s them pesky go-abouts? - - _Chorus_ - - It’s a long way, now understand me; it’s a long way to town; - It’s a long way across the prairies, and to hell with Farmer - Brown. - Here goes for better wages, and the hours must come down, - For we’re out for a winter’s stake this summer, and we want no - scabs around. - - You’ve paid the going wages, that’s what kept us on the bum, - You say you’ve done your duty, you chin-whiskered son-of-a-gun. - We have sent your kids to college, but still you rave and shout - And call us tramps and hobos, and pesky go-abouts. - - But now the long wintry breezes are a-shaking our poor frames, - And the long drawn days of hunger try to drive us bos insane, - It is driving us to action; we are organized today; - Us pesky tramps and hobos are coming back to stay. - -Joe Hill, whose real name was Joseph Hilstrom, holds the place of -honor among the I.W.W.’s as a song writer. Before his death he -was one of the most enthusiastic of the I.W.W. organizers. His -execution in Utah in 1915 has not lessened his popularity among -the “Wobblies.” Most of his songs are parodies. “The Tramp” is -a parody on the old tune: “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp; the Boys Are -Marching.” - - If you will shut your trap, - I will tell you ’bout a chap, - That was broke and up aginst it too for fair; - He was not the kind to shirk, - He was looking hard for work, - But he heard the same old story everywhere. - - _Chorus_ - - Tramp, tramp, tramp, keep on a-tramping, - Nothing doing here for you; - If I catch you ’round again; - You will wear the ball and chain, - Keep on tramping, that’s the best thing you can do. - - He walked up and down the street, - ’Till the shoes fell off his feet; - In a house he spied a lady cooking stew, - And he said, “How do you do, - May I chop some wood for you?” - What the lady told him made him feel so blue. - - ’Cross the street a sign he read, - “Work for Jesus,” so it said, - And he said, “Here is my chance, I’ll surely try,” - And he kneeled upon the floor, - Till his knees got rather sore, - But at eating time he heard the preacher say: - - Down the street he met a cop, - And the copper made him stop, - And he asked him, “When did you blow into town?” - “Come with me to the judge.” - But the judge he said, “Oh fudge! - Bums that have no money needn’t come around.” - -“The Preacher and the Slave,” also written by Joe Hill and sung to -the tune of “Sweet Bye and Bye,” is especially popular among the -malcontents because of its attack upon religion: - - Long haired preachers come out every night, - Try to tell you what’s wrong and what’s right; - But when asked how ’bout something to eat - They will answer in voices so sweet: - - _Chorus_ - - You will eat bye and bye - In that glorious land above the sky; - Work and pray, live on hay, - You’ll get pie in the sky when you die. - - And the starvation army, they play, - And they sing and they clap and they pray, - Till they get all your coin on the drum, - Then they’ll tell you when you’re on the bum: - - Workingmen of all countries, unite, - Side by side we for freedom will fight; - When the world and its wealth we have gained - To the grafters we’ll sing this refrain: - - _Last Chorus_ - - You will eat bye and bye - When you’ve learned how to cook and to fry; - Chop some wood, ’twill do you good, - And you will eat in the sweet bye and bye. - -The “Portland County Jail” is one of the few songs of the road that -does not wear out. - - I’m a stranger in your city, - My name is Paddy Flynn; - I got drunk the other evening, - And the coppers run me in. - I had no money to pay my fine, - No friends to go my bail, - So I got soaked for ninety days - In the Portland County Jail. - - _Chorus_ - - Oh, such a lot of devils, - The like I never saw; - Robbers, thieves, and highwaymen, - And breakers of the law. - They sang a song the whole night long, - And the curses fell like hail, - I’ll bless the day they take me away - From the Portland County Jail. - - The only friend that I had left, - Was Happy Sailor Jack; - He told me all the lies he knew, - And all the safes he’s cracked. - He cracked them in Seattle; - He’d robbed the Western Mail; - It would freeze the blood of an honest man, - In the Portland County Jail. - - -HOBO VERSE IN A LIGHTER VEIN - -The characteristic hobo is an optimist who sees the humorous side -of many an unpleasant or dangerous situation. The average seasoned -“bo” with full stomach and money in his pocket can enjoy to the -full the never-ending series of happenings on West Madison Street. -If there is nothing else, he can be amused at the other man’s -predicament. Many of these humorous experiences have found their -way into poetry. - -The hobo is ironic even in the face of death. The following -poem, by an unknown writer, caricatures the contrast between the -sentiment and the reality of the hobo’s existence. - -THE HOBO’S LAST LAMENT - - Beside a Western water-tank - One cold November day, - Inside an empty box-car, - A dying hobo lay; - His old pal stood beside him, - With low and drooping head, - Listening to the last words, - As the dying hobo said: - - “I am going to a better land, - Where everything is bright, - Where beef-stews grow on bushes - And you sleep out every night; - And you do not have to work at all, - And never change your socks, - And streams of goodly whiskey - Come trickling down the rocks. - - “Tell the bunch around Market street, - That my face, no more, they’ll view; - Tell them I’ve caught a fast freight, - And that I’m going straight on through. - Tell them not to weep for me, - No tears in their eyes must lurk; - For I’m going to a better land, - Where they hate the word called work. - - “Hark! I hear her whistling, - I must catch her on the fly; - I would like one scoop of beer - Once more before I die.” - The hobo stopped, his head fell back, - He’d sung his last refrain; - His old pal stole his coat and hat - And caught an East-bound train.[63] - -A. W. Dragstedt, a prominent personality in Chicago’s Hobohemia, -is a man who goes and comes when he pleases. According to hobo -custom, he goes to the country each summer, but he usually spends -his leisure in town. He is an optimist. The following two verses -were written at a time when he was down but not downhearted. - - It takes a very little for me to be happy; - The world has a smile for each day that goes by; - My diet of coffee and doughnuts so snappy, - Makes me very clever and mentally spry. - - My shoes are but uppers, pants full of patches; - My stomach feels pleased when I fill it with soup; - When sleepy and tired my slumber I snatches, - In haystacks and hallways; sometimes in the coop. - -“No Matter Where You Go” is a humorous presentation of the futility -of wandering. Where to go next when the hobo wants to move is -always a problem. Usually the “bo” gives an unfavorable report of -the district he has just left. - - Things are dull in San Francisco, - “On the bum” in New Orleans; - “Rawther punk” in cultured Boston, - Famed for codfish, pork, and beans. - “On the hog” in Kansas City; - Out in Denver things are jarred; - And they’re “beefing” in Chicago - That the times are rather hard. - - Not much doing in St. Louis; - It’s the same in Baltimore; - Coin don’t rattle in Seattle - As it did in days of yore. - Jobs are scarce around Atlanta - All through Texas it is still. - And there’s very little stirring - In the town of Louisville. - - There’s a howl from Cincinnati, - New York City, Brooklyn too; - In Milwaukee’s foamy limits - There is little work to do. - In the face of all such rumors, - It seems not amiss to say - That no matter where you’re going - You had better stay away. - - -POETRY AND HOBO SOLIDARITY - -In song and ballad the hobo expresses life as he feels and sees it. -Through poetry he creates a background of tradition and culture -which unifies and gives significance to all his experiences. His -ballads of the road and his battle songs of protest induce a -unanimity of sentiment and attitudes, the strongest form of group -solidarity in the hobo world. - -Through the universal language of poetry the homeless man bridges -the chasm of isolation that separates him from his fellows. In -song and ballad he communicates his memories and his hopes to men -everywhere who, fascinated by his experiences, perceive in them -only a different expression of the human wishes of every person. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[58] H. Kemp, _The Cry of Youth_, p. 60. By special permission of -the publisher, Mitchell Kennerley. - -[59] H. H. Knibbs, _Songs of the Outlands_, p. 50. By permission, -and special arrangement with, Houghton, Mifflin Company, the -authorized publishers. - -[60] H. Kemp, _The Cry of Youth_, p. 78. By permission of the -publisher, Mitchell Kennerley. - -[61] Arturo Giovannitti, _Arrows in the Gale_, p. 40. - -[62] From _The Spell of the Yukon_, p. 15, by Robert W. Service, -author of _Ballads of a Cheechako, Rhymes of a Red Cross Man_, and -_Ballads of a Bohemian_, published by Barse & Hopkins, Newark, N.J. - -[63] _Hobo News_, June, 1917. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -THE SOAP BOX AND THE OPEN FORUM - - -“Killing time” is a problem with the homeless man. The movie and -the burlesque are the only forms of commercialized amusements -within the range of his purse. Even these are only patronized -infrequently and by a few. For the vast majority there is no -pastime save the passing show of the crowded thoroughfare. Most of -them spend their leisure time shuffling along the street reading -the menu cards in the cheap restaurants, or in other forms of -“window shopping.” Sometimes they stray out of the “stem” into the -Loop. Perhaps they will go to the parks and lie on the grass, or to -the lake front where they may sit down and look out on the water. - -The homeless man, as he meanders along the street, is looking -for something to break the monotony. He will stand on the curb -for hours, watching people pass. He notices every conspicuous -person and follows with interest, perhaps sometimes with envy, the -wavering movements of every passing drunk. If a policeman stops -anyone on the street, he also stops and listens in. If he notices -a man running into an alley his curiosity is aroused. Wherever he -sees a group gathered, he lingers. He will stop to listen if two -men are arguing. He will spend hours sitting on the curb talking -with a congenial companion. - -During the summer, time hangs heavier on the hobo’s hands than in -winter. In cold weather, he is usually hard pressed to find food -and shelter. If the inclement weather overtakes him without funds -and jobless, and this is generally the case, he is absorbed with -the problem of “getting by.” He is driven to his wits’ end to find -a warm place to sleep at night and a comfortable place to loaf -during the day. It often takes a whole day’s scouting to find a -place to sleep at night and food enough to appease his gnawing and -growling stomach. - -There are homeless men who have time on their hands even in winter. -They are those who have the rare ability to save enough in summer -to live in winter. The parks are no longer inviting. The soap-box -orators have either gone out of business or are forced indoors. The -hobo follows them and, where he can afford it, helps to support -them inside much as he did in the open. He spends more time in the -movies and burlesques and will sit for half a day at times watching -one show. - -Listening to speeches is a popular pastime in Hobohemia. Nothing, -unless it is reading, occupies so much of the homeless man’s -leisure time. - - -STREET SPEAKING IN HOBOHEMIA - -Hobohemia knows but two types of speakers--the soap-box orator -and the evangelist. The evangelist has been longer on the job. -Religious speakers are usually associated with established -organizations, or they represent mission groups of which there are -many varieties on the “stem.” There are evangelists who adhere to -no faith or creed. They are “free lances,” as most hobo speakers -are, only their message is a religious one. Few of these latter -take contributions, and seldom do they essay to make converts in -the sense of having a following. They are enthusiasts driven into -the streets with the irresistible urgency of their message. In -Hobohemia, where time hangs heavy on the hobo’s hands, there is an -audience for every message. - -[Illustration: THE SOAP-BOX ORATOR--THE ECONOMIC ARGUMENT] - -[Illustration: AN OUTDOOR MISSION MEETING--THE RELIGIOUS PLEA] - -In a later chapter[64] the rôle of the evangelist in the life of -Hobohemia is considered; here we are interested in the soap-box -orators whose message is secular rather than other-worldly. The man -on the soap box is a reformer or a revolutionist, seeking to change -conditions. The missionary, on the other hand, is seeking less to -change conditions than to change mankind. This is the basis of the -conflict between their rival doctrines. The soap-boxers may contend -with each other concerning what is best for the down-and-out in the -here and now, but they are unanimous in their opposition to the -“sky pilots” and the “mission squawkers.” They maintain that it is -more important to enjoy life here than to live on the prospect of -joy hereafter. They have lost patience with the preacher because he -only promises “pie in the sky when you die,” and they want the pie -now. - -The men and women who bring religion to the tramp in Hobohemia -have taken root in the life of the “stem.” Their street singing, -their preaching and praying, although little heeded by the hobo, -would be greatly missed if absent. But the missionary, transplanted -from another area of life, remains more or less of an alien. -The soap-box reformer is no less of an institution and he is, -moreover, native to the soil. He is closer to the actual life and -mundane interests of the homeless man. He stands on the curbstone -and publishes his opinions on the great questions of the day in -a positive and convincing manner, and his ideas are generally -couched in language that the man on the street can understand. The -hobo’s intellectual interests revolve about the problem of labor. -The soap-box orator is the hobo’s principal source of information -on this topic. - -Soap-boxers are “free lances” most of the time. Either they are -out of harmony with all organizations or no organization has been -willing to adopt them. Those who make street speaking a profession -are a great deal like the ancient sophists. They are able to plead -one cause today and a different cause tomorrow. Their allegiance -is to be had by any group that can make the proper bid. With some -of them the inducement must be a financial one, while others are -interested only in ideas. If the idea attracts them they will take -up the new angle of the subject with the same enthusiasm that they -did the old. In this respect they are influenced by public opinion. -They love to harangue the crowds but they like to have the crowd on -their side. - - -EDUCATING THE PROLETARIAT - -Soap-boxers usually take themselves seriously, though their -audiences do not always do so. They take themselves seriously in -spite of their frequent and often abrupt changes in positions on -the issues they discuss. They are usually made to explain these -changes, and these explanations, if not always logical, are usually -sincere. They invariably give their best thoughts on the subject -they discuss. Whatever they have gleaned from the available -sources they are striving to express in language that is live and -understandable to the man on the street. These efforts to clear -the issues, to spread propaganda or whatever it may be called, is -termed by the soap-boxers, “education.” - -Not all the “stem” intellectuals who assume the burden of educating -the proletariat use the soap box. Many of them wield the pen. The -latter are, in the main, free-lance writers, and most of their -productions are tinctured with “red.” But they are generally able -to catch the ear of the down-and-out, whether he is a hobo or not. -The writings of these cloistered radicals, who are striving to -bring the chaotic proletariat to a unity of the faith, provide the -soap-box pulpiteer with facts and ideas which he interprets and -passes on to his curbstone audience in the shape of poems, songs, -articles, and essays. The writers provide, for them, an abundance -of material out of which the orators build their castles. Most of -these literary radicals are optimistic about the success of their -efforts to “get the worker’s mind right,” and thus prepare him for -the new order. The masses must be educated, but the soap-boxer, -whose burden it is, must himself be educated, and that is the job -of the writer who works behind the scenes. - -Just how much education the Hobohemian proletariat gets from this -speaking and reading is not easily estimated. They learn something -about the class struggle, industrial organization, and politics. -Sometimes an observation on science or literature or art will -fall from a speaker’s lips, but most of these observations are -new only to the stranger in the class. The old-timer, however, -hears only old ideas restated; or, at best, new facts and figures -interpreted to support old ideas. It is like a game with a limited -number of pieces and a limited number of moves. Sometimes, to -be sure, a speaker endeavors to serve “science” to the “floating -fraternity.” Lectures on biology, psychology, sociology, or -economics may be heard any evening or holiday during the summer. -Most of these lectures go over the heads of the audience, and it -is questionable whether the speakers have sufficient background to -speak intelligently of the sciences they are attempting to expound. - -This effort to educate the proletariat is, nevertheless, not -altogether without results. It gives men something to occupy their -minds. It gives them some understanding of their common interests; -creates a certain amount of solidarity and, perhaps, best of all, -“kills time.” Some speakers realize this and declare that the soap -box is primarily a kind of entertainment. One man makes it a point -to try to amuse his crowd as well as to “instruct” them. “You’ve -got to keep ’em interested. You have to amuse them and make ’em -laugh before you can get any ideas into their heads. Whenever -things get dry, I leave an opening for a drunk or someone to ask me -a question or crack a joke, and interest picks up again.” - - AN AFTERNOON SERIES OF SOAP-BOX ORATIONS - - 60. During a Sunday in July, 1922, no less than twenty men - spoke on the box at the corner of Jefferson and Madison - streets; and as many topics were treated. In the afternoon - the following speakers shared the time: - - 1. The meeting was opened by a man who borrowed a box from - a nearby fruit stand. He tried to get another man to speak - first so that he would not have to hurt his voice gathering - the crowd, but no one cared to start. He talked for twenty - minutes about graft in the patent-medicine trade. He had - a very catchy speech well tempered with humor and he - gathered a big crowd. Evidently he had made a study of the - patent-medicine business and his speech was an “exposure” - of the game. He finished by selling some pamphlets dealing - with the subject. - - 2. The second speaker was an I.W.W. who talked for fifteen - minutes on education. He was a good talker and held the - crowd. He wound up by selling some I.W.W. literature - and periodicals in which the thoughts of economists had - been reduced from the difficult academic language to the - understanding of the man on the street. He also passed out - some literature, i.e., old issues of the _Solidarity_, and - I.W.W. papers. - - 3. Another I.W.W. talked twenty minutes on organization. - He argued that the rich man organizes and for that reason - is successful. He does not want the poor man at the bottom - to organize because he fears that he will not be able to - keep him at the bottom. He didn’t blame the rich man for - organizing; he blamed the poor man for not organizing. He - gave some literature away and sold some. - - 4. A speech on superstition followed. It lasted twenty - minutes and was aimed at a mission group that was holding - a meeting across the street. The argument was that the - Bible and the church were the most powerful instruments in - the hands of rich men for keeping the poor man down. No - collection was taken. - - 5. A twenty-minute speech on the economic organization of - industry was given by a man who took great pains to remind - the crowd that he had spent seven years to learn all about - it. He made a plea for the co-operation of labor to combat - the organization of capital. No collection was taken. - - 6. The next man argued that the unemployment problem is - caused by two things; the overcrowding of population and - the concentration of wealth into the hands of a few. - Eighty-five per cent of the people had but 15 per cent of - the wealth and 15 per cent of the people had 85 per cent of - the wealth or more than they could possibly consume. This - man usually takes up a collection on the ground that he is - handicapped physically, but he did not on this occasion. He - spoke for twenty minutes. - - 7. No more speakers wanted the box so a drunk got on - the stand and asked for the attention of the crowd. He - furnished amusement for fifteen minutes. He was witty but - easily led from subject to subject. - - No speaker talked long enough to bore the crowd. Each - speaker, when he had finished, yielded the box to his - successor. The crowd was a characteristic Hobohemian - gathering, willing to stand so long as they could be - interested. Like most such gatherings, it kept diminishing - and increasing in size. Some would stand in front and - listen for an hour while others would only stop a few - minutes on the outer edge of the gathering. The reaction - to the speakers was for the most part sympathetic. - Occasionally a man on the sidelines would be seen to frown - disapproval but it is the habit of those who are not - interested to worm their way out of the group and go their - way. - - While the sixth speaker of the above list was talking the - crowd was attracted to the side by a discussion between - one of the previous speakers and another man. The argument - attracted so many listeners that the speaker was irritated - and he called to one of the men engaged in the discussion, - “Say B--, do you think that’s a square deal?” “Sorry C--, I - didn’t know we were disturbing you.” The crowd on the side - dispersed and gathered around the speaker on the box. - - -SOAP-BOX ETHICS AND TACTICS - -Just as there are certain unwritten laws that are found in the -jungle camps, so there are unwritten laws that the soap-boxer -observes. Regardless of how much they differ in their schemes, they -are seldom personal in their opposition to one another. Soap-boxers -behave toward one another when not on the box much as lawyers do -when they are out of the courtroom, and even while on the box -they consider one another’s interests. For example, a speaker in -resigning the rostrum to his successor will frequently close with -some such statement as this: “I’d like to talk longer on this -subject but there are other speakers here and they have something -to say that you might like to hear.” - -The practice of taking up personal collections is looked down upon -by most curbstone speakers. They feel that the soap box should -not be exploited. Collections are not always approved by the -audiences. Some men label their speeches “lectures” and “pass -the hat” on the ground that they have spent years in getting the -information. When they “perform the hat trick on the ‘simpoleons’ -[simpletons]” they regard it as a compensation for the rôle -they play as educators. They chew fine the complex intellectual -food so that it may be taken up by the untrained and unlearned. -But unpopular as is the practice of collecting money, it is -not a barrier. The audience is exceedingly tolerant toward the -hat-passer and more so if he has a good “line” of talk, or if he is -handicapped. - -Most men who talk to Hobohemian crowds make their living by selling -some kind of literature. Sometimes they sell pamphlets they have -written themselves, or they sell pamphlets or periodicals on a -commission. Getting money in this way is not unpopular among the -soap-boxers. It is a practice that is rather favored, for it is -the best way of getting the down-and-out to thinking, and if the -soap-box orators are united on any one thing it is this: that the -proletariat must be educated. - -One of the favorite methods of distributing literature is to sell -it from the box. Enthusiastic persons in the crowd often buy a -paper and pay for several others to be distributed from the box. -Sometimes a man will take the stand and dispose of a hundred papers -or pamphlets in a few moments by persuading those who have money to -buy for those who have none. - -A man who entertains the “slum proletariat” need not be without -status because he lives by street speaking. Most of them either -directly or indirectly earn their living in this way, though many -of them would not admit it. If a man can plead the cause of the -under dog to the satisfaction of the man on the street, if he has a -philosophy that pleases the crowd, and if he can present it in an -attractive manner, very few resent his passing the hat. - -So with all their contentiousness the soap-box orators manage -to keep on speaking terms, and rather informally turn favors to -one another. Seldom do they “knock” one another, and seldom do -they crowd one another away from a corner or place one another -in embarrassing positions. In this they have gone farther toward -reaching a unity of purpose than the various mission groups who -compete on opposite corners for the same crowds. - -It must not be thought that soap-boxing is a game that is without -its tricks. There are tricks for getting the crowds, tricks for -holding the crowds, and tricks for exploiting the crowds. Speakers -do not like to be the first one up on the box, nor do they like to -be the last one up when the crowd has become tired. If a man wants -to pass the hat, it is to his advantage to get the first chance at -the crowd. Men will do considerable jockeying to get on the box -just when they think it will be to their advantage. - - -FREE-LANCE VERSATILITY - -Street speakers who stand before the same audiences one or more -times a week throughout the year tend to wear out. Some of them are -resourceful enough to find something new to say, but others find -it difficult to say old things in a new way, so they are likely to -fall into the habit of repeating themselves. Sometimes they try to -keep from growing stale by speaking in as many places as possible, -but since their audiences are limited to the Hobohemian population -they are always talking to a number who have heard them say the -same things before. After a speaker has made the rounds of all the -corners he is forced to get a new “line.” - -Some men, however, persist in delivering old thread-bare messages -in their old, well-worn way. The speeches of some men are so well -known that the only interest is one of curiosity. The crowd listens -to see if anything was left out. The hobby of one free-lance -speaker is Henry George and the Single Tax. To the crowd he is the -“P and P” man, because he usually ends his speeches by selling -copies of _Progress and Poverty_ at “cost.” Everyone who has -been in town long enough to become acquainted with the principal -soap-boxers is familiar with this man’s “line,” but usually he -hears him again, partly, perhaps, because of his apparent sincerity. - -Most soap-boxers, when they find themselves growing stale, are -able to change. B’s hobby for a long time has been a speech on -birth control, which he followed by selling some books on sex, -but he wore this subject out and recently changed to a speech -on superstition at the close of which he sells literature of an -anti-religious nature. Another speaker whose speech on patent -medicine and quack doctors finally lost its novelty is now talking -on birth control. Another has gone from trade unionism to the -Ku Klux Klan. An old-timer on Madison Street said of a certain -speaker: “That man used to be with the I.W.W.; then he went over to -How’s organization and now he’s free lancing.” “What is his line -now?” is a question that is commonly asked in regard to a soap-box -pulpiteer. They are expected to change. - -In search of variety and for financial reasons, free lancers -of ability hire out as campaigners for the political parties. -“Where is John L. now?” asks one man. “Oh, he’s up in Wisconsin -campaigning for Senator LaFollette. Last month he was in Missouri -stumping for Senator Reed.” John carried credentials from both the -Democrats and Republicans and he can plead the cause of either. - -The rôle of the soap-boxer, like that of the ancient sophist, -is that of instructor or entertainer. Men go in search of these -curbstone gatherings. On Sundays and holidays the crowd expects -them. Homeless men who have a job in the city during the week spend -the Sunday on the “stem” partly in order to hear the evangelists -and soap-boxers. It is their life. They like to see old friends on -the street, but they like especially to see familiar faces on the -box. - - -THE OPEN FORUM - -The open forum is a place, usually indoors, where persons may -gather in formal meeting to discuss topics of interest. It is -usually a winter retreat for the soap-boxers and their followers. -In order to maintain a forum it is necessary to hire a hall and -govern themselves by some sort of organization. The “Hobo College” -is probably the most conspicuous open forum in Chicago. It is -but a branch of a chain of “colleges” that are maintained in the -larger cities of the country by the wealth of James Eads How, the -“millionaire hobo.” It has operated in Chicago nearly every winter -since 1907. Scarcely a soap-boxer in Chicago has not at some time -been associated with this institution. Many of them at some time -have either been officers or leading lights of the “college.” The -I.W.W. generally maintains a hall where a forum is conducted during -the winter, though it does not offer the variety of discussion and -subjects that the “college” does. - -The forum is far from being a harmonious nestling ground for -hibernating soap-boxers. It is rather a veritable battle ground of -contending factions. These advocates of the “new society” who agree -and disagree so smilingly in the open often become caustic and -bitter in their attacks when forced to share the same hall. There -close association generates factions and cliques. There are always -the “ins” and the “outs.” New leaders are ever getting the chair, -and old policies are constantly replaced. The “Hobo College” for -the winter of 1922-23 had no less than six secretaries in as many -months and three complete “house cleanings.” - -The order of procedure at the “Hobo College” is practically the -same as in most of the open forums. Meetings are held on the -afternoons or evenings at set dates, or there is a regular program -of a certain number of meetings a week. On Sunday two meetings are -often held. Meetings and programs are advertised in conspicuous -places. The meetings are so arranged that there is time at the end -of the principal speech for criticism, remarks, or questions from -the floor, after which the speaker has an opportunity to defend -himself. If distinguished visitors are present, they are usually -called upon. Meetings at the “Hobo College” are different from most -forums in that they usually terminate with a lunch. - -The open forum has some advantages over the street meetings. The -group is more select and less transient. A subject for discussion -is viewed from various angles by different speakers who have -come at least partially prepared. On the soap box the problem of -disciplining the crowd is left entirely to the speaker. Once he -loses their interest they either harass him or desert him. In the -forum the audience is honor bound to remain until the speaker -has finished. In the open forum speakers may be invited who are -supposed to lend a certain distinction to the occasion. No one -can lend distinction to a soap box. Not the least advantage of -the forum over the soap box is that most of the audience can -participate in the meeting. The disadvantage is that it is not so -accessible and hence becomes exclusive. - -The question is often asked, “How do soap-boxers get initiated into -the game of outdoor speaking?” For most of them the answer is, “In -the open forum.” In the open forum the beginners, the aspirants, -learn to take part in the discussions. They learn here to find -words to express themselves. In the forum they take sides and learn -to defend or oppose propositions, and they learn to order and -present their thoughts. - -The forum has been described as a refuge for the hibernating -soap-boxer. It is more than a refuge; it is a study center. It is -to the free-lance speaker what a summer school is to the teacher; -an opportunity to relax and “polish up.” - - -THE SOAP BOX AND HOBO OPINION - -Soap-boxers all say that they have enjoyed more liberty in Chicago -than in most cities. Chicago police have always taken a generous -and liberal attitude toward the curbstone forum. A man who has been -prominent in several free-speech fights says: - - The free-lance speaker is a great help to the police in - this town. It’s easier to handle these crowds when they - have someone to listen to. When a man gets restless, it - gives him something to think about. If you don’t believe it - just go into a town where the soap-boxer is suppressed and - see how bitter the “bos” are. - -The rôle of the soap-boxer is to make hobos think. He succeeds to a -greater extent in this than we realize. In his efforts to hold his -audience for half an hour he throws off a great many ideas. Much -of this ammunition is fired in the air, but not all of it. What -he actually does is to keep the minds of his hearers on objective -things. Otherwise their thoughts would turn inward, and for the -homeless man introspection is not a pleasant pastime. - -It is probably true that the soap-box orator makes no permanent -impression on his audience. He does, to be sure, give voice to some -ill-defined sentiments in which all are agreed. But no practical -unanimity is ever achieved. This agitation starts no mass movement. -There has never been an effective permanent organization among -hobos. The very nature of the hobo mind resents every kind of -discipline that any form of organization would impose. He is by -circumstance, tradition, and temperament an individualist. - -What of the soap-box reformer and revolutionist? Is he a menace -or merely a joke? The curbstone orator is not an agitator in the -ordinary sense of that word. He is merely a thinking hobo. In him -the homeless man becomes articulate. It is something to these -outcast men to hear in these curbstone forums the reverberations of -their own unuttered thoughts. It is something to the homeless man -merely to have a voice. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[64] Chapter xvii, “Missions and Welfare Organizations.” - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -SOCIAL AND POLITICAL HOBO ORGANIZATION - - -The hobo is an individualistic person. Not even the actors and -artists can boast a higher proportion of egocentrics. They are the -modern Ishmaels who refuse to fit into the routine of conventional -social life. Resenting every sort of social discipline, they have -“cut loose” from organized society. - -For them there is only the open road which offers an existence -without discipline, without organization, without control. To the -restless and dissatisfied the life of a vagabondage is a challenge, -the most elementary way by which men seek to escape from reality. - -Out of this unrest, efforts have arisen through which the hobo -has striven to materialize his dreams. Among the organizations -initiated or promoted by migrants are the Industrial Workers of the -World (I.W.W.), the International Brotherhood Welfare Association -(I.B.W.A.), the Migratory Workers’ Union (M.W.U.), the United -Brotherhood of American Laborers, and the Ramblers. - - -INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD - -The I.W.W. was formed in Chicago in July, 1905. Its headquarters -are here and its conventions have almost invariably been held here. -Chicago has been favored by the migratory radicals because it is a -transportation center, and because of its tolerant attitude toward -street speakers. - -Theoretically, the I.W.W. is an organization of all industrial -workers, but it has been most enthusiastically supported, however, -by the hobos. It was conceived in the “stem,” and cradled and -nurtured by the floating workers. The hobo has always been -identified with it and, in the West, has played a militant rôle in -fighting its battles. - -“The backwardness and unprogressiveness of trade unions as -organized in the American Federation of Labor, and the impotency of -trade union as organized in the American Federation of Labor, and -the impotency of political socialism to safeguard the ballot and -provide the organs necessary to carry on production in the future -society,” are the reasons, on paper at least, for the existence of -the I.W.W. It is an effort to organize the workers along industrial -lines, that is, to substitute, for trade unions, industrial unions -for all the workers in one industry. All the industrial unions, -metal-workers, construction-workers, seamen, agricultural-workers, -it seeks to combine into one mammoth organization called the “One -Big Union.” - -The structure of the I.W.W. is simple. The unit is the industrial -local, which is composed of all the workers of an industry in -a locality. The various locals of an industry combine to form -an industrial department. The departments join together to form -the “One Big Union.” The organization is managed by a general -secretary who is virtually the executive head. The general -secretary-treasurer is assisted by an executive board elected by -the six unions having the largest membership. A seventh member is -elected by the other smaller unions. - -Some of the “wobbly” spokesmen boast of 100,000 members, but that -is an overestimate. The membership is fluctuating and rises and -falls with the seasons, but perhaps it has reached 100,000 at -times. The membership is “on the road” most of the time, and -even the locals are migratory, so that definite figures are not -always at hand. The dues are fifty cents a month, so that many -loyal members are not always in good standing. The members in good -standing represent probably but a third or a fourth of the men who -designate themselves I.W.W.’s.[65] - -When certain seasonal occupations begin, as the harvest fields, -the construction camps, and lumbering camps, the organizers set -to work enrolling members. Rumors circulate that no one will be -permitted to work on certain jobs unless he carries a red card; -that the “wobblies” will throw all non-members off freight trains; -that all the other workers are taking out membership cards; that -the employers of a certain district are going to cut the wages of -transient labor, or that in other localities the wages are good -because the I.W.W. will not permit anyone without a red card to -work. - -The I.W.W. as an organization does not officially sanction methods -of intimidation, and will take action against any cases brought to -its attention. However, force and fear get members. Men who are -seeking work in a community on jobs over which the “wobblies” have -assumed control will take out cards to avoid conflict. Men will -join the organization to facilitate “riding the rods.” Memberships -for convenience only are short lived, seldom enduring over the -summer. - - -APPEAL OF THE I.W.W. - -The I.W.W. does not depend wholly on fear to win its members. The -great appeal of the I.W.W., as of all other radical organizations, -is to the spirit of unrest that is a part of every hobo’s make-up. -The I.W.W. program offers a ray of hope to the man who is -down-and-out. Why the “wobbly” creed makes so stirring an appeal to -the hobo may be best understood by quoting the preamble of its -constitution: - - The working class and the employing class have nothing in - common. There can be no peace as long as hunger and want - are found among millions of the working people and the few, - who make up the employing class, have all the good things - of life. - - Between these two classes a struggle must go on until the - workers of the world organize as a class, take possession - of the earth and machinery of production, and abolish the - wage system. - - We find that the centering of the management of industries - into fewer and fewer hands makes the trade unions unable to - cope with the ever growing power of the employing class. - The trade unions foster a state of affairs which allows one - set of workers to be pitted against another set of workers - in the same industry, thereby helping to defeat one another - in wage wars. Moreover the trade unions aid the employing - class to mislead the workers into the belief that the - working class have interests in common with their employers. - - These conditions can be changed and the interest of the - working class upheld only by an organization formed in such - a way that all its members in any one industry, or in all - industries if necessary, cease work whenever a strike or - lockout is on in any department thereof, thus making an - injury to one an injury to all. - - Instead of the conservative motto, “A fair day’s wage for - a fair day’s work,” we must inscribe on our banner the - revolutionary watchword, “Abolition of the wage system.” - - It is the historic mission of the working class to do away - with capitalism. The army of production must be organized, - not only for the everyday struggle with capitalists, but - also to carry on production when capitalism shall have been - overthrown. By organizing industrially we are forming the - structure of the new society within the shell of the old. - -The hobo, dissatisfied with things as they are, has no time to -wait for the slow-moving processes of evolution. The preamble -appeals to him because it is anti-evolutionary; it preaches the -gospel of struggle and revolt. It is opposed to compromise and -reconciliation, and affirms that the fight must go on as long as -there is an employing class. No man, down-and-out, can hear this -doctrine without a thrill. The declaration that no quarter shall be -given to the capitalist is music to his ears. - -Every member of the I.W.W. is expected to be an agitator. Wherever -he goes it is the mission of the “wobbly” to sow seeds of -discontent and to harass the employer. Certain members go from job -to job as “investigators.” They usually remain long enough to start -a disturbance among the regular employees, and to get discharged. -Agitators regard a long list of dismissals as evidence of their -success. - -Official agitators make no effort at organizing. They merely “fan -the flames of discontent” and pass on. They are followed by the -pioneer organizer, an aggressive individual who starts the work -of forming a local. He is of the militant type and often gets no -farther than to arouse the men to the need of organization. Sooner -or later he also gets discharged, which is to him evidence that he -has “put it over.” - -In the third stage of the offensive comes the real organizer. He -follows the militants and reaps what they have sown. He works -coolly and quietly in organizing the workers. He persuades and -argues, but not in the open. The employer only learns of his -presence when he has won over the men and is ready to make a -demand. - - -CHICAGO’S ATTITUDE TO I.W.W. - -The I.W.W. is little understood by society in general. The public -believes that it is an organization of “tramps who won’t work,” and -that the initials stand for “I Won’t Work,” or “I Want Whiskey.” It -is true that many “wobblies” do want whiskey and many do not want -work, but the organization is neither pro-whiskey nor anti-work. -During the war the opposition to the organization was intense, -and Chicago was a center of arrests and prosecutions. At present, -however, the I.W.W. in Chicago enjoys a freedom for its activities -not found in many other cities. - -There are two reasons for this tolerant attitude. In the first -place, West Madison Street, where the I.W.W. is most active, is -virtually isolated from other parts of the city. It is hemmed in -on the north and south by factories, and on the east by the river. -Then, too, Chicago is situated far from the battle grounds of the -organization. The “wobblies” wage a yearly war, but it is with the -farmers in the harvest belt, the lumber barons of the northwest, -the contractors, the mine operators; but all these are remote from -Chicago. If Chicago serves any part in this warfare it is the rôle -of a winter training camp where the tactics of the summer campaign -are worked out. - - -INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD WELFARE ASSOCIATION - -Next in importance to the I.W.W. is the hobo organization known as -the International Brotherhood Welfare Association, or the I.B.W.A. -Like the I.W.W. it started in 1905, but its membership at no -time has exceeded 5,000. The I.B.W.A., like the I.W.W., looks -forward to a new social order, a society in which there will be -no classes. But where the I.W.W. proposes to use force and direct -action or industrial organization to accomplish its purposes, the -I.B.W.A. would use education. The I.B.W.A. stresses welfare work, -brotherhood, and co-operation among the hobos. It aims to organize -and educate the unorganized and uneducated homeless and migratory -workers. - -The I.B.W.A. is largely the creation of James Eads How, a member -of a wealthy St. Louis family. How, dissatisfied with the ease -and comfort of a rich man’s life, left home and drifted into the -group of hobos and tramps. Becoming interested in their problems, -he set to work to better their condition. He conceived the idea -of a great international hobo organization and converted several -hobo “soap-boxers” to his cause. The program of the I.B.W.A. is set -forth in Article III of the constitution: - - A. To bring together the unorganized workers. - - B. To co-operate with persons and organizations who desire - to better social conditions. - - C. To utilize unused land and machinery in order to provide - work for the unemployed. - - D. To furnish medical, legal and other aid to its members. - - E. To organize the unorganized and assist them in obtaining - work at remunerative wages and transportation when required. - - F. To educate the public mind to the right of collective - ownership in production and distribution. - - G. To bring about the scientific, industrial, intellectual, - moral and spiritual development of the masses. - -Another section of the constitution states that the organization -aims to “unite the migratory workers, the _Disemployed_ and -the unorganized workers of both sexes for mutual betterment and -development, with the final object of abolishing poverty and -introducing a classless society.” - -[Illustration: JAMES EADS HOW] - - -“HOBO COLLEGE” - -The most important of the auxiliary institutions of the I.B.W.A. -is the “Hobo College.” This unique institution is How’s idea. How, -as a strong believer in progress through education, desires to -bring to the hobo worker the rudiments of the natural and social -sciences. The “Hobo College” affords the migrant an opportunity -to discuss topics of practical and vital interest to him, and -to attend lectures by professors, preachers, and free-lance -intellectuals. - -The “Hobo College” in Chicago[66] has received considerable -newspaper publicity. Like all the hobo colleges, the Chicago branch -only operates in winter. During the summer most of the “students” -are out of town at work on different migratory occupations. - - -HOLDING COMMITTEE - -How’s income, which he inherited, is at the disposal of the hobos, -but it is “fed out” by degrees, according to the terms of the -will. As the money comes into How’s hands it is distributed and -apportioned by the Holding Committee, which is composed of a member -of the How family, a member of the “Hobo College,” a member of the -Junior League (a non-functioning organization for boy tramps), and -the acting secretary and all previous secretaries of the I.B.W.A. -Most of this money goes to the support of the various organizations -of the I.B.W.A., including the _Hobo News_. - -The Holding Committee also may contribute at times to the purchase -of halls and other property, to transport delegates to and from -conventions, or rather to pay their fare back after they have -“beaten their way” to the meeting, and to promote propaganda. A -plan is now on foot to maintain a lobby at Washington to support -legislation in behalf of the hobo. One proposal is a federal labor -exchange. The Holding Committee may and often does contribute to -other causes. - - -CO-OPERATIVE “FLOPS” - -One of How’s ambitions is to establish hobo stopping places in all -the principal cities of the country. Already he has opened “Hotels -de Bum” in more than twenty cities. Some of them are owned by the -I.B.W.A., but most of them only rented for the winter months. The -“hotel” in Cincinnati is typical. It is a two-story frame building, -located in the Hobohemian section of the city. The second floor, -designed for “flopping,” is equipped with about forty cots. The -first floor is divided into a loafing- or reading-room and a -kitchen. In the kitchen there are a gas range and enough pots and -kettles to “boil up” clothes or cook a “mulligan.” At the rear of -the building is a small wood yard where ties and other wood are -cut for the heater. The management of these hotels is left to the -men who select a house committee from their number. The committee -looks after the building and insists that the men keep the place -clean. A small tax is imposed now and then to meet current expenses -and to pay one man a small fee for looking after the accounts. The -ordinary “mission stiff” cannot survive long in an I.B.W.A. hotel. -He usually leaves when asked to contribute his share toward the -upkeep. But a man without money is welcome, if he does his part. -Some of these hotels pay their way. Most of them, however, never -meet expenses, but the deficit generally is made good by How. - - -RÔLE PLAYED BY HOW - -Whatever the future of the I.B.W.A., at present it is almost a -one-man organization. Regardless of the ideals How entertains about -democracy, he really controls the I.B.W.A. He does all this because -he holds the purse. The I.B.W.A., with all its auxiliaries, are -dependent in the last analysis upon the funds of Dr. How. None of -these institutions is self-supporting. The membership fees are not -sufficient in many cases to cover the running expenses. The Chicago -branch of the “Hobo College,” for instance, has been one of the -most active in the country, but it has never paid its way. How -does not take advantage of the fact that his money maintains the -institution. He does not have as much to say about the disposition -of funds as certain other members of the Holding Committee, but his -right to impose his will upon the organization is ever present with -the leaders. - -How has been persuaded at times to withhold funds from certain -locals thought to be radical. He fears the I.W.W. who sometimes -crowd into a local group and outvote the non-I.W.W. In such cases, -How’s money is used to spread their propaganda. The initiation fee -of the I.B.W.A. is so small (ten cents and ten cents a month dues) -that a large number of men may be enrolled for a few dollars. When -the I.W.W. recently lost one of their halls in Chicago, they tried -to work their way into the I.B.W.A., but the plot was found out and -the books for the time being were closed. When How cuts off the -rent allowance to a local it soon closes its doors. - -The fact that the I.B.W.A. is virtually How’s organization has -had interesting effects on the behavior of the members. Certain -officials compete with one another to get into his good graces. -Others take a stand in bitter opposition to him. There is always -jealousy between those “who sit on the right hand and those who -sit on the left hand.” Individuals in the various locals with a -grievance write directly to How. Complaints go to him more often -than to general headquarters. - - -MIGRATORY WORKERS’ UNION - -The Migratory Workers’ Union, or the M.W.U., composed wholly of -hobos, was organized within the I.B.W.A. in 1918. Some of the -leaders of the I.B.W.A. felt that the older organization was -neglecting the interests of the migratory worker. They charged that -it was too much concerned with welfare work and too little with the -organization of the workers. They converted How to the idea of a -migratory workers’ union and he contributed to its establishment. - -The originators of the M.W.U. had other ends in mind. They wanted -to organize a powerful group of workers within the I.B.W.A. that -would be able to dominate the conventions and bring pressure -to bear on How. They hoped that the M.W.U. would grow to such -proportions that How would fear it, and that he would not dare to -use it as a “plaything.” Secondly, the M.W.U. was a scheme to get -funds independently of the How allowance. Thirdly, the originators -planned to organize the workers along industrial lines more -effectively than had the I.W.W., which at the time was unpopular -on account of its opposition to the war. Fourthly, the M.W.U., -starting with a “clean slate” and a less radical program than the -I.W.W., might attract the more moderate of its members who had lost -faith in the revolutionary movement. The thought of winning over -the lukewarm members of the I.W.W. was probably the argument that -appealed to How. - -The “Aims and Objects” of the organization contain a decidedly less -radical program than the preamble to the I.W.W. constitution. - - 1. A national agitation against the unconstitutional laws - as they affect the migratory worker. - - 2. Federal inspection of all construction camps by the - United States Public Health Service. - - 3. To work in favor of the abolition of the chain-gang - system and all prison contract labor. - - 4. Free transportation to and from the jobs for all - migratory workers. - - 5. The abolition of privately owned employment agencies. - - 6. A shorter work day. - -The M.W.U. has not been active in Chicago, though one of its -officers has always been a Chicago man. It has been most active in -Ohio and Indiana but is even dying there. - - -UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF AMERICAN LABORERS - -Michael C. Walsh is the general secretary-treasurer and the chief -promoter of the United Brotherhood of American Laborers. Walsh, an -old organizer for the I.W.W., is not in harmony with the “wobblies” -at present. Although at one time the president of the “Hobo -College,” he has also withdrawn from that institution. - -The aim of the Brotherhood is to unite all migratory and even -non-migratory workers with the slogan, “What is the concern of one -is the concern of all.” Its program promises reading-rooms, picture -shows, lectures, but the chief attraction is an accident and life -insurance policy which every member takes out. - -Members of the M.W.U. and the I.B.W.A. accuse Walsh of drawing up -an impractical program for economic and legislative reform, and -charge that the “aims” of the Brotherhood were borrowed from their -organizations and only slightly modified. - - -BENEVOLENT AND PROTECTIVE ORDER OF RAMBLERS - -The Benevolent and Protective Order of Ramblers is supposed to -be a semi-secret organization of the floating fraternity, but -its membership is composed of a small number of Chicago’s “home -guards.” It was organized by John X. Kelly and has no benefits nor -program except that the members agree to help one another when in -trouble. It holds meetings (for members only) now and then, but -it does not aim to deal with any economic or social problems. The -“Ramblers” endeavors to add a human touch to the migrant’s life. It -is, in short, a hobo good-fellowship club that meets where and when -it is convenient to drink the “milk o’ human kindness” and to sing -“Hail! Hail! You Ought to Be a Rambler.” - - -HOBO CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENTS - -Dissatisfied with things as they are, the hobo experiments now -and again with co-operative projects. Most of these are attempts -to do on a small scale what the dreamers hope to accomplish in -the future on a larger, a national, or an international scale. -That co-operative organizations failed is no discredit to the -leaders nor any conclusive proof against the value of co-operative -movements as a motive in economic life. The failure is to be -explained at least in part by the egocentricity and individualism -or the irresponsibility of the migratory workers. - -Of the following five interesting cases of co-operative projects -among migratory workers, only one took place in Chicago. The story -of all of these attempts has, however, been written by the prime -mover of them, John X. Kelly. Sooner or later all hobo co-operative -experiments end the same way. They fail because of suspicion and -lack of harmony. - - 61. My first attempt to organize a co-operative scheme was - in 1909 in Redlands, California. I knew a group of men; - some of them radical and all of them idealists. It occurred - to me that they were the very types to make a communistic - plan work. I knew of a tract of land, one hundred and sixty - acres, open for settlement. Fourteen dollars to file a - claim and a little additional expense and labor would have - put the place in working condition. - - I presented my plan to these men and ten of them approved - the idea. They had all been soap-boxers and agitators and - I felt that here at last is a group of men who can make a - co-operative organization a success. Our scheme was very - simple, everyone was to bear his share of the burden and - to receive his share of the profits. No matter what a man - did as long as it was part of the work of running the farm - would be considered as important as any other part. The - government of the place would be absolutely democratic. - A manager would be elected from the number and he would - remain manager for a certain term or as long as he gave - satisfaction. The land was to be divided up as follows: - each man was to have a five acre plot as his individual - property and the other hundred and ten acres of ground was - to be worked co-operatively. - - We had scarcely got organized when dissensions arose. Some - were satisfied with the manager but others feared him - and mistrusted him. Some declared that it was impossible - to determine how much of one kind of work was equal to - another kind of work. Some were not satisfied because they - felt that they were going to be imposed on and they would - not join an organization in which there was no assurance - that they would get a square deal. The result of this - disputation was the breakup of the movement. Each man went - his way. - - * * * * * - - My second endeavor to promote a hobo co-operative - movement was in 1917 in St. Louis. It was in the winter - time and there were many idle men in town. I conceived - what I thought was the most modern and up to date plan - ever brought into being to promote the interests of the - down-and-outs. Knowing that the unemployed were being - exploited by semi-religious and charitable organizations - who gave little in return for much work, I set about to - solve the problem in another way. Dr. James Eads How of St. - Louis, founder of the International Brotherhood Welfare - Association, contributed $200 to be used as follows: $100 - to be spent for a horse and wagon, $50 for a gasoline - engine and a saw, while the rest was to be used to buy - food until funds could be had for the sale of wood. It was - a reserve fund only to be used in case of emergency. A - saloon-keeper gave us the use of a yard in East St. Louis - free of charge. There was an old store in connection with - the yard that could also be used. The place was in the - heart of East St. Louis and accessible to any part of the - city. The American Car Repairing Company gave us all the - wood we cared to haul away. Eleven policemen sent in orders - for wood. They were willing to pay three dollars a load for - this wood sawed and split into kindling. - - The conditions under which the men entered the program - were similar to the first venture. They were all to have - an equal share in the profits. The manager, the man who - operated the saw; all who worked in and around the wood - yard, after expenses were deducted, were to share alike. - Everything was to be democratic, no one was to be an - exploiter, and nobody was to be exploited. Everyone agreed - and after I had remained with the project a day or so - until it got under way, I left them to work out their own - problems. - - Within a week a committee of three came to me in St. Louis - with a story of confusion and a cry of being buncoed by the - manager. They said that some of the members would not work. - I sent them back to straighten out matters but conditions - seemed to get worse in so far as finances were concerned, - and within six weeks the co-operative wood yard disbanded. - - * * * * * - - A short time later I went over to East St. Louis and took - the horse and wagon and other property of the wood yard to - St. Louis where I had interested a number of the St. Louis - Group of the I.B.W.A. to take a chance with the communistic - scheme. Instead of selling the wood by the load this time - they were going to sell small bundles of kindling coated - with pitch. The men did not care this time to use the buzz - saw and engine so I bought six hand saws and six hatchets. - I also bought a half barrel of pitch into which the - kindling could be dipped. I succeeded in raising $32.00 as - a jungle fund so that the boys could “get by” while working - to get a start. - - A start was all that was made as the entire group got - intoxicated with “joy” with some of the jungle fund. Next - morning the secretary, who was handling the fund returned - half of it with the statement that the co-operative wood - yard was a fizzle. The man who had been elected manager - died while on this drunk. - - Here was a group of men that I was satisfied would make a - success of a communistic scheme if one could be put over, - but they failed miserably. Some men in both these wood yard - experiences blamed me because the schemes did not succeed. - - * * * * * - - The fourth venture was in Chicago in 1920. I tried to put - over a co-operative lodging house scheme in the “Slave - Market District” where thousands of migratory workers - congregate because of the cheap living conditions. Instead - of the Scissors Bill class this group was made up of - radicals who at some time in their unhappy lives had taken - part in some co-operative experiment. Again I went to Dr. - How with my new idea and at my suggestion he agreed to pay - three months rent in advance to help the movement along by - retaining one of the rooms as an office for the I.B.W.A. - Five rooms were rented for twenty-five dollars and the - I.B.W.A. took one of them at half the price or twelve and - a half dollars a month. Later we rented four additional - rooms at fifteen dollars making the total rent for nine - rooms forty dollars of which nearly a third was paid by the - I.B.W.A. - - As national secretary of the I.B.W.A. I was supposed to - have my office there, but I could do most of my work - at home so I turned the room rented for office over to - the club for a sitting room. The I.B.W.A. contributed - fifty-eight dollars to buy furniture. Some other furniture - was also bought by money contributed by the men. The place - was to be operated on a fifty-fifty basis. All the profits - and the expenses were to be equally shared. Everyone agreed - and the organization was effected. - - Now the funny part comes. Quarrels soon arose over trifles, - and the members began calling each other grafters, and - parasites. I was even called a parasite though the only - part I played was to start the project and to encourage - it to operate smoothly. Before six months had elapsed the - co-operative flat was a thing of the past. The men sneaked - away all of the furniture, that of the I.B.W.A. as well as - some that belonged to the members of the group. They hauled - it all away to furnish two small flats. They also left an - eighteen-dollar gas bill which the amateur promoter had to - pay. - - * * * * * - - The fifth and last experiment is not a case of co-operation - but it illustrates what might be expected from the hobo. - - During the winter of 1916 a St. Louis lady, Dr. Innis, - conducted a free dispensary for the “bos” who could not get - hospital treatment. Dr. How paid the bill for conducting - the place. Dr. Innis took a great interest in the migratory - worker and co-operated with us in working out a scheme by - which the hobo could save some money during the summer to - hold him over the winter months. She agreed to receive and - hold in trust all the money that any man would send to - her and in the fall when he came to town turn it over to - him. We got out a lot of letters and cards by which this - correspondence banking could be carried on and about a - hundred and fifty men agreed that it was a good scheme and - that they would take advantage of it. - - The result was amusing. Out of all the men who approved the - plan only one sent in any money. That one man sent in one - dollar. Shortly after Dr. Innis got a letter from this man. - He said he was “broke” and would like to have his dollar - back. - - * * * * * - - My conclusion is that it is impossible to accomplish - anything along co-operative lines and in a democratic - manner. I know the hobo worker fairly well and I tried - patiently to put over schemes that they have, for the most - part, favored, and I worked with fair representatives - of the group, but they will not co-operate. They are - suspicious and selfish when it comes to the final test of - their pet ideas. Co-operative schemes may work but I don’t - think they will be a success along democratic lines. - - -FAILURE OF HOBO ORGANIZATIONS - -Hobo organizations have never been a success in this country. It -is proverbial that conventions of the I.W.W. and the I.B.W.A. have -always been veritable battle grounds of contending interests. The -I.B.W.A. has had four conventions during the winter of 1921-22 -and the summer of 1922 and they all failed to accomplish anything -because of jealousies and bitter feelings. The convention in -Cincinnati on May Day, 1922, continued in session for three days -and did not get any farther than to argue about the power of the -convention to act in the name of the I.B.W.A. One whole session was -spent in a quarrel about the election of a chairman. - -Between the M.W.U. and the I.B.W.A. there is considerable -antipathy, yet the M.W.U. cannot stand alone and will not -co-operate with the parent organization. The I.W.W. is against -both, but even in the I.W.W. there is a perpetual clash between -the migratory workers and the “home guards.” Active and zealous -organizers usually find room for complaint against the office force. - -The hobo, like other egocentric types, is suspicious. The I.W.W. -at its inception spent days arguing whether the name of its chief -officer should be that of president. Some felt that to model -the organization after others would be a step in imitation that -might lead to other forms of imitation. Some reasoned that most -presidents of organizations they had known were “parasites” and -their head officer might become one also if given the name. The -hobo’s suspicious attitude toward all organizations and persons in -power is not altogether without ground. As a group the migratory -workers usually get the “short end” of every bargain they drive -with organized society. Every contractor they work for “does” them -for something. If he does not charge them for tools they lost or -destroyed he may charge them for rent on a pair of boots or a -blanket they may have used. They may buy a job from some private -agency and later lose the job because the agency and the contractor -have an understanding to sell as many jobs as possible. The hobo -gets the opinion that most officers in most organizations are -playing the game for what they can get out of it and he concludes -that it is the natural thing to do. - -The mobility and instability of the hobo or tramp, which is both -cause and consequence of his migratory existence, unfits him for -organized group life. Moreover, he is propertyless, and therefore -the incentive of fixed ownership and fixed residence to remain -faithful to any institution is gone. While the man of property -secures himself best by associating with his neighbor and remaining -in one locality, the hobo safeguards himself by moving away from -every difficulty. Then, too, the hobo is without wife and child. -His womanless existence increases his mobility and his instability. - -In pointing out the repeated and seemingly inevitable failures -of hobo organizations, the fact must not be lost sight of that -they are absolutely necessary to his social existence. Only in -these social and political organizations can the migratory worker -regain his lost status. Only in association with his fellows can -he again hope and dream of an ideal world of co-operation. These -organizations will either survive repeated failures or take new -forms, because they satisfy this fundamental need of the social -outcast for status. Then, too, in these groups, his rebellious -attitudes against society are sublimated into a radical idealism. -Were these organizations destroyed, the anti-social grudge of the -individual would undoubtedly be reflected in criminality. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[65] According to the financial statement for the I.W.W. for May -and June of 1922, there were in good standing 18,234 members. This, -it must be remembered, was just before the summer membership drive, -which is said to have recruited over 18,000 additional members. - -[66] The Chicago branch of the “Hobo College” is located at -present (1922-23) at 913 West Washington Boulevard. It has taken -the name temporarily of “Brotherhood College,” because the -owners of the property would not rent the hall so long as the -word “hobo” was connected with the movement. The change was made -rather reluctantly. The second and third floors are in use; the -second floor for reading-room and kitchen, the third floor is a -lecture-hall. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -MISSIONS AND WELFARE ORGANIZATIONS - - -In the winter of 1921-22 there were twenty-five missions in the -Hobohemian areas of the city. This number tends to expand and to -contract with the increase or the decrease in number of men out of -work. The number of missions in the West Madison Street section -is larger than the number in the South State Street and North -Clark Street regions combined. The influence of the Salvation -Army, which has outgrown the status of a mission, upon similar -organizations is profound. The names of many of the missions -suggest their origin in imitation of this pioneer body in religious -work for the “down-and-outs”: Christian Army, Samaritan Army, Saved -Army, Volunteer Rescue Army. The names of other missions are as -interesting: Bible Rescue Mission, Cathedral Shelter, Helping Hand -Mission, Pacific Garden Mission, Sunshine Gospel Mission. - -The uniforms of the “armies” that make up the working force of -certain of the missions are often so nearly alike that it is -difficult to tell them apart. A short time ago the Salvation Army -brought suit against the Saved Army to prevent it from using the -poke bonnets, the blue uniform, the song “The War Cry” on the -ground that they were so similar to those of the Salvation Army -that the public was confused. It is claimed by representatives -of the Salvation Army that individuals contribute to these other -missions and “armies” under the impression that the contribution is -for the Salvation Army. - - -TYPES OF MISSIONS[67] - -Aside from the religious work of the Salvation Army and the -Volunteers of America, three types of missions are to be found in -Hobohemia: (1) the permanently established local mission, (2) the -migratory national mission, and (3) the “wild cat” local mission. - -1) The permanently established local mission either owns its -building or holds it on a long lease. These missions are sponsored -by some church or by a board of directors composed of business -men of more or less local prominence. Not infrequently these -contributors are successful converts. - -These local missions dispense charity in the form of food, -clothing, and beds for homeless men.[68] They differ, however, in -their methods of relief as well as in their policies of relief. One -mission may care for every man who asks for aid without question as -to his worthiness, another feels that better service can be done -by helping only those who are willing to work, or those who are -incapacitated for manual labor. Only the verbose intoxicant is ever -ejected from the mission--all others may come and go as they wish. - -In the permanently established mission is found the better type -of mission worker who is compensated by a definite salary rather -than paid on a commission basis. The permanent workers consist -of a superintendent and a secretary assisted by converts who -have made good, usually old men who use the mission as a refuge. -Still further help comes from students of the various religious -institutions in the city and from the friends of the mission. - -2) The national migratory missions may have headquarters in Chicago -or some other metropolitan center with branches or sub-missions in -nearby towns and cities. These organizations are generally financed -by solicitations. Men and women are employed to canvass places -of business; to “drum” on the streets and to make house-to-house -calls. This practice of drumming on the streets is known as -“ballyhooing.” These solicitors receive, in most cases, as much -as 50 per cent of the amount they collect, which greatly lessens -the sum to be used for the homeless men after the rent for the -building, the salaries of the men in charge, and other expenses -have been deducted from the remaining 50 per cent. - -The shifting of these missions is proverbial. If they are not -moving from city to city they are moving from one street to -another, or from one location to another on the same street. The -workers are as transient as the institutions themselves: migrating -back and forth between cities, and affiliating themselves first -with one mission and then with another. Often they are rural folk -who, through urban mission work, find expression for the wishes -of adventure and recognition. The fascination of the city has an -attraction for the migratory mission worker as for the migratory -laborer. They prefer this life, even under adverse conditions, to -any other field of service. Others are veterans, who have been in -mission work for years with four or five different organizations -in as many cities. - -3) The “wild cat” local mission, more or less ephemeral in nature, -springs up during some crisis as an unemployment situation. Using -the crisis as an excuse for soliciting funds to aid the unemployed, -they operate for awhile, and when conditions have been ameliorated, -they go out of existence. The workers, enthralled by a few months -in the service, then affiliate with another mission. - - -MAKING CONVERTS - -The following narrative by an observer in the Bible Rescue Mission -one Sunday evening early in April, 1922, describes the technique of -conversion. - - 62. More than a hundred men were in the audience. The night - was cold and they were glad to be inside. Then, too, there - were rolls and coffee to be served after the meeting. Near - the close of the service the evangelist stept down from - the stand and asked if anyone in the audience wished to be - prayed for. Surely out of an audience of so many men, all - sinners, someone was concerned about his soul. All a man - would have to do was to raise his hand. That was easy; just - believe with all your heart, raise your hand for prayer. It - was worth taking a chance on anyway. Three hands went up. - - “That’s fine! Three men have asked to be remembered before - the Lord. Is there anyone else? Just one more, let’s make - it four. Won’t someone else raise his hand. Yes, there’s - another hand. God bless you, brother. Now, will the four - men who raised their hands please stand?” - - This was more than they had bargained for, but they stood. - All eyes were on the four, all homeless men with the - characteristic beaten look. They were self-conscious and - uncomfortable. One of the men, somewhat older than the - others, seemed to be stirred by emotion. - - “Now,” continued the evangelist, “will the four brothers - who just stood up kindly come forward and kneel with us - in prayer?” There was a moment of hesitation. Finally, - the old man led the way. One of the others followed in a - halting fashion. A worker came down from the stand and - escorted to the front the younger of the remaining two. The - fourth man sat down. Another worker sat down beside him and - pleaded with him for some time. The man seemed to resent - it at first, but at length he yielded and was led into the - circle. He had a sheepish look as he slumped to his knees - between two of the other converts. - - Several of the workers began to labor with members of the - audience while the little circle kneeled on the floor and - prayed. No other converts were made so the meeting came - to an end with handshakes and congratulations for the new - converts. Then the lunch was passed and the tension relaxed. - - Once outside I asked a man who had been inside what he - thought of the meeting. He laughed, “Oh, it’s just like all - of them. I wanted to laugh out loud when I saw that old - duck get saved. He gets saved every winter. This winter he - got saved twice. He always manages to get saved in missions - where there is something to eat.” - -Women play a leading rôle in mission work. The homeless man, who -remembers his home and mother, listens with respect to the prayers -and appeals of the women workers, and is stirred by the singing of -young girls. A religious plea by a woman of strong personality will -sometimes overwhelm a despondent and homesick man. - - 63. Probably the most interesting event of our - investigation was a Salvation Army revival meeting, held in - a little auditorium behind the smoking room. Each Sunday - night at about 8:00, these services are held. Eight or - nine girls, one the leader, and one the pianist, make up - the cast and chorus. When they are ready the invitation is - extended to those in the smoking room and anywhere from six - to thirty are likely to go into the “church.” - - The leader is a very versatile lady. She can utter a - fervent prayer, sing louder than all the rest of the girls - together, play a tambourine at the same time, and make a - stirring appeal to the audience that they “come forward to - Jesus and be saved.” The girls join in the chorus, clapping - as they sing. They have all been saved, and testify as to - the truth of the leader’s words. “Isn’t that true, girls?” - and they all nod their heads in perfect accord. - - The old songs are sung, songs with simple tune and words - as “He’s the Lily of the Valley.” Anyone hearing these - songs once can join in, and all are asked to do so, but - few respond. Yet it is inspiring to see some forlorn - looking bum concentrate on the little book and sing forth - earnestly, as some of them do. Very few, however, wish to - be saved. They are willing to attend the services, and - maybe to sing, but they will not volunteer to join the army - of God, and when personal solicitation is undertaken, few - remain in the room. - -During warm weather the missions hold street meetings. Headed by -the mission band, the company marches outside to get the crowd. -A few songs are sung, several testimonials are given, and the -curbstone audience is invited to the hall. - -Few mission workers are able to gather and hold a crowd on the -street. It is more difficult to preach on account of the noise of -passing street cars and automobiles. The crowd outside is less -stable and not so considerate as the indoor audience. Often the -meetings are disturbed by drunken men or by competing mission -groups on the same street. A mission band may not be able to -gather any crowd, even though hundreds of men are passing or -loafing on the streets. Sometimes their audiences will be stolen by -soap-boxers who start near by with the “economic arguments.” - - -PERMANENT, PERIODIC, AND TEMPORARY CONVERTS - -Every mission has its permanent, periodic, and temporary converts; -its “alumni.” Some of these linger about the mission doing -odd jobs, others go to work or into business, only returning -occasionally to bear testimony. Many of these have prospered -both spiritually and materially, and assist the mission in its -work. Certain missions celebrate the “spiritual birthdays” of -these converts. A bouquet of flowers is placed on the pulpit -and a special program is arranged in honor of the occasion. The -anniversary of the conversion of a permanent convert is a time of -rejoicing. The “twice-born man” bears his testimony to the saving -power of the gospel that snatches “a brand from the burning,” and -asks the prayers of the saints that he may continue “faithful until -the end.” Each of the “saved” who are present wears a flower in the -lapel of his coat and takes advantage of the occasion to add his -testimony. - -The following typical cases of converts were secured through -hearing the testimony of men in the missions and by later -interviews with each of the converts. The information given was -also verified by mission workers who knew the men. - - 64. H. M., in his own words, was once “one of the worst - jail birds and boozers” in this part of the country. For - years, he declares, he was never sober. His arrival home - usually meant the beating of his wife. At the end of every - month he was in debt to the saloon keeper. He gravitated - from one house to another unable to pay his rent, until - his family was living in an old dilapidated shack. His - religious transformation changed the whole situation. He is - now in business for himself. He is considered one of the - most competent and reliable in his field. He and his wife - work at the mission and are among its largest financial - contributors. - - 65. About twenty years ago T. S., a typical “down-and-out,” - wandered into a Chicago mission. He had deserted his family - in an eastern state and started on the bum. Exposure and - “booze” had almost completely enervated him. He was dirty, - unshaved, and in rags. His visit to the mission led to his - conversion and subsequently to reconciliation with his wife - and three children. He is now superintendent of a business - concern in the city. - - 66. P. W., a man of foreign birth and a graduate from one - of the leading universities of his native country, became - addicted to drink, deserted his wife, and leaving her in - dire need came to this country. He became so low a bum that - he was taking his food from garbage cans in the alleys of - Chicago, spending every cent he could get for “booze.” He - was so debilitated from alcohol, exposure, and lack of - nourishment when he came to the mission that he was hardly - able to walk. He was converted and restored to health. His - wife later joined him. He became nationally known as a - worker in missions. - - 67. Some years ago a young lad left his home in Germany and - came to the United States. His associates here were persons - who spent their leisure time in dissipation. One morning - he awoke after a drunken night and decided to go down on - West Madison Street with the bums where he thought he - belonged. He despaired of life. He wandered into one of the - missions to get warm and was converted. Although he had a - meager education he is now studying in one of the religious - institutions of the city with the expressed purpose of - doing religious work. - - 68. P. D. came into the mission drunk one night and was - converted. Several times previous to this he had been - thrown out for disturbing the meeting. According to his own - statement he entered the mission one time and was “saved - and stayed saved.” He is now general labor foreman for a - large construction company. - -Of course there are temporary converts who become victims of their -old environment. For awhile they go straight, but eventually they -yield to “the world, the flesh, and the devil.” Some periodic -converts kneel before the altar every year and each time go out -with renewed determination to avoid sin, but they often succumb the -first time they are subjected to temptation. The mission workers -expect this periodicity of conversion with some of these men just -as they expect the winter. - -“Backsliders” are usually well meaning men but weak. Any convert -who remains on the “stem” is likely to become a “backslider.” The -emotional nature of many of these men may induce a mood of sincere -repentance, but it is difficult to keep the resolution to reform. - - 69. L. S. is a youth of the city. He is twenty-three. His - parents are strict German Lutherans and he spent several - years in a Lutheran parochial school. He left home over a - month ago (April, 1922) because of some trouble he had with - his folks. Shortly after he entered the ---- ---- Mission - on Madison Street where he “got religion” but in a week he - “back slid.” He was melted into consenting and was rushed - to the front and “saved” before he knew what had happened. - After the men on the outside laughed at him he “weakened.” - Now he feels that there is “nothing to religion anyway,” - though he admits that the mission worker at one time kept - him out of jail. - - -MISSION BREAD LINES - -During the winter of 1921-22, twelve of the missions in Chicago, -maintained “bread lines,” that is, dispensed food, as coffee and -doughnuts, or a bowl of soup and vegetables. The term “bread line,” -used figuratively for “free lunch,” originally described the long -lines of men during years of want and unemployment waiting outside -relief stations for bread and soup. - -Missions without “bread lines” claim that the food is given as a -bait to get conversions. They hold that “meal ticket” converts lose -their religion as soon as they become economically self-sustaining. -The unregenerate homeless man looks down upon the regular -attendants at the mission, and accuses them of getting converted -for “pie card” reasons. He calls them “mission stiffs,” a term as -uncomplimentary as for an Indian to be called a “squaw man.” - -[Illustration: A FREE LUNCH AT A MISSION] - -[Illustration: - - _By permission of the Helping Hand Mission_ - -A WINTER’S NIGHT IN A MISSION] - - -WELFARE ORGANIZATIONS - -The mission is not the only institution to which the homeless man -turns. Social service agencies, public and private, many of which -are organized primarily for family rehabilitation, have given -assistance to the homeless man. - -The United Charities, although engaged chiefly in work with -families, has a homeless-men division. During the year ending -September 30, 1922, 1,026 non-family men received assistance. Of -these, 629 were given material or personal service, and 397 were -referred to other organizations. The Jewish Social Service Bureau -also maintains a homeless men’s department which, in the year 1921, -gave personal and material aid to 1,333 men. During 1922, the -number of men helped fell to less than half this number, largely as -a result of the improved industrial situation. The Bureau works in -close association with two Jewish sheltering-homes, which together -house about 70 men. Homeless men who apply for assistance are cared -for here until their cases are carefully investigated. The Central -Bureau of (Catholic) Charities, in conjunction with the Mission of -the Holy Cross, provides shelter and food for destitute men, and -aids them to become self-supporting. - -The Chicago Urban League, organized to promote co-ordination and -co-operation among existing agencies for the welfare of Negroes, -maintains an employment bureau for men out of work. During -the winters of 1920-21 and 1921-22, when thousands of men[69] -were without house accommodations, the League took the lead in -co-operating with churches and other organizations to secure -temporary housing quarters. - -The hotels for homeless men maintained by the Salvation Army and by -the Christian Industrial League have already been described.[70] In -addition, both organizations maintain industrial homes where men -are given temporary work and are helped to become self-supporting. - -The American Legion has been active in behalf of unemployed -ex-service men, many of whom are also homeless men. Its work has -consisted chiefly in getting jobs for the unemployed, and in this -it has had the hearty co-operation of the newspapers. The Legion -Hall was turned over to homeless veterans for sleeping quarters -during the winter of 1921-22. - -The Chicago Municipal Lodging House was first opened on December -21, 1901. It provided free temporary shelter and food for -destitute, homeless men. At first it was operated under the -Department of Police, but was transferred on January 1, 1908, -to the Department of Health, and later, on April 17, 1917, -transferred to the Department of Public Welfare. In its early -history, the Municipal Lodging House was fortunate in having as -its superintendent men like Raymond Robins, James Mullenbach, and -Charles B. Ball, who set high standards for its administration.[71] -The Municipal Lodging House met the severe test of the unemployment -years of 1908 and 1914 by showing how its organization could expand -to meet extraordinary situations. For example, while only 23,642 -lodgings were given in 1907, the number rose to 105,564 in 1908; -and the 78,392 lodgings given in 1913 rose to 452,361 in 1914. -The Municipal Lodging House closed in 1918-19 because of lack of -applicants during wartime prosperity, but it did not reopen during -the hard winters of 1920-21 and 1921-22. Many destitute men, who -would otherwise have been inmates of the Municipal Lodging House -with the medical attention, sanitary sleeping quarters, and other -assistance for rehabilitation which it offered, became instead -“regular feeders” at the “bread lines” and permanent patrons of -Hogan’s “flop.” There seems to be no doubt that the absence of -municipal provision made for an increase of promiscuous begging and -injudicious almsgivings. - -Many other institutions and agencies regularly or sporadically -extend assistance to the homeless man. Yet, in perhaps no other -field of social work is there more overlapping and duplication of -effort, or so low standards of service. For example, the missions -and some of the churches, working independently of one another, -boast that they feed and clothe the needy, but they make little -or no effort to distinguish between those who do and those who do -not deserve assistance. Consequently, the missions lay themselves -open to exploitation by the homeless man. A constructive program -for rehabilitation demands the co-ordination of the efforts of all -agencies now engaged in serving his needs. - - -THE HOMELESS MAN AND RELIGION - -The missions, and for that matter, the welfare agencies are -unpopular with the habitués of Hobohemia. The hobo, in his songs -and in conversation, shows unmistakably his aversion to all -efforts to remake his character or to reshape his destiny. This -feeling of antipathy is naturally strongest with the adherents of -the I.W.W. who come in competition and conflict with the mission -worker. - -With full recognition of the cynical reaction of the average hobo -to the mission, it cannot be denied that thousands of homeless men -are converted every winter, and that a certain proportion of these, -how large no one knows, lead permanently changed lives. The mission -touches the inner life of these men in a way that no social agency -or organization has ever done, or perhaps can do. - -Even the homeless man has aspirations above the satisfaction of -his physical wants; he desires to live in a larger, more complete -sense. The I.W.W., with its radical program of changing “things as -they are,” appeals to the restless and rebellious spirit of youth. -But the broken man, or the old man who has given up hope, finds -comfort and peace in adapting himself to “things as they are.” -Religion to him is just this change of attitude, “making oneself -right with God.” While the young man is confident that he can right -what is wrong in this world, the old man looks to the next world to -compensate for the inequalities and injustice of present existence. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[67] In the section on “Types of Missions” and “Permanent, -Periodic, and Temporary Converts,” the writer is indebted to -material furnished by Mr. L. Guy Brown from an unpublished study of -“Missions in Chicago.” - -[68] One mission of this type on West Madison Street records -that during the year ending September, 1921, 56,718 homeless men -visited the mission. During this time 4,016 men knelt at the altar -(were converted). Nearly 29,000 meals were served to hungry and -unemployed men, while 4,145 tickets were issued which entitled the -bearer to sleep at a flophouse or cheap rooming-house. - -[69] The officials of the League estimate that there were 7,000 -homeless men among the Negroes in the winter of 1921-22. - -[70] See pp. 27-28. - -[71] See Raymond Robins, “What Constitutes a Model Municipal -Lodging House,” _Proceedings of the National Conference of -Charities and Correction_ (1904), 155-66. - - - - -APPENDIXES - - - - -APPENDIX A - -SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS - - -This study has pictured the life and the problems of the group of -homeless migratory and casual workers in Chicago. It now remains -to sum up the findings of the investigation and to outline the -recommendations which seem to flow from the facts.[72] - - -FINDINGS - - 1. The homeless casual and migratory workers, while found - in all parts of the city, are segregated in great numbers - in four distinct areas: West Madison Street, Lower South - State Street (near the Loop), North Clark Street, and Upper - State Street (the Negro section). - - 2. The number of homeless men in these areas fluctuates - greatly with the seasons and with conditions of employment. - - 3. The concentration of casual and migratory workers in - this city is the natural result of two factors: (_a_) the - development of Chicago as a great industrial community with - diversified enterprises requiring a variety of unskilled - as well as skilled laborers, and (_b_) the position of - Chicago as a center of transportation, of commerce and of - employment for the states of the Mississippi Valley. - - 4. The homeless men in Chicago fall into five groups: (_a_) - the seasonal laborer, (_b_) the migratory, casual laborer, - the hobo, (_c_) the migratory non-worker, the tramp, (_d_) - the non-migratory casual laborer, the so-called “home - guard,” (_e_) the bum. Groups _b_, _c_, _d_, and _e_ - constitute what are known in economic writings as “The - Residuum of Industry.” In addition to these groups of the - homeless casual and migratory workers are the groups of - seasonal laborers and the men out of work, which expand and - contract with the periods of economic depression and of - industrial prosperity. - - 5. The causes which reduce a man to the status of a - homeless migratory and casual worker may be classified - under five main heads as follows: - - _a_) _Unemployment and Seasonal Work_: these - maladjustments of modern industry which disorganize the - routine of life of the individual and destroy regular - habits of work. - - _b_) _Industrial Inadequacy_: “the misfits of industry,” - whether due to physical handicaps, mental deficiency, - occupational disease, or lack of vocational training. - - _c_) _Defects of Personality_: as feeble-mindedness, - constitutional inferiority, or egocentricity, which lead - to the conflict of the person with constituted authority - in industry, society, and government. - - _d_) _Crises in the Life of the Person_: as family - conflicts, misconduct, and crime, which exile a man from - home and community and detach him from normal social ties. - - _e_) _Racial or National Discrimination_: where race, - nationality, or social class of the person enters as a - factor of adverse selection for employment. - - _f_) _Wanderlust_: the desire for new experience, - excitement, and adventure, which moves the boy “to see - the world.” - - 6. To satisfy the wants and wishes of the thousands of - homeless migratory and casual workers at the lowest - possible cost, specialized institutions and enterprises - have been established in Chicago. These include: - - _a_) Employment agencies. - - _b_) Restaurants and lodging-houses. - - _c_) Barber colleges. - - _d_) Outfitting stores and clothing exchanges. - - _e_) Pawnshops. - - _f_) Movies and burlesques. - - _g_) Missions. - - _h_) Local political and social organizations, as “The - Industrial Workers of the World” and the “Hobo College.” - - _i_) Secular street meetings and radical bookstores. - - 7. Chicago as the great clearing house of employment - for the states of the Mississippi Valley naturally and - inevitably becomes the temporary home of men out of work - for the entire region. The following appear to be the facts - in regard to the workers and the conditions of employment: - - _a_) Fluctuations of industry, such as seasonal changes, - and of unemployment, force large numbers of men into the - group of homeless migratory and casual workers. - - _b_) At the same time, the homeless migratory and - casual worker develops irregular habits of work and a - life-policy of “living from hand to mouth.” - - _c_) Employment records indicate that the lower grade of - casual workers prefer work by the day, or employment by - the week or two, to “permanent” positions of three months - or longer. - - _d_) The Illinois Free Employment offices, efficiently - administered with simple but well-kept records and - with courteous treatment of applicants, placed 50,482 - persons in the year ending September 30, 1922, mainly in - positions in and near Chicago. - - _e_) The private employment agencies dealing with the - homeless man, about fifty in number, which are, in - general, poorly equipped, with the minimum of record - keeping required by law and with inconsiderate treatment - of applicants, place about 200,000 men a year in - positions, for the most part, outside of Chicago. - - _f_) The law relating to private employment agencies as - approved June 15, 1909, in force July 1, 1909, and as - amended and approved June 7, 1911, in force July 1, 1911, - appears not to be enforced in two points: - - i) the requirement that sections three (3), four (4), - and five (5) of the law be posted in a conspicuous - place in each room of the agency; and - - ii) the return to the applicant of three-fifths of the - registration and other fees upon failure of applicant - to accept position or upon his discharge for cause. - - 8. The health and hygiene of the homeless migratory and - casual worker is of vital concern not only for his economic - efficiency but also because of the relation of his high - mobility to the spread of communicable diseases. - - 9. The homeless migratory and casual workers constitute a - womanless group. The results of this sex isolation are: - - _a_) No opportunity for the expression and sublimation of - the sex impulse in the normal life of the family. - - _b_) In a few cases, the substitution for marriage of - free unions more or less casual, usually terminated at - the will of the man without due regard to the claims of - the woman. - - _c_) The dependence of the greatest number of homeless - men upon the professional prostitute of the lowest grade - and the cheapest sort. - - _d_) The prevalence of sex perversions, as masturbation and - homosexuality. - - 10. The attraction for the boy of excitement and adventure - renders him peculiarly susceptible to the “call of the road.” - - _a_) Hundreds of Chicago boys, mainly but not entirely - of wage-earning families, every spring “beat their way” - to the harvest fields, impelled by wanderlust, and the - opportunity for work away from home. - - _b_) Of these a certain proportion acquire the migratory - habit and may pass through successive stages from a - high-grade seasonal worker to the lowest type of bum. - - _c_) The boy on the road and in the city is constantly - under the pressure of homosexual exploitation by confirmed - perverts in the migratory group. - - _d_) Certain areas of the city frequented by boys have - been found to be resorts and rendezvous for homosexual - prostitution. - - 11. While the majority of the homeless migratory workers are - American citizens of native stock: - - _a_) They are in large numbers for practical purposes - disfranchised because they seldom remain in any community - long enough to secure legal residence. - - _b_) They constitute a shifting and shiftless group - without property and family, and with no effective - participation in the civic life of the community. - - _c_) According to statements from police authorities they - contribute but slightly to the volume of serious crime. - - _d_) Both on the road and in the city, they are at all - times subject to arbitrary handling and arrest by private - and public police and to summary trial and sentence by - the court. - - _e_) The attitude of Chicago, like that of other - communities toward the homeless man, has been a policy of - defense intrusted to the police department for execution. - - 12. Social service to the homeless migratory and casual - worker has for the most part been remedial rather than - preventive; unorganized and haphazard rather than organized - and co-ordinated. - - _a_) Professional beggars and fakers exploit public - sympathy and credulity for individual gain to the - disadvantage of the men who need and deserve assistance. - - _b_) The missions and certain churches feed, clothe, - and provide shelter for several thousand men during the - winter months. - - _c_) The Dawes Hotel, the Christian Industrial League, - and the Salvation Army hotels provide lodging at a low - charge. - - _d_) The Salvation Army maintains the Industrial Home with - workshops which accommodate a limited number of men. - - _e_) The United Charities and the Central Charity - (Catholic) Bureau, although concerned mainly with family - relief, give certain forms of assistance to the homeless - man. - - _f_) The Jewish Social Service Bureau maintains a - department for homeless men, which acts as a referring - agency to two shelter houses. - - _g_) The American Legion and other patriotic organizations - have provided assistance of various types to the ex-service - man out of employment. - - _h_) The Municipal Lodging House, which closed its doors - in 1918, has not been reopened, despite the evident need - of the winters of 1920-21 and 1921-22. - - _i_) The Cook County agent provides free transportation - to non-residents to place of legal residence and refers - residents to Oak Forest Infirmary. - - _j_) The county and city hospitals and dispensaries provide - free medical care. - - _k_) Unco-ordinated effort of the organizations for - service to the homeless man has resulted in duplication - of activities, a low standard of work, and the neglect of - a constructive program of rehabilitation. - - -RECOMMENDATIONS - -The findings of this study indicate conclusively: (_a_) that any -fundamental solution of the problem is national and not local, and -(_b_) that the problem of the homeless migratory worker is but an -aspect of the larger problems of industry, such as unemployment, -seasonal work, and labor turnover. - -NATIONAL PROGRAM - - The committee approves, as a national program for the - control of the problem, the recommendations suggested - by the studies on unemployment and migratory laborers - contained in the _Final Report of the Commission on - Industrial Relations_ (pp. 114-15; 103): - - 1. The enactment of appropriate legislation modifying - the title of the Bureau of Immigration to “Bureau of - Immigration and Employment” and providing the statutory - authority and appropriations necessary for-- - - _a_) The establishment of a national employment - system,[73] under the Department of Labor, with a staff - of well-paid and specially qualified officials in the - main offices at least. - - _b_) The licensing, regulation, and supervision of all - private employment agencies doing an interstate business. - - _c_) The investigation and preparation of plans for the - regularization of employment, the decasualization of - labor, the utilization of public work to fill in periods - of business depression, insurance against unemployment - in such trades and industries as may seem desirable, - and other measures designed to promote regularity and - steadiness of employment. - - 2. The immediate creation of a special board made up of - the properly qualified officials from the Departments of - Agriculture, Commerce, Interior, and Labor, and from the - Board of Army Engineers to prepare plans for performing the - largest possible amount of public work during the winter, - and to devise a program for the future for performing, - during periods of depression, such public work as road - building, construction of public building, reforestation, - irrigation, and drainage of swamps. The success attending - the construction of the Panama Canal indicates the - enormous national construction works which might be done - to the advantage of the entire nation during such periods - of depression. Similar boards or commissions should be - established in the various states and municipalities. - - 3. The Interstate Commerce Commission should be directed - by Congress to investigate and report the most feasible - plan of providing for the transportation of workers at the - lowest reasonable rates, and, at the same time, measures - necessary to eliminate the stealing of rides on railways. - If special transportation rates for workers are provided, - tickets may be issued only to those who secure employment - through public employment agencies. - - 4. The establishment by states, municipalities, and, - through the Department of Labor, the federal government, - of sanitary workingmen’s hotels in which the prices for - accommodations shall be adjusted to the cost of operation. - If such workingmen’s hotels are established, the Post - Office Department should establish branch postal savings - banks in connection therewith. - - 5. The establishment by the municipal, state, and federal - governments of colonies or farms for “down-and-outs” in - order to rehabilitate them by means of proper food, regular - habits of living and regular work that will train them - for lives of usefulness. Such colonies should provide for - hospital treatment of cases which require it. - -THE CHICAGO PLAN FOR THE HOMELESS MAN - - For the local situation and for such action as lies in the - hands (_a_) of the citizens of this community, (_b_) of the - city of Chicago, (_c_) of Cook County, and (_d_) of the - state of Illinois, this committee recommends: - - I. AS A PROGRAM FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION-- - - 1. _The establishment of a Municipal Clearing House for - Non-Family Men._ - - _a_) _Purpose_: - - i) To provide facilities for the registration, - examination, classification, and treatment of - homeless migratory and casual workers in order, on - the basis of individual case-study. - - ii) To secure by reference to the appropriate agency - emergency relief, physical and mental rehabilitation, - industrial training, commitment to institutional - care, return to legal residence, and satisfactory - employment. - - _b_) _Organization_: The Clearing House will maintain - the following departments: - - i) _Information Bureau_: to provide information in - regard to employment, public institutions, social - agencies, indorsed hotels, and lodging-houses, etc. - - ii) _Registration_: by card, giving name, age, - occupation, physical condition, reference, residence, - nearest relative or friend, number of lodgings, - disposition, and all other information. - - iii) _Vocational Clinic_: to provide medical, - psychiatric, psychological, and social examination as - a basis of treatment. - - iv) _Records Office_: to record findings of - examination, to clear with other agencies, local and - national, and to enter recommendations and results of - treatment. - - v) _Social Service Bureau_: to provide for both - immediate and after-care service for the men under - the supervision of the Clearing House. - - _c_) _Personnel_: to consist of director, clerical - force, interviewers, social workers, and experts, as - physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, and sociologist. - - _d_) _Intake of Clearing House_: registrants to be - referred to the Clearing House by: - - i) _Citizens_, to whom homeless men have applied for - relief. - - ii) _Missions_, where food or lodging have been - received by homeless men. - - iii) _Charities._ - - iv) _Travelers’ Aid Society._ - - v) _Local organizations._ - - vi) _Police Department_: closing of police stations - to lodgers and provision for supply of such - applicants with tickets of admission to the Clearing - House; direction by police to the Clearing House of - persons found for the first time begging. - - vii) _Courts, police stations, House of Correction, - and county jail_: provision to every homeless man - or boy upon discharge with ticket of admission to - Clearing House guaranteeing three days’ liberty - with food, lodging, and an opportunity for honest - employment. - - _e_) _Classification_: As a result of examination in - the Vocational Clinic the men will be divided for - treatment into three groups: (1) boys and youths, - (2) employable men, and (3) unemployable men. The - unemployable will be further divided into: (i) the - physically handicapped, (ii) the mentally defective, - (iii) alcoholics and drug addicts, (iv) the habitually - idle, (v) the untrained, and (vi) the aged. - - _f_) _Treatment_: Upon the basis of the preceding - examination and classification, the men will be given - the following services: - - i) Those in need of emergency relief, temporary - lodging, meals and bath, by the agencies in the field - and by the Municipal Lodging House (when reopened). - - ii) Those in need of clean clothes, free laundry work - at the Municipal Laundry (to be established). - - iii) Those who are proper charges of other - communities and who may be better cared for there, - transportation from relatives or from Cook County - agent. - - iv) Those in need of medical service, treatment at - the Cook County Hospital, Municipal Tuberculosis - Sanitarium, or dispensaries, and observation at the - Psychopathic Hospital. - - v) For the unemployable physically disabled, - education as provided in the Chicago plan for the - physically handicapped (under consideration by the - state in co-operation with private agencies). - - vi) For the unemployable but physically able-bodied, - individual arrangements for industrial education. - - vii) For the aged and permanently physically - disabled, placement in the Oak Forest Home. - - viii) For the employable, references with vocational - diagnosis and recommendation to the Illinois Free - Employment offices and other employment agencies. - - ix) For persons under the supervision of the Municipal - Clearing House, when desirable, individual case work - and after-care. - - x) For incorrigible vagrants and beggars for whom no - constructive treatment is provided in the program - for immediate action (see constructive treatment in - “Program for Future Action”) commitment to the House - of Correction. - - _g_) _Administration_: The Clearing House to be - administered by the city of Chicago under the City - Department of Public Welfare; the director of the - Clearing House to be also superintendent of the Lodging - House and of the Municipal Laundry and the Municipal - Bath House, a physician on full time to be assigned by - the City Department of Public Health, a psychiatrist - and psychologist by the state criminologist of the - State Department of Public Welfare. - - _h_) _Advisory Committee_: Under the auspices of - the Chicago Council of Social Agencies, an advisory - committee to the director of the Clearing House be - organized to be composed of public and private agencies - and civic, philanthropic, commercial, industrial, and - labor organizations, co-operating with the Clearing - House. - - _i_) _Financing_: An appeal to be made at once to - the city council for funds to equip and maintain the - Municipal Clearing House, Municipal Lodging House, - Laundry and Bath House, to provide for the following - budget: - -TENTATIVE ANNUAL BUDGET FOR CARING ADEQUATELY FOR HOMELESS -TRANSIENT MEN IN CHICAGO - - ================================================================ - Clearing House | Maximum* | Minimum - ---------------------------------------+------------+----------- - Rent of headquarters, including light | | - and heat | $ 2,500.00 | - Heat and light in free quarters | | $ 1,000.00 - Equipment | 1,000.00 | 1,000.00 - Office supplies, stationery, printing, | | - etc. | 500.00 | 500.00 - Staff: | | - Superintendent | 6,000.00 | 4,000.00 - Assistant | 2,500.00 | - Six interviewers and field workers | 9,000.00 | - Two interviewers and field workers | | 4,000.00 - Two stenographers | 2,400.00 | - One stenographer | | 1,500.00 - Physician (part time) | 1,800.00 | - Psychiatrist (part time) | 1,800.00 | - Director of vocational guidance | 4,000.00 | - Janitors | 1,800.00 | 1,800.00 - | ---------- | ---------- - Total | $33,300.00 | $13,800.00 - ---------------------------------------------------------------- - - * The maximum budget represents expenditures in the event - headquarters cannot be secured free of rent, services of physician - and psychiatrist cannot be secured from city and Institute for - Juvenile Research, and at a time when a full staff will be - necessary. - - 2. _The reopening of the Municipal Lodging House_ under - the following conditions (adapted from “Program for Model - Municipal Lodging House,” by Raymond Robins): - - _a_) _Administration_: under the City Department of - Public Health in close affiliation with the Clearing - House for Homeless Men. - - _b_) _Purpose_: to provide free, under humane and - sanitary conditions, food, lodging, and bath, with - definite direction for such permanent relief as is - needed for any man or boy stranded in Chicago. - - _c_) _Registration and preliminary physical - examination_: made in Clearing House a condition to - admission. - - _d_) _Standard of service_: - - i) Sanitary building. - - ii) Wholesome food. - - iii) Dormitories quiet, beds comfortable and clean. - - iv) First-aid treatment: vaccination, bandages and - simple medicaments furnished free. - - v) Isolation ward for men suffering from inebriety, - insanity, venereal diseases, etc. - - vi) Fumigation of lodgers’ clothing, including hat - and shoes, every night. - - vii) Nightly shower bath required. - - 3. _The establishment of a Municipal Laundry and a - Municipal Bath House by the city of Chicago_: to be - operated in close affiliation with the Municipal Clearing - House. - - 4. _Utilization of existing facilities for industrial - training_: Co-operation with existing educational - institutions for the vocational training of boys and - youths and of the physically handicapped, mentally - defective, and industrially inadequate who are - unemployable but willing to work. (See “Program for - Future Action.”) - - 5. _Employment agencies_: - - _a_) The extension of the service of the Illinois Free - Employment office. - - _b_) The enforcement of the law relating to private - employment agencies: the requirement that sections - three (3), four (4), and five (5), of the law be posted - in a conspicuous place in each room of the agency; - and the return to the applicant of three-fifths of - the registration and other fees upon the failure of - applicant to accept position or upon his discharge for - cause. - - _c_) The further study of private employment agencies - and of labor camps in order to provide the homeless man - with adequate protection against exploitation. - - 6. _Public health and housing_: - - _a_) The further building of sanitary workingmen’s - hotels with low charge for accommodations. - - _b_) The maintenance and raising of standards of - cheap hotels in Chicago through rigid inspection and - tightening of requirements. - - _c_) Medical examination, inspection, and supervision - of men in flops, together with vaccination and - hospitalization of needy cases. - - 7. _Vagrancy Court_: the reorganization of the Vagrancy - Court for the hearing of cases of incorrigible vagrants - and beggars on the basis of the investigations of the - Clearing House. - - 8. _Protection of the boy_: - - _a_) Prevention of aimless wandering through the - provision of wholesome and stimulating recreation, - through the extension of all activities for boys, and - through the further development of vocational education - and supervision. The Vocational Guidance Bureau of the - Board of Education should be removed to an area of the - city free from unwholesome contacts. - - _b_) An educational campaign organized through the - Mid-West Boy’s Club Federation should be carried on - in all the boys’ organizations in Chicago showing the - danger of “flipping” trains and playing in railroad - yards. The National Safety Council has a great deal of - material which could be used in such a campaign. - - _c_) Co-operation with such organization as the - Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, the special police - organizations of the railroads, the Lake Carriers - Association, and automobile clubs, in a program to - prevent boys wandering away from home. Pamphlets should - be prepared for distribution, asking for co-operation - and enforcement of working certificate regulations in - this and other states, child labor laws, juvenile court - laws, etc. - - _d_) The enlistment officers of the army, navy, and - marine should demand the presentation of a birth - certificate in all cases in which they doubt the age of - the applicant. - - _e_) The co-operation of the managers of the hotels - and lodging-houses in an effort to keep boys under - seventeen out of the hotels in the Hobohemian areas, or - at least to use their influence in preventing boys and - men from rooming together. - - _f_) Because most of the contacts the boy has with - tramps are unwholesome, the police should not permit - boys to loiter or play in the areas most frequented - by the tramp population; namely, West Madison Street, - South State Street, North Clark Street, and adjacent - territory. Parents ought to be made aware of the nature - of the contacts the boy has with the tramp in these - areas and in the parks. - - _g_) The assignment of special plain-clothes policemen - experienced in dealing with vagrants to the parks and - other places in which tramps congregate. They should be - instructed to pick up and hold in the Detention Home - any boy under seventeen years found in company with a - tramp. - - _h_) More strenuous effort should be made to occupy - the leisure time of boys who frequent the districts in - which the tramps congregate. It is the boy with leisure - time who is the most susceptible to the unwholesome - contacts. Supervised recreation should be carried on to - an extent that boys who play in Hobohemian areas might - be attracted to other sections. When school is not in - session a more extensive program of summer camps might - help. - - _i_) Since the Juvenile Court of Cook County is - equipped to investigate the cases of vagrant boys under - seventeen in Chicago, and return them to their homes, - all vagrant boys apprehended by anyone in the daytime - should be reported to the chief probation officer, - Juvenile Court. Vagrant boys over seventeen should be - directed to the Clearing House. - - _j_) After five o’clock vagrant boys under seventeen - should be turned over to the police who will take them - to the Detention Home, from which home they will be - taken to the office of the chief probation officer the - first thing in the morning. - - _k_) Whenever a boy under seventeen is taken in custody - by the police, because of contact with tramps, or - whenever a boy is held as a complaining witness against - a tramp, he should always be reported to the Juvenile - Court. It is the responsibility of the court to put the - boy in touch with some proper individual or agency, so - that he will be adequately supervised and befriended in - the future. - - 9. _Publicity and public co-operation_: the education - of the public through news items in the daily press and - editorial comment; public co-operation through tickets - of admission to the Clearing House providing food and - lodging in the Municipal Lodging House constantly to - be distributed through societies, institutions, hotels, - business offices, churches, clubs, housewives, and other - citizens. - - II. A PROGRAM FOR FUTURE ACTION-- - - 1. _That a bond issue_ be submitted for approval to the - voters of the city of Chicago providing for the erection - of adequate buildings for a Municipal Clearing House, - Municipal Lodging House, and Municipal Laundry and Bath - House. - - 2. _That an Industrial Institute_ be established by the - state of Illinois in Chicago for the vocational training - of the physically handicapped, mentally defective, and - industrially inadequate, who are unemployable, but - willing to work. - - 3. _That a State Farm Colony for Industrial - Rehabilitation_ be established by the state of - Illinois for the compulsory detention and re-education - of unemployables, such as beggars, vagrants, petty - criminals, who are unwilling to receive industrial - training. - - 4. _That a Department of Industrial Training of the House - of Correction_ be opened, pending the establishment of - the State Farm Colony for Industrial Rehabilitation, for - the commitment and re-education of unemployables, such as - beggars, vagrants, and petty criminals. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[72] The findings and recommendations of this study were prepared -by the Committee on Homeless Men of the Chicago Council of Social -Agencies and its report accepted by the Council. - -[73] The United States Employment Service established in 1918 -requires adequate appropriations for its efficient functioning. - - - - -APPENDIX B - -DOCUMENTS AND MATERIALS - - -CHAPTER I. HOBOHEMIA DEFINED - - 115. _Summary of a Study of Four Hundred Tramps_, Nels - Anderson, summer, 1921. - - 124. An evening spent on the benches in Grant Park; - description of men and their talk. - - 135. _A Study of Eight Cases of Homeless Men in Lodging - Houses_, R. N. Wood, December, 1922. - - 145. An unpublished paper on the hobo, “Along the Main Stem - with Red,” Harry M. Beardsley, March 20, 1917. - - 146. _Chicago’s Hobo Area_, Sherman O. Cooper, December, - 1917. - - 157. _Chicago’s Hobo District_, Melville J. Herskovits, - December, 1919. - - 159. Comparative statistics for the three wards in which - Hobohemia is located, 1910-20. - - -CHAPTER II. THE JUNGLES: THE HOMELESS MAN ABROAD - - 1. “A Day in the Jungles,” A. W. Dragstedt, a hobo who knows - the jungles. - - 76. “Job Hunting via Box-Car in the Northwest,” _Hobo News_, - Bill Quirke, September, 1921. - - -CHAPTER III. THE LODGING HOUSE: THE HOMELESS MAN AT HOME - - 2-3. Recital of an evening spent by Nels Anderson in a - flophouse, April, 1922. - - 70. Statistics: Bridewell population, lodging-house - patrons, registered voters. - - 79. _Report of Visit to Ten Gambling Houses in Hobohemia_, - Nels Anderson, January 1, 1923. - - 105. Casual worker, ex-soldier, twenty-eight, few days in - town, lost money in gambling-house. - - 151. _A Dozen Hotels in the Loop_, George F. David, August, - 1922. - - -CHAPTER IV. “GETTING BY” IN HOBOHEMIA - - 4. Jewish hobo, parasitic philosophy, middle-aged, begs from - Jewish agencies in all cities. - - 5. Transient dreamer, twenty-seven, known to many agencies - in different cities. - - 6. Boy in teens, Jewish, moves with ease from agency to - agency, good solicitor. - - 7. City bum, twenty-four, petty robber, works occasionally, - jail experience. - - 8. “Fat,” a panhandler with a self-justifying philosophy, - works on favorable jobs. - - 9. Englishman, forty-one, paralyzed arm, alcoholic, - mendicant, was a bricklayer. - - 89. Faker, Bulgarian, forty-five, plays deaf and dumb, - “works” restaurants. - - 90. Home-guard bum, sixty-nine, works at odd jobs, often - mendicant, drinks some. - - 95. Ex-soldier, funds about gone, going East for work, - clean, sober, “working” charities. - - 97. Boy tramp, eighteen, left home to avoid school, wants - to be engineer, works. - - 98. Two young men temporarily without money and work, - adjusted in a few days. - - 102. City bum, thirty-five, talkative, lazy and unkempt, - mendicant much of time. - - 103. Away from family for work, gets money from wife, loafs, - later returns home. - - 104. Jewish tramp, sells papers, tin worker, served time in - jail for wife desertion. - - 111. Loafs, fat, unattractive, works some, not welcome home; - his family sends him money. - - 112. Well-to-do sister ashamed of him, sends him money; he - calls it “borrowing.” - - 113. Beggar with a philosophy, condemns peddlers who beg - part of time, works occasionally. - - 123. Spanish war and world-war veteran, forty-six, - compensation, tries to go to school. - - 131. Description of life with the “slum proletariat” by one - of them. - - 152. _Mendicancy in Chicago_, Melvin L. Olsen, December, - 1919. - - 155. _Case Studies of Beggars in Chicago_, Joseph Arnsdorff, - December 16, 1919. - - 161. Statement from the secretary of the Mid-City Commercial - Association on the hobo problem. - - -CHAPTER V. WHY DO MEN LEAVE HOME? - - 10. Pioneer hobo and tramp, “played all the games,” - fifty-six, blames self for misspent life. - - 11. Belgian, fifty-eight, coal miner, lumber jack, Chicago - in winter, single, seldom penniless. - - 12. Pioneer hobo, fifty-one, perhaps dying, miner’s “con,” - away from home (Ohio) thirty years. - - 13. Migratory worker, single, fifty-six, ever restless, - mines, sea, harvest, sheep shearer. - - 14. Anemic man, lung trouble, textile worker, light work - only, hopes open air will help. - - 15. Beggar, peddler, one leg, industrial accident, justifies - begging and drink. - - 16. Migrant, would settle down, drinks, loses jobs, single, - getting old, health failing. - - 17. “Dope” user, weak, anemic, poorly clad, dirty, beat way - from Boston. - - 18. Old man, seventy-eight, poor-farm and hospital - experience, mendicant, lives on fifty or sixty cents a day. - - 19. Restless young man, twenty-four, no permanent desires, - carpenter, capable, sober, congenial. - - 20. Restless young worker, easily bored by the monotony of a - job. - - 26. Irish, ex-soldier, ex-sailor, twenty-seven, sings, wants - to study music, ex-secretary of “Hobo College.” - - 27. Feeble-minded, left home in war time, odd jobs, in town - often, often in missions. - - 28. Pessimistic, imaginative, unstable, about forty-five, - fair worker. - - 29. Periodical drinker, quarrelsome when drunk, otherwise - good worker. - - 30. College man, twenty-seven, ex-salesman, left wife, - homosexual experience, avoids work. - - 31. Chronic drinker, stockyards worker, seldom migrates, - many arrests, away from wife twelve years. - - 32. Boy tramp, sixteen, on way to Texas, from Ohio, parents - dead, only brother a soldier. - - 33. Left home when jilted by girl, too sensitive to return, - very transient. - - 34. Returned home after jail experience, humiliated, left - home, away for several years. - - 35. Ex-soldier, as small-town boy left home in crisis, - stayed away to make bluff good, twenty-two. - - 36. Boy left home in fear of punishment from father, - returns occasionally. - - 37. Migrant because of trouble over woman, about thirty, - dare not return, radical. - - 38. Became migratory to avoid paying alimony, dare not - return, about forty. - - 39. Boy tramp, nineteen, egotist, traveled much, works - little, gambles, jail record. - - 40. Oldest boy becomes runaway, twenty, other boys in family - follow, dislikes father. - - -CHAPTER VI. THE HOBO AND THE TRAMP - - 41. Scotchman, thirty-two, single, ex-soldier, sailor, nurse - in winters, casual in summer. - - 42. Deck hand summers, migrant to South in winter, single, - generally sober. - - 43. Carpenter, casual, often discharged, would settle but - losing efficiency by drink. - - 44. Old man, fifty-eight, plasterer, fair worker but casual, - has ceased migrating, sober. - - 45. One-time harvest hand, seldom leaves Chicago, peddles - trinkets, gambles. - - 46. Romantic tramp, revels in wandering, carries tiny - camera, seeks notice, does not work. - - 86. Recital of experiences of boy tramp, now a doctor in - Chicago. - - 91. Russian, able-bodied hobo, about thirty-five, clean, - sober, works in and near Chicago. - - 92. Boy, eighteen, on way home (Indiana) from winter in - West, plans to leave tramp life. - - 100. Congenial, irresponsible man of twenty-five, sober, - clean, very transient, works as porter. - - 109. Runaway boy from Hammond, Indiana, sixteen, in - Hobohemia looking for work, very worldly wise. - - -CHAPTER VII. THE HOME GUARD AND THE BUM - - 47. City bum, twenty-three, in missions when broke, works - as teamster, “got” religion once. - - 48. Wife deserter, drinks, loiters on “stem,” odd jobs, - formerly pig killer. - - 49. Ex-pugilist, single, forty-five, now mission “stiff,” - works on clocks in summer, alcoholic. - - 50. Health ruined by drink, thirty-two, light jobs, baker, - farms in summer, Chicago much of time. - - 72. Crippled in industrial accident, sixty-two, family - grown, would care for him, drinks. - - 78. Classification of types of homeless men submitted by Mr. - Wirth of Jewish charities. - - 127. Classification of tramps, hobos, and other types of - homeless men by Dr. Ben L. Reitman. - - -CHAPTER VIII. WORK - - 73. Pioneer type, fifty, seldom comes East, miner, - prospector, lumber jack. - - 77. Man forced to be idle by hard times, learned to get - along, later refused work. - - 83. Old man, fifty, single, winters in Chicago, farm jobs - in summer, drinks some. - - 93. Laborer, migrant, forty-four, becoming radical on - account of work shortage, had some money. - - 94. Ex-soldier, twenty-seven, without funds but hopeful, - hustling worker. - - 96. Boy tramp, twenty, reformatory record, traveled much in - three years. - - 114. Brought cattle from Wyoming to Chicago, lost all with - women and drink, still happy. - - 134. _Study of Employment Agencies and Labor Placement - Problems_, E. H. Koster, August, 1922. - - 158. _The Unemployed and the Unemployable in Chicago_, - Rupert R. Lewis, December, 1917. - - 160. Statistics of the Chicago Free Employment offices for - the year ending September 30, 1922. - - -CHAPTER IX. HEALTH - - 106. Ex-soldier, released from army hospital, gets - compensation, drinks much. - - 107. Italian bricklayer, rheumatism, gets aid from union, - family in Italy, sons in war. - - 108. Mental case, talks to self, attracts much attention on - street, loud and vulgar. - - 117. Teamster, thirty-six, raised in slum, unemployable with - locomotor ataxia, peddles pencils. - - 121. Chicago boy, does not go home, needs medical attention - for feet and eyes, gambles. - - 122. Boy tramp, great wanderer, homosexual, intelligent, two - years on road. - - 139. Mortality statistics for Hobohemia for 1922, - non-resident cases. - - 147. Communication of Dr. Herman N. Bundesen, commissioner - of public health, concerning the health and medical care of - the homeless man in Chicago. - - -CHAPTER X. SEX LIFE - - 51. Middle-aged woman, character on West Madison Street, - feeds cats, scolds everyone. - - 52. Street faker, aspires to be actor, jail experience, - free-union experience. - - 53. Boy tramp, going West, travels without difficulty but is - often accosted by perverts. - - 54. Homosexual case, boy involved, man died in jail while - awaiting trial. - - 55. Bum who works on docks and boats, involved in boy case, - Bridewell for term. - - 81. Four boys in Grant Park, each with jail and tramp - experience. - - 82. Case of boy in teens, tramp, “flirting” with men in - Grant Park. - - 87. _Cases of Venereal Disease Due to Homosexual - Infection_, Dr. Ben L. Reitman. - - 110. Boy tramp, nineteen, exploited by perverts, decidedly - feeble-minded, on way home (Indiana). - - 120. Young man, twenty-two, well dressed, homosexual - prostitute, loafs in Grant Park. - - 125. Observations upon the unnatural attachments of some - homeless men and boys. - - 141. Wife deserter, left home to enable her to divorce him. - - 142. Statistics showing marital condition of homeless men. - - 153. _The Sexual Life of Habitual Wanderers_, J. L. - Handelman, August 22, 1919. - - -CHAPTER XI. CITIZENSHIP - - 56. Case of a transient voter showing difficulty hobo has of - voting. - - 57. Hobo’s affair with police in Kansas, hobo bitter against - police. - - 58. University of Iowa student and police, fair observer, - has been hobo, letter to writer. - - 59. Recital of hobo and private police in Ohio, narrator has - settled in Chicago. - - 80. Report of visit to police court, hobos tried at rate of - one a minute, August 28, 1922. - - 85. _Report of Two Weeks’ Commitment to the Cook County - Jail_, Nels Anderson, May, 1922. - - 149. Case of police persecution. - - 162. Newspaper clippings on the death of Martin Talbert in a - Florida convict camp. - - -CHAPTER XII. HOBOHEMIAN PERSONALITIES - - 22. Marxian socialist, soap-boxer, dogmatic and undiplomatic, - would educate “slaves.” - - 25. Dreamer, poet, migrant, critic, very changeable, good - family, single, ex-soldier. - - 75. Pamphlet on Mike Walsh published by himself, states his - policies and achievements. - - 126. Character sketch of J. E. How, “Millionaire Hobo,” - also correspondence with Nels Anderson. - - -CHAPTER XIII. THE INTELLECTUAL LIFE OF THE HOBO - - 23. Tries to write saleable songs and novels, sober but - gambles, single. - - 116. Leader in hobo organization, writes for _Hobo News_, - carries I.W.W. card. - - 119. Hobo philosopher, carries bundle, sells pamphlets about - self, sleeps in parks. - - 129. Thirty-one copies of the _Hobo News_ containing various - types of hobo literature. - - 150. Manuscript on “What the Hobo Reads,” Daniel Horsley. - - -CHAPTER XIV. HOBO SONGS AND BALLADS - - 130. Collection of hobo songs and poems made by Nels - Anderson, forty-one selections. - - -CHAPTER XV. THE SOAP BOX AND THE OPEN FORUM - - 21. Soap-boxer, scientific bent, takes self and message - seriously, calls it “education.” - - 24. Single-tax advocate, about fifty, living away from - family, sells Ford’s _Weekly_. - - 60. Notes on an afternoon’s series of talks on the soap box - on Madison Street. - - 138. Debate, “Hobo College” v. students from the University - of Chicago, “Kansas Industrial Courts,” April 12, 1923. - - 140. _Study of “Hobo College” in Chicago_, Charles W. Allen - (teacher at college), 1923. - - -CHAPTER XVI. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS - - 61. Co-operative movements among hobos, experiences of John - X. Kelly, now in Chicago. - - 74. Financial statement of the I.W.W., May and June, 1922. - - 84. Conversation with an I.W.W. who was once a steady - migratory worker, old soldier. - - -CHAPTER XVII. MISSIONS AND WELFARE AGENCIES - - 62. “Visit to Bible Rescue Mission,” Nels Anderson’s - experience, spring, 1922. - - 63. _Salvation Army Revival_, Sherman O. Cooper. - - 64. Case of “X” at the Bible Rescue Mission, bears public - testimony to former badness. - - 65. Ex-bum and wife deserter, graduate foreign university, - steady man now. - - 66. Mission worker, “saved” twenty years ago, was alcoholic - and a failure, in business now. - - 67. German, Madison Street bum, came into mission to get - warm, got religion, left old life. - - 68. Ex-drunkard, often thrown out of mission, finally got - converted and is a new man. - - 69. Young man, mission “stiff,” easily converted, became a - “backslider” next day. - - 71. Wife deserter, mission hanger-on, clean, erect, active - but avoids work. - - 99. Letter by Bill Quirke to _Hobo News_ on missions in Los - Angeles. He assails missions. - - 118. Ex-soldier in Legion headquarters, trying to get job - on strength of army experience. - - 143. _Study of Missions and Mission Characters_, L. G. - Brown, 1923. - - 156. _A Study of Missions_, H. D. Wolf, August, 1922. - - -APPENDIX A. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS - - 128. Unpublished materials by Nels Anderson, covering his - study of 400 tramps, 230 typewritten pages. - - 144. _Study of 110 Runaway Boys in Chicago Detention Home_, - F. C. Frey and B. W. Bridgman, 1922. - - 148. “Outline of Program for the Prevention and Treatment - of Vagrancy,” prepared by the Committee on Relief of the - Chicago Council of Social Agencies, and submitted to the - Executive Committee of the Council, June 13, 1918. - - 154. Responses to requests for information on the homeless - man problem from social agencies in the larger American - cities. - - - - -APPENDIX C - -BIBLIOGRAPHY - - -HISTORY AND SOCIOLOGY OF WANDERLUST AND VAGRANCY - - AYDELOTTE, FRANK, _Elizabethan Rogues and Vagabonds_ - (“Oxford Historical and Literary Studies”). Oxford: - Clarendon Press, 1913. Pp. 187. - - FLORIAN, EUGENIO, _I Vagabondi Studio - Sociologico-guiridico, Parte prima, L’Evoluzione del - Vagabondaggio_. Torino, 1897. Pp. 1-124. - - HUTTEN, JOHN CAMDEN, _The Book of Vagabonds and Beggars_. - Translated and printed in England by Hutton, 1860. - - JOFFROY AND DUPOUY, _Fugues et Vagabondage_. Paris: Alcan, - 1909. Pp. 368. - - MARIE, A. A., AND MEUNIER, R., _Les Vagabonds_. Paris: Giard - and Brière, 1908. Pp. 331. - - MARIET, “Le vagabondage constitutionnel des dégénéres” - (continued article), _Annales medicopsychologique_, 1911-12. - - MAYHEW, HENRY, _London Labour and the London Poor_. London: - Griffin, 1862. Pp. 504. - - PAGNIER, ARMAND, _Du Vagabondage et des Vagabonds, Étude - Psychologique, Sociologique et Medico-legale_. Lyons, - France: 1906. - - PARKER, CARLTON H., _The Casual Laborer_. New York: - Harcourt, Brace & Howe, 1920. Pp. 199. - - RIBTON-TURNER, CHARLES J., _A History of Vagrants and - Vagrancy and Beggars and Begging_. London: 1887. Pp. 720. - - SPEEK, PETER A., “The Psychology of the Floating Workers,” - _Annals of the Amer. Acad. of Pol. and Soc. Science_ - (Philadelphia), LXIX, 72-78. - - TANNENBAUM, FRANK, _The Labor Movement_. New York: Putnam, - 1921. Pp. 259. - - THANET, OCTAVE, “The Tramp in Four Centuries,” _Lippincotts_, - XXIII (May, 1879), 565. - - TUGWELL, REXFORD G., “The Gypsy Strain,” _Pacific Monthly - Review_, III, 177-96. - - WILMANNS, KARL, _Zur Psychopathologie des Landstreichers_. - Leipzig: Barth, 1906. Pp. 418. - - WILMANNS, KARL, “Psychoses among Tramps,” _Centralblatt für - Nervenheilkunde_, December, 1902. - - -THE LABOR MARKET AND INDUSTRIAL MOBILITY - - BAKER, OLIVER E., _Seed Time and Harvest_, _Bull. United - States Dept. of Agric., No. 183_, March, 1922. - - BRISSENDEN, PAUL F., “Measurement of Labor Mobility,” _Jour. - of Pol. Econ._, XXVIII (June, 1920), 441-76. - - BRISSENDEN, PAUL F., AND FRANKEL, EMIL, “Mobility of - Industrial Labor,” _Pol. Science Quar._, XXXV (December, - 1920), 566-600. - - DEVINE, EDWARD T., “The Shiftless and Floating City - Population,” _Annals of the American Academy of Soc. and - Pol. Science_, X (September, 1897), 149-64. - - FRY, LUTHER C., “Migratory Workers of Our Industries,” - _World’s Work_, XL (October, 1920), 600. - - Immigration Commission, Reports of, _The Floating Immigrant - Labor Supply_ (_Immigrants in Industry_), 25 parts, XVIII, - 331-525. Senate Reports, Washington, 1911. - - LESCOHIER, DON D., _The Harvest Worker_, _Bull. United - States Dept. of Labor, No. 1020_, April, 1922. - - LESCOHIER, DON D., _The Labor Market_. New York: Macmillan, - 1919. Pp. 338. - - SLICHTER, SAMUEL H., _Turnover of Factory Labor_. New York: - Appleton, 1919. Pp. 460. - - -THE PROBLEM OF UNEMPLOYMENT AND VAGRANCY - - BEVERIDGE, W. H., _Unemployment: A Problem of Industry_. - London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1909. Pp. 317. - - BLISS, W. D. P., _What Is Done for the Unemployed in - European Countries_. _United States Labor Bull. No. 76_ - (1908), pp. 741-934. - - BOOTH, WILLIAM, _The Vagrant and the Unemployable_. London: - 1909. Pp. 79. - - DAWSON, W. H., _The Vagrancy Problem_. London: P. S. King & - Son, 1910. Pp. 270. - - HUNTER, ROBERT, _Property_. New York: Macmillan, 1912. Pp. - 380. - - KELLY, EDMOND, _The Elimination of the Tramp_. New York: - Putnam & Sons, 1908. Pp. 111. - - Laws of Various States Relating to Vagrancy. - - LAUBACH, FRANK C., _Why There Are Vagrants_. New York: - University of Columbia Press, 1916. Pp. 128. - - LEWIS, BURDETTE G., _The Offender, and His Relations to Law - and Society_. New York: Harper, 1921. Pp. 380. - - LEWIS, O. F., “Vagrancy in the United States,” _Proceedings - of the National Conference of Charities and Corrections_ - (1907), pp. 52-70. - - MARSH, BENJAMIN C., “Causes of Vagrancy and Methods of - Eradication,” _Annals of the Amer. Acad. of Pol. and Soc. - Science_, Vol. XXIII, No. 3, pp. 445-56. Philadelphia: 1904. - - Massachusetts Association of Relief Officers, _Report on - Best Methods of Dealing with Tramps and Wayfarers_, 1901. - - “The Men We Lodge,” _Report of the Advisory Social Service - Committee of the Municipal Lodging House_. New York City: - Dept, of Public Charities, 1915. Pp. 42. - - NICHOLS, MALCOLM, “National Aspects of the Transient - Problem,” _The Family_, III (June, 1922), 89-91. - - OSTWALD, HANS OTTO, _Die Bekämpfung der Landstreicherei_. - Stuttgart: R. Lutz, 1903. Pp. 278. - - _Report of the Commissioner of Public Affairs._ Portland, - Ore.: Wood Yard, 1915. - - _Report of the Mayors Committee on Unemployment._ New York - City: 1917. Pp. 132. - - WOLFE, ALBERT B., _The Lodging Problem in Boston_. Boston: - Houghton Mifflin, 1906. Pp. 200. - - -THE I.W.W. AND THE CASUAL LABORER - - BROOKS, JOHN GRAHAM, _American Syndicalism_. New York: - Macmillan, 1913. Pp. 264. - - BRISSENDEN, PAUL F., _The I.W.W.: A Study of American - Syndicalism_. New York: University of Columbia, 1920. Pp. - 438. - - HOXIE, R. F., “The Truth about the I.W.W.,” _Jour. of Pol. - Econ._, XXI (November, 1913), 785-97. - - _I.W.W. Song Book._ Chicago: The Equity Press, 1922. - - _Preamble and Constitution of the I.W.W._ Chicago: General - I.W.W. Headquarters, 1921. Pp. 69. - - ST. JOHN, VINCENT, _The I.W.W., Its History, Structure and - Methods_. Chicago: The Equity Press. - - TRIDON, ANDRÉ, _The New Unionism_. New York: Huebsch, 1913. - Pp. 198. - - -MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF THE HOBO AND THE TRAMP - - BROWN, EDWIN A., _“Broke,” the Man without a Dime_. Chicago: - Brown & Howell, 1913. Pp. 370. - - DAVIES, WILLIAM H., _Autobiography of a Super-Tramp_. New - York: A. A. Knopf, 1917. Pp. 345. - - ELLIS, HAVELOCK, _Studies in the Psychology of Sex: Sex - Inversion_. II, 391. Philadelphia: Davis, 1915. - - FORBES, JAMES, “Jockers and the Schools They Keep,” - _Charities Survey_, XI (1903), 432. - - FLYNT (WILLARD), JOSIAH, _My Life_. New York: Outing - Publishing Co., 1908. - - FLYNT (WILLARD), JOSIAH, _Tramping with Tramps_. New York: - Century, 1899. Pp. 398. - - HOWARD, OLIVER OTIS (Maj. Gen., U.S. Army), “The Menace of - Coxyism,” _North Amer. Rev._, CLVIII (1894), 687-96. - - KEMP, HARRY, _The Cry of Youth_. New York: Mitchell, - Kennerley, 1914. Pp. 140. - - KEMP, HARRY, _Tramping on Life_. New York: Boni & - Liveright, 1922. Pp. 438. - - KNIBBS, H. H., _Songs of the Outlands_. New York: Houghton, - Mifflin Co., 1914. Pp. 73. - - LINDSAY, VACHEL, _Handy Book for Beggars_. New York: - Macmillan, 1916. Pp. 205. - - LONDON, JACK, _The Road_. New York: Macmillan, 1907. Pp. - 224. - - LONDON, JACK, _War on the Classes_. New York: Macmillan, - 1905. Pp. 278. - - MCCOOK, J. J., “A Census of Tramps and Its Revelations,” - _Forum_, XV, 753. - - MCGREGOR, TRACY W., _Twenty Thousand Men_. Detroit: - McGregor Institute, 1922. Pp. 29. - - MULLIN, GLEN, “Adventures of a Scholar Tramp,” _Century - Magazine_, Vol. CV (February and March). - - SERVICE, ROBERT W., _The Spell of the Yukons_. New York: - Barse & Hopkins, 1907. Pp. 99. - - WYCKOFF, W. A., _The Workers: The East_. New York: - Scribners, 1897. Pp. 270. - - WYCKOFF, W. A., _The Workers: The West_. New York: - Scribners, 1898. Pp. 380. - - -STUDIES OF THE HOMELESS MAN IN CHICAGO - - ANDERSON, NELS, “Cases Studies of Homeless Men in Chicago” - (typewritten manuscript in office of Chicago Council of - Social Agencies and Department of Sociology, University of - Chicago). - - ANDERSON, NELS, “The Juvenile and the Tramp,” _Journal of - Criminal Law and Criminology_, Vol. XIV (1923-24). - - “The Chicago Municipal Lodging House for Men,” in the - _Report and Handbook of the Department of Health of the - City of Chicago_ (1911-18), pp. 1076-81. - - “Fifty Cheap Lodging Houses,” _First Semi-Annual Report of - the Department of Public Welfare of Chicago_ (March, 1915), - pp. 66-73. - - FOLEY, R. W., “The Shifting Population of Homeless Men - and the Cheap Lodging House” (typewritten manuscript of - twenty-nine pages in Department of Sociology, University of - Chicago). - - _Report to the Mayor and Alderman by the Chicago Municipal - Markets Commission on a Practical Program for Relieving - Destitution and Unemployment in the City of Chicago_, - December 28, 1914. - - ROBINS, RAYMOND, “What Constitutes a Model Municipal - Lodging House,” _Proceedings of the National Conference of - Charities and Correction_ (1904), pp. 155-66. - - SOLENBERGER, ALICE W., _One Thousand Homeless Men_. New - York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1911. Pp. 374. - - STEAD, WILLIAM T., _If Christ Should Come to Chicago_[74] - Chicago: Laird & Lee, 1894. Pp. 463. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[74] The first chapter describes the homeless-man areas of 1893. - - - - -INDEX - - - - -INDEX - - - “A No. 1,” 100 - - Adler, Herman M., 73 - - Agencies, conflicting policies of, 15 - - Alcoholism, 66, 67, 134-35 - - American Express, 166 - - American Legion, 260 - - Ashleigh, Charles, 205 - - Association of hobo with women, 138 - - Associations: I.B.W.A., 230, 235-40; - I.W.W., 230-35; - J.P.A., ix; - M.W.U., 230 - - Atkins, Brigadier J. E., 171, 180-81 - - Attitude of perverts, 148 - - - Ball, Charles B., 260 - - Ballot, hobo regard for, 153 - - Barber colleges, 37-38 - - Barrel-house, 27 - - Begging, 47, 49, 50 - - Bills of fare on “stem,” 34 - - Bloch, Iwan, 144 - - Boarding companies, 130-31 - - Bookstore, 38 - - Borrowing, 49 - - Boy tramp, and perversion, 145; - and wanderlust, 83 - - Boyd, Charles J., 120 - - Boys and tramp life, 85 - - Bread lines, 258 - - Brennan, Pat, 208 - - “Bughouse Square,” 9-10 - - Bum, the, 98 - - - “Carrying the banner,” 53 - - Catholic charities, 259 - - Christian Industrial League, 27-28, 260 - - Chicago, a winter shelter, 12-13 - - Chicago labor exchange, 12, 110 - - Chicago plan for homeless men, 271-79 - - Chicago Urban League, 259 - - Civil authorities and tramp, 163-64 - - Clearing house for homeless men, 122, 136 - - Clothing stores, 35-36 - - “Coffee-an’” level, 40 - - Cooking in jungles, 22-23 - - College,” “Hobo, 172, 173, 174, 175, 177, 227, 237 - - Construction work, 107 - - Court experience of hobo, 165-66 - - Criminal, hobos not, 164-65 - - Crises in life of person, 77-79 - - Crop moving, 107 - - Cubicles or “cages,” 30 - - - Dawes, General C. G., 28 - - Day in the jungles, 21-25 - - Dragstedt, A. W., 25 n., 171, 177-78, 212 - - Drug addicts, 67-68; - not hobos, 69 - - - Educating the proletariat, 219 - - Egocentricity, 74-76 - - Ellis, Havelock, 144 - - Employment agencies, comparison of, 115-17; - private, 111-12; - public, 114-16 - - Employment service, need of, 122 - - Evangelists and soap-boxers, 217 - - - Faking, street, 43 - - Farmer-Labor Party, 152 - - Flops, co-operative, 238-39 - - Flynt, Josiah, 94, 146 - - Fortune-tellers, 39 - - “Free-lance” speakers, 216, 218 - - Free-union marriages, 141-42 - - - “Getting by,” a game, 57; - meaning of, 40-41 - - Giovannitti, Arturo, 201 - - Grafts, old and new, 44 - - Grant Park, in summer, 11 - - Greenstein, “Mother” 139, 171, 183-84 - - - Handicapped men, 125-28 - - Harvey-Dammarell hotels, 28-29 - - Harvey-McGuire hotels, 28 - - “Hat trick,” the, 45-46 - - Hazards of casual work, 129 - - Health Department, 131, 132, 133 - - Healy, William, 70 - - Hill, Joe, 208, 209 - - Hobo, definition of, 87-89; - and drink, 135; - and exposure, 136; - health in town, 131-33; - hostility to in small town, 26; - names for, 93; - nativity of, 150-51; - origin of, 88; - pioneer, and frontiersman, 92; - poor beggar, 49; - and religion, 262; - status of, 167; - voting, 151-52; - what he reads, 187-89; - worker, 91 - - Hobohemia, defined, 3 - - “Hogan’s Flop,” 31-33 - - Home, why men leave, 61 ff. - - Home guard, 96-97; - types of, 100-101 - - Homeless men, and the law, 154; - mostly unmarried, 137 - - Horsley, Dan, 171, 175-77 - - Housing problem, 39 - - How, James Eads, 88, 172, 174, 175, 239 - - - I.B.W.A., 230, 235-40; - Holding Committee, 237-38; - origin of, 235-36; - program of, 236-37 - - Industrial attractions, 62; - fishing, 107; - ice harvesting, 108; - lumbering, 108; - sheep-shearing, 107-8 - - Industrially inadequate, 65 - - Industry, changes in, 62-63; - hazards of, 65-66 - - I.W.W., 230-35; - literature list, 187-88; - methods and appeal, 232-34; - origin of, 230; - periodicals, 191; - program, 231; - treatment in Chicago, 235; - treatment by Ku Klux Klan, 191 - - - “Jack rolling,” 5, 51-52 - - Jewish Social Service Bureau, 259 - - Job hunting, 109 - - Jobs sold, estimate of, 111 - - Jockers, 103 - - Johnson, Glenn R., 72 - - Jungle, buzzard, 103; - a day in, 21-25; - democracy in, 19; - laws of, 20-21; - location and types of, 16-17; - on lake front, 10; - trial in, 24-25; - womanless, 18 - - Juvenile Protective Association, ix - - - Kelihor, T. T., 160 - - Kelly, John X., 171, 173-74, 242, 243-46 - - Kemp, Harry, 196, 199 - - “Killing time,” 215-16 - - Klein, Nicholas, 88 - - Knibbs, H. H., 198 - - - Lady barbers, 38 - - Langsman, Charles W., 171, 178-79 - - Laubach, F. C., 126 - - Leadership in Hobohemia, 184 - - Lescohier, Don D., 119 - - Library privileges, 185 - - Life, loss of, 161-62 - - Light work, 129 - - Living, cheap in city, 13 - - Lodging-houses, municipal, 127, 134, 260-61; - quasi-charitable, 27-28; - sanitary conditions of, 131-32; - types of, 27 - - - Medical attention, free, 13; - on the job, 130 - - Melis, Lewis, 206 - - Mental tests, 71-73 - - Migratory Workers’ Union, 230, 240-41; - aims and objects, 241, 247 - - Miller, H. A., 82 n. - - Missions, 250-58; - converts of, 253-54; - competition between, 250; - migratory national, 252; - permanent local, 251; - soliciting funds, 252; - “wild cat,” 253 - - Mission stiffs, 98, 103 - - Mobility, complicates problem, 15; - effects of, 120, 248-49; - of handicapped men, 128 - - “Mooching,” 50 - - Movies and burlesque, 37 - - Mullenbach, James, 260 - - Municipal Lodging House (Chicago), 260-61; - (New York), 127, 134 - - Mushfaker, 99 - - Myers, Dr. Johnston, 171, 181-83 - - - National program, 270 - - Negro hobos, 8 - - New York Central Railroad, 166 - - _News, Hobo_, 177, 185, 186, 187, 192 - - - Odd jobs, in city, 41 - - Old men, 69 - - “One Big Union,” 231 - - Open forums, 226-28 - - Organizations among hobos, 230; - failure of, 247-49 - - - “Panhandling,” 50 - - Park, R. E., 82 n. - - Partnerships among hobos, 147 - - Passing the hat, 223 - - Patriotism, 151 - - Pawn shops, 36 - - Peddling on street, 42 - - Personal degradation, 57, 65 - - Personality, defects of, 72-76 - - Perversion among tramps, 144-47 - - Pintner and Toops, 71, 72 n. - - Poems and ballads, 194-214; - “Away from Town,” 199-200; - “Beaten Men,” 205; - Bum,” “The, 201-2; - Bum on the Rods and the Bum on the Plush,” “The, 202; - Dishwasher,” “The, 201-2; - Gila Monster Route,” “The, 194-96; - “Harvest War Song,” 208; - Hobo Knows,” “The, 203; - Hobo’s Last Lament,” “The, 212; - “Men That Don’t Fit In,” 204; - “No Matter Where You Go,” 213-14; - “Nothing to Do But Go,” 198-99; - “One Day; Some Way,” 205; - “Optimism,” 213; - “Portland County Jail,” 211; - Preacher and the Slave,” “The, 210; - Slave Market,” “The, 206-7; - Tramp,” “The, 209; - Tramp Confession,” “The, 196-98; - Wanderer,” “The, 206 - - Police, encounters with hobos, 156-58; - methods of, 155, 160, 164; - private, 155; - types of, 154-55 - - Poorhouse, aversion of hobo to, 56; - - Population, turnover in Hobohemia, 13-14 - - Program for future action, 279 - - “Proletariat,” 176 - - Property, destruction of, 161 - - Prostitutes, “second raters,” 143 - - Prostitution, 142-43 - - Punk, 99, 103 - - - Queen, Stuart A., 26 n. - - - Racial discrimination, 81 - - Radical press, 186 - - Raid on jungles, 23-24 - - Railroad yards, 8 - - Reitman, Ben L., 87, 102, 134 n., 143, 171, 172-73 - - Religion, practical, 182; - and love, 179; - and work, 180 - - Restaurants and lunchrooms, 33-35; - sanitary conditions of, 35 - - Robins, Raymond, 260 - - Rountree, B. Seebohm, 64 n. - - - Sabotage, 121 - - Saloons, 38-39 - - Salvation Army, 27-28, 250, 260 - - Scissor Bill, 99 - - Seasonal fluctuations, 63 - - Seasonal workers, 89-90 - - Second-hand clothing, 35-36 - - Service, Robert W., 203 - - Sex isolation of hobo, 144, 149 - - Seymour, James, 200 - - Short jobs, 118-19 - - Sickness and disease, 133 - - Soap-boxers, ethics and tactics of, 222-24; - and opinion, 228-29; - his rôle on stand, 229; - versatility of, 224-26 - - Social center for hobos, 11; - in the jungles, 16, 26 - - Solenberger, Alice W., 9 n., 71, 87, 125-26 - - _Solidarity_, the _Industrial_, 190-91 - - State farm colony, 277 - - Stealing, petty, 51 - - Street speaking, 216-20; - lectures, 220 - - Strike jobs, 120-21 - - Summary and findings, 265-79 - - - Terman, L. M., 71 n. - - Testimonies of converts, 256 - - Thornburn, Charles, 205 - - Tramp, the, 93-95 - - Tramping, a man’s game, 137 - - Tucker, St. John, 87 - - Tugwell, Rexford, 82 - - Types, rendezvous of, 5, 7, 9; - of homeless men, 105; - numbers of each in Chicago, 105-6; - of peddlers, 42-43 - - - Unemployables, 104 - - Unemployment, 64-65 - - United Charities, 259 - - - Vagrancy, explanation of, 85-86; - in small towns, 163 - - Van de Water, John, 171, 179-80 - - Vaudeville, 37 - - Venereal disease, 133-34 - - - Walsh, Michael C., 171, 174-75, 242 - - Wanderlust, 82-83 - - Welfare organizations, 259-60 - - Westbrook, Warden Wesley, 165 - - White, Henry A., 203 - - Winter, “getting by” in, 52-53 - - Women and homeless men, 138-42 - - Work, a national problem, 121-22 - - “Working the folks,” 46-47 - - Writings of hobos, 188-90 - - - Younger hobos, 140-41 - - -PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. - - - - -=TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE= - - - Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. - - Bold text is denoted by =equal signs=. - - Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been - corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within - the text and consultation of external sources. - - Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the - text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. - - Some hyphens in words have been silently removed, some added, when - a predominant preference was found in the original book. - - Pg 20: ‘jungles; “buzzing,” or’ replaced by ‘jungles; (3) “buzzing” - or’. - - Pg 101: ‘carried bedding’ replaced by ‘Carried bedding’. - - Pg 130: ‘are often let to’ replaced by ‘are often left to’. - - Pg 134: ‘of veneral infection’ replaced by ‘of venereal infection’. - - Pg 143: ‘have become adepts in’ replaced by ‘have become adept in’. - - Pg 150: ‘and its mores.’ replaced by ‘and its mores?’. - - Pg 156: ‘can’t get someting’ replaced by ‘can’t get something’. - - Pg 216: ‘It oftens takes’ replaced by ‘It often takes’. - - Pg 224: ‘tricks of holding’ replaced by ‘tricks for holding’. - - Pg 282: ‘Family send him money’ replaced by ‘Family sends him - money’. - - Pg 287: ‘carrys bundle’ replaced by ‘carries bundle’. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOBO *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} -.poetry .stanza {margin: 1em 0 0 0;} -.poetry .verse {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em;} -.poetry { - display: inline-block; - font-size: 80% - } - -.x-ebookmaker .poetry {display: block;} - -/* Poetry indents */ -.poetry .indent0 {text-indent: 0em;} -.poetry .indent2 {text-indent: 2em;} -.poetry .indent6 {text-indent: 6em;} -.poetry .indent7 {text-indent: 7em;} -.poetry .indent8 {text-indent: 8em;} -.poetry .indent9 {text-indent: 9em;} -.poetry .indent11 {text-indent: 11em;} - -.transnote { - background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; -} - -.illowe5 {width: 5em;} -.illowp70 {width: 70%;} - - </style> - </head> -<body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Hobo, by Nels Anderson</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Hobo</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>The Sociology of the Homeless Man</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Nels Anderson</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: February 1, 2022 [eBook #67300]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: hekula03, Tim Lindell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOBO ***</div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="transnote"> -<p><b>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE</b></p> - -<p>The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p> - -<p>Footnotes have been placed at the end of their respective chapters.</p> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="figcenter illowp70" id="cover" style="max-width: 30em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="original cover" /> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<h1 class="p4">THE HOBO</h1> -<p class="p2 center fs100">THE SOCIOLOGY OF THE HOMELESS MAN</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p class="p4 center">THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS</p> - -<p class="center fs60">THE BAKER AND TAYLOR COMPANY, NEW YORK</p> -<p class="center fs60 padr75">THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, LONDON</p> -<p class="center fs60 padr2">THE MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA, TOKYO</p> -<p class="center fs60 padr3">THE MISSION BOOK COMPANY, SHANGHAI</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p class="p4 center fs300 wsp lsp2">THE HOBO</p> -<p class="p2 center fs120">THE SOCIOLOGY OF THE<br />HOMELESS MAN</p> - -<p class="p2 center fs120 lsp"><span class="smcap">By</span> NELS ANDERSON</p> - -<p class="p4 p4b center fs70">A STUDY PREPARED FOR THE CHICAGO<br /> -COUNCIL OF SOCIAL AGENCIES UNDER<br /> -THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE<br /> -ON HOMELESS MEN</p> - - -<div class="figcenter illowe5" id="colophon" style="max-width: 30em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/colophon.jpg" alt="" /> -</div> - - -<p class="p4 center fs80">THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS<br /> -CHICAGO · ILLINOIS</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p class="p4 center fs60">COPYRIGHT 1923 BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO</p> -<p class="center fs60 padr13">ALL RIGHTS RESERVED</p> -<p class="center fs60 padr1375">PUBLISHED MAY 1923</p> - - -<p class="p4 center fs60 padr10">COMPOSED AND PRINTED BY</p> -<p class="center fs60 padr650">THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS</p> -<p class="center fs60 padr11">CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_v"></a>[v]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak left" id="EDITORS_PREFACE">EDITOR’S PREFACE</h2> - - -<p class="drop-capy">The present volume is intended to be the first of -a series of studies of the urban community and -of city life. The old familiar problems of our communal -and social life—poverty, crime, and vice—assume -new and strange forms under the conditions -of modern urban existence. Inherited custom, tradition, -all our ancient social and political heritages—human -nature itself—have changed and are changing -under the influence of the modern urban environment.</p> - -<p>The man whose restless disposition made him a -pioneer on the frontier tends to become a “homeless -man”—a hobo and a vagrant—in the modern city. -From the point of view of their biological predispositions, -the pioneer and the hobo are perhaps the -same temperamental type; from the point of view of -their socially acquired traits, they are something -quite different.</p> - -<p>The city, more than any other product of man’s -genius and labors, represents the effort of mankind to -remake the world in accordance with its wishes, but -the city, once made, compels man to conform to the -structure and the purposes he himself has imposed -upon it. If it is true that man made the city, -it is quite as true that the city is now making -man. That is certainly a part of what we mean -when we speak of the “urban” as contrasted with -the “rural” mind. In any case, it is true that within -the circle of these two tendencies, man’s disposition,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_vi"></a>[vi]</span> -on the one hand, to create a world in which he can -live, and, on the other, to adapt himself to the world -which he himself has created, all, or most all of the -problems and the processes are included with which -the student of society is positively concerned. These -processes go on, and these problems arise everywhere -that men, coming together in order to live, find themselves -compelled to carry on a common and communal -life. In cities, however, and particularly in -great cities, where social life is more intense than -elsewhere, the processes produce new and strange -effects, and the problems are more poignant and -pressing.</p> - -<p>A changing population of from 30,000 to 75,000 -homeless men in Chicago, living together within the -area of thirty or forty city blocks, has created a -milieu in which new and unusual personal types -flourish and new and unsuspected problems have -arisen.</p> - -<p>If the city were to be identified, as it sometimes -has been, with its mere physical structure, its buildings, -streets, street railways, telephones, and other -communal efficiencies; if the city were, in fact, a -mere complex of mechanical and administrative -devices for realizing certain clearly defined purposes, -the problem of the city would be one of -engineering and of administration merely. But this -takes no account of human nature; it takes no -account of what we have come to refer to in industry -as the “problem of personnel.” At least it seems -to assume that the individual men and women for -whom these organized agencies—economic, social, -and political—exist, and by whom they are conducted, -remain, in all their varied associations and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_vii"></a>[vii]</span> -relations, practically the same. Recent observation, -on the other hand, has led to the conclusion -that human nature, as we ordinarily understand it, -while it is based on certain fundamental but not -clearly definable human traits and predispositions, -is very largely a product of the environment, and -particularly the human environment in which the -individual happens to find himself. That means -that every community, through the very character of -the environment which it imposes upon the individuals -that compose it, tends to determine the personal -traits as it does determine the language, the vocation, -social values, and, eventually, the personal opinions, -of the individuals who compose it.</p> - -<p>It is the purpose of this and the succeeding studies -in this series to describe the changes that are taking -place in the life of the city and its peoples, and to -investigate the city’s problems in the light of these -changes, and conditions of life generally of urban -people. For this reason, this study of the “homeless -man” has sought to see him, first of all, in his own -habitat; in the social milieu which he has created -for himself within the limits of the larger community -by which he is surrounded, but from which -he is, in large part, an outcast.</p> - -<p>It is interesting to notice that within the area of -his own social environment, the hobo has created, or -at least there has grown up in response to his needs, a -distinct and relatively independent local community, -with its own economic, social, and social-political -institutions.</p> - -<p>It is assumed that the study here made of the -“Hobohemia” of Chicago, as well as the studies that -are being planned for other areas and aspects of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_viii"></a>[viii]</span> -the city and its life, will at least be comparable with -the natural areas and the problematic aspects of -other American cities. It is, in fact, the purpose of -these studies to emphasize not so much the particular -and local as the generic and universal aspects -of the city and its life, and so make these studies not -merely a contribution to our information but to our -permanent scientific knowledge of the city as a -communal type.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="padr2 smcap">Robert E. Park</span></p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_ix"></a>[ix]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak left" id="COMMITTEES_PREFACE">COMMITTEE’S PREFACE</h2> - - -<p class="drop-capy">The Committee on Homeless Men was organized -by the Executive Committee of the Chicago -Council of Social Agencies on June 16, 1922, to study -the problem of the migratory casual worker. Its -members included men and women in contact with -the problem of homeless men from different points of -view.</p> - -<p>Mr. Nels Anderson, a graduate student in sociology -in the University of Chicago, was selected -to make the study. Mr. Anderson was already -thoroughly familiar with the life of the migratory -casual worker. He had shared their experiences -“on the road” and at work, and had visited the -Hobohemian areas of many of the large western -cities. In the summer of 1921, he made a study of -400 migrants. Early in 1922, through the generous -assistance and encouragement of Dr. William A. -Evans, Dr. Ben L. Reitman, and Joel D. Hunter, he -began a study of homeless men in Chicago, in connection -with a field-study course at the University of -Chicago.</p> - -<p>The assumption of this study by the Chicago -Council of Social Agencies, in co-operation with -the Juvenile Protective Association, enabled an -enlargement of its scope.<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> - -<p>The object of this inquiry, from the standpoint of -the Committee, was to secure those facts which -would enable social agencies to deal intelligently with -the problems created by the continuous ebb and flow,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_x"></a>[x]</span> -out of and into Chicago, of tens of thousands of -foot-loose and homeless men. Only through an -understanding both of the human nature of the -migratory casual worker, and of the economic and -social forces which have shaped his personality, could -there be devised any fundamental program for social -agencies interested in his welfare.</p> - -<p>Earlier studies of the migratory casual workers in -the United States have been limited almost entirely -to statistical investigation. In the present inquiry -a more intensive study of cases was decided upon in -preference to an extensive statistical survey. For -the past twelve months Mr. Anderson lived in Hobohemia, -and in a natural and informal way secured -upward of sixty life-histories, and collected, in addition, -a mass of documents and other materials which -are listed in Appendix B. Mr. Anderson has had, -in certain parts of the field work, the assistance of -C. W. Allen, L. G. Brown, G. F. Davis, B. W. Bridgman, -F. C. Frey, E. H. Koster, G. S. Sobel, H. D. -Wolf, and R. N. Wood, students in sociology at the -University of Chicago, and has utilized the results -of past studies of this subject by students in the -department.</p> - -<p>The Committee on Homeless Men held many -meetings which were devoted to outlining the plan -of investigation, to reports upon the progress of field -work, and to the drafting of the findings and recommendations -which appear as Appendix A.</p> - -<p>The Committee and the author are indebted to -the social agencies and to the many persons who -co-operated in furnishing data for this investigation. -They desire also to express their appreciation to -Professor Robert E. Park for the inclusion of this<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xi"></a>[xi]</span> -volume as the first of a series of studies on the urban -community of which he is editor, and for his services -in the preparation of the manuscript for publication.</p> - - -<div class="box"> -<span class="smcap">Ernest W. Burgess</span>, <em>Chairman</em> -<p>University of Chicago</p> - -<span class="smcap">Wilfred S. Reynolds</span>, <em>Secretary</em> -<p>Director, Chicago Council of Social Agencies</p> - -<span class="smcap">Brigadier John E. Atkins</span> -<p>Salvation Army, Workingman’s Palace</p> - -<span class="smcap">Miss Jessie Binford</span> -<p>Juvenile Protective Association</p> - -<span class="smcap">Mrs. Joseph T. Bowen</span><br /> -<p>Juvenile Protective Association</p> - -<span class="smcap">Frederick S. Deibler</span><br /> -<p>Advisory Board, Illinois Free Employment Service</p> - -<span class="smcap">T. Arnold Hill</span><br /> -<p>Chicago Urban League</p> - -<span class="smcap">Joel D. Hunter</span><br /> -<p>United Charities of Chicago</p> - -<span class="smcap">M. J. Karpf</span><br /> -<p>Jewish Social Service Bureau</p> - -<span class="smcap">George B. Kilbey</span><br /> -<p>Chicago Christian Industrial League</p> - -<span class="smcap">Rev. Moses E. Kiley</span><br /> -<p>Central Charity Bureau</p> - -<span class="smcap">Brigadier David Miller</span><br /> -<p>Salvation Army</p> - -<span class="smcap">Dr. Ben L. Reitman</span><br /> -<p>Chicago Department of Health</p> - -<span class="smcap">Willoughby G. Walling</span><br /> -<p>President, Chicago Council of Social Agencies</p> -</div> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> A part of the investigation relating to the effects upon the boy of association -with tramps, especially made for the Juvenile Protective Association, is not -included in this report, but will appear in an early number of the <cite>Journal -of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology</cite>.</p> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xiii"></a>[xii-xiii]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak left pad35p" id="TABLE_OF_CONTENTS">TABLE OF CONTENTS</h2> - - -<table class="autotable" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh fs100" colspan="2">PART I. HOBOHEMIA, THE HOME OF THE HOMELESS MAN</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr fs70">PAGE</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">List of Illustrations</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_xv">xv</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh fs70 pad2">CHAPTER</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh pad3"> I. <span class="smcap">Hobohemia Defined</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh pad3"> II. <span class="smcap">The Jungles: The Homeless Man Abroad</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh pad3">III. <span class="smcap">The Lodging-House: The Homeless Man at Home</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh pad3">IV. <span class="smcap">“Getting By” in Hobohemia</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh fs100" colspan="2">PART II. TYPES OF HOBOS</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh fs70 pad2">CHAPTER</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh pad3"> V. <span class="smcap">Why Do Men Leave Home?</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh pad3"> VI. <span class="smcap">The Hobo and the Tramp</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_87">87</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh pad3"> VII. <span class="smcap">The Home Guard and the Bum</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh pad3">VIII. <span class="smcap">Work</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh fs100 p1" colspan="2">PART III. THE HOBO PROBLEM</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh fs70 pad2">CHAPTER</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh pad3">IX. <span class="smcap">Health</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh pad3"> X. <span class="smcap">Sex Life of the Homeless Man</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh pad3"> XI. <span class="smcap">The Hobo as a Citizen</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_150">150</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh fs100" colspan="2">PART IV. HOW THE HOBO MEETS HIS PROBLEM</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh fs70 pad2">CHAPTER</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh pad3"> XII. <span class="smcap">Personalities of Hobohemia</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_171">171</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh pad3"> XIII. <span class="smcap">The Intellectual Life of the Hobo</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh pad3"> XIV. <span class="smcap">Hobo Songs and Ballads</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_194">194</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh pad3"> XV. <span class="smcap">The Soap Box and the Open Forum</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_215">215</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh pad3"> XVI. <span class="smcap">Social and Political Hobo Organization</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_230">230</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh pad3">XVII. <span class="smcap">Missions and Welfare Organizations</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_250">250</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl fs100" colspan="2">APPENDIXES</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh">A. <span class="smcap">Summary of Findings and Recommendations</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_265">265</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh">B. <span class="smcap">Documents and Materials</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_281">281</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh">C. <span class="smcap">Bibliography</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_291">291</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"> </td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">Index</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_299">299</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xv"></a>[xiv-xv]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak left pad37p" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> - - -<table class="autotable" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"></td> -<td class="tdr fs70">FACING<br />PAGE</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">A Jungle Camp</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_11">10</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">Summer Resorting behind Field Museum, Chicago</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_11">10</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">A Dining-Room on the “Main Stem”</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">Employment Bureaus</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">Leaders in the Educational Movement</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_89">88</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">A Popular Resort in Hobohemia</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_89">88</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">Dr. Ben L. Reitman</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_173">172</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">Members of the Jefferson Park Intelligentsia</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_186">186</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">The Hobo Reads Progressive Literature</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_186">186</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">The Soap-Box Orator—The Economic Argument</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_217">216</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">An Outdoor Mission Meeting—The Religious Plea</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_217">216</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">James Eads How</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_237">236</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">A Free Lunch at a Mission</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_258">258</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">A Winter’s Night in a Mission</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_258">258</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_1"></a>[xvi-1]</span></p> - -<h2>PART I</h2> - -<p class="center p1 fs150">HOBOHEMIA, THE HOME OF THE HOMELESS MAN</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3"></a>[2-3]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak left" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I<br /> -<span class="fs80 left">HOBOHEMIA DEFINED</span></h2> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>All that Broadway is to the actors of America, West Madison -is to its habitués—and more. Every institution of the Rialto is -paralleled by one in West Madison. West Madison Street is -the Rialto of the hobo.</p> - -<p>The hobos, themselves, do not think of Madison Street as -the Rialto; they call it “The Main Stem,” a term borrowed -from tramp jargon, and meaning the main street of the town. -“The Main Stem” is a more fitting term, perhaps, than the -Rialto, but still inadequate. West Madison Street is more than -a mere Rialto, more than the principal hobo thoroughfare of -Chicago. It is the Pennsylvania Avenue, the Wilhelmstrasse -of the anarchy of Hobohemia.—From an unpublished paper on -the hobo, by Harry M. Beardsley, of the <cite>Chicago Daily News</cite>, -March 20, 1917.</p> -</div> - - -<p class="drop-capy">A survey of the lodging-house and hotel population, -supplemented by the census reports of the -areas in which they live, indicates that the number of -homeless men in Chicago ranges from 30,000 in good -times to 75,000 in hard times.</p> - -<p>We may say that approximately one-third of -these are permanent residents of the city. The other -two-thirds are here today and gone tomorrow. When -work is plentiful they seldom linger in the city more -than a week at a time. In winter when jobs are -scarce, and it takes courage to face the inclement -weather, the visits to town lengthen to three weeks -and a month. From 300,000 to 500,000 of these -migratory men pass through the city during the -course of a normal year.</p> - -<p>A still larger number are wanderers who have -spent their days and their strength on the “long, -gray road” and have fled to this haven for succor. -They are Chicago’s portion of the down-and-outs.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4"></a>[4]</span></p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>An investigation of 1,000 dependent, homeless men made in -Chicago in 1911 indicated that 254, or more than one-fourth of -the 1,000 examined, were either temporarily crippled or maimed. -Some 89 of this 1,000, or 9 per cent, were manifestly either insane, -feeble-minded, or epileptic. This did not include those large -numbers of border-line cases in which vice or an overwhelming -desire to wander had assumed the character of a mania.</p> - -<p>Homeless men are largely single men. Something like -75 per cent of the cases examined were single, while only 9 per -cent admitted they were married.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>“MAIN STEMS”</h3> - -<p>Every large city has its district into which these -homeless types gravitate. In the parlance of the -“road” such a section is known as the “stem” or -the “main drag.” To the homeless man it is home, -for there, no matter how sorry his lot, he can find -those who will understand. The veteran of the -road finds other veterans; the old man finds the -aged; the chronic grouch finds fellowship; the -radical, the optimist, the crook, the inebriate, all -find others here to tune in with them. The wanderer -finds friends here or enemies, but, and that is at -once a characteristic and pathetic feature of Hobohemia, -they are friends or enemies only for the day. -They meet and pass on.</p> - -<p>Hobohemia is divided into four parts—west, -south, north, and east—and no part is more than -five minutes from the heart of the Loop. They are -all the “stem” as they are also Hobohemia. This -four-part concept, Hobohemia, is Chicago to the -down-and-out.</p> - - -<h3>THE “SLAVE MARKET”</h3> - -<p>To the men of the road, West Madison Street is -the “slave market.” It is the slave market because<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5"></a>[5]</span> -here most of the employment agencies are located. -Here men in search of work bargain for jobs in -distant places with the “man catchers” from the -agencies. Most of the men on West Madison Street -are looking for work. If they are not seeking work -they want jobs, at least; jobs that have long rides -thrown in. Most of the men seen here are young, -at any rate they are men under middle age; restless, -seeking, they parade the streets and scan the signs -chalked on the windows or smeared over colored -posters. Eager to “ship” somewhere, they are -generally interested in a job as a means to reach a -destination. The result is that distant jobs are in -demand while good, paying, local jobs usually go -begging.</p> - -<p>West Madison, being a port of homeless men, -has its own characteristic institutions and professions. -The bootlegger is at home here; the dope -peddler hunts and finds here his victims; here the -professional gambler plies his trade and the “jack -roller,” as he is commonly called, the man who robs -his fellows, while they are drunk or asleep; these and -others of their kind find in the anonymity of this -changing population the freedom and security that -only the crowded city offers.</p> - -<p>The street has its share also of peddlers, beggars, -cripples, and old, broken men; men worn out with -the adventure and vicissitudes of life on the road. -One of its most striking characteristics is the almost -complete absence of women and children; it is the -most completely womanless and childless of all the -city areas. It is quite definitely a man’s street.</p> - -<p>West Madison Street, near the river, has always -been a stronghold of the casual laborer. At one<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6"></a>[6]</span> -time it was a rendezvous for the seamen, but of late -these have made South Chicago their haven. Even -before the coming of the factories, before family life -had wholly departed, this was an area of the homeless -man. It will continue to be so, no doubt, until -big businesses or a new union depot crowds the hobo -out. Then he will move farther out into that area -of deteriorated property that inevitably grows up -just outside the business center of the city, where -property, which has been abandoned for residences, -has not yet been taken over by businesses, and where -land values are high but rents are low.</p> - -<p>Jefferson Park, between Adams and Monroe and -west of Throop Street, is an appanage of the “slave -market.” It is the favorite place for the “bos” to -sleep in summer or to enjoy their leisure, relating -their adventures and reading the papers. On the -“stem” it is known as “Bum Park,” and men who -visit it daily know no other name for it. A certain -high spot of ground in the park is generally designated -as “Crumb Hill.” It is especially dedicated to -“drunks.” At any rate, the drunk and the drowsy -seem inevitably to drift to this rise of ground. In -fact, so many men visit the place that the grass -under the trees seems to be having a fierce struggle -to hold its own. It must be said, however, that the -men who go to “Bum Park” are for the most part -sober and well behaved. It is too far out for the -more confirmed Madison Street bums to walk. The -town folks of the neighborhood use the park, to a -certain extent, but the women and children of the -neighborhood are usually outnumbered by the men -of the road, who monopolize the benches and crowd -the shady places.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7"></a>[7]</span></p> - - -<h3>HOBOHEMIA’S PLAYGROUND</h3> - -<p>The thing that characterizes State Street south -of the Loop is the burlesque show. It is here that -the hobo, seeking entertainment, is cheered and -gladdened by the “bathing beauties” and the oriental -dancers. Here, also, he finds improvement at -the hands of the lady barbers, who, it is reported, -are using these men as a wedge to make their way -into a profitable profession that up to the present -time has belonged almost wholly to men.</p> - -<p>South State Street differs from West Madison in -many particulars. For one thing there are more -women here, and there is nothing like so complete -an absence of family life. The male population, likewise, -is of a totally different complexion. The -prevailing color is an urban pink, rather than the -rural grime and bronze of the man on the road. -There are not so many restless, seeking youngsters.</p> - -<p>Men do not parade the streets in groups of threes -and fours with their coats or bundles under their -arms. There are no employment offices on this -street. They are not needed. Nobody wants to go -anywhere. When these men work they are content -to take some short job in the city. Short local jobs -are at a premium. Many of these men have petty -jobs about the city where they work a few hours a -day and are able to earn enough to live. In winter -many men will be found in the cheap hotels on -South State, Van Buren, or South Clark streets who -have been able to save enough money during the -summer to house themselves during the cold weather. -State Street is the rendezvous of the vagabond who -has settled and retired, the “home guard” as they -are rather contemptuously referred to by the tribe<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a>[8]</span> -of younger and more adventurous men who still -choose to take the road.</p> - -<p>The white man’s end of the south section of -Hobohemia does not extend south of Twelfth Street. -From that point on to about Thirtieth Street there -is an area that has been taken over by the colored -population. Colored people go much farther south, -but if there are any homeless men in the “Black -Belt,” they are likely to be found along State Street, -between Twenty-second and Thirtieth. The Douglas -Hotel, in this region, is a colored man’s lodging-house.</p> - -<p>To the south and southwest are the railroad -yards. In summer homeless men find these yards -a convenient place to pass the night. For those -who wish to leave the city, they are the more accessible -than the yards on the north and west. The -railroad yard is, in most places, one of the hobo’s -favorite holdouts. It is a good place to loaf. There -are coal and wood and often vacant spaces where he -can build fires and cook food or keep warm. This -is not so easily done in Chicago where the tramp’s -most deadly enemy, the railroad police, are numerous -and in closer co-operation with the civil authorities -than in most cities. In spite of this, hobos hang -about the yards.</p> - - -<h3>“BUGHOUSE SQUARE”</h3> - -<p>On the north side of the river, Clark Street below -Chicago Avenue is the “stem.” Here a class of -transients have drifted together, forming a group -unlike any in either of the other areas of Hobohemia. -This is the region of the hobo intellectuals. This -area may be described as the rendezvous of the -thinker, the dreamer, and the chronic agitator.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>[9]</span> -Many of its denizens are “home guards.” Few -transients ever turn up here; they do not have time. -They alone come here who have time to think, -patience to listen, or courage to talk. Washington -Square is the center of the northern area. To the -“bos” it is “Bughouse Square.” Many people do not -know any other name for it. This area is as near -to the so-called Latin Quarter as the hobo dare come. -“Bughouse Square” is, in fact, quite as much the -stronghold of the more or less vagabond poets, -artists, writers, revolutionists, of various types as of -the go-abouts. Among themselves this region is -known as the “village.”</p> - -<p>Bohemia and Hobohemia meet at “Bughouse -Square.” On Sundays and holidays, any evening, -in fact, when the weather permits, it will be teeming -with life. At such times all the benches will be -occupied. On the grass in the shade of the trees -men sit about in little groups of a dozen or less. -The park, except a little corner to the southeast -where the women come to read, or knit, or gossip, -while the children play, is completely in possession -of men. A polyglot population swarms here. -Tramps, and hobos—yes, but they are only scatteringly -represented. Pale-faced denizens of the -Russian tearooms, philosophers and enthusiasts -from the “Blue Fish,” brush shoulders with kindred -types from the “Dill Pickle,” the “Green Mask,” -the “Gray Cottage.” Free-lance propagandists who -belong to no group and claim no following, non-conformists, -dreamers, fakers, beggars, bootleggers, -dope fiends—they are all here.</p> - -<p>Around the edges of the Square the curbstone -orators gather their audiences. Religion, politics,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>[10]</span> -science, the economic struggle, these are the principal -themes of discussion in this outdoor forum. -Often there are three or four audiences gathered at -the same time in different parts of the park, each -carrying on a different discussion. One may be -calling miserable sinners to repent, and the other -denouncing all religion as superstition. Opposing -speakers frequently follow each other, talking to the -same audience. In this aggregation of minds the -most striking thing is the variety and violence of -the antipathies. There is, notwithstanding, a generous -tolerance. It is probably a tolerance growing -out of the fact, that, although everyone talks and -argues, no one takes the other seriously. It helps -to pass the time and that is why folks come to -“Bughouse Square.”</p> - -<p>To the hobo who thinks, even though he does not -think well, the lower North Side is a great source of -comfort. On the North Side he finds people to -whom he can talk and to whom he is willing to -listen. Hobos do not generally go there to listen, -however, but burning with a message of which they -are bound to unburden themselves. They go to -speak, perhaps to write. Many of them are there -to get away from the sordidness of life in other -areas of Hobohemia.</p> - - -<h3>A “JUNGLE” ON THE LAKE FRONT</h3> - -<p>Grant Park, east of Michigan Avenue, is a loafing -place for hobos with time on their hands. They -gather here from all parts of Hobohemia to read the -papers, to talk, and to kill time. For men who have -not had a bed it is a good place to sleep when the -sun is kind and the grass is warm. In the long<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>[11]</span> -summer evenings Grant Park is a favorite gathering -place for men who like to get together to tell yarns -and to frolic. It is a favorite rendezvous for the -boy tramps.</p> - - -<div class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_011a" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_011a.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">A JUNGLE CAMP—THE “BOS” HAVE HID FROM THE CAMERA</div> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter illowp70" id="i_011b" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_011b.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">SUMMER RESORTING BEHIND FIELD MUSEUM, CHICAGO</div> -</div> - - -<p>The section of Grant Park facing the lake shore -is no less popular. Along the shore from the Field -Museum northward to Randolph Street the homeless -men have access to the lake. They take advantage -of the unimproved condition of the park and -make of the place, between the railroad tracks and -the lake, a retreat, a resort, a social center. Here -they wash their clothes, bathe, sew, mend shoes.</p> - -<p>Behind the Field Museum, on the section of the -park that is still being used as a dump for rubbish, -the hobos have established a series of camps or -“jungles.” Here, not more than five minutes from -the Loop, are numerous improvised shacks in which -men live. Many men visit these sections only for -the day. To them it is a good place to come to -fish and they spend hours gazing at the water and -trying to keep the little fish from biting.</p> - - -<h3>WHY MEN COME TO CHICAGO</h3> - -<p>The hobo has no social centers other than the -“stem,” and the “jungle.” He either spends his -leisure in the “jungles” or in town. The “jungle” -ordinarily is a station on his way to town. Life -revolves for him around his contacts on the “stem,” -and it is to town he hies himself whenever free to -do so.</p> - -<p>Few casuals can give any reason for the attraction -that the city has for them. Few have ever -considered it. The explanations they give, when -pressed for reasons, are more or less matter of fact<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>[12]</span> -and center in their material interests. Other motives, -motives of which they are only half conscious, -undoubtedly influence them.</p> - -<p>The city is the labor exchange for the migratory -worker and even for the migratory non-worker who -is often just as ambitious to travel. When he is -tired of a job, or when the old job is finished, he -goes to town to get another in some other part of -the country. The labor exchanges facilitate this -turnover of seasonal labor. They enable a man to -leave the city “on the cushins.” This is the lure -that draws him to the city. Hobohemia brings the -job-seeking man and the man-seeking job together. -Migrants have always known that a larger variety of -jobs and a better assortment of good “shipments” -were to be had in Chicago than elsewhere.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>Chicago is the greatest railway center in the United States. -No one knows these facts better than the hobo. It is a fact that -trains from all points of the compass are constantly entering -and leaving the city over its 39 different railways. According -to the <cite>Chicago City Manual</cite>, there are 2,840 miles of steam -railways within the city limits. The mileage of steam railroad -track in Chicago is equal to the entire railroad mileage in Switzerland -and Belgium, and is greater than the steam railroad mileage -found in each of the kingdoms of Denmark, Holland, Norway, -and Portugal. Twenty-five through package cars leave Chicago -every day for 18,000 shipping points in 44 states.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The termination of the seasonal occupations -brings men cityward. They come here for shelter -during the winter, and not only for shelter but for -inside winter work. This is the hobo’s only alternative, -provided he cannot go to California or to one -of the southern states. The dull routine of the inside -job, which seemed so unattractive in the springtime, -looks better with the falling of the temperature.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>[13]</span> -We may add, also, that many of the men who are -attracted to the city in winter are not particularly -interested in work. There are, however, among the -improvident tramp class, “wise virgins” who save -in the summer in order to enjoy the life of a boarding-house -during the winter.</p> - -<p>The hobo often goes to town for medical attention. -For the sick and injured of the floating fraternity -Chicago is a haven of refuge because of the large -number of opportunities found here for free treatment. -The county hospital, the dispensaries, and -the medical colleges are well known to these men. -Many get well and go their way, others get no -farther than the hospital—and then the morgue.</p> - -<p>A man whose income is limited to a few hundred -dollars a year can do more with it in the large city -than in a small town. In no other American city -will a dollar go farther than in Chicago. It is not -uncommon to find men living in Hobohemia on less -than a dollar a day. Large numbers make possible -cheap service, and cheap service brings the men.</p> - - -<h3>THE PROBLEM DEFINED IN TERMS OF NUMBERS</h3> - -<p>Not only the extent, but the nature of the -problem of the homeless man is revealed by a study -of his numbers. In Chicago all estimates are in -substantial agreement that the population of Hobohemia -never falls below 30,000 in summer, doubles -this figure in winter, and has reached 75,000 and -over in periods of unemployment.<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>[14]</span></p> - -<p>These numbers, while large, are only between 1 -and 2½ per cent of Chicago’s population of nearly -3,000,000. Homeless men, however, are not distributed -evenly throughout the city; they are concentrated, -segregated, as we have seen, in three -contiguous narrow areas close to the center of -transportation and trade.</p> - -<p>This segregation of tens of thousands of foot-loose, -homeless, and not to say hopeless men is the -fact fundamental to an understanding of the problem. -Their concentration has created an isolated -cultural area—Hobohemia. Here characteristic -institutions have arisen—cheap hotels, lodging-houses, -flops, eating joints, outfitting shops, employment<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>[15]</span> -agencies, missions, radical bookstores, welfare -agencies, economic and political institutions—to -minister to the needs, physical and spiritual, of the -homeless man. This massing of detached and -migratory men upon a small area has created an -environment in which gamblers, dope venders, bootleggers, -and pickpockets can live and thrive.</p> - -<p>The mobility of the migratory worker complicates -the problem of the missions, police, and -welfare agencies. The mission measures its success -not only in numbers of converts but in the numbers -of men fed and lodged. The police department, -on the contrary, alarmed by the influx of hobos and -tramps in response to free meals and free flops, has -adopted a policy of severity and repression for the -protection of the community. Welfare agencies, -opposing alike the demoralizing results of indiscriminate -feeding and lodging, and the negative -policy of the police, favor a program of organized -effort based upon an investigation of the needs of -each individual case.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> Mrs. Solenberger’s figures of more than a decade ago put the number of -the various types of homeless men in this city at 40,000-60,000:</p> - -<p>“No exact census of the total number of homeless men of various types in -the lodging-house districts of Chicago has been taken, but 40,000 is considered -a conservative estimate by several careful students of the question who are -closely in touch with local conditions. This number is somewhat increased at -election times and very greatly increased when word goes out, as it did during -the winter of 1907-8, that relief funds were being collected and free lodgings -and food would be furnished to the unemployed. In December, January, -February, and March of that winter all private lodging-houses were filled to -overflowing, and the Municipal Lodging House, its annex, and two other houses -which it operated gave a total of 79,411 lodgings to homeless men as compared -with 6,930 for the same months of the winter before, an increase of 72,481. -The Health Department, which took charge of the municipal lodging-houses -and made a careful study of local conditions during the winter of 1907-8, estimated -the number of homeless men then in Chicago to be probably not less -than 60,000.”—<cite>One Thousand Homeless Men</cite>, p. 9, n.</p> - -<p>Nearly if not quite one-fifth of the 700 hotels in Chicago cater to the -migratory and casual worker. The 63 hotels visited by investigators in this -study had a total capacity for the accommodation of 15,000 men. On the basis -of these figures, it seems safe to put the total capacity of the hotels in Hobohemian -areas at 25,000-30,000. A like number of men are probably provided for in -nearby boarding- and lodging-houses. Thousands of other men sleep at the -docks, in engine rooms, in vacant houses, in flophouses, or in summer in the -parks.</p> - -<p>The returns of the 1920 United States census show that in the three wards -of the city in which Hobohemian areas are located there are 28,105 more male -than female residents. This figure indicates that the so-called “home guard” -numbers about 30,000, the summer population of Hobohemia.</p> - -<p>The Jewish Bureau of Social Service estimates that the number of homeless -men in Chicago at any one time in the winter of 1921-22 was 120,000. -This figure, which seems high when compared with estimates arrived at by other -methods of calculation, assumes that the proportion of homeless men for the -city is the same as that for the Jewish community.</p> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>[16]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak left" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II<br /> -<span class="left fs80">THE JUNGLES: THE HOMELESS MAN ABROAD</span></h2> - - -<p class="drop-capy">In the city, under ordinary circumstances, the -homeless man gathers with his kind. Even so -he is very much alone and his contacts with his -fellows are relatively formal and distant.</p> - -<p>City life is interesting but full of danger. Even -in a world where the conditions of life are so elementary, -prudence dictates a certain amount of reserve -and hence formality and convention in the relations of -men. The flophouse and the cheap hotel compel -promiscuity, but do not encourage intimacy or neighborliness. -On the outskirts of cities, however, the -homeless men have established social centers that -they call “jungles,” places where the hobos congregate -to pass their leisure time outside the urban -centers. The jungle is to the tramp what the camp -ground is to the vagabond who travels by auto. It -has for the hobo, perhaps, greater significance, since -it becomes a necessary part of his daily life. The -evening camp fire for the tourist, on the contrary, is a -novelty merely, an experience but not a necessity.</p> - - -<h3>LOCATION AND TYPES OF JUNGLES</h3> - -<p>Jungles are usually located in close proximity to a -railroad division point, where the trains are made up -or where trains stop to change crews and engines. -Sometimes they are located near a “tank town,” -where occasional stops are made for water or fuel. -Not infrequently they are near the intersection of -railroad lines. In the South, and on the West Coast, -jungles are often located along the highways. This -is due to the fact that many men go South in winter<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>[17]</span> -not to work but to escape the rigors of the northern -climate. The railroad for the time being has no -attraction for them and they are content to stroll -abroad, seeing the country. In the West, where -men frequently carry bedding and cooking equipment, -they can camp anywhere. It is easier for -them, therefore, to leave the railroad and venture -along the highways.</p> - -<p>Accessibility to a railroad is only one of the -requirements of a good jungle. It should be located -in a dry and shady place that permits sleeping on the -ground. There should be plenty of water for cooking -and bathing and wood enough to keep the pot boiling. -If there is a general store near by where bread, -meat, and vegetables may be had, so much the better. -For those who have no money, but enough courage to -“bum lumps,” it is well that the jungles be not too far -from a town, though far enough to escape the attention -of the natives and officials, the town “clowns.”</p> - -<p>Jungle camps may be divided into two classes—the -temporary and the permanent, or continuous. -Temporary jungles are merely stop-over or relay stations -inhabited intermittently by the men of the road. -Men temporarily stranded in a town usually seek a -secluded spot at the edge of a village, not too far -from the railroad, where they may while away the -time without being molested. Men on the road look -for places where other men preceding them have -camped. There they are likely to find pots and -kettles in which to cook food or wash clothes. At -points where trains stop frequently, making it possible -for men to get away at any time, the population -of a temporary jungle is likely to be larger and more -permanent.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>[18]</span></p> - -<p>The continuous or permanent jungles are seldom -deserted, at least in summer. There is usually someone -there to keep the fire burning and usually there -are men or boys occupied at various tasks—cooking, -washing or boiling clothes, shaving, sewing, bathing, -and reading.</p> - -<p>Women are often found in the areas of the cities -where the homeless men congregate but not in the -jungles. Here is an institution where the hobo is -his own housewife. He not only cooks his own -food, but has even invented dishes that are peculiar -to jungle life. Chief among these is “mulligan” -stew. “Mulligan,” or “combination,” is a “throw -together” of vegetables and meat. There are certain -ideal mixtures of vegetables and meat, but the tramp -makes “mulligan” from anything that is at hand. -Onions, potatoes, and beef are the prime essentials. -Some men become adept at frying and roasting over -camp fires.</p> - -<p>The hobo who lives in the jungles has proved that -he can become domesticated without the aid of -women. He has established the habit of keeping his -clothes and person clean. It is not difficult to select -from a group of transients the men who have just -come from the jungles. Their clothes will be clean -and even bear evidence of jungle sewing. Overalls -that have seen service will be bleached almost white -from numerous washings. The hobo learns here the -housewife’s art of keeping pots clean and the camp -in order. The man who cannot, or will not, learn -these few elementary principles of housekeeping is -likely to fare ill in the jungle.</p> - -<p>If it is a warm day some men will be sleeping. -They may have been riding trains all night or have<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>[19]</span> -found the night too cold for sleep. A daily paper -from an adjoining town may be going the rounds. -There may be newspapers from different cities -brought in by men traveling different directions. -Travelers meeting this way have much of common -interest to talk about and conversation is enlivened -with discussions of questions of concern to “bos.” -The jungle is always astir with life and movement, -and the hobo enters into this life as he does no other. -Here he turns his back on the world and faces his -fellows, and is at ease.</p> - -<p>Absolute democracy reigns in the jungle. The -color line has been drawn in some camps, but it is the -general custom, and especially in the North, for -Negroes, Mexicans, and whites to share the same -jungle. The jungle is the melting pot of trampdom.</p> - -<p>The average man of the road has had a variety of -experience and not a little adventure. In the jungles -there is always an audience for anyone who wants to -talk, whether of his thoughts, his experiences, or his -observations. There is plenty of opportunity to tell -stories. The art of telling a story is diligently cultivated -by the “bos” in the assemblies about the fire. -This vagabond existence tends to enrich the personality -and long practice has developed in some of these -men an art of personal narrative that has greatly -declined elsewhere. Many of them develop into -fascinating <em>raconteurs</em> in the literal as well as the -literary sense of the term. Talk in the jungle is of -the open road and the day to come, and in that there -is sufficient matter to occupy them.</p> - -<p>Jungle populations are ever changing. Every -hour new faces appear to take the place of those that -have passed on. They come and go without ceremony,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>[20]</span> -with scarcely a greeting or “fare-you-well.” -Every new member is of interest for the news he -brings or the rumors that he spreads. Each is -interested in the other so far as he has something to -tell about the road over which he has come, the work -conditions, the behavior of the police, or other significant -details. But with all the discussion there is -seldom any effort to discuss personal relations and -connections. Here is one place where every man’s -past is his own secret.</p> - -<p>Only in the case of very young boys or sick men -and sometimes old men is there any effort to learn -something of the individual’s past. Men will brush -elbows in the jungles for days and even weeks without -ever learning one another’s names. They live -closed lives and grant others the same privilege.</p> - - -<h3>THE LAWS OF THE JUNGLE</h3> - -<p>In every permanent camp there is likely to be a -permanent group that makes the camp its headquarters. -Sometimes these groups are able to take -possession and exploit the transient guests. The -I.W.W. has at times been able to exclude everyone -who did not carry the red card of that organization. -As a rule, however, the jungle is extremely hospitable -and democratic.</p> - -<p>The freedom of the jungles is, however, limited by -a code of etiquette. Jungle laws are unwritten, but -strictly adhered to. The breaking of these rules, if -intentional, leads to expulsion, forced labor, or physical -punishment.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>Jungle crimes include (1) making fire by night in jungles -subject to raids; (2) “hi-jacking,” or robbing men at night -when sleeping in the jungles; (3) “buzzing,” or making the jungle<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>[21]</span> -a permanent hangout for jungle “buzzards” who subsist on -the leavings of meals; (4) wasting food or destroying it after -eating is a serious crime; (5) leaving pots and other utensils -dirty after using; (6) cooking without first hustling fuel; (7) -destroying jungle equipment. In addition to these fixed offenses -are other crimes which are dealt with as they arise. Men are -supposed to use cooking cans for cooking only, “boiling up” -cans for washing clothing, coffee cans to cook coffee, etc. After -using, guests are expected to clean utensils, dry them, and -leave them turned bottom side up so that they will not fill with -rainwater and rust. They are expected to keep the camp clean. -To enforce such common-sense rules, self-appointed committees -come into existence.<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> -</div> - - -<p>Exclusive camps are usually the result of the -efforts of the older residents to enforce discipline. -Most “jungle buzzards,” men who linger in the -jungles from season to season, take an interest in -the running of things. For the most part they are -parasitic, begging food from others, but they are -generally on the alert to keep the place clean and -orderly.</p> - -<p>The following description of a day in the jungles -was written by a migratory worker, a man who knows -the life from years of experience. His narrative presents -a faithful picture of an average day in an -average jungle.</p> - - -<p class="p1 center"><span class="smcap">A Day in the Jungles</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>1.<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> This jungle is on the edge of a strip of timber. A stream -fed from a spring runs into the lake near by. The empty box<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>[22]</span> -cars on the railroad siding close by offer protection against rain -and a place to sleep. Half a mile away is the junction of two -railroads where all trains stop, and a mile and a half further on -is a small town.</p> - -<p>At one o’clock in the morning a few men step off a freight -train. One speaks up: “Does anyone know if there is a jungle -in this place?” “Yes,” someone answers, “The jungle is up -in that direction,” pointing towards a woods, “but what’s the -use in going over there now? You can’t build a fire at this time -of night. I am going to hunt up a box car for a flop.”</p> - -<p>After a moment of silence someone else asks, “Any town -close by?” “Yes, there it is,” replies another, pointing to -some lights showing in the distance. The men form groups -according to acquaintance and talk in a low tone. “Come on, -let us hunt up a place to flop till daylight.” The different -groups start off. One starts out for the town, one goes towards -the box cars, and one makes for the jungles. I was with the -group bound for the jungles.</p> - -<p>A hundred feet from the railroad right-of-way under the -darkness of big trees we see three or four dying camp fires. -Around one fire we can see the shadows of men. Some are -sitting on the butts of logs, smoking or dozing; others are -stretched out on the ground sound asleep.</p> - -<p>The new arrivals walk up to the fire, look over the bunch to -find, perhaps, some old acquaintances. Then some of us find -seats or lie down; others, with as little noise as possible, hunt -up cans which they fill with water and place over the glowing -coals. The men take ground coffee from packages in their -pockets and pour it into boiling water. The feed is open to -everybody. Bread and sausage are brought out; even sugar -is passed around as long as it lasts. The men eat in silence. -Each one takes the utensils he used and walks to the creek to -wash them. Nearly all of the men then lie down, but some -leave. Nobody asks anyone about himself and nobody says -“hello” or “goodbye.”</p> - -<p>Daylight comes. The breaking of sticks for firewood is -heard. Fires are started, cooking utensils are chosen. The law -of the jungle is that no one can call a vessel his except at the -time he uses it. Packages and receptacles are opened revealing -food of all kinds. Eating commences. If any man with more -than enough for himself sees someone else not eating, it is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>[23]</span> -etiquette to offer to share with his neighbor. If the other man -accepts the offer, he thereby takes upon himself the responsibility -of cleaning the dishes.</p> - -<p>At any time men will be seen leaving the jungles to hustle -food, or to get wood, or to catch trains. Anytime is eating time -in the jungles and someone is always bringing in “chuck” that -he has bought or “bummed.” Talking goes on as long as the -daylight lasts. Heated arguments often develop. Papers and -pamphlets are distributed, union cards are taken out; business -meetings are held to decide policies and actions, how to get the -next meal or how to win the battle between labor and capital.</p> - -<p>About ten o’clock in the morning two townsmen displaying -stars come into the jungle. One of them tells the men that they -will have to clean out because people are kicking. A holdup -has been committed in town the night before and they intend -to prevent any more from being committed, “So you fellers -have to leave.”</p> - -<p>One man in the jungles speaks up and tells the officers that -we are not holdup men, that we are getting ourselves something -to eat, and that we have got to have some place to do that. -“We have paid for everything. What would you do if you was -in our place; go into town and get pulled and let the town -feed us?”</p> - -<p>The officer looks nonplussed, but curtly replies, “Well, I -am going by orders.” After that he walks away. The timid -men leave the jungle. The others reply by roundly cursing -indiscriminately all their enemies. They are town clowns, -sky pilots, Bible ranters, bulls, politicians, home guards, hicks, -stool pigeons, systems, scissor bills, and capitalists. Incidentally -they advocate strikes, rebellion, mass action, complete revolution -of the political system, abolishment of the wage system.</p> - -<p>It is close to twelve o’clock. Fires are replenished, cans, -pots and pans are put into service. Plans are being made in -anticipation of a coming raid by the police. At two o’clock, -someone suggests a song. After a fiery song of the class struggle, -a speech follows advising the men to organize.</p> - -<p>By three o’clock only about fifteen or twenty are left in the -jungle. The officer followed by townsmen armed with guns -return. Some of the hobos retreat into the woods. Those -remaining are ordered to hold up their hands with “You damn -bums” added to the command. Some comply, others refuse.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>[24]</span> -One even has the courage to shout, “Go ahead and shoot, you -damn cowards.” This starts a general shooting into every pot, -pan and can in sight. The men scatter.</p> - -<p>After the invaders leave, an inventory is immediately made -to assess the damage. Since the utensils in best condition had -been hidden in the brush, no serious loss to the jungle has -resulted.</p> - -<p>By four o’clock the story of the raid has traveled and men -come in from all directions. The decision of the majority is to -remain in the jungle over night. Food is brought in and preparations -for supper begin. The men are doubling up to cook -together. Those belonging to certain unions have as many as -eight or ten in a bunch. There are from thirty to forty angry -men in camp by now and more are coming in. There is some -talk of revenge.</p> - -<p>By six o’clock supper is well under way. Several fires are -burning. Containers of every description are used to cook in; -broken shovels and tie plates are used to fry on, empty tobacco -tins are used as cups, and tomato cans serve as fry pans, soup -kettles and soap dishes. Potatoes are roasted on the coals, -wires are bent upon which to broil meat. All are still talking -excitedly of the clash with the police.</p> - -<p>While some of the men are busily engaged in cooking, others -are sewing and mending their clothes or shoes, and still others are -shaving. Now and then as at breakfast someone will shout, -asking if anybody wants some spuds or a piece of punk or a -piece of “gut” (sausage); and usually there is an affirmative -answer. After supper, pans and cans are cleaned out, the paper -is read and passes the rounds. Already it is growing dark, and -the hunt begins for dry sleeping places.</p> - -<p>Suddenly a commotion is started; a man is roughly rushed -into the open. He is a hi-jack caught in the act of robbing a -fellow who was sleeping, a greater crime in the jungle than an -open hold up. Cries of “Burn the ——” and “Let us hang -him!” are heard from all sides. A council is hurriedly called, a -chairman is selected, motions are made with amendments and -substitutes. After a short discussion a vote is taken to give -him a whipping. The man is tied to a tree facing toward it. -His back is bared, and men are called for to apply punishment. -No one steps forward; everybody declines to apply the strap -or stick.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>[25]</span></p> - -<p>Another council is called but before they get started a young -fellow has declared his willingness to fight the hi-jack to a -finish because he knew him and didn’t like him anyway. The -proposition is accepted. The hi-jack is more than ten pounds -heavier than the challenger; but whether from fear or not, for -he knows that the challenger has the crowd back of him to a -man, the hi-jack is slow to start. Perhaps he feels that the -crowd will give him a beating whether he wins or not. He soon -loosens up but he does not show the goods. The “bo” is more -than a match for him but the hi-jack does not give up easily. -He displays some courage but the “bo” fights like a madman -and strikes the hi-jack blow after blow. The fight lasts more -than ten minutes before the hi-jack is completely knocked out.</p> - -<p>After he gets to his feet he is given a chance to wash his face -and stick paper on the cuts; then he is “frisked,” that is, ordered -to donate all but one dollar to the jungle. Then he is sent out -of camp with orders not to show up in any of the diggings along -the line for it would be murder if anyone should spot him.</p> - -<p>By eleven o’clock the excitement is over. Different men -announce that they were headed for so and so and that the -freight starts at such a time. To this someone replies that he -is going that way too so they start off together. Others walk -back among the trees to the places where they have prepared -to sleep. Others who have insufficient clothes to stand the -night chill bunch up around the glowing camp fires. Soon -everything is quiet except for an occasional sound out of the -darkness of men mumbling in conversation. Occasionally the -sound of groans and snores or sighs, or curses are heard. These -betray the dreams of men living like hunted animals.</p> - -<p>I look at my watch and note that it is near midnight and -that all is over for the night, so I curl up on some papers beside -a bed of coals.<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> -</div> - - -<h3>THE MELTING POT OF TRAMPDOM</h3> - -<p>The part played by the jungles as an agency of -discipline for the men of the road cannot be overestimated. -Here hobo tradition and law are formulated -and transmitted. It is the nursery of tramp<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>[26]</span> -lore. Here the fledgling learns to behave like an -old-timer. In the jungles the slang of the road and -the cant of the tramp class is coined and circulated. -It may originate elsewhere but here it gets recognition. -The stories and songs current among the men -of the road, the sentiments, the attitudes, and the -philosophy of the migratory laborer are all given due -airing. In short, every idea and ideal that finds -lodgment in the tramp’s fancy may be expressed here -in the wayside forum where anyone who thinks may -speak, whether he be a jester or a sage.</p> - -<p>Suspicion and hostility are the universal attitudes -of the town or small city to the hobo and the tramp. -Accordingly, the so-called “floater” custom of passing -vagrants on to other communities is widespread.<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> -The net effect of this policy is to intensify the anti-social -attitude of the homeless man and to release -and accentuate criminal tendencies. The small town -is helpless to cope with the situation. As things -are, its action perhaps cannot be different. Agriculture, -as it becomes organized upon a capitalistic -basis, is increasingly dependent upon seasonal labor, -in harvesting crops for example. The report of the -Commission on Industrial Relations states:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>The attempts to regulate movements of migratory workers -by local organizations have, without exception, proved failures. -This must necessarily be true no matter how well planned or -well managed such local organizations may be. The problem -cannot be handled except on a national scale and by methods -and machinery which are proportioned to the enormous size -and complexity of the problem.<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> -</div> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> It is interesting here to note that there is a striking parallel between the -rules of the jungles and the rules of cow camps and other camps of the hills. It -is the custom of the cow men of the west to maintain camps in the hills which -are stocked with provisions and equipped with utensils and furnishings. These -camps are usually left open and anyone who passes is welcome to spend the -night, provided he puts the place in order when he leaves.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> The documents from which extracts have been taken are numbered -consecutively in the text. For complete list of documents used in each chapter -see pp. 281-88.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> Written by A. W. Dragstedt, secretary in 1922 of the “Hobo College” of -Chicago.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> For a discussion of the practice of “floating” with reference to the treatment -of misdemeanants, see Stuart A. Queen, <cite>The Passing of the County Jail</cite>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="label">[7]</a> <cite>Final Report</cite>, p. 158.</p> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>[27]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak left" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III<br /> -<span class="fs80 left">THE LODGING-HOUSE: THE HOMELESS MAN AT HOME</span></h2> - - -<p class="drop-capy">Hobohemia is a lodging-house area. The -accommodations it offers the homeless man -range from a bed in a single room for fifty cents to -location on the floor of an empty loft for a dime. -Lodging-house keepers take thin profits but they -serve large numbers. There are usually more men -than there are beds, particularly in winter. An -estimate indicates that all hotels are full from -December to May. During the rest of the year -they are likely to be filled to two-thirds of their -capacity.</p> - -<p>Chicago has known three types of cheap hotels: -the so-called “barrel-house,” the welfare institution, -and the business enterprise. The first, the barrel-house, -was a rooming-house, saloon, and house -of prostitution, all in one. Men with money usually -spent it in the barrel-houses. There they found -warmth and companionship. They would join the -circle at the bar, buy drinks for the crowd, and -have a good time. Men who were afraid of being -robbed placed their money with the bartender and -charged against it the drinks purchased. As soon -as they were overcome by drink they would be -taken upstairs to bed. The following day the program -would be repeated. A three- or four-hundred-dollar -stake at this rate usually lasted a week. Not -infrequently the barrel-house added to its other -attractions the opportunity for gambling.</p> - -<p>The barrel-house is a thing of the past. Its place -has been taken in part by hotels like the Workingmen’s<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>[28]</span> -Palace; the Reliance; the New Century, owned -and operated by the Salvation Army; the Rufus F. -Dawes, owned and maintained by General C. G. -Dawes; the Popular Hotel, owned and maintained -by the Chicago Christian Industrial League. In -places of this sort, charges are small, usually not -enough to cover operating expenses.</p> - -<p>The Rufus F. Dawes and the Workingmen’s -Palace are both large, fire-proof structures, clean and -modern, constructed originally for other purposes. -Like all paternalistic, quasi-charitable institutions, -however, they are not popular, although the charges -for a room and bed are hardly sufficient to cover the -operating expenses. This is the second type of -lodging-house.</p> - -<p>The pioneers in the cheap hotel business in Chicago -operated on a commercial basis were Harvey and -McGuire, the founders of the well-known Harvey-McGuire -hotel system. Harvey, an evangelist, in his -work with the “down-and-outs” had learned the -evils of barrel-houses. He went into a partnership -with McGuire, a man acquainted with the rough -side of life. After a number of years the Harvey-McGuire -system went out of existence. McGuire -went into the hotel business for himself and now owns -a number of cheap lodging-houses. Harvey sold his -interests to his nephew and went back to evangelistic -work. The nephew went into partnership with Mr. -Dammarell. There are eight hotels in the present -Harvey-Dammarell system with a combined capacity -for lodging 3,000 men. The Ideal opened in 1884, -probably the oldest men’s hotel in the city, originally -known as the Collonade, at 509 West Madison Street, -is an example of the type. The Mohawk, the most<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>[29]</span> -modern men’s hotel, is also the property of the -Harvey-Dammarell system.</p> - -<p>The men who run these hotels do not claim to be -philanthropists. Mr. Harvey has defined the situation. -He says:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>We are in the hotel business to make a living. We give the -men the best service they can pay for. We give nothing away -and we ask nothing. Consequently, we do not lay ourselves -open to criticism. We insist on order and sobriety and we usually -get it. We hold that the men have a right to criticize us -and come to us if they are not satisfied with the service we give. -That is business. The man who pays seventy-five cents for a -bed has a right to seventy-five cents’ worth of service. If a man -can only pay twenty-five cents for a bed he is entitled to all that -he pays for and is entitled to kick if he doesn’t get it.</p> -</div> - - -<p>Different types of hotels attract different types of -men. The better class of workingmen who patronize -the Mohawk, where the prices range from forty to -seventy cents, wear collars and creased trousers. -The hotel provides stationery and desks. Hotels -where the prices range from twenty-five cents to -forty cents are patronized by a shabbier group of -men. Few of them are shaven. Some of them read, -but most of them sit alone with their thoughts. In -some second-class places a man is employed to go the -rounds and arouse the sleepers.</p> - -<p>In the twenty-five-cent hotels, the patrons not -only are content to sit unshaven, but they are often -dirty. Many of them have the faces of beaten men; -many of them are cripples and old men. The exceptions -are the Popular and the Rufus F. Dawes, where -the price is twenty cents or less to be sure, but the -guests are more select. Since these places are -semi-charitable, they can force certain requirements -upon their patrons.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>[30]</span></p> - -<p>The term “room” is a misnomer when applied to -a sleeping apartment in a cheap hotel. These rooms -have been aptly termed “cubicles,” and among the -patrons they are known as “cages.” A cubicle is -usually from 6 to 8 feet in width and from 8 to 12 -feet in length. The thin walls, composed of steel or -matched lumber, are usually about 8 feet in height. -A wire netting over the top admits air and prevents -the guests climbing from one cubicle to another. -The furnishings are simple; sometimes only a bed, -sometimes a bed and a chair, and in more expensive -places a stand. They are not constructed either for -comfort or convenience; lighting and ventilation are -usually bad. But they are all they were intended to -be: places for men to sleep with a limited degree of -privacy.</p> - -<p>A canvass of the Hobohemian hotels has been made -with a view to learning the approximate mobility of -the hotel population. Few of these hotels are prepared -to make any but general statements, though -some of them have made an effort to get the facts. -The consensus of opinion of hotel clerks is that the -greatest turnover is in the cheapest hotels. Better-class -places like the Acme, the Ironsides, and the -Workingmen’s Palace have a large proportion of -permanent guests. The permanent guests, those -who remain two or three months or more, range from -a third to a half of the total number of roomers. -Many of the older hotels have permanent patrons -who are seasonal but regular. Others never leave -the city.</p> - - -<h3>THE “FLOPHOUSE”</h3> - -<p>“Flophouses” are nearly all alike. Guests sleep -on the floor or in bare, wooden bunks. The only<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>[31]</span> -privilege they buy is the privilege to lie down somewhere -in a warm room.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>2. “Hogan’s Flop” is known from coast to coast among -hobos. A tramp who has been in Chicago long enough to learn -of Lynch’s place, the Workingmen’s Palace, Hinky Dink’s, or to -eat doughnuts in missions has heard of Hogan’s.</p> - -<p>The first “Hogan’s Flop” was located on South State Street. -Later it moved to the West Side and for some time was on Meridian -Street. Since it left Meridian Street it has been located in -several places. The original Hogan, who was a Spanish-American -War veteran, has passed to his reward. Only his name -remains. Every winter, however, someone starts a “flop” and -it invariably inherits the name and fame of Hogan. Hogan is -now a myth, a sort of eponymous hero. A tramp discussing this -matter said: “Hogan may be dead but the bugs that were in -business with him are still on the job. They follow this joint -wherever it goes. You know when they moved from Meridian -Street it wasn’t three days before the bugs got the new address -and followed us.”</p> -</div> - - -<p>The following account is adapted from a description -of a night spent in “Hogan’s Flop”:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>3. I spent the evening at the Bible Rescue Mission where -sincere folks were pleading with men of the road to come forward -and make things right with the Master. Two came forward -and it was a time of rejoicing. They prayed and sang and fed -us rolls and coffee, and to those who had no bed for the night they -gave tickets to “Hogan’s.” They offered me a ticket but I -thanked them and assured them that I still had a little money.</p> - -<p>You have to know where “Hogan’s” is to find it. In the -spring of 1922, it occupied the second and third floors of a building -at 16 South Desplaines Street. A narrow, shaky stairs, a -squeaky door, a feebly lighted entrance, a night clerk who demands -a dime and you are within. You may take your choice of -sleeping on this floor or go on up to the third. There is no difference -in the price. I chose the second floor. It was less crowded. -The fire, from a large heater in the center of the room, was -warmer.</p> - -<p>The men around the stove had evidently been exposed to the -elements. One was drying his shoes for it had rained all day.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>[32]</span> -Another was drying his shirt. Two were engaged in listless conversation. -Others were silent. The air was stuffy, the light dim. -I walked around the room looking for a place to lie down. Dozens -of men were sleeping on the floor with their heads to the wall. -Some were lying on paper, others on the bare floor. Some were -partly covered by their overcoats; some had no overcoats. It -is an art to curl up under an overcoat. One man of fifty years -or more had removed his shirt and trousers and was using the -latter for a pillow. He had tied his shoes to his trousers which is -evidence that he knew “flop” house ethics. When men sleep in -box cars they sometimes use their shoes for pillows but this is not -necessary in “Hogan’s.” A planking around the walls affords -a resting place for weary heads.</p> - -<p>A number of the faces here I had seen a great many times on -the “stem.” Two were old men in their seventies who had been -in the city several years and were mendicants most of the time. -There was a one-legged man whom I had seen chumming with -another one-legged man on the streets. Both peddled lead -pencils and shoestrings. On the only cot on the floor, two young -fellows were lying. They were sleeping with their heads at -opposite ends of the narrow bed and their bodies were entangled -to prevent their falling off.</p> - -<p>I found a vacant place on the floor where I could have about -two feet between myself and my nearest neighbor so I spread my -papers and lay down. I had more paper than I needed so I gave -half to another man who was just circling about for a place to go -to bed. I asked the man nearest me if the bugs bothered much. -He answered in the richest of Irish brogues that Hogan’s bugs -were sure efficient. Another man chimed in. He said they were -better organized than the German army. How well organized -they were I can’t say but I was not long in learning that they -were enterprising.</p> - -<p>Two men near me engaged in a discussion about the economic -conference at Genoa. One man had very positive, orderly ideas -of how things should go. The other interrupted occasionally -only to agree. Someone wanted to know why he didn’t hire a -hall. Then there was silence, except for snores. I never heard -such a variety of snores but none of them seemed to suggest -peaceful slumbers or pleasant dreaming. Once the snores were -broken into by some man bawling out, “Hey, you; quit spittin’ -over this way; you’re gettin’ it on my paper.” “Well, dammit;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>[33]</span> -How much room do you want to take up?” His neighbor -retorted, “It’s none of your —— business how much room I take. -You lay off’n that spittin’, see.”</p> - -<p>More snores. A man got up, stretched, rubbed his legs, came -to the center of the room to the stove. More snores. Some -men came in, paid their dimes and looked for an opening on the -floor. A man ran to the toilet to vomit. A wag called to him -to “heave it up.”</p> - -<p>After an hour or so I felt something on my hand. I crushed -it. There were others to be seen on the white papers. I lay -down to try to sleep again. A second attack brought me -suddenly to my feet. I lay down resolved a third time not to be -disturbed. My companions seemed to be suffering more from -the hard floor than anything else; and the floor was hard. I -turned my thoughts to the hardness of the floor at “Hogan’s.”</p> - -<p>How long I dozed I can’t say but I awoke marveling at the -endurance of the man of the road. While I pondered thus a -man jumped to his feet and hastened out. He was cursing the -bugs and saying that he knew an engine room that had this “place -beat all hollow.” I felt better. Someone else had weakened -first. I got up and started home. It was two-thirty.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>RESTAURANTS AND LUNCHROOMS</h3> - -<p>Hobohemian restaurants serve meals for a half -or a third of the prices current in the Loop. In some -of these lunchrooms the charges are so low that one -marvels. However, the food is coarse and poor and -the service rough and ready.</p> - -<p>The homeless man is as casual in his eating as he -is in his work. He usually gives all the restaurants -a trial. If he has any money when meal time comes -he generally does a little “window shopping.” He -meanders up and down the street reading the bills of -fare in the windows. The Hobohemian restaurants -know this and accordingly use window displays to -attract the roaming patron. Food is placed in the -windows, cooking is done within sight of the street, -but the chief means of attraction are the menus<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>[34]</span> -chalked on the windows. The whole window is -sometimes lettered up with special entrées of the day. -Some of these bills of fare are interesting.</p> - -<p>Gus’s place on South Halsted Street near the -Academy Theater, July 28, 1922, displayed the -following:</p> - - -<table class="fs90 p1 p1b autotable" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Pig’s Snouts and Cabbage or Kraut </td> -<td class="tdr">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Corn Beef Hash</td> -<td class="tdr">10c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Hamburger Roast</td> -<td class="tdr">10c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Liver and Onions</td> -<td class="tdr">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Hungarian Goulash</td> -<td class="tdr">20c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Pig’s Shank and Cabbage</td> -<td class="tdr">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Spare Ribs and Cabbage</td> -<td class="tdr">20c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Pig’s Feet and Potato Salad</td> -<td class="tdr">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Beef Stew and Kraut</td> -<td class="tdr">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Sausage and Mashed Potatoes </td> -<td class="tdr">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Roast Beef</td> -<td class="tdr">20c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Roast Pork</td> -<td class="tdr">25c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">T-Bone Steak</td> -<td class="tdr">30c</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>The same day the James Restaurant on Madison -Street near Desplaines advertised the following under -the caption, “A Full Meal for Ten Cents”:</p> - - -<table class="fs90 p1 p1b autotable" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Veal Loaf</td> -<td class="tdr">10c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Sardines and Potato Salad</td> -<td class="tdr">10c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Hamburger and One Egg</td> -<td class="tdr">10c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Baked Beans</td> -<td class="tdr">10c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Liver and Onions</td> -<td class="tdr">10c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Corn Beef Plain</td> -<td class="tdr">10c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Macaroni Italian</td> -<td class="tdr">10c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Three Eggs any Style</td> -<td class="tdr">15c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Kidney Stew</td> -<td class="tdr">10c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Sausage and Mashed Potatoes </td> -<td class="tdr">10c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Brown Hash and One Egg</td> -<td class="tdr">10c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Liver and Brown Gravy</td> -<td class="tdr">10c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Salt Pork Plain</td> -<td class="tdr">10c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Salmon and Potato Salad</td> -<td class="tdr">10c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Corn Flakes and Milk</td> -<td class="tdr">5c</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Four Eggs any Style</td> -<td class="tdr">20c</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>One eating-house on West Madison Street is -“The Home Restaurant, Meals Fifteen Cents and -Up.” This is a popular appeal. Restaurants frequently -advertise “Home Cooking,” “Home Made -Bread,” “Home Made Coffee,” “Doughnuts Like -Mother Used to Make.”</p> - - -<div class="figcenter illowp70 " id="i_034a" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_034a.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">A DINING-ROOM ON THE “MAIN STEM”</div> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter illowp70 " id="i_034b" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_034b.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">EMPLOYMENT BUREAUS OFFER OPPORTUNITY FOR TRAVEL</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>[35]</span></p> - -<p>At meal time, especially at noon, scores of men -flock into these eating-houses. The men, a noisy -and turbulent crowd, call out their orders, which -are shouted by the waiters to the cooks who set out -without ceremony the desired dishes. Four or five -waiters are able to attend to the wants of a hundred -or more men during the course of an hour. The -waiters work like madmen during the rush hours, -speeding in with orders, out with dirty dishes. During -the course of this hour a waiter becomes literally -plastered with splashes of coffee, gravy, and soup. -The uncleanliness is revolting and the waiters are -no less shocking than the cooks and dishwashers. In -the kitchens uncleanliness reaches its limit.</p> - -<p>But what is the opinion of the patron? They -know that the hamburger is generally mixed with -bread and potatoes, that the bread is usually stale, -that the milk is frequently sour. There are few who -do not abhor the odors of the cheap restaurant, but -a steady patron reasons thus: “I don’t allow myself -to see things, and as long as the eyes don’t see the -heart grieves not.”</p> - - -<h3>OUTFITTING STORES AND CLOTHING EXCHANGES</h3> - -<p>The hobo seldom dresses up. If he does it is -evidence that he is making an effort to get out of his -class. When he does buy clothing, either rough -clothing or a good “front,” he finds his way to places -where new clothes are on sale at astonishingly low -prices. The seasonal laborer’s outfitters handle a -very cheap grade of goods. Much of it is out of -date and either shopworn or soiled. Cheap clothing -stores are not peculiar to Hobohemia, but here they -cater to the wants of the homeless man.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>[36]</span></p> - -<p>Clothing exchanges, which is a polite term for -second-hand clothing stores, are numerous in Hobohemia. -There are many of them along North Clark -Street and west of Clark on Chicago Avenue. These -establishments make a specialty of buying slightly -worn clothing, sample suits and overcoats from -broken lots, which they sell at remarkably low prices.</p> - -<p>Second-hand clothing stores are not entirely -monopolized by the hobo trade, but the veteran -hobo knows of their existence and he knows how to -drive a bargain.</p> - -<p>The cobbler who deals in shoes, both second-hand -and new, as a sideline, gets his share of the Hobohemian -trade. Coming off the road with a roll, the -hobo is likely to invest in a whole outfit—shoes, suit, -and overcoat—only to sell them again in a few days -when he is broke. The second-hand dealer meets -him both ways, coming and going.</p> - - -<h3>PAWN SHOPS</h3> - -<p>Pawn shops are not typical of Hobohemia. They -are usually located in that region just outside the -limits of the lodging-houses, a sort of border land -between respectability and the down-and-outs. Not -that the hobo is unwilling, when he is broke, to put -anything valuable he happens to have in “hock,” -but usually he does not happen to have anything -valuable. Still there are men who make a practice -of carrying a watch or a ring upon which, in case of -need, they can raise a few dollars.</p> - -<p>Pawn shops are, to a limited extent, clothing -exchanges. They are places where the hobo does -much of his buying and selling of tools, fire arms, -leather goods, jewelry, and like articles of that sort.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>[37]</span></p> - - -<h3>MOVIES AND BURLESQUES</h3> - -<p>Commercialized entertainment has had difficulty -in getting a foothold in Hobohemia. The movie has -firmly established itself on the border land, where it -may be patronized by both the transient and the -resident population. The movies put the admission -fee at ten cents. As a matter of fact, there is one on -South Halsted Street which charges only a nickel. -The pictures shown in these houses have usually -passed from the first-class theaters through the various -grades of cheaper houses until finally they arrive -here much out of date, badly scarred, and so -scratched that they irritate the eyes.</p> - -<p>Vaudeville and burlesque have become fully -established on the South Side. Certain of these -theaters cater to “men only.” Advertisements of -“classy girls,” “bathing beauties,” or “fancy dancing” -have a strange attraction for the homeless and -lonely men.</p> - -<p>Many men in the Hobohemian population do not -patronize either the movie or the burlesque. Those -who do are sometimes merely looking for an opportunity -to sit down in quiet for an hour. Some -theaters, in recognition of this fact, extend an invitation -to the audience to “Stay as Long as You Like.” -This draws a great many men, especially in cold -weather.</p> - - -<h3>BARBER COLLEGES AND BARBERS</h3> - -<p>Chicago has several barber colleges in close proximity -to the “stem.” Four of them are located on -West Madison Street and most of them are so -situated that they can attract men who are willing -to submit to the inexperienced efforts of students.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>[38]</span> -Students must have practice, and here are men, who -as they themselves say, can stand it.</p> - -<p>The cheap rooming-houses do not always offer -facilities for shaving, so they are willing to sacrifice -themselves in the interest of education and art. If -they are fortunate they may be served by a Senior, -but they always are in danger of falling into the hands -of a Freshman. Hair cuts cost ten or fifteen cents. -This is governed by the law of supply and demand. -The colleges must have patrons to keep the students -busy. The lady barber flourishes in Hobohemia. -The hobo, at least, seems to have no prejudice against -a razor being wielded by feminine hands.</p> - - -<h3>BOOKSTORES</h3> - -<p>Hobohemia has its bookstores where new and -second-hand books are sold. The “Hobo Bookstore,” -sometimes called the “Proletariat,” located -at 1237 West Madison Street, is the best known. -This place makes a specialty of periodicals of a -radical nature which are extensively read by the -“bos.” A large line of books on many subjects are -sold, but they are chiefly the paper-bound volumes -that the transient can afford. The “Radical Book -Shop,” located on North Clark Street, is popular -among the intellectuals who pass their time in “Bughouse -Square.”</p> - - -<h3>SALOONS AND SOFT DRINK STANDS</h3> - -<p>The saloon still lives in Hobohemia, though with -waning prestige. The five-cent schooner and the -free lunch of pre-war days have passed, but the -saloons are far from being dead. One can still get -a “kick” out of stuff that is sold across the bar, but<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>[39]</span> -the crowds do not gather as before prohibition. -Formerly, men who got drunk were kept inside, today -they are hustled outside or at least kept out of sight. -As the saloon has lost its prestige, the bootlegger has -gained, and the “drunks” for which he is responsible -parade the streets or litter the alleys.</p> - -<p>Fruit and soft drink stands and ice-cream cone -peddlers are in evidence since prohibition. Enthusiastic -and persistent bootblacks swarm in the streets -and Gypsy fortune-tellers who hail every passer-by -for the privilege of “reading” his mind, and, perhaps, -in order to turn a trick at his expense.</p> - - -<h3>THE HOUSING PROBLEM</h3> - -<p>Standards of living are low in Hobohemia. Flops -are unwholesome and unsanitary. Efforts have been -made to improve these conditions, but they have not -been wholly successful. The Salvation Army and the -Dawes hotels have improved the lodging-houses. But -the municipal free lodging-house has been opposed by -the police on the ground that it was already too popular -among casual and migratory workers. The same -may be said of any other effort to deal with the -problem from the point of view of philanthropy.</p> - -<p>The only other alternative would seem to be to -encourage the migratory workers to organize to help -themselves. This is difficult but not impossible, but -the history of these efforts is another chapter in the -story of Hobohemia.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>[40]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak left" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV<br /> -<span class="left fs80">“GETTING BY” IN HOBOHEMIA</span></h2> - - -<p class="drop-capy">A man who is conservative can live in Hobohemia -on a dollar a day. If he is not too -fastidious he can live for sixty cents, including a bed -every night. Sleeping in a ten-cent “flop” and sticking -to coffee and rolls, he can get along for fifty -cents. Old men who do not move around much will -live a long time on “coffee-an’,” which they can get -at the average restaurant for a nickel. The man -who is reduced to “coffee-an’,” however, has touched -bedrock.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>An old beggar who lingers about the Olive Branch Mission -on South Desplaines Street claims that if he were guaranteed -forty cents a day he could get on nicely. This would give him -a bed every night and, as he says, a good bed is sometimes better -than a meal.</p> - -<p>The daily routine of this old man’s life rarely takes him -beyond the limits of a single block. On the south side of Madison -Street, between 62 Desplaines Street and the Transedes -Hotel, he is at home. All else is, for him, the open sea. When -he ventures beyond the limits of this area into outlying territory -he plans the trip the day before.</p> - -<p>There are perhaps a hundred old men on South State and -West Madison streets whose interests and ambitions have shrunk -to the same unvarying routine and the same narrow limits.<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> -</div> - - -<p>Every man who enters Hobohemia is struggling to -live above the “coffee-an’” level, and the various -devices that are employed in accomplishing this are -often ingenious. This business of wringing from -chance source enough money each day to supply -one’s insistent wants is known on the “stem” as -“getting by.” “Getting by” may mean anything -from putting in a few hours a day at the most casual<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>[41]</span> -labor to picking a pocket or purloining an overcoat. -It includes working at odd jobs, peddling small -articles, street faking, “putting over” old and new -forms of grafts, “working” the folks at home, -“white collar” begging, stealing, and “jack rolling.”</p> - - -<h3>WORKING AT ODD JOBS</h3> - -<p>In spite of all that has been said to the contrary, -the hobo is a worker. He is not a steady worker but -he earns most of the money he spends. There are -migratory casual workers, who spend three or four -months each year in a Chicago lodging-house, who -never look to the public for assistance. They know -how much money they will need to tide them over -the winter, and they have learned to spread it thin -to make it reach. Casual in their work, they are -conservative in their spending.</p> - -<p>There are others who are never able to save anything. -No matter how much they bring to town -they soon spend it. For these the odd job is the -likeliest means of livelihood. In a city like Chicago -there are almost always opportunities for men who -are content to take small jobs. Every restaurant -must have dishwashers and waiters. Every hotel -needs porters; every saloon or pool hall employs men -to do odd jobs. Petty as these jobs are and little as -they pay, men not only take but seek them. One -man who has been twenty years on West Madison -Street is working as night clerk in a lodging-house; -another does janitor work at nights and loafs daytime; -still another has been for some time a potato -peeler in a Madison Street restaurant.</p> - -<p>Men who spurn steady jobs in favor of petty ones -with pay every night sometimes do so because they<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>[42]</span> -hate to leave the street. Often it is because they are -not properly clad or have no money to pay their way.</p> - - -<h3>PEDDLING A DEVICE FOR “GETTING BY”</h3> - -<p>In the eyes of the law, peddling in Chicago, at -least, is not begging.<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> Nevertheless much of the -peddling in the streets is merely legalized begging. -Usually the articles offered for sale are cheap wares -which are disposed of for whatever “you care to -give.” Not infrequently the buyer gives four times -what the article is worth. There are hundreds of -cripples in Chicago who gain a livelihood by selling -pencils or shoestrings. Many of these are homeless -men. Pencils bought for thirty-five cents a -dozen retail for a dime, or whatever the purchaser -cares to tax himself. A peddler’s license is a protection -against the police and serves as a moral prop to -the beggar.</p> - -<p>A peddler of shoestrings and pencils usually -measures his success by the number of sales made -in which no change is asked. He expects to be -overpaid. Sometimes he persuades himself he is -entitled to be overpaid. The business of “getting -by” by “touching hearts” is usually spoken of as -“work.” A peddler who works the North Side -will say: “I didn’t work yesterday; the day before -I made three dollars and eighty-five cents.” This -man considers himself a <em>real</em> cripple, because he has -locomotor ataxia. He is incensed when he meets a -one-armed peddler, because a man with one arm is -not a real cripple. Real cripples should have first -consideration. An able-bodied man who begs when<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>[43]</span> -broke is beneath contempt. That is “panhandling” -and an able-bodied “panhandler” is always considered -despicable.</p> - -<p>Many peddlers live in Hobohemian hotels, and -spend their leisure on the “stem.” When they go to -“work” they take a car. Some of them have regular -stands. Not infrequently a peddler will assume to -monopolize a position in front of a church or near the -entrance of a factory where girls go and come. Beggars -have a liberal fund of knowledge about pay -days. They know the factories where the workers, -when they have money, are “good.”</p> - - -<h3>STREET FAKING</h3> - -<p>The chief difference between peddling and street -faking is one of method. The peddler appeals to -the individual; the faker appeals to the crowd. -The faker is a salesman. He “pulls” a stunt or -makes a speech to attract the crowd. The peddler -is more than often a beggar. It requires considerably -more initiative and force to play the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">rôle</span> of a -street faker than to peddle.</p> - -<p>Almost any time of the day at some street corner -of the “stem” one may see a faker with a crowd -around him. His wares consist perhaps of combination -sets of cuff buttons and collar buttons, or some -other such “line.” Success depends upon the novelty -of the article offered. A new line of goods is -much sought after and a good street faker changes his -line from time to time. Many fakers are homeless -men. Numbers of the citizens of Hobohemia have -tried their hand at some time or other at this kind of -salesmanship. Those who are able to “put it over” -generally stay with the work.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>[44]</span></p> - -<p>Peddling jewelry is one old device for getting -money, but it is not too old to succeed. There are -men who carry with them cheap rings or watches -which they sell by approaching the prospective -buyers individually. Sometimes they gather a crowd -around them but that rarely succeeds as well as when -they work quietly. A faker may sit beside a man in -a park or approach him on the street and proffer a -ring or watch or pair of eyeglasses for sale cheap, on -the grounds that he is broke. Sometimes he will -pretend that he found the article and would like to -get a little money for it. Often he will tell of some -sentiment connected with an article that he is trying -to dispose of. A man may have a ring that his -mother gave him and he will only part with it on condition -that he might have the privilege of redeeming -it later. If he thought he could not redeem it he -would rather starve than part with it, etc. Hobos -are often the victims as well as the perpetrators of -these fakes.</p> - - -<h3>GRAFTS OLD AND NEW</h3> - -<p>Few of these tricks are new but none of them are -so old that they do not yield some return. They -probably owe their long life to the proverbial identity -of fundamental human nature wherever it is found.</p> - -<p>One of the most ancient and universal forms of -deception is the fake disease. In Hobohemia a pretended -affliction is called “jiggers” or “bugs.”</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>4. L. J. appealed to the Jewish Charities with a letter signed -by a doctor in a hospital in Hot Springs saying that he had -treated L. J. who was suffering from syphilis and that his eyes -were affected and he would “undoubtedly go blind.” It was -learned later that this letter was a forgery as were other credentials -that the man carried. He had been in a hospital and had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>[45]</span> -been treated for a venereal disease. While there he familiarized -himself enough with the terminology of the disease so that he -could talk with some intelligence about his case. He would say -with conviction, “I know I’m going blind before long.” It -further developed that he had been exploiting charity organizations -in several cities. Before his entry upon this deception it -was learned that he had earned a prison record.</p> -</div> - - -<p>An ancient ruse is to feign to be deaf and dumb. -A man who played “deaf-and-dumb” worked restaurants, -drug stores, groceries, and other places of business. -He would enter the places and stand with cap -in hand. Never would he change the expression of -his face, regardless of what was said or done. When -spoken to he would point to his ears and mouth -until he received some money, and then he would -bow. If there was a chance of getting something, he -would never leave a place unless he was in danger of -being thrown out. An investigator followed him for -two hours before he learned he was neither deaf nor -dumb. Three months later he met the same man -working the same graft in another part of the city.</p> - -<p>“The hat trick,” as it is sometimes called, is a -popular means of “getting by.” On a Sunday, a -holiday, or indeed any evening, the streets of Hobohemia -are likely to be enlivened by men who have a -message, haranguing the crowds. They may be -selling papers or books on the proletarian movement. -In any case, most of them terminate their speeches by -passing the hat. Few speakers spend their eloquence -on the audiences of Hobohemia without asking something -in return. It must not be assumed that these -men are all insincere. Many of them are, but most -of them are in the “game” for the money it yields. -One of these orators is conspicuous because his stock<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>[46]</span> -in trade is a confession that he is not like the other -speakers. He admits that he is out for bed and -board. He will talk on any subject, will permit himself -to be laughed at, and jollied by the crowd, but -when he passes the hat he usually gets enough for -another day’s board.</p> - -<p>The missions attract men who are religious primarily -for profit. Many who are really sincere find -it more profitable to be on the Lord’s side. Nearly -every mission has a corps of men who perform the -“hat trick” by going from house to house begging -old clothes or cash or whatever the people care to -give. The collector’s conscience is the only check on -the amount of money taken in. Some missions -divide all cash collections with the solicitors. Sometimes -the collector gets as much as fifty cents on the -dollar.</p> - -<p>The exploitation of children is as old as the history -of vagrancy. Even the tramp has learned that on -the road boys may be used to get money. A boy -can beg better than an older man, and frequently -men will chum with boys for the advantages such -companionships give them. Boys who are new on -the road are often willing to be exploited by a veteran -in exchange for the things they can learn from -him.</p> - - -<h3>“WORKING THE FOLKS”</h3> - -<p>There is a type of tramp who lives on his bad -reputation. He may have been sent away for the -sake of the family, or have fled for safety, or he may -have gone voluntarily to start life anew. Seldom -does he succeed, but family pride stands between -him and his return. He capitalizes the fact that his -family does not want him to return.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>[47]</span></p> - -<p>Such a man resides on South State Street. He -comes from a good family but his relatives do not -care to have him about. He is fat and greasy and -dirty; he seems to have no opinions of his own; is -always getting into people’s way and making himself -disagreeable by his effort to be sociable. His relatives -pay him four dollars a week to stay in Chicago. -On that amount, with what he can earn, he is able -to live.<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p> - -<p>Another man raises funds now and then when he -is broke by writing or telegraphing that he is thinking -about returning home. His return means -trouble. His requests for assistance are a kind -of blackmail levied on the family.<a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p> - - -<h3>“WHITE COLLAR” BEGGING</h3> - -<p>Most interesting among the beggars is the man, -the well-dressed and able-bodied individual, who begs -on the strength of his affiliations. These are the men -who make a specialty of exploiting their membership -in fraternal organizations. Labor unions are very -much imposed upon by men who carry paid-up cards -but who are temporarily “down.” The organizations -as such are not appealed to as much as individual -members. It is hard for a union man who is -working to turn away a brother who shows that he -is in good standing with the organization.</p> - -<p>Of late the “ex-service-man” story has been a -good means of getting consideration, and the American -Legion buttons have been worked to the limit. -Most of the men who wear parts of a uniform or -other insignia indicative of military service have<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>[48]</span> -really seen service and many have seen action, but a -great many of them have heard more than they have -seen.</p> - -<p>There are men who make a specialty of “working” -the charity organizations. Some of them are so -adept that they know beforehand what they will be -asked and have a stereotyped response for every -stereotyped question. These men know a surprising -amount about the inside workings of the charitable -agencies and they generously hand on their information -to their successor. They usually know, for -example, what material aid may be had from each -organization. A typical case is that of Brown.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>5. Brown had not been in Chicago an hour until he had -located the chief organizations to which he might go for help. He -knew that he could check his bag at the Y.M.C.A. He learned -where to go for a bath, where to get clean clothes, how to get a -shave and haircut and he actually succeeded in getting some -money from the United Charities. He was able to “flop” in a -bed even though he came to town without money late in the -afternoon; whereas many other men in the same position would -have been forced to “carry the banner.” He knew about the -charity organizations in all the cities he had visited from the -Atlantic to the Pacific. After his case was traced it was learned -that he told about the same story wherever he went and that he -was known in organizations in all the cities to which he referred. -He is 27 years old and has been living for the most part in institutions -or at the expense of organizations since he was 13.</p> - -<p>6. Another case is that of P. S., a Jewish boy who made his -way between New York and Chicago three times and received -accommodation at the Jewish charity associations in nearly every -big city on his road between here and New York. He is a -mental case and goes to the Charities because of a sense of helplessness. -Since the last contact with him that the Chicago -Jewish charities have had he has learned to get over the country -with a little more confidence but he never fails to hunt up the -welfare organization as soon as he comes to town. He was last -heard of in California.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>[49]</span></p> - - -<h3>BORROWING AND BEGGING</h3> - -<p>Nearly every homeless man “goes broke” at -times. Some of them do not feel that a trip to town -has been a success if they return to the job with -money in their pockets. On the other hand, they do -not feel that they have had their money’s worth -unless they remain in town a week or two after they -have “blown in.” As they linger they face the -problem of living. They may have friends but that is -unusual. The homeless man used to get advances -from the saloon keeper with whom he spent his -money. Such loans were often faithfully made good, -but they were just as often “beat.” Prohibition has -put an end to that kind of philanthropy.</p> - -<p>Many of the men who visit the city intermittently -loaf and work by turns. These men often beg but -they do not remain at it long, perhaps a day or so, or -until disgust seizes them. Often when they beg they -are drunk or “rum-dum.” As soon as they are sober -they quit. Sometimes they succeed in attaching -themselves to a friend who has just arrived with a -“roll.” But living at the expense of another -migrant quickly palls. Soon they will be found -scanning the “boards” for free shipment to another -job. They disappear from the streets for a season. -As soon as they get a “stake,” however, they will be -seen again treating the boys and swapping stories -on the “main stem”; if not in Chicago, then in -some other city. It is the life.</p> - -<p>The more interesting types are those who live -continuously in the city and are broke most of the -time. Some of them have reduced the problem of -“getting by” to an art. The tramp who only -occasionally goes “broke” may try to imitate these<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>[50]</span> -types but he soon tires of the game and goes to work. -The chief classes of beggars are the “panhandlers” -and the “moochers.”</p> - -<p>The “panhandler” can sometimes extract from -the pockets of others what amounts to large sums of -money. Some “panhandlers” are able to beg from -ten to twenty dollars a day. The “panhandler” is -a beggar who knows how to beg without loss of -dignity. He is not docile and fawning. He appeals -in a frank, open manner and usually “comes away -with the goods.” The “moocher” begs for nickels -and dimes. He is an amateur. He goes to the back -door of a house or hotel and asks for a sandwich. -His appeal is to pity.</p> - -<p>The antagonisms between beggars and peddlers are -very keen. The man who carries a permit to peddle -has no respect for the individual who merely begs. -Nevertheless, some peddlers, when business is slow, -themselves turn beggars. On the other hand, the -man who begs professes to consider himself far more -respectable than the peddler who uses his license as -an excuse to get money. This is the language and -opinion of a professional: “Good begging is far more -honorable than bad peddling and most of this shoestring -and lead pencil peddling is bad. I am not -going to beat around the bush. I am not going to do -any of this petty grafting to get enough to live on.”<a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> -These antagonisms are evidence of a struggle for -status. When a peddler denounces the beggars he -is trying to justify himself. His philosophy, like -most philosophies, is an attempt to justify his vocation. -The same is true of plain beggars. Most of -them are able to justify their means of “getting by.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>[51]</span></p> - - -<h3>STEALING</h3> - -<p>Hobos are not clever enough to be first-class -crooks nor daring enough to be classed as criminals. -Yet most of them will steal something to eat. There -are men who are peculiarly expert at stealing food -from back-door steps—pies or cakes that have been -set out to cool, for example. There are men who -wander about the residential areas, in order to steal -from back doors. Some men follow the milkman as -he goes from door to door delivering milk and -cream, in order to steal a bottle when the opportunity -offers. A quart of milk makes an excellent breakfast.</p> - -<p>Stealing becomes serious when men break into -stores and box cars. It is not what they take but -what they spoil that does the damage. This is the -chief complaint of the railroad against the tramp. -In the country the tramp is often destructive to the -orchards he visits. He will shake down more fruit -than he can possibly use and dig up a dozen hills of -potatoes to get enough for a “mulligan.”</p> - - -<h3>“JACK ROLLING”</h3> - -<p>“Jack rolling” may be anything from picking a -man’s pocket in a crowd to robbing him while he is -drunk or asleep. On every “stem” there are a -goodly number of men who occasionally or continually -“roll” their fellow-tramps. Nearly every migrant -who makes periodical trips to the city after -having saved his earnings for three or four months -can tell of at least one encounter with the “jack -roller.” Scarcely a day goes by on Madison Street -but some man is relieved of a “stake” by some<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>[52]</span> -“jack” who will, perhaps, come around later and -join in denouncing men who will rob a workingman.</p> - -<p>The average hobo is often indiscreet with his -money, and especially so when he is drunk. He -often displays it, even scatters it at times. This is a -great temptation to men who have been living “close -to their bellies” for months. As unpopular as the -“jack roller” is among the tramps there are few who -would overlook an opportunity to take a few dollars -from a “drunk,” seeing that he was in possession of -money that someone else was bound to take sooner -or later.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>7. An investigator became acquainted with two men who -were jack rollers who operated on Madison Street west of Halsted. -They were well dressed for the “street” though not so well -groomed as to be conspicuous. The investigator pretended to -them that he had just spent ninety days in the jail in Salt Lake -City for “rolling” a drunk. They had no sympathy for a man -who would get drunk and wallow in the gutter. “He’s not -entitled to have any money.” Neither of these men drank but -they “chased women” and one of them played the races. Neither -had any scruples against taking money from a drunken or -sleeping man. They were able to justify themselves as easily -as the peddlers and beggars do. Said one of them, “Everybody -is eating on everybody he can get at, and they don’t care where -they bite. Believe me, as long as I can play safe I’m going to -get mine.”</p> -</div> - - -<h3>“GETTING BY” IN WINTER</h3> - -<p>During the cold winter months the problem of -“getting by” becomes serious. In the spring, summer, -and fall hobos can sleep in the parks, in vacant -houses, on the docks, in box cars, or in any other -place where they may curl up and pass a few hours -in slumber without fear of disturbance. But finding -“flops” in winter usually engages the best effort -a “bo” can muster. Besides food and shelter, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>[53]</span> -hobo must manage in some way to secure winter -clothing. Above all he needs shelter, and shelter -for the man without money is not easy to find in the -city.</p> - -<p>The best scouting qualities the average man can -command are needed to get along in winter. There -are many places to sleep and loaf during the day, but -the good places are invariably crowded. For sleeping -quarters police stations, railroad depots, doorways, -mission floors, and even poolrooms are pressed -into service. It is not uncommon for men who cannot -find a warm place to sleep to walk the streets -all night. This practice of walking the streets all -night, snatching a wink of sleep here and a little rest -there, is termed, in the parlance of the road, “carrying -the banner.” He who “carries the banner” -during the night usually tries to snatch a bit of sleep -during the day in places he does not have access to -in the night time. He may go into the missions, -but in cold weather the missions are crowded. -They are crowded with men who sit for hours in a -stupor between sleeping and waking. In almost -every mission on the “stem” there are attendants -known as “bouncers,” whose duties during the -meetings are to shake and harass men who have lost -themselves in slumber.</p> - -<p>Lodging-houses are also imposed upon by men -who have no money to pay for a bed but who loaf -in the lobbies during the day. Most lodging-houses -make an effort to keep men out who are not guests. -Fear is instilled into their hearts by occasionally -calling the police to clear the lobbies of loafers. All -who dare spend their leisure time in the public library, -but the average tramp, unkempt and unclean from a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>[54]</span> -night on the street, cannot muster sufficient courage -to enter a public library.</p> - -<p>The missions and other charity organizations play -an important part in supplying the cold-weather -wants of the tramp. They usually make it a point -to get on hand at the beginning of winter a large -supply of overcoats, or “bennies,” and other clothes -that are either sold at moderate prices or are given -away. Such clothes are usually solicited from the -public, and the men on the “stem” believe that they -are entitled to them. Hence each man makes an -effort to get what he feels is coming to him. When -winter comes they begin to bestir themselves and -concoct schemes for securing the desired amount of -clothing to keep out the cold. During the winter -time many of these men will submit to being “converted” -in order to get food and shelter.</p> - -<p>Competition between homeless men in winter is -keen. Food is scarce, jobs are less plentiful, people -are less generous, and there are more men begging. -Many of the short-job men become beggars and a -large number of those who are able to peddle during -the summer likewise enter the ranks of the beggars. -As beggars multiply, the housewife is less generous -with the man at the back door, the man on the street -also hardens his heart, and the police are called on for -protection.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>8. “Fat” is a very efficient “panhandler.” He does not -always “panhandle” but works when the opportunities present -and the weather permits. He gets his money from men on the -street, but he does most of his begging in winter when he cannot -get the courage to leave town. He can beg for three or four -hours and obtain about three dollars in that time. He only -“panhandles” when his money is gone. He has a good personality -and appeals for help in a frank, open manner giving no hard-luck<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>[55]</span> -story. He says that he is a workingman temporarily down -and that he is trying to get some money to leave town. He -does not work the same street every day. He keeps sober.</p> - -<p>He has no moral scruples against begging, nor against work. -He works and works well when circumstances force him to it. -He doesn’t feel mean when out begging or “stemming.” He -looks upon it as a legitimate business and better than stealing, -and so long as the situation is such he might as well make the -best of it. He seldom “panhandles” in summer.</p> - -<p>He has an interesting philosophy. He calculates that according -to the law of averages out of each hundred persons he begs, -a certain number will turn him down, a certain number will -“bawl him out,” a certain number will give him advice, and a -certain number will give him something, and his earnings will -average about three dollars. So he goes at the job with vigor -each time in order to get it over as soon as possible. “You get -to expect about so much police interference and so much opposition -from the people, and you get more of this in winter than in -summer, but that is the case in whatever line you go into.”</p> - -<p>“Fat” works and begs as the notion strikes him but he does -less begging in summer and less work in winter. If he doesn’t -like one city he goes to another. Last winter (1921-22) he was -in Chicago, not because he likes Chicago but because he happened -to be here.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>THE GAME OF “GETTING BY”</h3> - -<p>“Getting by” is a game not without its elements -of fascination. The man who “panhandles” is -getting a compensation that is not wholly measured -by the nickels and dimes he accumulates. Even the -peddler of shoestrings likes to think of “good days” -when he is able to surpass himself. It matters not -by what means “the down-and-out” gets his living; -he manages to find a certain satisfaction in the game. -The necessity of “putting it over” has its own -compensations.</p> - -<p>No group in Hobohemia is wholly without status. -In every group there are classes. In jail grand<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>[56]</span> -larceny is a distinction as against petit larceny. In -Hobohemia men are judged by the methods they use -to “get by.” Begging, faking, and the various other -devices for gaining a livelihood serve to classify these -men among themselves. It matters not where a -man belongs, somewhere he has a place and that -place defines him to himself and to his group. No -matter what means an individual employs to get a -living he struggles to retain some shred of self-respect. -Even the outcast from home and society places a high -value upon his family name.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>9. S. R. is an Englishman fifteen years in this country. -When he came to the United States to earn a “stake” he left his -wife in England. His intention was to save enough money to -send for her. He came here partly to overcome his love for -alcohol but he found as much drink here and it was as accessible. -He earned “big money” as a bricklayer but he never saved any. -He became ashamed of himself after a year or two and ceased to -write to his wife. That is, he had other interests here.</p> - -<p>Today he is a physical wreck. He is paralyzed on one side -and he is also suffering from tuberculosis brought on by injudicious -exposure and drink. He told his story but asked that his -real name, which he told, should not be used. For, he said, “I am -the only one who has ever disgraced that name.”</p> -</div> - - -<p>Several old men on West Madison Street are living -on mere pittances but are too proud to go to the -poorhouse. They much prefer to take their chances -with other mendicants. They want to play the game -to the end. As long as they are able to totter about -the street and hold out their hands they feel that they -are holding their own. To go to an institution -would mean that they had given up. Dependent as -they are and as pitiful as they look, they still have -enough self-respect to resent the thought of complete -surrender.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>[57]</span></p> - -<p>In the game of “getting by” the homeless man is -practically sure sooner or later to lose his economic -independence. At any time (except perhaps in -periods of prolonged unemployment), only a small -proportion of homeless men are grafters, beggars, -fakers, or petty criminals. Yet, all the time, the -migratory casual workers are living from hand to -mouth, always perilously near the margin of dependence. -Consequently, few homeless men have not -been temporary dependents, and great numbers of -them must in time become permanent dependents.</p> - -<p>This process of personal degradation of the migratory -casual worker from economic independence to -pauperism is only an aspect of the play of economic -forces in modern industrial society. Seasonal industries, -business cycles, alternate periods of employment -and of unemployment, the casualization of -industry, have created this great industrial reserve -army of homeless, foot-loose men which concentrates -in periods of slack employment, as winter, in strategic -centers of transportation, our largest cities. They -must live; the majority of them are indispensable in -the present competitive organization of industry; -agencies and persons moved by religious and philanthropic -impulses will continue to alleviate their -condition; and yet their concentration in increasing -numbers in winter in certain areas of our large cities -cannot be regarded otherwise than as a menace. The -policy of allowing the migratory casual laborer to -“get by” is, however, easier and cheaper at the -moment, even if the prevention of the economic -deterioration and personal degradation of the homeless -men would, in the long run, make for social -efficiency and national economy.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="label">[8]</a> See Document 18.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="label">[9]</a> The mayor’s office issued about 6,000 free permits in 1922 to peddle -from house to house (not from wagon or cart), from basket or other receptacle, -only for a period of sixty days.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="label">[10]</a> Unpublished Document 111.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="label">[11]</a> Unpublished Document 112.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="label">[12]</a> Unpublished Document 113.</p> -</div> -</div> - - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>[58-59]</span></p> -<h2>PART II</h2> -<p class="center p1 fs150">TYPES OF HOBOS</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>[60-61]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak left" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V<br /> -<span class="left fs80">WHY DO MEN LEAVE HOME?</span></h2> - - -<p class="drop-capy">Why are there tramps and hobos? What are -the conditions and motives that make migratory -workers, vagrants, homeless men? Attempts -to answer these questions have invariably raised other -questions even more difficult to answer. Homeless -men themselves are not always agreed in regard to -the matter. The younger men put the blame upon -circumstance and external conditions. The older -men, who know life better, are humbler. They are -disposed to go to the other extreme and put all the -blame on themselves.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>10. “My old man tried his d—dest to get me to go to school; -but no, I couldn’t learn anything in school. I could make my -own way. I could get along without the old man or his advice. -Well, when I woke up I was forty years old, of course it was too -late. I couldn’t go back. That’s what’s the matter with half -of these d—d kids on the road. No one can tell them anything. -They’re burning up to learn something on their own hook; and -they’ll learn it, too.”</p> -</div> - - -<p>From the records and observations of a great -many men the reasons why men leave home seem to -fall under several heads: (<em>a</em>) seasonal work and -unemployment, (<em>b</em>) industrial inadequacy, (<em>c</em>) defects -of personality, (<em>d</em>) crises in the life of the person, -(<em>e</em>) racial or national discrimination, and (<em>f</em>) wanderlust.</p> - - -<h3>SEASONAL WORK AND UNEMPLOYMENT</h3> - -<p>Chief among the economic causes why men leave -home are (1) seasonal occupations, (2) local changes -in industry, (3) seasonal fluctuations in the demand -for labor, and (4) periods of unemployment. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62"></a>[62]</span> -cases of homeless men studied in Chicago show how -these conditions of work tend to require and to create -the migratory worker.</p> - -<p>1) The industrial attractions of seasonal work -often make a powerful appeal to the foot-loose man -and boy. A new railroad that is building, a mining -camp just opening up, an oil boom widely advertised, -a bumper crop to be harvested in Kansas or the -Dakotas fire the imagination and bring thousands of -recruits each year into the army of seasonal and -migratory workers.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>11. Fifty-eight years old and born in Belgium. He came to -this country with his parents in 1882. His family moved to a farm -in northern Wisconsin where they remained several years. The -boy worked during his spare time in the woods. His father soon -became tired of farming and decided he could do better in the coal -camps of southern Illinois, for he had been a miner in Belgium. -After the family moved, the boy grew restless in the mining town -and decided to return to his old home town in Wisconsin where -he could get a job in the woods which was more to his liking. For -several years he divided his time between the northern woods in -winter and the mines at his Illinois home in summer. But he -never liked coal mining and later began to go to the harvest -fields for his summer employment. Sometimes he worked on -railroad construction or at other seasonal work. He has spent -several winters in Chicago, and usually (he says) he has been -able to pay his way. However this year, 1921-22, he has been -eating some at the missions.</p> -</div> - - -<p>This case shows the steps by which a stationary -seasonal worker becomes a migratory worker. It -indicates how easily and naturally the migrant may -sink still lower in the economic scale until he spends -his winters in Hobohemia “feeding at the missions.”</p> - -<p>2) Local changes in industry dislocate the routine -of work of the wage-earner. The timber in certain -regions gives out, mines close down when the ore is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63"></a>[63]</span> -exhausted or when prices drop, or in the reorganization -of an industry a branch factory may be abandoned. -Under these circumstances, certain workers -are compelled to look elsewhere for employment. -Those who are free to move naturally migrate. The -following case is that of a migratory worker who -with the passing of the West finds it difficult to make -the necessary adjustment.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>12. A. is the pioneer type of hobo. He came to Chicago -because he was pressed eastward by the closing down of the mines -in the West. He is about fifty years old. He was born in southern -Illinois but grew restless on the farm. He left home in his -teens to drive a team on the railroad grades. He moved West -with the railroad building. He got into the mining game at -Cripple Creek, and then turned prospector. He spent a couple -of years in the mines of Alaska. He has never been able to -attach himself to an old established camp. He has worked in -the mines of northern Michigan but did not like it there. He -regrets that he came East. He says that he was never so hopelessly -down in the West. He plans to go back where he knows -people and where he can go out and get some kind of a job when -he feels like going to work.</p> - -<p>This man always carried a bundle in the West. He laments -that he found it necessary to throw his bed away when he came -East. He claims that a man with a bed and a desire to work can -get along better in the West than he has seen anyone get along -here. Out there he only went to town four or five times a year. -The rest of the time he was out in the hills. Out there he could -always find work (until this recent industrial depression), but -here he has not seen any jobs he cares for.</p> -</div> - - -<p>3) Seasonal fluctuations in the demand for labor -accompanied by the seasonal rise and fall in wages -have greatly affected the ebb and flow of workers.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>Industrial fluctuations may be classed as cyclical and seasonal. -Cyclical fluctuations result from business depressions and -at times double the amount of loss of time during a year, which is -illustrated by the fact that the railroads employed 236,000 fewer<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64"></a>[64]</span> -men in 1908 than in 1907. Seasonal fluctuations may either be -inappreciable, as in municipal utilities, or may displace nearly -the entire labor force. The seasonal fluctuations in the canning -industry in California, for example, involve nearly nine-tenths -of all the workers; in logging camps, which depend upon the -snow, operations are practically suspended in summer; while in -the brick and tile industry only 36.5 per cent of the total number -of employees are retained during the dull season. Irregularities -in the conduct of industry and in the method of employing labor -are evident in dock work, in the unskilled work in iron and steel, -and in slaughtering and meat packing; in the competitive conditions -in industries which force employers to cut labor cost down -to the utmost and to close down in order to save operating -expenses; in speculative practices which result in the piling up -of orders and alternate periods of rush production and inactivity; -in loss of time due to inefficient management within plants. In -some cases it has been charged, although without definite proof, -that irregularity of employment is due to a deliberate policy of -employers in order to lessen the chance of organized movement, -as well as to keep the level of wages down in unskilled occupations -by continually hiring new individuals.<a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p> -</div> - - -<p>4) Periods of unemployment throw hundreds of -thousands of men out of work. But the effects of -unemployment are not ended with the passing of the -period of business depression. The majority of men, -it is true, return to work with their economic efficiency -little if any impaired by the stress and strain -of uncertainty and deprivation. But upon thousands -of men the enforced period of idleness has had -a disorganizing effect.<a id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> The demoralizing effect of -being out of work is particularly marked upon the -unskilled laborer. His regular routine of work has -been interrupted; habits of loafing are easily acquired.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65"></a>[65]</span> -The path of personal degradation may lead to the -“bread line” at the mission, and from there to panhandling -in the Loop.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>An increasingly large number of laborers go downward -instead of upward. Young men, full of ambition and high hopes -for the future start their life as workers, but meeting failure after -failure in establishing themselves in some trade or calling, their -ambitions and hopes go to pieces, and they gradually sink into -the ranks of migratory and casual workers. Continuing their -existence in these ranks they begin to lose self-respect and become -“hobos.” Afterwards, acquiring certain negative habits, as -those of drinking, begging, and losing all self-control, self-respect, -and desire to work, they become “down-and-outs”—tramps, -bums, vagabonds, gamblers, pickpockets, yeggmen, and other -petty criminals—in short, public parasites, the number of whom -seems to be growing faster than the general population.<a id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p> -</div> - - -<h3>THE INDUSTRIALLY INADEQUATE</h3> - -<p>Every year thousands of men fail in the struggle -for existence. For one reason or another, they cannot, -or at least they do not, keep the pace set by -modern large-scale industry. These men are “misfits,” -industrially inadequate.</p> - -<p>The majority of individuals, commonly regarded -as industrially inadequate, are probably feeble-minded -or restless types like the emotionally unstable -and the egocentric and fall into the group of defective -personalities to be considered later. Other causes of -industrial incompetency are (1) physical handicaps -due to accidents, sickness, or occupational diseases; -(2) alcoholism and drug addiction; and (3) old age.</p> - -<p>1) The workers in certain industries are exposed -to dangerous dusts and gases. The printers have -learned the risks of their trade and endeavor to cope -with them. Other industries have taken steps to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66"></a>[66]</span> -eliminate industrial hazards. Many transients are -miners who go from one job to another exposing -themselves to different dangers.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>13. O. O. is fifty-three years old and he has been a migrant -for many years. He has been a lumber jack and a harvest hand. -He has tried his hand at various casual jobs but most of his time -has been spent in the mines. He used to work in the most -dangerous mines because they generally pay the most money. -Three years ago (about 1919) while working in the copper mines -in Butte, Montana, he contracted miner’s “con,” which is some -sort of lung trouble. He had no place to go, could not hold a -job, and has wandered about the country ever since. He has no -hope of regaining his health and is too proud to return to his -people who live in Ohio.</p> -</div> - - -<p>Other industries also have their victims.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>14. G. T. came from the New England states. He was -wandering about the country in hope of regaining his health. -He was a textile worker and claims that the dyes and dust were -the cause of his condition. There was no means at hand of proving -his story but the fact that he was in ill health, very much -underweight, and he was not able to do heavy work. Numerous -times he was rebuked because he asked for light work.</p> -</div> - - -<p>Many men in Hobohemia have limbs or parts of -limbs missing, or bent and twisted bodies. These -are victims of industrial or non-industrial accidents.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>15. Red begs and sometimes peddles pencils along Halsted -Street. He lost his leg several years ago while working in the -coal mines. In his sober moments he claims that his own carelessness -was partly to blame for his loss, but he also holds that -the company was negligent. His leg at first had only been -bruised and he went back to work in a damp, cold place, and -inflammation set in. He has since become accommodated to a -life of begging and peddling.</p> -</div> - - -<p>2) Alcoholism decreases the economic efficiency -of the worker and so tends to depress him into the -group of homeless men. Before prohibition the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67"></a>[67]</span> -saloon had no better patron than the homeless man. -In Chicago today bootleggers and blind pigs in the -vicinity of the “stem” thrive upon the homeless -man’s love for liquor.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>16. E. J. loafs on West Madison Street and South State -Street. He drinks and does not care who knows it. He has -been a drinking man for years. “Booze put me on the bum. -Now, I’m here and I’m too old to be good for anything, so why -not keep it up? You’re goin’ t’ die when your time comes anyway; -so why not keep it up?” His philosophy helps him to -live and he lives as well as he can by begging a little, working when -any jobs come his way. He used to be a carpenter but has lost -his efficiency at that trade. He threw up his membership in -the union several years ago.</p> -</div> - - -<p>Drinking is responsible for keeping many men on -the road. One man said that he left home because -he had too many drinking friends. He has been on -the road for several years but wherever he goes he -finds other drinking friends. An old man refuses to -live with his children in the country because he cannot -get his “morning’s morning” while with them. -They have written him time and again but he does -not answer.</p> - -<p>Drug addiction likewise decreases the industrial -efficiency of its victims. Drug addicts among homeless -men seldom are transient. Those who are -transient are often cocaine users who are able to -do without the drug for considerable periods of time. -Not infrequently “coke heads” or “snow-birds” are -found among the hobo workers. When on out-of-town -jobs, they are prone to go to town occasionally -to indulge in a cocaine spree much as a “booze-hoister” -indulges in a liquor spree. When their -money is gone they return to work and do not touch -the “snow” for weeks or months. Users of heroin or<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68"></a>[68]</span> -morphine are not able to separate themselves from -the source of supply for so long a time.</p> - -<p>Because of the secret nature of the practice, the -extent of drug addiction among homeless men is -unknown. Men who use drugs are loath to disclose -the fact to anyone but drug users. The drug addict -employs every scheme to keep his practice a secret -whereas the drinking man strives to share his joy -with others. The fear of being discovered drives -many addicts from the circle of their family and -friends and many of them drift into the homeless -man areas where they enjoy the maximum seclusion.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>17. The investigator was accosted by a beggar in the Loop. -He was impressed by the fervor and the hurry with which the -man begged him and was away. He followed the man for several -blocks and watched him accost more than a hundred persons, -all men. The only men from whom he failed to solicit were -those accompanied by women. If two men were standing two -or three yards apart he accosted each one individually. Only -one or two men gave him anything. Most of them looked with -suspicion at him, and not without reason, for although he was -fairly well dressed he was very dirty and his clothes looked as if -he had been sleeping out. He had a pallid, leaden complexion, -and he had a ten days’ growth of beard. He had a wild, hunted -expression and impressed the investigator as being a drug addict. -He continued to follow the man and engaged him in conversation. -He learned that he had just beat his way from Boston. He had -ridden passenger trains all the way and had come in less than -three days. His only difficulty was in Buffalo where he says that -a policeman pulled him off the train and beat him. Why he -left Boston he would not say. He denied being a “dope” then -and it was not till three days later when he was seen in Grant -Park that he admitted the fact. He came to Chicago because -he knew more people here and was certain of getting morphine.</p> -</div> - - -<p>Drug users need as much as three or four dollars -a day, and even more, to supply their wants. As a -rule they are physically unfit to earn a living. They<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69"></a>[69]</span> -cannot live as the hobos do because the average hobo -does not have money enough to buy drugs. They -may be forced to live in cheap hotels and to eat in -cheap restaurants but only to save money to satisfy -the craving for “dope.” Drug addicts wander very -little except to make rapid trips from city to city. -The drug addict tends to become a criminal rather -than a migratory worker. Their natural habitat is -the great city.</p> - -<p>3) Many old men in the tramp class are not able to -work and are too independent to go to the almshouse. -Some of them have spent their lives on the road. -These old, homeless men usually find their way to the -larger cities. Unlike the younger men they have no -dreams and no longer burn with the desire to travel. -Many have been self-supporting until they were overtaken -by senility. It is pitiable to see an old man -tottering along the streets living a hand-to-mouth -existence.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>18. J. is an old man who lives in a cheap hotel on South -Desplaines Street, where a few cents a day will house him. He is -seventy-two, very bent and gray. Once he was picked up on -the street in winter and sent to the hospital where he remained a -day or two and was transferred to the poor house at Oak Forest. -He ran away from the poor house two years ago and has managed -to live. He seldom gets more than a block or two from his lodging. -Even today (1923) he may be seen on a cold day shivering -without an overcoat on Madison Street. He is a good beggar -and manages to get from fifty cents to a dollar a day from the -“boys” on the “stem.” Sometimes during the warm weather -he makes excursions of three to five blocks away on begging tours. -He is exceedingly feeble and walking that distance is hard work -for him. Work is out of the question. There are very few -jobs that he could manage.</p> -</div> - - -<p>This case is typical. During the summer time, -when it is possible to sit outdoors in comfort, numbers<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70"></a>[70]</span> -of old men may be found in groups on the pavements -or in the parks. In winter they are too much -occupied seeking food and shelter.</p> - -<p>The physically handicapped and industrially inefficient -individuals are numerous among the homeless -men. The handicap is, in part at least, the reason -of their presence in that class. Competition with -able-bodied workers forces them into the scrap heap.</p> - - -<h3>DEFECTS OF PERSONALITY</h3> - -<p>Psychological and sociological studies of vagabondage -in France, Italy, and Germany have led to -the conclusion that the vagabond is primarily a psychopathic -type.<a id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> The findings of European psychopathologists -are, of course, the result of case-studies -of beggars and wanderers in these countries and cannot -without reservation be accepted for the United -States. Undoubtedly there are large numbers of -individuals with defects of personalities among -American hobos and tramps, but there are also large -numbers of normal individuals. The American tradition -of pioneering, wanderlust, seasonal employment, -attract into the group of wanderers and -migratory workers a great many energetic and -venturesome normal boys and young men.</p> - -<p>William Healy, for several years director of the -Psychopathic Institute of Chicago, sums up the relation -of mental deficiency to vagabondage in these -words:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>We have seen vagabondage in connection with feeble-mindedness, -epilepsy, dementia precox, but we have also seen the -same behavior in normal boys who had conceived a grudge, with -or without good reasons, against home conditions. Again, we<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71"></a>[71]</span> -have seen normal lads who have been seeking larger experiences -in this way.<a id="FNanchor_17" href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> -</div> - - -<p>Dr. Healy’s observations were made primarily -with juveniles, but he adds cautiously a conclusion -as to the explanation of adult vagabondage:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>When vagabondage is continued beyond the unstable years -of adolescence, generalizations on the character of the individuals -are more likely to be correct. But even here the only chance of -adequate conception of the relationship between the behavior -and the type of individual who engages in it is to be found in a -personal study of him.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The proportion of feeble-minded is popularly supposed -to be higher among the migratory and casual -laborer than in the general population. In the -earlier studies, only the most obvious cases of mental -defect were noted. Mrs. Solenberger by common-sense -observation or medical examinations found only -eighty-nine of the one thousand men she examined to -be feeble-minded, epileptic, or insane.<a id="FNanchor_18" href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p> - -<p>In recent years mental tests have been given to -small groups of unemployed men, in which the types -of the hobo, tramp, and bum were well represented. -Knollin found 20 per cent of the 150 hobos he tested -feeble-minded.<a id="FNanchor_19" href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> Pintner and Toops examined two -groups of applicants at Ohio free employment agencies -by standardized tests other than the Stanford revision -of the Binet-Simon. Of the 94 men taking the -tests at Columbus, 28.7 per cent were diagnosed as -feeble-minded. Of the 40 unemployed men examined -at Dayton 7.5 per cent were assigned to the feeble-minded<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72"></a>[72]</span> -class.<a id="FNanchor_20" href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> Glenn R. Johnson gave the Stanford -revision of the Binet-Simon tests to 107 men -out of work in Portland, and found 18 per cent -feeble-minded, i.e., under twelve years mental age.<a id="FNanchor_21" href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> -As he had expected, he found the proportion of inferior -intelligence lower than that of the 62 business -men and high-school students upon which Terman -had standardized his tests for adults, but he also -found among hobos a higher percentage of superior -adults. He found also that the higher the intelligence -of the individual the shorter the period of -holding a job among the unemployed. The testing -of an unselected group of 653 men in the army by -the Stanford revision of the Binet-Simon tests affords -an interesting opportunity for a comparison with the -results of the Portland study.</p> - -<p>This comparison would indicate that the intelligence -of the unemployed is not lower, but, if anything, -higher than that of the adult males tested in -army camps. Apparently other factors than intelligence -are decisive in determining whether an individual -is employable or unemployable, or whether -he makes or fails to make an adequate adjustment in -the normal routine of industrial organization.</p> - -<p>The defects in personality commonly found in the -cases of homeless men studied in Chicago are those -noted by the students of vagabondage and unemployment, -namely, feeble-mindedness, constitutional -inferiority, emotional instability, and egocentricity. -In a survey of 100 cases of unemployment which had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73"></a>[73]</span> -been received as patients in the Boston Psychopathic -Hospital, Dr. Herman M. Adler found that 43 fell -into the class of <em>paranoid personality</em> (egocentricity). -The next largest group of 35 cases was assigned to -the class of <em>inadequate personality</em> (mentally defective -or feeble-minded). The remaining cases, 22 in number, -were diagnosed as <em>emotionally unstable personality</em>. -An analysis of the months employed per case -showed that the emotionally unstable group averages -50 months to each job; the inadequate group -24.7 months to each job; and the paranoid group -20.6 months to each job.<a id="FNanchor_22" href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> - -<p class="center fs80"><span class="smcap">Mental Capacity of Army Group and of Portland -Unemployed as Measured by -Stanford-Binet</span></p> - - -<table class="autotable fs80" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdc dt smcap">Mental Age</td> -<td class="tdc dt bl smcap">Army Group</td> -<td class="tdc dt bl smcap">Portland<br />Unemployed</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"></td> -<td class="tdc bt bl">653 Cases</td> -<td class="tdc bt bl">105 Cases</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl bt "></td> -<td class="tdc bt bl">Per Cent</td> -<td class="tdc bt bl">Per Cent</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlr">5</td> -<td class="tdc bl">0.2</td> -<td class="tdc bl"></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlr">6</td> -<td class="tdc bl">0.3</td> -<td class="tdc bl"></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlr">7</td> -<td class="tdc bl">0.2</td> -<td class="tdc bl">1.9</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlr">8</td> -<td class="tdc bl">3.4</td> -<td class="tdc bl">1.9</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlr">9</td> -<td class="tdc bl">9.5</td> -<td class="tdc bl">3.8</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> 10</td> -<td class="tdc bl">10.1</td> -<td class="tdc bl">6.7</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">11</td> -<td class="tdc bl">10.6</td> -<td class="tdc bl">5.7</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">12</td> -<td class="tdc bl">12.4</td> -<td class="tdc bl">8.6</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">13</td> -<td class="tdc bl">10.6</td> -<td class="tdc bl">16.2</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">14</td> -<td class="tdc bl">11.8</td> -<td class="tdc bl">18.1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">15</td> -<td class="tdc bl">9.6</td> -<td class="tdc bl">11.4</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">16</td> -<td class="tdc bl">8.3</td> -<td class="tdc bl">9.5</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">17</td> -<td class="tdc bl">7.2</td> -<td class="tdc bl">7.6</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">18</td> -<td class="tdc bl">5.2</td> -<td class="tdc bl">7.6</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl bb">19</td> -<td class="tdc bl bb">0.8</td> -<td class="tdc bl bb">2.9</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>Many individuals not feeble-minded find their -way into the group of casual and migratory workers<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74"></a>[74]</span> -by reason of other defects of personality, for example, -emotional instability and egocentricity. Among -transient laborers the very great turnover cannot be -entirely accounted for by industrial conditions. -Much of their shifting from scene to scene is indicative -of their emotional instability and restlessness.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>19. W. E. was born in a little village in Kentucky. His first -job away from home was on the section. When he learned that -it was the meanest job on the railroad he decided to change. He -got a job on an extra-gang where he moved about considerably, -worked in several towns during the summer. Later got a steady -job on a farm but he soon tired of “eating at the same table day -after day” and he went to Kansas City where he worked in a -box factory. He became expert at it but soon tired of using -the same tools, and working as fast as possible day after day, and -he changed. He worked in several factories making boxes but -there was no difference. Then with his meager experience with -tools he got in the maintenance of way work of a railroad. Here -he had some variety and remained a year. Decided he wanted -to work in the mines and he got a job timbering. Later he tried -his hand at millwright work but he soon quit that and went -back to the bridge gang. He still goes to town every month or -two to spend his money and each time he goes out to some -different job.</p> -</div> - - -<p>In hard times when work is scarce and wages are -low, voluntary quitting of jobs is much less than in -good times. Hobos are easily piqued and they will -“walk off” the job on the slightest pretext, even when -they have the best jobs and living conditions are -relatively good. Hobo philosophy is disposed to -represent the man who is a long time on the job as a -piker. He ought to leave a job once in a while simply -to assert his independence and to learn something -else about other jobs. The following case shows the -relation of instability and egocentricity to labor -turnover:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75"></a>[75]</span></p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>20. Yes, Pete had had plenty of good jobs, but something had -always gone against him. At one place not long ago they wanted -him to continue work in spite of the dust which was blowing -everywhere. Another rude employer never spoke to him (or any -other of the employees) politely.</p> - -<p>No one should work for a man like that. Upon another -occasion the boss suggested reform of a certain habit—as if he -had any right to tell an American citizen what he ought to do.</p> - -<p>He had worked at almost everything, but it went against -his very nature to do one thing very long. He would, in two or -three weeks, quit and look for a different occupation. Why he -quit, I am sure he didn’t know. “Independence,” “Justice,” -and “American Equality” furnished the material for his excuses, -but they were only excuses.</p> -</div> - - -<p>A survey of the so-called “intellectuals” of Hobohemia -reveals a group of egocentric and rebellious -natures who decry most things that are. Intellectuals, -just because they are highly organized and -specialized, are very likely to become misfits outside -of the environment to which they artificially are -adapted. When, added to this handicap, they lack -the discipline which a regular occupation affords they -are likely to become quite impossible.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>21. H. has a great chart that he uses to preach evolution to -the curbstone audiences. He has learned a few scientific terms -from one or two books he has read. He has no use for the modern -scientists. He considers them heretic. He is a student of Darwin -“and those old-timers.” When pinned down he is not able -to discuss clearly what contributions the old-timers made or -what they believed.</p> - -<p>22. D. H. is a student of economics according to Karl Marx. -He has no room in his thinking for any contribution of any other -man. Indeed, he does not think that anyone has made any -contribution since Marx. One of his stock phrases is “Now get -this into your heads. I am making it simple so that you can -understand it.”</p> - -<p>23. B. is writing a novel. He has been working on it for -several years. He also writes songs, popular songs. But he has<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76"></a>[76]</span> -never sold a song nor has he ever been able to interest a publisher -in his novel. He calls the publishers a lot of grafters and claims -that they are in league to keep the poor writers down.</p> - -<p>24. L. is a soap-box orator. He has one hobby. He is a -single-taxer. He is a great believer in Lincoln, Washington, -Jefferson. To him there is only one problem, to find out who is -exploiting the people, and there is only one remedy and that the -single tax. He will entertain no argument against the single tax. -Anyone who does not share his opinion is to be pitied.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The intellectuals are frequently egocentric. They -are obsessed by some peculiar point of view. As -egocentrics they are in conflict with the rest of the -world. Their cry is often a lament and just as often -a justification or defense.</p> - -<p>A study of individual cases seems to indicate that -there is a large proportion of inadequate personalities -among homeless men. The following cases indicate -the variety of ways in which personal defects lead -to a migratory existence which lands them eventually -at the bottom of the social scale.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>25. D. is a man who could not get along at home. He was -continually into difficulty with his father. He always had ideas -and schemes that his father thought foolish and he was never -permitted to carry any of them out. He still has the habit of -working up schemes and programs. One week he will be writing -a play. Again he will be inventing some mechanical device. He -has tried several different courses in mechanical engineering but -has not completed any of them.</p> - -<p>26. F. has an idea that he can become a singer but he refuses -to spend his time in the rigid and arduous training that would be -required. He buys cheap books on voice culture. When he gets -money enough ahead to take lessons he forgets his musical ambition -and drinks or gambles.</p> - -<p>27. L. was the “simple Simon” in his home town. During the -war he was rejected for military service so he decided to go to -the city to work. Here he earned fair money, more than at home. -The people at home used to tease him but at first he got by fairly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77"></a>[77]</span> -well in Minneapolis. Later he went to Detroit because the -fellows where he worked in Minneapolis used “to run him.” -They used to tease him in Detroit and he left two jobs there on -that account. He is the type of person that invites teasing. He -puts himself in the way of it but resents it if it reaches a certain -extent. With the slack season in industry in 1921-22 he had a -hard time to get along but he would not return home.</p> - -<p>28. H. is a man who thinks that he is getting the worst of -every deal he has with others. He says that at home he was -imposed on by his people so he left. He is always on the lookout -for plots directed against him. If he is working along with others -on a job and a bad piece of work falls his way he concludes that -it happened purposely. However, he is ready to gloat over -favors. His best efforts are made to ingratiate himself with -others. Whenever he leaves a place, he does so with bitterness -in his heart. He usually keeps his grudge to himself.</p> - -<p>29. M. is a good worker but a transient. He behaves well -when sober but he becomes quarrelsome when drunk. If he is -not discharged because of a drunken scene he usually quits voluntarily -because he feels ashamed of himself. He argues a great -deal when sober but he has the ability to control himself. His -periods of drunkenness last from a week to ten days and are -staged whenever his finances will permit. Not infrequently he is -arrested while drunk.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>CRISES IN THE LIFE OF THE PERSON</h3> - -<p>Crises in the life of the person, as family conflict, -for example, the feeling of failure, disgrace or embarrassment, -the fear of punishment for the commission -of an offense may cause a man to desert home and -community. With the severance of family and social -ties the man or boy is all the more likely to drift -aimlessly from place to place, and at last perhaps -find himself permanently in the group of migratory -and casual laborers.</p> - -<p>Conflict at home forces many men and boys into -the group of homeless men. Not infrequently boys -run away from home because of difficulties with their<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78"></a>[78]</span> -people. One youth says that his father tried to tell -him “where to head in at,” and he “wouldn’t stand -for it.” Another boy could not get along with his -brothers who were older than he. They tried to -“boss” him.</p> - -<p>Many men in Hobohemia manifest no inclination -to wander but are as completely cut off from their -home associations as are the migrants. These men -of the “home guard” types may have had trouble -with their parents or with their wives.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>30. H. claims that he was married and that he held a job as -traveling salesman. He maintained an apartment on the South -Side where he left his wife while he was away on trips through the -Southwest. His story is that his wife was untrue to him and he -divorced her. This experience “broke him up” so that he quit -his job and went West where he remained a year. Today he -loafs on West Madison Street and blames his wife for his failure -in life. The divorced wife’s story learned from other sources -lays considerable of the responsibility at his feet. This much of -his story is true: he was not in the tramp class before he married. -The circumstances surrounding his home trouble were unfortunate -and were partly due to the shortcomings of both.</p> - -<p>31. G. lays the blame for his condition upon family trouble. -He has not lived with his wife for nine years. They are not -divorced because he and his wife are both Catholic and do not -believe in it. He worked most of the time before their separation -and claims that he owned his own home which is now in the possession -of his wife. What his wife is doing now he does not know -nor does he know anything about their child. He is content -where he is; doing just enough work to pay expenses.</p> -</div> - - -<p>Deaths in a family will sometimes turn a person -out into the world and he may drift into the hobo and -tramp group.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>32. M.’s father died when he was about six years old. Five -years later his mother died. Kindly neighbors took him in -charge by turns. It seemed to him that wherever he was the -people would parade the fact that they were taking “care of”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79"></a>[79]</span> -someone else’s child. It was charity. He stayed with several -different families. Some of them he liked and others he didn’t. -Some sent him to school and others didn’t seem to care what -became of him. More than one family tried to pass him on to -others on the ground that it was too much of an expense. When -he began to be old enough to work then they all wanted him. -He hated it all so he left the country. He came through Chicago -on his way to Texas. (A sixteen-year-old boy and small for his -age.) He said he had a brother in the cavalry who was stationed -in Texas. The brother tried to persuade him to wait till he had -saved enough money to pay his fare but he preferred to take his -“chances,” so he was “beating his way.”</p> -</div> - - -<p>Embarrassing situations often make it easier to -leave home than to remain and face the criticism or -sympathy of the public. On the road, a man is more -or less immune to attacks upon his self-consciousness -and self-respect, for his relations to other persons are -loose and transient and he has no status to maintain. -The opposite is true in his home town where his every -act is known.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>33. One man who works in and near Chicago claims that he -was put on the “bum” by a woman. He was to have been married -to this girl and prepared for the wedding in good faith. A few -days before the ceremony she ran away with another man. He -was laughed at by his friends and rather than remain and for a -long time be the butt of the joke, he packed his things and has -not been back since. His home is in a country town in southern -Illinois, and although he has been near the place several times -during the past ten years he has never returned.</p> - -<p>34. F. is another case of injured pride. For some boyish -prank he had been sent to the reformatory for three years. Upon -his release he was given transportation home and started in high -glee. His people met him at the station and took him home. -Although he was treated well he felt uncomfortable. “They -treated me good because I happened to be a part of the family. -I felt like I didn’t belong there, so as soon as it got dark I skinned -out. They write to me to come back and maybe I will after a -while.” He is an average man of the migratory worker type.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80"></a>[80]</span> -He comes to Chicago when he has money and when he is “broke” -he goes out on some job and is not seen for two or three months -or until he has another stake. He gets arrested now and then -but only on petty offenses that he commits while drunk.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The following case shows that a sense of failure -and fear of ridicule may force a boy to leave his home -community:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>35. This lad was working in a grocery store at the age of -twelve. He became dissatisfied with the job and asked for a raise -which was denied. He was somewhat embarrassed at being set -back and lest he be laughed at for staying on after making a -demand he quit. Someone asked him what he would do since -there was no other job to be had. This was really another -challenge and he met it with the reply that Podunk was not the -only place to work. He left home to make his bluff good.</p> - -<p>He met with many reverses. He was small and no one -wanted to hire him. So he begged and he “managed.” Sometimes -he did odd jobs, but he didn’t go home. Other people had -left home and come back beaten and had to take the “horse -laugh” and he did not admire any of them. He couldn’t think -of going back unless he had more money than when he left and -better clothes, so he went on. He learned to like the road and -he traveled over the country for about two years before he went -back. When he did return he was in a position to talk. He had -some money to spend, he had seen the country. He had been -East and West, and he had been to sea. He had something to -talk about. But he only remained in his home town long enough -to stir up admiration and envy and he was off again. He is still -under twenty-one and is still traveling in response to the same -urge.</p> -</div> - - -<p>Other individuals began their migratory career by -fleeing from the consequences of some offense. If -the offense is of such gravity that the consequences -seem to outweigh the advantages of remaining in -the community, then flight is the natural course.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>36. A. states that he left home to avoid the wrath of his -father. He had been to town with the horse and buggy. On the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81"></a>[81]</span> -way home the horse became excited, left the road, ran into a -post, and broke the buggy. His father was absent for the day -and he and his brothers tried to repair the buggy so that the -parent would not suspect. It could not be fixed and they all -knew what the consequences would be. The brothers helped him -pack up and he ran away. He did not return for three years; -then it was only to remain for a short time.</p> - -<p>37. Red left home because he feared the consequences of an -affair with a woman. He claims that the woman had relations -with another man and that he was not sure that the child would -be his. The other man was a Mexican and Red says that he has -heard since that the child is a dark-skinned little fellow and that -eases his conscience.</p> - -<p>38. O. could not get along with his wife. They were divorced -and he was ordered by the court to pay her thirty dollars a -month. He paid it faithfully for a couple of months and then -failed for a month or two. She had him arrested and he agreed -to make good. As soon as he was released, he fled the country. -He has been living in and about Chicago the past year. It has -been two or three years since he left home. He has not communicated -with his home because he fears arrest. His alimony -bill has mounted to terrifying proportions. He hopes that his -wife is married again.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>RACIAL AND NATIONAL DISCRIMINATION</h3> - -<p>In certain situations racial or national traits cause -discrimination in employment and so result in a -descent from regular to casual work. So far as selection -for employment is adverse to the Negroes they -tend to recruit the ranks of homeless men. During -the war, a much higher proportion of foreign-born of -German origin was observed on West Madison Street -than had previously been reported. Interviews with -certain Russians on the “main stem” in the spring -of 1922 suggest that the public disapproval of -Bolshevism had reacted unfavorably on the chances -for employment of this nationality in the United -States.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82"></a>[82]</span></p> - - -<h3>WANDERLUST</h3> - -<p>Wanderlust is a longing for new experience. It is -the yearning to see new places, to feel the thrill of -new sensations, to encounter new situations, and to -know the freedom and the exhilaration of being a -stranger.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>In its pure form the desire for new experience results in -motion, change, danger, instability, social irresponsibility. It is -to be seen in simple form in the prowling and meddling activities -of the child, and the love of adventure and travel in the boy and -man. It ranges in moral quality from the pursuit of game and -the pursuit of pleasure to the pursuit of knowledge and the -pursuit of ideals. It is found equally in the vagabond and the -scientific explorer.<a id="FNanchor_23" href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p> - -<p>Even those of us who seem to have settled down quite comfortably -to exacting routine are sometimes intolerably stirred by -the wanderlust. It comes upon us unaware; and often we cut -away and go. There are automobiles, railway cars, steamships, -airplanes—serving little other purpose, really, than the gratification -of wander tendencies. Usually we do not say it so openly of -course; we make good reasons for travelling, for not “staying -put.” Many a business man has developed a perfect technique -for escaping from his rut; many a laborer has invented a physical -inability to work steadily that lets him out into the drifting -current when monotony sets in on the job. Life is full of these -moral side doors; but we need not view man’s rationalizing power -cynically, merely understandingly. The escapes he contrives -are a damaging critique of the modern mode of life. We may -infer from them the superior adjustments we strive so blindly -toward.<a id="FNanchor_24" href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> -</div> - - -<p>Wanderlust is a wish of the person. Its expression -in the form of tramping, “making” the harvest -field, roughing it, pioneering, is a social pattern of -American life. The fascination of the life of the -road is, in part, disclosed in the following case-study.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83"></a>[83]</span></p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>39. S. who is 19 years old has been a wanderer for nearly four -years. He does not know why he travels except that he gets thrills -out of it. He says that there is nothing that he likes better -than to catch trains out of a town where the police are rather -strict. When he can outwit the “bulls” he gets a “kick” out -of it. He would rather ride the passenger trains than the -freights because he can “get there” quicker, and then, they are -watched closer. He likes to tell of making “big jumps” on -passenger trains as from the coast to Chicago in five days, or from -Chicago to Kansas City or Omaha in one day. He only works -long enough in one place to get a “grubstake,” or enough money -to live on for a few days.</p> - -<p>He says that he knows that he would be better off if he would -settle down at some steady job. He has tried it a few times but -the monotony of it made him so restless that he had to leave. -He thinks that he might be able to stay in a city if he had a steady -job and he agreed to take such a job if he could get it. Jobs were -scarce and the investigator promised to take him to the United -Charities to help him get placed.</p> - -<p>The following morning the lad came to the office with another -boy with whom he had become acquainted that morning. He -had changed his mind about that job but wanted to thank -everyone who had taken an interest in him. He and his “buddy” -were going to “make the Harvest.”</p> -</div> - - -<p>The longing to see the world is often stimulated -in a boy by reason of the experiences of some relative -or friend whom he admires. One boy went on the -road because of the influence his uncle had upon him. -The uncle did not advise him to leave home, in fact, -he did not know very much about the boy. But the -uncle had been to war, and had traveled in China, -Alaska, and South America. The boy had to go on -the road to become disillusioned. He now knows -that his uncle is a plain tramp and that he himself has -become a hobo.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>40. W. left home when he was sixteen. He was the oldest -of a family of five boys and three girls. His father owned a farm -in Michigan and was usually hard pressed for means. He<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84"></a>[84]</span> -needed help at home and so W. was kept out of school a great -deal. When he did go to school it was hard for him to learn. -When the father saw that the younger boys were passing W. in -school he decided that it was time wasted to send W. to school. -W. was big for his age and the father imposed more work on him -than on the other boys who were smaller. W. felt that he was -not getting a square deal so he ran away.</p> - -<p>He remained away a year before he dared to write. One -reason he did not write sooner was because he was not earning -much money, and the other reason was that he feared his father -would hunt him down and force him to return. When he felt secure -he wrote more frequently and most of his letters were boastful. -He told of prospering and he moved from place to place -often to show the other children at home that he could go and -come as he pleased. He traveled in different parts of the country -and from each part he would write painting his experiences in a -rosy hue.</p> - -<p>He succeeded in stirring up unrest in the hearts of the other -boys who left home one by one. In about two years N. followed -W. L. soon began to feel that he too could make “his way” so -he left. All five of the boys left home before they were sixteen. -Each felt that he was wasting his time about home while the -other boys were seeing the country and making good money. -Only one of the five boys returned home. The others roamed -the country following migratory work. One married but only -lived with his wife a year and then deserted her.</p> - -<p>The father always blamed W. for leading the boys away. -W. used to send presents to the other members of the family. -He used to send the mother money now and then. He was the -idol of the rest of the children and they left home to follow in -his footsteps.</p> -</div> - - -<p>A visit to the “jungles” at the junction of any -railroad or at the outskirts of any large city or even -small town reveals the extent to which the tramp is -consciously and enthusiastically imitated. Around -the camp fire watching the coffee pot boil or the -“mulligan” cook, the boys are often found mingling -with the tramps and listening in on their stories of -adventure.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85"></a>[85]</span></p> - -<p>To boys the tramp is not a problem, but a human -being, and an interesting one at that. He has no -cares nor burdens to hold him down. All he is concerned -with is to live and seek adventure, and in this -he personifies the heroes in the stories the boys have -read. Tramp life is an invitation to a career of -varied experiences and adventures. All this is a -promise and a challenge. A promise that all the -wishes that disturb him shall be fulfilled and a -challenge to leave the work-a-day world that he is -bound to.</p> - - -<h3>THE MULTIPLE EXPLANATION</h3> - -<p>No single cause can be found to explain how a man -may be reduced to the status of a homeless, migratory, -and casual laborer. In any given case all of -the factors analyzed above may have entered into -the process of economic and social degradation. -Indeed, the conjunction of several of these causes is -necessary to explain the extent and the nature of -the casualization and mobility of labor in this -country. Unemployment and seasonal work disorganize -the routine of life of the individual worker -and destroy regular habits of work but at the same -time thousands of boys and men moved by wanderlust -are eager to escape the monotony of stable and -settled existence. No matter how perfect a social -and economic order may yet be devised there will -always remain certain “misfits,” the industrially -inadequate, the unstable and egocentric, who will -ever tend to conflict with constituted authority in -industry, society, and government.</p> - -<p>The description, however, of these causes of -vagabondage—(<em>a</em>) unemployment and seasonal work,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86"></a>[86]</span> -(<em>b</em>) industrial inadequacy, (<em>c</em>) defects of personality, -(<em>d</em>) crises in the life of the person, (<em>e</em>) racial or national -discrimination, (<em>f</em>) wanderlust—is a necessary condition -to any solution of the problem of the homeless -man. A program is remedial and not preventive -that does not grapple with the fundamental causes -here revealed. These causes have roots at the very -core of our American life, in our industrial system, -in education, cultural and vocational, in family relations, -in the problems of racial and immigrant adjustment, -and in the opportunity offered or denied by -society for the expression of the wishes of the person.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13" class="label">[13]</a> <cite>Final Report of the Commission on Industrial Relations</cite> (1915), pp. 163-64.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14" class="label">[14]</a> B. Seebohm Rountree, <cite>Unemployment; A Social Study</cite>. London, 1911. -See especially chap. vii, “Detailed Descriptions of Selected Families,” where -the demoralizing effects of unemployment upon the laborer are clearly indicated.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15" class="label">[15]</a> <cite>Final Report of the Commission on Industrial Relations</cite> (1915), p. 157.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16" class="label">[16]</a> See Bibliography, p. 287.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_17" href="#FNanchor_17" class="label">[17]</a> <cite>The Individual Delinquent</cite>, pp. 776-79.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_18" href="#FNanchor_18" class="label">[18]</a> <cite>One Thousand Homeless Men</cite>, pp. 88-89.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_19" href="#FNanchor_19" class="label">[19]</a> L. M. Terman, <cite>The Measurement of Intelligence</cite>, p. 18.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_20" href="#FNanchor_20" class="label">[20]</a> Rudolph Pintner and H. A. Toops, “Mental Tests of Unemployed Men,” -<cite>Journal of Applied Psychology</cite>, I (1917), 325-41; II (1918), 15-25.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_21" href="#FNanchor_21" class="label">[21]</a> “Unemployment and Feeble-mindedness,” <cite>Journal of Delinquency</cite>, II -(1917), 59-73.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_22" href="#FNanchor_22" class="label">[22]</a> Herman M. Adler, “Unemployment and Personality—A Study of Psychopathic -Cases,” <cite>Mental Hygiene</cite>, I (January, 1917), 16-24.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_23" href="#FNanchor_23" class="label">[23]</a> R. E. Park and H. A. Miller, <cite>Old World Traits Transplanted</cite>, p. 27.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_24" href="#FNanchor_24" class="label">[24]</a> Rexford Tugwell, “The Gypsy Strain,” <cite>Pacific Review</cite>, pp. 177-78.</p> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87"></a>[87]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak left" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI<br /> -<span class="left fs80">THE HOBO AND THE TRAMP</span></h2> - - -<p class="drop-capy">The term “homeless man” was used by Mrs. -Alice W. Solenberger in her study of 1,000 cases -in Chicago to include all types of unattached men, -tramps, hobos, bums, and the other nameless varieties -of the “go-abouts.”</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>Almost all “tramps” are “homeless men” but by no means -are all homeless men tramps. The homeless man may be an -able-bodied workman without a family; he may be a runaway -boy, a consumptive temporarily stranded on his way to a health -resort, an irresponsible, feeble-minded, or insane man, but unless -he is also a professional wanderer he is not a “tramp.”<a id="FNanchor_25" href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p> -</div> - - -<p>There is no better term at hand than “homeless -men” by which the men who inhabit Hobohemia may -be characterized. Dr. Ben L. Reitman, who has -himself traveled as a tramp, in the sense in which he -uses the word, has defined the three principal types -of the hobo. He says:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>There are three types of the genus vagrant: the hobo, the -tramp, and the bum. The hobo works and wanders, the tramp -dreams and wanders and the bum drinks and wanders.</p> -</div> - - -<p>St. John Tucker, formerly the president of the -“Hobo College” in Chicago, gives the same classification -with a slightly different definition:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>A hobo is a migratory worker. A tramp is a migratory non-worker. -A bum is a stationary non-worker. Upon the labor of -the <em>migratory worker</em> all the basic industries depend. He goes -forth from the crowded slavemarkets to hew the forests, build -and repair the railroads, tunnel mountains and build ravines. -His is the labor that harvests the wheat in the fall and cuts the -ice in the winter. All of these are hobos.</p> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88"></a>[88]</span></p> - -<p>M. Kuhn, of St. Louis (and elsewhere), a migrant, -a writer, and, according to his own definition, a hobo, -in a pamphlet entitled “The Hobo Problem” gives -a fairly representative statement of the homeless -man’s explanation of his lot.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>The hobo is a seasonal, transient, migratory worker of -either sex. Being a seasonal worker he is necessarily idle much -of the time; being transient, he is necessarily homeless. He is -detached from the soil and the fireside. By the nature of his -work and not by his own will, he is precluded from establishing -a home and rearing a family. Sex, poverty, habits and degree -of skill have nothing whatever to do with classifying individuals -as hobos; the character of his work does that.</p> - -<p>There are individuals not hobos who pose as such. They are -enabled to do this for two reasons: first, hobos have no organization -by which they can expose the impostor; second, the frauds -are encouraged and made possible by organized and private -charity. The hobo class, therefore, is unable to rid itself of this -extremely undesirable element. With organization it can and -will be done even if charity, which is strongly opposed by the -hobo class, is not abolished.</p> -</div> - - -<p>Nicholas Klein, president of the “Hobo College” -and attorney and adviser to James Eads How, the -so-called hobo millionaire, who finances the “Hobo -College,” says:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>A hobo is one who travels in search of work, the migratory -worker who must go about to find employment. Workers of -that sort pick our berries, fruit, hops, and help to harvest the -crops on the western farms. They follow the seasons around -giving their time to farms in spring, summer, and autumn, and -ending up in the ice fields in winter. We could not get in our -crops without them for the hobo is the boy who does the work. -The name originated from the words “hoe-boy” plainly derived -from work on the farm. A tramp is one who travels but does not -work, and a bum is a man who stays in one place and does not -work. Between these grades there is a great gulf of social distinction. -Don’t get tramps and hobos mixed. They are quite -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89"></a>[89]</span>different in many respects. The chief difference being that the -hobo will work and the tramp will not, preferring to live on what -he can pick up at back doors as he makes his way through the -country.<a id="FNanchor_26" href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> -</div> - - -<div class="figcenter illowp70 " id="i_089a" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_089a.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">LEADERS IN THE EDUCATIONAL MOVEMENT AMONG THE HOBOS</div> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter illowp70 " id="i_089b" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_089b.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">A POPULAR RESORT IN HOBOHEMIA</div> -</div> - - -<p>Roger Payne, A.B. and LL.B., who has taken -upon himself the title “hobo philosopher,” sees only -one type of the wanderer and that is the hobo. The -hobo to him is a migratory worker. If he works but -does not migrate, or if he migrates but does not work, -he is not a hobo. All others are either tramps or -bums. He makes no distinction between them. -The hobo, foot-loose and care-free, leads, Mr. Payne -thinks, the ideal life.</p> - -<p>Although we cannot draw lines closely, it seems -clear that there are at least five types of homeless -men: (<em>a</em>) the seasonal worker,<a id="FNanchor_27" href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> (<em>b</em>) the transient or -occasional worker or hobo, (<em>c</em>) the tramp who -“dreams and wanders” and works only when it is -convenient, (<em>d</em>) the bum who seldom wanders and -seldom works, and (<em>e</em>) the home guard who lives in -Hobohemia and does not leave town.<a id="FNanchor_28" href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> - - -<h3>THE SEASONAL WORKER</h3> - -<p>Seasonal workers are men who have definite -occupations in different seasons. The yearly circuit -of their labors takes them about the country, often -into several different states. These men may work -in the clothing industries during cold weather but -in summer are employed at odd jobs; or they may -have steady work in summer and do odd jobs in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90"></a>[90]</span> -winter. One man picks fruit in summer and works -as a machinist in winter. He does not spend his -summers in the same state nor his winters in the -same city but follows those two occupations throughout -the year.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>41. Bill S. is a Scotchman and a seasonal worker. During -the winter he is usually in Chicago. He works as a practical -nurse. He is efficient and well liked by his patients and a -steady worker during the winter. In summer he quits and goes -to the harvest fields or works on a construction job. Since leaving -his winter job (March to October, 1922) he has had several -jobs out of Chicago none of which lasted more than a week or -two. Between times he loafs on West Madison Street. He -does not drink. He is well behaved. Seldom dresses up. When -last heard of he was in Kansas City, Missouri, where he thought -he would spend the winter.</p> - -<p>42. Jack M. works on the lake boats during the sailing season. -When the boats tie up for the winter he tries to get into the -factories, or he goes to the woods. Sometimes during the tie-up -he takes a notion to travel and goes West or South to while away -the time. He has just returned from a trip East and South -where he has been “seeking work” and “killing time” a week or -so before the season opened. He has already signed up for the -summer. He is loafing and lodging in the meanwhile on West -Madison and South State streets.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The seasonal worker has a particular kind of work -that he follows somewhere at least part of the year. -The hotels of Hobohemia are a winter resort for -many of these seasonal workers whose schedule is -relatively fixed and habitudinal. Some of these who -return to the city regularly every winter come with -money. In that case, they do not work until next -season. Others return without money. They have -some kind of work which they follow in the winter. -The hobo, proper, is a transient worker without a -program.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91"></a>[91]</span></p> - - -<h3>THE HOBO</h3> - -<p>A hobo is a migratory worker in the strict sense of -the word. He works at whatever is convenient in the -mills, the shops, the mines, the harvests, or any of -the numerous jobs that come his way without regard -for the times or the seasons. The range of his activities -is nation wide and with many hobos it is international. -He may cross a continent between jobs. -He may be able in one year to function in several -industries. He may have a trade or even a profession. -He may even be reduced to begging between -jobs, but his living is primarily gained by work and -that puts him in the hobo class.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>43. E. J. is a carpenter. He was at one time a good workman -but due to drink and dissipation he has lost his ability to do -fine work and has been reduced to the status of a rough carpenter. -At present he follows bridge work and concrete form work. -Sometimes he tries his hand at plain house carpentry but due to -the fact that he moves about so much, he has lost or disposed -of many of his tools. A spree lasts about three weeks and he -has about three or four a year. Sometimes he travels without his -kit and does not work at his trade. He never drinks while working. -It is only when he goes to town to spend his vacations that -he gets drunk. He is restless and uncomfortable and does not -know how to occupy his mind when he is in town and sober. -He is fifty-six years old. He never married and never has had -a home since he was a boy.</p> - -<p>44. M. P. is interesting because he has a trade but does not -follow it seasonally. He is a plasterer and he seems to be a good -one. In his youth he learned the trade of stone mason. He -came to this country from England in his twenties and he is past -fifty now. He married in Pennsylvania where his wife died and -where a daughter still lives. He became a wanderer and for -many years did not work at his trade. He did various kinds of -work as the notion came to him. As he is getting older he is -less inclined to wander and he makes fewer excursions into other -lines of work outside his trade. During the past year he has not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92"></a>[92]</span> -left Chicago and he has done little other than to work as a -plasterer. He lives in the Hobohemian areas and is able to get -along two or three weeks on a few days’ work. He seldom works -more than a week at a time. He takes a lively interest in the -hobo movement of the city and has been actively engaged in the -“Hobo College.” Recently he won a lot in a raffle. It is located -in the suburbs of the city. During the summer (1922) he had -a camp out there and he and his friends from Madison Street -spent considerable time in his private “jungle.”</p> -</div> - - -<p>The hobo group comprises the bulk of the migratory -workers, in fact, nearly all migrants in transit -are hobos of one sort or other. Hobos have a romantic -place in our history. From the beginning they have -been numbered among the pioneers. They have -played an important <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">rôle</span> in reclaiming the desert -and in subduing the trackless forests. They have -contributed more to the open, frank, and adventurous -spirit of the Old West than we are always willing -to admit. They are, as it were, belated frontiersmen. -Their presence in the migrant group has been the -chief factor in making the American vagabond class -different from that of any other country.</p> - -<p>It is difficult to classify the numerous types of -hobos. The habits, type of work, the routes of -travel, etc., seem to differ with each individual. -Some live more parasitic lives than others. Some -never beg or get drunk, while others never come to -town without getting intoxicated and being robbed -or arrested, and perhaps beaten. One common characteristic -of the hobo, however, is that he works. He -usually has horny hands and a worker’s mien. He -aims to live by his labor.</p> - -<p>As there are different types of homeless men, so -different varieties of this particular brand, the hobo, -may be differentiated. A part of the hobo group<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93"></a>[93]</span> -known as “harvest hands” follows the harvest and -other agricultural occupations of seasonal nature. -Another segment of the group works in the lumber -woods and are known as “lumber jacks” or -“timber beasts.” A third group is employed in -construction and maintenance work. A “gandy -dancer” is a man who works on the railroad track -tamping ties. If he works on the section he may -be called a “snipe” or a “jerry.”</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>A “skinner” is a man who drives horses or mules.</p> - -<p>A “mucker” or a “shovel stiff” is a man who does manual -labor on construction jobs.</p> - -<p>A “rust eater” usually works on extra-gangs or track-laying -jobs; handles steel.</p> - -<p>A “dino” is a man who works with and handles dynamite.</p> - -<p>A “splinter-belly” is a man who does rough carpenter work or -bridge work.</p> - -<p>A “cotton glaumer” picks cotton, an “apple knocker” picks -apples and other fruit.</p> - -<p>A “beach comber” is a plain sailor, of all men the most -transient.</p> -</div> - - -<p>For every vocation that is open to the migratory -worker there is some such characteristic name. In -the West the hobo usually carries a bundle in which he -has a bed, some extra clothes, and a little food. The -man who carries such a bundle is usually known as a -“bundle stiff” or “bundle bum.” The modern hobo -does not carry a bundle because it hinders him when -he wishes to travel fast. It is the old man who went -West “to grow up with the country” who still clings -to his blanket roll.</p> - - -<h3>THE TRAMP</h3> - -<p>While the word “tramp” is often used as a blanket -term applied to all classes of homeless and potentially -vagrant or transient types, it is here used in a stricter<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94"></a>[94]</span> -sense to designate a smaller group. He is usually -thought of, by those familiar with his natural history, -as an able-bodied individual who has the -romantic passion to see the country and to gain new -experience without work. He is a specialist at -“getting by.” He is the type that Josiah Flynt -had in mind when he wrote his book, <cite>Tramping with -Tramps</cite>. He is typically neither a drunkard nor a -bum, but an easy-going individual who lives from -hand to mouth for the mere joy of living.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>45. X. began life as a half orphan. Later he was adopted and -taken from Ohio to South Dakota. In his early teens he grew -restive at home and left. But for brief seasons he has been -away ever since and he is now past forty-five. He has traveled -far and wide since but has worked little. He makes his living by -selling joke books and song books. Sometimes he tries his hand -at selling little articles from door to door. A few years ago he -wrote a booklet on an economic subject and sold several thousand -copies. During the winter of 1921-22 he sold the <cite>Hobo News</cite> -each month. He is able to make a living this way. Any extra -money he has he loses at the gambling tables. He spends his -leisure time attempting to write songs or poetry. He knows a -great deal about publishers but it is all information that has come -in his efforts to sell his songs. He claims that he has been working -for several years on a novel. He offered his work for inspection. -He tries to lead the hero through all the places that he -has visited and the hero comes in contact with many of the -things he has seen or experienced in many cities but nowhere does -his hero work. He enjoys life just as X. endeavors to do now. -During the summer (1922) he has taken several “vacations” -in the country for a week or more at the time.</p> - -<p>46. C. is twenty-five years old. His home is in New York -but he has not been home for more than ten years. He introduced -himself to the “Hobo College” early in the spring of 1922 -as “B-2.” This name he assumed upon the conviction that he -is the successor of “A-1,” the famous tramp. He said that he -had read “A-1’s” books and although he did not agree in every -respect, yet he thought that “A-1” was the greatest of tramp<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95"></a>[95]</span> -writers. “B-2” claimed that he had ridden on every railroad in -the United States. His evidence of travel was a book of postoffice -stamps. When he comes to a town he goes to the postoffice -and requests the postmaster to stamp his book much -as letters are stamped. Another hobby he has is to go to the -leading newspapers and endeavor to sell a write-up. He carries -an accumulation of clippings. He has an assortment of flashy -stories that take well with newspaper men. He claims that he -has been pursued by bloodhounds in the South, that he has been -arrested many times for vagrancy, that he is the only man who -has beat his way on the Pikes Peak Railroad. He always carries -a blanket and many other things that class him among wanderers -as an individualist. He has been in the Army, saw action and -was in the Army of Occupation. He does not seek work. He -says his leisure time can be better spent. He carries a vest -pocket kodak. He says that the pictures and notes he takes will -some day be published.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The distinctions between the seasonal worker, -the hobo, and the tramp, while important, are not -hard and fast. The seasonal worker may descend -into the ranks of the hobos, and a hobo may sink to -the level of the tramp. But the knowledge of this -tendency to pass from one migratory group to -another is significant for any program that attempts -to deal with the homeless man. Significant, also, -but not sufficiently recognized, is the difference -between these migratory types and the stationary -types of homeless men, the “home guard” and the -“bum.”</p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_25" href="#FNanchor_25" class="label">[25]</a> <cite>One Thousand Homeless Men</cite>, p. 209.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_26" href="#FNanchor_26" class="label">[26]</a> <cite>Dearborn Independent</cite>, March 18, 1922.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_27" href="#FNanchor_27" class="label">[27]</a> The seasonal worker may be regarded also as the upper-class hobo.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_28" href="#FNanchor_28" class="label">[28]</a> The first three types of homeless men are described in this chapter; the -last two types are considered in chapter vii.</p> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96"></a>[96]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak left" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII<br /> -<span class="left fs80">THE HOME GUARD AND THE BUM</span></h2> - - -<p class="drop-capy">The seasonal worker, the hobo, and the tramp -are migratory types; the home guard and the -bum are relatively stationary. The home guard, like -the hobo, is a casual laborer, but he works, often only -by the day, now at one and again at another of the -multitude of unskilled jobs in the city. The bum, -like the tramp, is unwilling to work and lives by -begging and petty thieving.</p> - - -<h3>THE HOME GUARD</h3> - -<p>Nearly if not quite one-half of the homeless men -in Hobohemia are stationary casual laborers. These -men, contemptuously termed “home guards” by -the hobo and the tramp, work regularly or irregularly -at unskilled work, day labor, and odd jobs. They -live or at least spend their leisure time on the -“main stem,” but seldom come to the attention of -the charities or the police, or ask alms on the street. -Many of them have lived in Chicago for years. -Others after a migratory career as hobos or tramps -“settle down” to a stationary existence. This group -includes remittance men, often the “black sheep” of -families of standing in far-off communities who send -them a small regular allowance to remain away from -home.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>47. L. E. was born on the West Side and at present his -family lives in Logan Square. He is twenty-three years old and -has been away from home a year. He claims that after his -mother’s death he and his father could not agree. He immediately -found his way to West Madison Street where he has lived -since. During the winter (1921-22) he was converted in the -Bible Rescue Mission but later he got drunk and would not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97"></a>[97]</span> -try again. However, he used to visit the mission after that when -he had no bed and was hungry. He is a teamster and works -regularly though he saves no money. He has no decent clothing -and cares for none. He cares only to spend his Sundays and -leisure time on West Madison Street, where he has a few -acquaintances. He usually returns to work Monday morning -after such visits, sick from the moonshine whisky. His health -is not good. Most of his teeth are decayed but he will not save -money to get dental work done. If he has any money to spend -aside from that wanted for booze he goes to the movies and loafs -the time away. He also attends the Haymarket or the Star -and Garter theaters. He left his job two or three times during -the summer. While he was not working he slept in stables. He -doesn’t go home nor communicate with his people.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The tendency for the casual worker to sink to -the level of the bum is illustrated by the case of -“Shorty”:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>48. “Shorty” claims that he has lived in the Hobohemian -areas on South State and West Madison streets for thirty-nine -years. He has never lived anywhere else. He doesn’t care to go -anywhere else. He tried married life a while but failed because -of drink and returned to the “street.” Drink is still getting him -into trouble. He has dropped down the economic scale from an -occasional worker to the status of a bum. This summer (1922) -he has been arrested several times, and he has served two terms -at the House of Correction. All the arrests were for drunkenness -and disorder. He is developing into a professional panhandler -or beggar. During the summer he has had two or three -jobs. Once he was at the stockyards where he claims to have -worked steadily in the early days. Being well known on the -“streets” he is able to get odd jobs now and then that give him -money enough to “get by.” He has not been divorced from his -wife. She won’t live with him and he does not care. He has a -child twelve or thirteen years old but he has not seen her for -several years. He does not know where she is. He is not -interested. He spends his leisure time on Madison Street near -Desplaines where he may be found almost every day standing -on the corner or sitting on the curb talking to some -other “bo.”</p> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98"></a>[98]</span></p> - - -<h3>THE BUM</h3> - -<p>In every city there are ne’er-do-wells—men who -are wholly or partially dependent and frequently delinquent -as well. The most hopeless and the most -helpless of all the homeless men is the bum, including -in this type the inveterate drunkard and drug -addicts. Old, helpless, and unemployable, these are -the most pitiable and the most repulsive types of the -down-and-outs. From this class are recruited the -so-called “mission stiffs” who are so unpopular -among the Hobohemian population.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>49. L. D., forty-five years old, is a typical so-called “mission -bum.” He has not been known to work for eight months. During -winter he is always present in some mission. Once he permitted -himself to be led forward and knelt in prayer but was put out of -the same mission later for being drunk. He claims that he was -a prize fighter in his youth. He has traveled a great deal but he -has always been a drinking man. When he is sober he is morose -and quiet. As soon as spring permitted him to sleep out he -ceased to visit the missions.</p> - -<p>He has spent most of the summer on the docks along the -river where he sleeps nights and where he has been getting work -now and then unloading the fruit boats that ply between Chicago -and Michigan. During the eight months he has been observed -he has bought no new clothes. Not once during the summer has -he left the city. He says that he has been in town for three years. -The future seems to mean nothing to him. He does not worry -about the coming winter.</p> - -<p>50. A. B. is an habitual drunkard. He migrates a great deal -but it seems that his migrations are to escape tedium and monotony -rather than to work. He is a little, hollow-chested, undersized -man and he claims to be thirty-two. He says that his -health has not been good. He has a work history, it seems, but -it is a record of light jobs. He picked berries, washed dishes, -peddled, but he was also a successful beggar. His success in -begging seems to lie in the ability to look pitiful. He has been in -but four or five states of the Middle West but has been in most<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99"></a>[99]</span> -of the large cities. He does not patronize the missions because -he says he can do better begging.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>OTHER TYPES OF HOMELESS MEN</h3> - -<p>Many of the terms which are epithets picturesquely -describe special types of homeless men. The popular -names for the various types of tramps and hobos are -current terms that have been picked up on the street -as they pass from mouth to mouth. Some of them -are new, others are old, while all of them are in -flux. Names of types are coined by the men themselves. -They serve a while and then pass out, giving -place to new and more catchy terms. Change is -characteristic of tramp terminology and tramp -jargon. Words assume a different meaning as they -are extensively used, or they become too general in -their use and newer terms are invented. Many of -the names by which types are designated were at -first terms of derision, but terms seem to lose their -stigma by continued use.<a id="FNanchor_29" href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> - -<p>Among tramps who seldom if ever work are those -who peddle some kind of wares or sell some kind of -service.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>The Mushfaker is a man who sells his services. He may be -a tinker, a glazier, an umbrella mender, or he may repair sewing -machines or typewriters. Some mushfakers even pose as piano -tuners. The mushfaker usually follows some occupation which -permits him to sit in the shade while he works. Often the trade -or art he plies is one that he has learned in a penal institution.</p> - -<p>The Scissor Bill is a man who carries with him tools to -sharpen saws, knives, razors, etc. Often he pushes a grindstone -along the street.</p> - -<p>Beggars among tramps are usually named with reference to -the methods they employ.</p> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100"></a>[100]</span></p> - -<p>The following classification is taken from a narrative -work by “A No. 1, The Famous Tramp,” who -claims to have traveled 500,000 miles for $7.61. His -books are more or less sensational and are not popular -among many tramps, because they say the incidents -he relates are overdrawn.<a id="FNanchor_30" href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> - - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">The Rating of the Tramps by “A No. 1”</span></p> - - -<table class="fs80 autotable" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdltop" colspan="2"> 1. Pillinger</td> -<td class="tdl">Solicited alms at stores, offices, and residences</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2"> 2. Moocher</td> -<td class="tdl">Accosted passers-by in the street</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2"> 3. Flopper</td> -<td class="tdl">Squatted on sidewalk in business thoroughfares</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2"> 4. Stiffy</td> -<td class="tdl">Simulated paralysis</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2"> 5. Dummy</td> -<td class="tdl">Pretends to be deaf and dumb</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2"> 6. Wires</td> -<td class="tdl">Peddling articles made of stolen telegraph wires</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"> 7. Mush Faker</td> -<td class="tdl">}<span class="pad3"> </span></td> -<td class="tdlmid" rowspan="2">Umbrella mender who learned trade in penal institution</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl nowrap"> 8. Mush Rigger</td> -<td class="tdl">}</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2"> 9. Wangy</td> -<td class="tdl">Disguised begging by selling shoestrings</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">10. Stickers</td> -<td class="tdl">Disguised begging by selling court plaster</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">11. Timbers</td> -<td class="tdl">Disguised begging by selling lead pencils</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">12. Sticks</td> -<td class="tdl">Train rider who lost a leg</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">13. Peg</td> -<td class="tdl">Train rider who lost a foot</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">14. Fingy or Fingers</td> -<td class="tdl">Train rider who lost one or more fingers</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">15. Blinky</td> -<td class="tdl">Train rider who lost one or both eyes</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">16. Wingy</td> -<td class="tdl">Train rider who lost one or both arms</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">17. Mitts</td> -<td class="tdl">Train rider who lost one or both hands</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">18. Righty</td> -<td class="tdl">Train rider who lost right arm and leg</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">19. Lefty</td> -<td class="tdl">Train rider who lost left arm and leg</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">20. Halfy<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101"></a>[101]</span></td> -<td class="tdl">Train rider who lost both legs below knee</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">21. Straight Crip</td> -<td class="tdl">Actually crippled or otherwise afflicted</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">22. Phoney Crip</td> -<td class="tdl">Self-mutilated or simulating a deformity</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">23. Pokey Stiff</td> -<td class="tdl">Subsisting on handouts solely</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">24. Phoney Stiff</td> -<td class="tdl">Disposing of fraudulent jewelry</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">25. Proper Stiff</td> -<td class="tdl">Considered manual toil the acme of disgrace</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">26. Gink or Gandy Stiff</td> -<td class="tdl">Occasionally labored, a day or two at the most</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">27. Alkee Stiff</td> -<td class="tdl"> }<span class="pad3"> </span></td> -<td class="tdlmid" rowspan="2">Confirmed consumers of alcohol</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl nowrap">28. White Line Stiff</td> -<td class="tdl"> }</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">29. Rummy Stiff</td> -<td class="tdl">Deranged intellect by habitual use of raw rum</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">30. Bundle Stiff</td> -<td class="tdl"> }<span class="pad3"> </span></td> -<td class="tdlmid" rowspan="2">Carried bedding</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl nowrap">31. Blanket Stiff</td> -<td class="tdl"> }</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">32. Chronicker</td> -<td class="tdl">Hoboed with cooking utensils</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">33. Stew Bum</td> -<td class="tdl"> }<span class="pad3"> </span></td> -<td class="tdlmid" rowspan="5">The dregs of vagrantdom</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl nowrap">34. Ding Bat</td> -<td class="tdl"> }</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl nowrap">35. Fuzzy Tail</td> -<td class="tdl"> }</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl nowrap">36. Grease Tail</td> -<td class="tdl"> }</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl nowrap">37. Jungle Buzzard</td> -<td class="tdl"> }</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">38. Shine or Dingy</td> -<td class="tdl">Colored vagabond</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">39. Gay Cat</td> -<td class="tdl">Employed as scout by criminal tramps</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">40. Dino or Dynamiter</td> -<td class="tdl">Sponged food of fellow hobos</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">41. Yegg</td> -<td class="tdl">Roving desperado</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">42. Gun Moll</td> -<td class="tdl">A dangerous woman tramp</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">43. Hay Bag</td> -<td class="tdl">A female stew bum</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">44. Jocker</td> -<td class="tdl">Taught minors to beg and crook</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">45. Road Kid or Preshun</td> -<td class="tdl">Boy held in bondage by jocker</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">46. Punk</td> -<td class="tdl">Boy discarded by jocker</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">47. Gonsil</td> -<td class="tdl">Youth not yet adopted by jocker</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>The beggar is one who stands in one place. He -supplicates help by appealing to the pity of the -passers-by. The moocher is an individual who is -somewhat more mobile than the beggar. He moves -about, going to the houses and asking for food, clothing,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102"></a>[102]</span> -and even money, if he can get it. The panhandler -is a beggar of a more courageous type. He -hails men on the street and asks for money. He does -not fawn nor whine nor strive to arouse pity. Dr. -Reitman says: “The only difference between a -moocher and a panhandler is that the moocher -goes to the back door while the panhandler goes to -the front door.”</p> - -<p>The beggar types may also be divided into the -able-bodied and the non-able-bodied. The non-able-bodied -beggars are more numerous in the cities. They -are forced, because of their handicaps, to remain -where the greatest number of people are. Some -handicapped beggars, however, are able to travel -with marvelous speed over the country. These non-able-bodied -types go by different names according -to their afflictions.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>Peggy is a one-legged man. Stumpy is a legless man. -Wingy is a man with one or both arms off. Blinky is a man with -one or both eyes defected. A Dummy is a man who is dumb or -deaf and dumb. Some of these types do not beg. They make -a livelihood by peddling or working at odd jobs. A Nut is a -man who is apparently mentally deranged.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The Hop Head is an interesting type. He is -usually in a pitiful condition, for he has small chance, -living as he does, in the tramp class, to get money to -buy “dope.” Frequently he resorts to clever and -even desperate means to secure it. One type of -dope fiend is the Junkie. He uses a “gun” or needle -to inject morphine or heroin. A Sniffer is one who -sniffs cocaine. More frequent than the drug habit -is the drink habit.</p> - -<p>The tramp class has different types of predatory -individuals and petty or even major offenders:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103"></a>[103]</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>The Gun is a man who might be termed a first-class crook. -He is usually a man who is living in the tramp class to avoid -apprehension. He may be a robber or a burglar.</p> - -<p>The Jack Roller is a tramp who robs a fellow-tramp while he -is drunk or asleep. There is a type of “Jack” who operates -among the men going to and from the harvests. He may hold -them up in a box car with a gun or in some dark alley. He is -usually called a Hi-Jack.</p> -</div> - -<p>Among other types of tramps are:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>The Mission Stiff who preys upon the missions. He will -often submit to being converted for his bed and board.</p> - -<p>The Grafter is frequently a man who is able to exploit the -private and public charity organizations, or the fraternal -organizations.</p> - -<p>The Bad Actor is a man who has become a nuisance to his -people and they pay him money provided he does not show himself -in his home town.</p> - -<p>The Jungle Buzzard is a tramp who lives in the jungles from -what he can beg. He will wash the pots and kettles for the -privilege of eating what is left in them.</p> -</div> - - -<p>From the point of view of abnormal sex relations -there are several types of tramps:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>A Punk is a boy who travels about the country with a man -known as a jocker.</p> - -<p>A jocker is a man who exploits boys; that is, he either -exploits their sex or he has them steal or beg for him or both. -The term “wolf” is often used synonymously with jocker.</p> - -<p>Fairies or Fags are men or boys who exploit sex for profit.</p> -</div> - - -<p>From the economic standpoint, migratory workers -are employables and unemployables. Between the -extremes there are individuals of every shade of -employability. The ability of a man to support -himself is presumed to be related to his ability and -to his opportunity to work. The tramp problem has -been interpreted first of all as an unemployment<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104"></a>[104]</span> -problem, but this does not take account of the -unemployables.</p> - -<p>First of all, there are the physically handicapped, -the crippled, the blind, the deaf, and the aged, and -many who are too fat or too puny or too sickly to -do heavy manual work. Perhaps a half of the whole -group in a city like Chicago are physically handicapped -to a greater or less extent.</p> - -<p>Second, the psychopathic types include many -irresponsible and undependable persons found in the -population of Hobohemia. These either cannot hold -a job, or do not care to; they have other ideals. -They could, no doubt, do some sort of work but -most of them would have to be supervised.</p> - -<p>To what degree homeless men are employable, to -what degree some of them are partially employable, -and to what extent the whole group is unemployable -is a question that cannot be finally answered.<a id="FNanchor_31" href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p> - -<p>The problem of the homeless men is variously -interpreted. The courts and the police are interested -in them as offenders. As offenders, they are generally -recidivists; to the social worker and the missionary -they represent a body of men who have no -purpose or direction.</p> - -<p>One mission worker says:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>A few of them can hold their own. They manage to work -most of the time and pay their way, but most of them are “broke” -some of the time and some of them are without money all the -time. They are always making resolutions and never keeping -them. They don’t seem to have any stiffening in their backbone.</p> -</div> - - -<p>However we may classify this group, the fact -remains that we have here a great body of persons,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105"></a>[105]</span> -probably more than a million in the United States,<a id="FNanchor_32" href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> -and that they furnish a problem that seems to be -ever present. It is, as we shall see later, a great -heterogeneous group, unorganized and incapable of -being organized. They have been gathered from -every walk of life and for a thousand different reasons -find themselves in this class. There are restless and -normal boys and young men who are out in the world -for adventure and whose stay in the class is more or -less temporary; there are able-bodied men of more -mature age who are either wholly self-supporting or -are self-supporting most of the time; and there are -old men who are too aged and infirm to work and -too proud to surrender themselves to an institution. -There are the physically incapacitated and the mentally -inadequate who are more or less dependent and -are likely to continue so, and there are many types -of persons who are the victims of lingering diseases -or who are addicted to drink or drugs and are not -able to hold their own. All these are making the -best struggle that their wits, their strength, and their -opportunities permit to get a living. Some of them -are in the group by choice and have their minds -clearly made up to climb out, others hope to get out -and strive to but never will, and yet others never -have any such visions.</p> - - -<h3>RELATIVE NUMBERS OF DIFFERENT TYPES</h3> - -<p>An estimate has already been made that the -number of homeless men in Chicago range from -30,000 in the summer to 60,000 in the winter, reaching<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106"></a>[106]</span> -75,000 in periods of unemployment. Any attempt -to state the numbers of the different types -of homeless men can be little more than a guess. -The difficulty is the greater because individuals are -continually passing from one group into another -group. One man in his lifetime may perchance have -been, in turn, seasonal laborer, hobo, tramp, home -guard, and bum.</p> - -<p>The public generally fails to distinguish between -these types. The group of bums, beggars, and -petty thieves, often mistakenly thought of as representative -of the homeless men’s group, probably does -not exceed in Chicago a total number of 2,500. The -number of the home-guard type, the stationary -casual worker, has been placed at 30,000, the summer -population of Hobohemia on the basis of the -number of permanent guests at lodging-house and -hotel, and the number of registered voters among -the homeless men.<a id="FNanchor_33" href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> The number of tramps who visit -Chicago each year can only be roughly estimated at -150,000,<a id="FNanchor_34" href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> or an average of perhaps 5,000 at any given -time. The migratory worker, including both the -seasonal laborer and the hobo, number on the average -around 10,000 and reach a total of 300,000 or -more persons who come to Chicago for the winter -or to secure a shipment to work outside the city. -In periods of economic depression the numbers of -homeless men in Hobohemia are swollen with men -out of work, the majority of whom for the first time -have been turned adrift on the “main stem.”</p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_29" href="#FNanchor_29" class="label">[29]</a> The term “punk” is an instance; it had a special meaning at one time -but is beginning to have a milder and more general use and the term “lamb” is -taking its place.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_30" href="#FNanchor_30" class="label">[30]</a> <cite>Mother Delcassee of the Hobos</cite>, pp. 43-44.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_31" href="#FNanchor_31" class="label">[31]</a> The unemployables are a more or less permanent class and do not come -and go with the seasons as do the employables. Able-bodied employables are -an effect of economic depression.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_32" href="#FNanchor_32" class="label">[32]</a> Estimates vary; Lescohier (Commons, <cite>Trade Unionism and Labor -Problems</cite>, 133) gives the number as “more than half a million men,” while -Speek (<cite>Annals of the American Academy</cite>, 1917) refers to estimates that go as -high as five million.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_33" href="#FNanchor_33" class="label">[33]</a> See p. 14 n.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_34" href="#FNanchor_34" class="label">[34]</a> These numbers indicate the number of visits rather than the number of -separate individuals since a certain proportion of men visit Chicago two or -more times during the year.</p> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107"></a>[107]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak left" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII<br /> -<span class="left fs80">WORK</span></h2> - - -<p class="drop-capy">The occupations that select out of the foot-loose -males in our population the most restless types -are:</p> - -<p>1. <em>Agriculture or crop moving.</em>—When the crops -are ready to be garnered labor must be imported at -any cost. The leading crops in these seasonal demands -are grain harvesting, corn shucking, fruit picking, -potato digging, beet topping, cotton picking, -hop picking, etc. If a man follows the wheat harvest, -he may be occupied from the middle of June when the -crop is ready in Oklahoma until November or December -when the season ends with threshing in North -Dakota and Canada. Workers who pick fruit may -remain in one locality and have some kind of fruit -always coming on.</p> - -<p>2. <em>Building and construction work.</em>—Next to crop -moving the building trades and construction jobs -make the heaviest seasonal demands upon the labor -market. Railroad construction, ditch digging, and -similar occupations are generally discontinued during -the winter. Carpentry, masonry, brick and concrete -work are only carried on with reduced numbers -of men through the cold months.</p> - -<p>3. <em>Fishing.</em>—Salmon fishing on the Pacific Coast -and oyster fishing on the Atlantic Coast are also -seasonal industries. In the fishing industry, as in -other seasonal occupations, there is a demand for -experienced workers that cannot always be had when -most needed.</p> - -<p>4. <em>Sheep shearing.</em>—Sheep shearing is a skilled -trade. Thousands of men are needed to harvest the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108"></a>[108]</span> -wool crop each year and these men are forced to -become migratory. The shearing season, like the -harvest, moves from border to border during a period -of three or four months. In the Southwest the sheep -are sometimes clipped twice a year. The shearing -jobs are usually short but lucrative.</p> - -<p>5. <em>Ice harvesting.</em>—Formerly the ice harvest furnished -employment to an army of men for two -months or more during the winter. Ice-manufacturing -plants have diminished the demand for natural -ice, though ice cutting still furnishes winter jobs for -many men.</p> - -<p>6. <em>Lumbering.</em>—Working in the lumber woods and -in the saw mills is not now so much of a seasonal job -as it was when the industry centered around the -Great Lakes. The industry has gone West or over -the border into Canada, where, with the longer -winter season and improved facilities, it operates -almost all year. It is not necessary in Washington, -Oregon, and California to wait for the snow to begin -work in the woods as in Michigan and Wisconsin in -the early days.</p> - -<p>Certain occupations not essentially seasonal have -a tendency to contribute to migrancy. In many -metal mines a man’s health will not permit him to -work long. He leaves and goes into some other -mine in the same or a different district where the -danger is not present. A miner tends to become a -migrant for the sake of his health. There are other -industries in which hazards exist that force workers -to become transient.</p> - -<p>The American hobo has been a great pioneer. -New mining camps, oil booms, the building of a -town in a few weeks, or any mushroom development<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109"></a>[109]</span> -utilizes a great many transient workers. After a -flood, a fire, or an earthquake, there is a great -demand for labor. The migratory worker is always -ready to respond. It is his life, in which he finds -variety and experience and, last but not least, something -to talk about.</p> - - -<h3>JOB HUNTING AMONG THE CASUAL WORKERS</h3> - -<p>In seasonal and casual work, as in all types of -industry, a process of selection takes place. Great -numbers of men are attracted into seasonal occupations -because of the good wages offered. But only -those remain who are content to migrate from one -locality to another in response to the demands for -labor. The average man soon realizes that in the -course of a year seasonal work does not pay even if -fabulous wages are received for short-lived jobs. -The man who continues as a migratory worker is -likely, therefore, to be a person who is either unable -to find or unable to hold a permanent job. Some -workers become restless after a few weeks or months -in one place. Seasonal and casual work seems to -have selected out these restless types and made hobos -of them.</p> - -<p>Migratory workers have a certain body of traditions: -they know how to get work; what kind of -work to look for; when to look for certain kinds of -work, and where certain work may be found. They -fall in with the seasonal migration of workers and -drift into certain localities to do certain jobs; to the -potato fields, the fruit picking, the wheat harvest.</p> - -<p>The hobo worker finds his way to out-of-town -jobs more often than to city work. Upon leaving an -out-of-town job he is likely to return to the city in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110"></a>[110]</span> -order to locate another job out of the city or even out -of the state. This tendency of the foot-loose worker -to drift into the city has turned the attention of the -employer to the city whenever he needed help. Both -the worker and the employer have been attracted to -the city in an effort to solve their labor difficulties. -Intermediate agencies spring up to bring together the -jobless man and the man with jobs to offer. Employment -agents, congregating in the Hobohemian sections -of the city, convert those areas into labor -markets.</p> - -<p>Chicago is probably the greatest labor exchange -for the migratory worker in the United States, if -not in the world. Probably no other city furnishes -more men for railroad work. In days past, when so -many new railroads were being built, there were -great demands for men in the West, and it was not -uncommon to get a 1,000-mile shipment any time -in the year. One is still able to secure free shipments -of from 400 to 600 miles.</p> - -<p>There are more than 200 private employment agencies -in Chicago. There were, on August 14, 1922, 39 -licensed private agencies of the type patronized by -the homeless man. Eighteen of these were on Canal -Street, thirteen were on West Madison Street, and -the rest in close proximity to that area. In addition -to these there are many agencies not operating on a -commission basis which hire men for a private corporation -and are maintained by that corporation. -As such they are not licensed nor does the law affect -them.</p> - -<p>No figures are at hand to show how many men -these private agencies place during the year. Their -records are not merely inadequate; they are a joke.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111"></a>[111]</span> -In fact, few of them keep records that list all applicants, -all men placed, jobs registered, etc., though the -state law definitely declares that this must be done.</p> - -<p>The inclusion of the non-fee-collecting agencies -will raise the number from 39 to over 50. If each -agency sends out, at a low estimate, 10 men a day, -and if each operates 300 days a year, a total of 150,000 -men are placed in jobs annually. Over 57,000 men -in 1921-22 were placed by the free employment -agency. Many of these homeless men have access to -other private agencies than those situated on the -“stem,” and often they prefer to go to such agencies. -If 100 of these agencies furnished jobs to 2 homeless -men a day for 300 days a year, we would have an -additional 60,000. About 250,000 homeless men -pass through the Chicago employment agencies -every year.</p> - -<p>Employment agencies fall into two classes—the -public, or those operated by the federal government, -the state, or the municipality and those -conducted under private management. The private -agency is the pioneer. It was not only the outgrowth -of a certain condition in the labor market but it was -the reason for the creation of the public employment -bureau.</p> - - -<h3>PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES</h3> - -<p>The idea is becoming general that employment -offices have a social responsibility. They have duties -to the applicants, to the employers, and to the public -that are more than economic; more than a business of -selling jobs to jobless men. It is a responsibility -that is not imposed upon the ordinary business man -and that has no prominent place in the code of business -ethics.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112"></a>[112]</span></p> - -<p>The private employment agencies that cater to -the homeless men are chiefly located on the West -Side. The 1919-20 <cite>Report of the Illinois Department -of Labor</cite><a id="FNanchor_35" href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> shows that during that period there were -295 licensed private employment agencies in Chicago. -As we noted above, about fifty of these serve the -homeless men. Most of these fifty agencies are -located along Canal Street opposite the Union -Depot, or along Madison Street between the Chicago -River and Halsted Street. Some of these operate -the year round, while others come and go with the -seasons, opening up in prosperous times and going -out of existence when the demand for labor falls.</p> - -<p>A few of the private agencies are fairly well -equipped; that is, they have desks, counters, telephone, -chairs or benches, and a waiting-room which -in cold weather is kept warm for the patrons. -Others, the majority, have very little equipment, -perhaps a chair and a table in a single, bare room. -They keep no books other than what they carry in -their pockets. For the average small labor agent an -office is only used as a place to hang the license. He -gets his patrons by standing on the street and soliciting. -The other private agents are playing the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">rôle</span> -of man catcher, and he must do the same if he would -succeed.</p> - -<p>There are two types of private labor agencies—the -commission agencies, and the boarding or commissary -agencies. The commission agency is the -pioneer job-selling institution which survives by -charging a fee to the employer who seeks workers, or -by charging a fee to the applicants, or by charging -both. Usually they charge both the applicant and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113"></a>[113]</span> -the employer, and formerly their prices were governed -by the demand for jobs, on the one hand, and -for workers, on the other. (If the competition is for -workers they can raise the price charged the -employer. If jobs are scarce they can raise the -price charged the applicant.) The boarding and -commissary agency charge no fee for the job. Their -profit is made in keeping the boarding-house for the -men they hire.</p> - -<p>In the past it was proverbial that better shipments -could be had from the private agencies in Chicago -than from any other city. A few years ago the -Chicago agencies were shipping men to all the big -jobs within a radius of from 500 to 1,000 miles, and -men would come to Chicago from 500 to 1,000 miles -in one direction to be sent by the agencies to work on -some job equally as far in another direction. These -long-distance interstate shipments have been the -chief factor in the prosperity of the private agencies. -High prices were charged for the long shipments but -the men were willing to pay them whether the job -was good or not in order to secure free transportation -west or south or east. The long shipments are -not so numerous at present and the high fees are no -longer permitted.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>The charge sometimes made that the private agencies are -gruff and discourteous would seem well founded if one failed to -consider the behavior of homeless men on the street. These -men would not pass the same judgment. They are used to -speaking roughly to each other. They take and give hard -blows in their dealings with the “labor shark.” Many men can -get along much better with the blunt and unceremonious private -agent than with the sleek, precise, courteous, and business-like -officials in the public agencies. Their preference for the private -agent is not for his gruffness or the ease with which they may<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114"></a>[114]</span> -approach him. It is mainly because he serves them better. -They hate him for his fees but he gets the jobs they want.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The migratory worker resents the idea of being -obliged to pay for the privilege of securing work. In -every program that the hobo has advocated to change -society he has made reference to the “labor shark.” -The hobo worker is never disappointed to find that -the job has been misrepresented by the agency. Nor -is the agency surprised if the applicant does not go -to work when he arrives on the job.</p> - - -<h3>PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES</h3> - -<p>The state has been forced into the employment -business because of the problems presented by private -agencies. The public employment agency in Chicago -has not displaced or even seriously affected the -private employment agency. It is still only in the -experimental stage, a laboratory in which the employment -problem may be studied.</p> - -<p>There are three public free employment offices in -Chicago: one at 116 North Dearborn for skilled -workers, one at 105 South Jefferson Street for unskilled -workers, and one at 344 East Thirty-fifth -Street, chiefly for Negro workers. The homeless -man is chiefly interested in the Federal and State -Labor Exchange located at 105 South Jefferson Street. -However, the central office on Dearborn Street, which -specializes in skilled and permanent employment, attracts -two or three hundred homeless men a day, -mainly from South State Street. This office is careful -not to send out on jobs “dead line men.”</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>By “dead line men” are meant men who live on Madison -west of Canal Street. Men “living” on Clark, State, and -Dearborn streets are more reliable and stand a better chance<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115"></a>[115]</span> -than the “dead line men” to get jobs. The firms that place -their demand for help with the Dearborn Street bureau generally -want references, showing place of residence and name of former -employer. Such firms will not consider a West Madison Street -man. The clerks sometimes advise an applicant to change his -address to that of some relative in case the applicant makes a -favorable impression with the clerk. If a man looks and speaks -intelligently but is too ragged and dirty to send out on a job, the -suggestion is sometimes made to clean up and spruce up a bit. -The transformation in some cases is astonishing.<a id="FNanchor_36" href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></p> -</div> - - -<p>Probably four or five times as many men are -placed by the private as by the public employment -agencies. It seems paradoxical that the migratory -worker should patronize the private labor agent -whom he regards as an exploiter and a parasite rather -than the free employment office, yet there are good -reasons for his behavior.</p> - -<p>In the first place, the office of the public agency, -although little more than a block away, is not on the -“main stem.” Strangers in the city find their way -to the “slave market” without difficulty but may -never become aware of the existence of the free -employment office. A migratory worker likes to do -a little “window shopping” before he takes a job. -He likes to go along the streets reading the red or -blue or yellow placards announcing jobs and shipments -until he has made up his mind. The signs and -scribbled windows of the private agency are maneuvers -of salesmanship. The public agency has no -such signs on the outside. The men must go inside -to see the blackboard upon which the jobs are written.</p> - -<p>Further, the public agency is in duty bound, as -the private agency is not, to keep records and to get -certain information from the workers who apply for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116"></a>[116]</span> -jobs, and from the employers as well. The men who -patronize these agencies dislike the “red tape” of the -public agency; they are often unwilling to be catalogued -and given a number, or go through the other -formalities so necessary for efficiency. The decisive -reason why the migratory worker patronizes the -private agency is because it carries a better class of -jobs. Jobs involving interstate shipments are usually -given to the private agencies, partly because it -is customary, and partly because they know how to -solicit such contracts for labor. It is difficult for a -man to get an out-of-state job in the public agency -since it is more or less local in its jurisdiction. The -private agencies attract the hobos also because they -make no effort to see that he goes to work after he -has been sent. Indeed, it is to their advantage if he -does not go to work, for then they have the chance -to send another man. The public agency makes an -effort to “follow up” the applicants and to “keep -tab” on them. The hobo worker shies from such -solicitous treatment.</p> - -<p>Mr. J. J. Kenna, chief inspector of private employment -agencies, believes that the private agencies -should be obliged to do likewise. He wrote in his -report to the State Department of Labor in 1920:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>Another question that might be given consideration is the -subject of public information pertaining to the business of private -employment agencies for the instruction of those interested in -labor problems and legislation, namely:</p> - -<p>A law compelling the agencies to furnish the State Department -of Labor with a monthly report of the number of all applicants -applying for positions, their ages, etc., and also the number of persons -brought into the State and sent out of the State and to where -sent, the kind of employment for which they were engaged, etc.<a id="FNanchor_37" href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117"></a>[117]</span></p> - -<p>Nothing would do more for efficiency in the -employment office business than to compel the -private agencies to keep as efficient records as the -public bureau. The spirit of competition so prevalent -in the private agencies is not present in the -public labor bureau. The public agency stands -complacently on the side, never entering the struggle -to get jobs and men together. It is too much of an -office and too little of an agency.</p> - -<p>The public and private agencies operate upon -diametrically opposing assumptions. The assumption -of the public agency is that the man once -placed will remain so long as the job lasts, and a -large proportion of their jobs, especially in the Dearborn -Street office, are for “long stake” men. A -man’s record, his qualifications, are taken and he -is sent out to the job with the notion that he will -work steady. The private agencies, on the contrary, -assume that few of these men will remain -long on the job; that they may stay ten days or two -weeks and seldom longer than three months. The -public agency with an eye to permanency may be -expected to move slowly in placing men on jobs, -whereas the private agency will send anyone to any -job that he says he can do and that he is willing to -pay for.</p> - - -<h3>THE CASUALIZATION OF LABOR</h3> - -<p>The casualization of labor, in spite of its concern -to place men permanently, has a tendency to attract -“home guards,” i.e., men who do not care to leave -the city and yet do not want steady work. They -may work from a day to a week, then they return -for another job.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118"></a>[118]</span></p> - -<p>The following are a few of the names taken at -random from a list of men who had been given ten or -more jobs by the Federal and State Labor Exchange -between March 1, 1922, and August 15, 1922 (five -and one-half months):</p> - - -<table class="fs90 center autotable" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"></td> -<td class="tdr fs80">Number</td> -<td class="tdc fs80">Jobs</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Wm. Mitchell </td> -<td class="tdr">1,735</td> -<td class="tdc">20</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Jas. Perry</td> -<td class="tdr">5,878</td> -<td class="tdc">10</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Tony Felk</td> -<td class="tdr">1,195</td> -<td class="tdc">10</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Jas. Griffin</td> -<td class="tdr">5,811</td> -<td class="tdc">12</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">F. Mullen</td> -<td class="tdr">5,069</td> -<td class="tdc">21</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Ed. Moorhead</td> -<td class="tdr">635</td> -<td class="tdc">20</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Fred Wagoner</td> -<td class="tdr">5,334</td> -<td class="tdc">15</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Jas. Purl</td> -<td class="tdr">682</td> -<td class="tdc">16</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">F. A. Murlin</td> -<td class="tdr">5,390</td> -<td class="tdc">13</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">W. Galvin</td> -<td class="tdr">628</td> -<td class="tdc">18</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">A. Myers</td> -<td class="tdr">3,700</td> -<td class="tdc">17</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">W. Slavis</td> -<td class="tdr">2,202</td> -<td class="tdc">19</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">P. Myshowi</td> -<td class="tdr">2,408</td> -<td class="tdc">15</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">C. Carroll</td> -<td class="tdr">4,742</td> -<td class="tdc">16</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Jas. Lewis</td> -<td class="tdr">3,872</td> -<td class="tdc">16</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>The records show hundreds of similar instances. -Some men have been sent to as many as forty or -fifty jobs during a period of six months and few -stayed with a job more than a month or two.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>John M. secured 26 jobs from the Free Employment Bureau -in less than three months between May 4 and July 26. The -following is the list of employers with the dates of employment:<a id="FNanchor_38" href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></p> -</div> - - -<table class="fs90 autotable" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">1. Morris and Co.</td> -<td class="tdl">May 4</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">2. Ravina Nursery</td> -<td class="tdl">May 6</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">3. Edison Co.</td> -<td class="tdl">May 10</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">4. Ed Katzinger</td> -<td class="tdl">May 18</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">5. New Era Coal Co.</td> -<td class="tdl">May 24</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">6. Ravina Nursery</td> -<td class="tdl">May 26</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">7. Home Fuel Co.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119"></a>[119]</span></td> -<td class="tdl">May 27</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">8. Morris and Co.</td> -<td class="tdl">May 31</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">9. Ill. Bell Telephone Co.</td> -<td class="tdl">June 8</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">10. Flazman Iron Co.</td> -<td class="tdl">June 12</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">11. Greenpoint Beef Co.</td> -<td class="tdl">June 13</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">12. Astrid Rosing Co.</td> -<td class="tdl">June 14</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">13. Armstrong Paint Co.</td> -<td class="tdl">June 21</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">14. Const. Mattress Co.</td> -<td class="tdl">June 22</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">15. Armour Co.</td> -<td class="tdl">June 26</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">16. Oxweld Acetylene Co. </td> -<td class="tdl">June 27</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">17. Oxweld Acetylene Co.</td> -<td class="tdl">June 29</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">18. Wisconsin Lime Co.</td> -<td class="tdl">June 30</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">19. American Express Co.</td> -<td class="tdl">July 1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">20. Wisconsin Lime Co.</td> -<td class="tdl">July 5</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">21. Oxweld Acetylene Co.</td> -<td class="tdl">July 10</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">22. Oxweld Acetylene Co.</td> -<td class="tdl">July 11</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">23. Edison Co.</td> -<td class="tdl">July 15</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">24. Low Pipe Co.</td> -<td class="tdl">July 24</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">25. International Har. Co.</td> -<td class="tdl">July 25</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">26. J. A. Ross</td> -<td class="tdl">July 26</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>John M. is a casual laborer. He is one of a type -that works by the day, is paid by the day, and lives -by the day. Don. D. Lescohier has described the -characteristics of the casual workers:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>A man becomes a casual when he acquires the casual state of -mind. The extreme type of casual never seeks more than a -day’s work. He lives strictly to the rule, one day at a time. -If you ask him why he does not take a steady job, he will tell -you that he would like to, but that he hasn’t money enough to -enable him to live until pay-day, and no one will give him credit. -If you offer to advance his board until pay-day, he will accept -your offer and accept the job you offer him, but he will not show -up on the job, or else will quit at the end of the first day. He has -acquired a standard or scale of work and life that makes it -almost impossible for him to restore himself to steady employment. -He lacks the desire, the will-power, self-control, ambition, -and habits of industry which are essential to it.<a id="FNanchor_39" href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></p> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120"></a>[120]</span></p> - -<p>The demoralizing effect of a period of unemployment -upon the migratory and casual worker is indicated -in an interview given to the investigator by -Mr. Charles J. Boyd, general superintendent of the -Illinois Free Employment Offices in Chicago.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>Depending on one’s point of view, the homeless man, owing -to the serious industrial depression during the winter of 1921-1922 -had remarkable success in begging or panhandling. The -spirit of the public during the depression was to help the unemployed -man and advantage of this situation was not lost sight -of by the hobo who worked on the sympathy of the public. -With the approach of summer and improved industrial conditions, -the hobo continued to make a living in other ways than -by working for it. There seems to be an understanding among -this class of men not to work for less than 50c an hour, and -they are loath to accept steady employment at 35c to 37½c hour -when they can do temporary work, and work at a different job -every day, or any day one pleases, at 45c to 50c an hour. The -hobo is reluctant to work in foundries or steel mills. He likes -the open and when winter is past, the hobo, with few exceptions, -refuses inside work.</p> - -<p>The hobos of today are made up of young men, ranging in -ages from 18 to 35 years. They form in groups of six or seven, -camp in the “brush” and send a different one of their group out -each day to panhandle in the town or village near which they -may be camping. Then too, these men have very decided -views on the Volstead law, before the enactment of which the -hobo felt he had some inducement to work, for he liked his -beer, if it was only 1½ per cent, and he did not know it. But -since prohibition, his attitude seems to be “Why should I work -any more than I really have to?” or in other words, more than -to get enough for food and a place to sleep.<a id="FNanchor_40" href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></p> -</div> - - -<p>The hobo is not unfamiliar with strike jobs. -Corporations, when forced to the wall in a labor -crisis, often come to the “stem” for their strike-breakers. -By offering alluring wages and the assurance<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121"></a>[121]</span> -of security, they are able to attract from ranks -of even the casual workers enough men to keep the -plants running. Labor agencies of this kind are -not popular on the “stem”; neither are the men -who hire out as strike-breakers. But in spite of this -stigma they survive as during the railroad strike -in the summer of 1922. These railroad agencies -crowded even to the heart of the Madison Street -mart and eventually forced the private agencies to -deal in strike jobs.</p> - -<p>Strike-breakers or “scabs” are of four varieties: -(1) men who are innocently attracted to the job -(it is generally charged that this was the case in the -Herrin affair); (2) men who are “too proud to beg -and too honest to steal”; (3) men who have a grudge -against some striking union, or against organized -labor in general; and (4) men who hire out as -bona fide workers but really “bore from within” -and in the language of the radical “work sabotage.”</p> - - -<h3>A NATIONAL PROBLEM</h3> - -<p>All the problems of the homeless man go back in -one way or another to the conditions of his work. -The irregularity of his employment is reflected in the -irregularity of all phases of his existence. To deal -with him even as an individual, society must deal -also with the economic forces which have formed his -behavior, with the seasonal and cyclical fluctuations -in industry. This means that the problem of the -homeless man is not local but national.</p> - -<p>The establishment during the war of the United -States Employment Service gave promise of an -attempt to cope with the problem nationally. The -curtailment of this service since 1919 through inadequate<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122"></a>[122]</span> -appropriations has prevented its functioning on -a scale which the situation demands.</p> - -<p>The emphasis upon the development of a national -program means no lack of recognition of the service -of local employment agencies. They are indispensable -units in any effective plan of nation-wide -organization. The bureaus and branches, in Chicago, -of the Illinois Free Employment offices are -now co-operating with the United States Employment -Service.</p> - - -<h3>A CLEARING HOUSE FOR HOMELESS MEN</h3> - -<p>The accumulated experience of the local employment -agencies will be valuable not only in the future -expansion of the national employment service, but -in pointing the way to the next steps to be taken -locally in dealing with the homeless man as a worker. -The officials of these agencies have learned that the -problem of adjusting the migratory casual worker in -industry involves human nature as well as economics. -A conviction is growing that in connection with, -or in addition to, the public employment agency -designed to bring together the man and the job, -there is need of a clearing house which offers medical, -psychological, and sociological diagnosis as a basis for -vocational guidance, after-care service, and industrial -rehabilitation.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_35" href="#FNanchor_35" class="label">[35]</a> P. 51.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_36" href="#FNanchor_36" class="label">[36]</a> Koster, unpublished manuscript, pp. 17-18.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_37" href="#FNanchor_37" class="label">[37]</a> <cite>Third Annual Report of the Department of Labor</cite> (1920), p. 50.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_38" href="#FNanchor_38" class="label">[38]</a> E. H. Koster, unpublished notes, pp. 42-43.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_39" href="#FNanchor_39" class="label">[39]</a> Lescohier, <cite>The Labor Market</cite>, p. 264.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_40" href="#FNanchor_40" class="label">[40]</a> From the unpublished notes of an interview by E. H. Koster.</p> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123"></a>[123]</span></p> -<h2>PART III</h2> -<p class="center p1 fs150">THE HOBO PROBLEM</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125"></a>[124-125]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak left" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX<br /> -<span class="left fs80">HEALTH</span></h2> - - -<p class="drop-capy">No extended study has ever been made -that would afford an adequate index for the -physical fitness of homeless men. Municipal lodging-houses, -jails, hospitals, and other institutions have -collected certain data. But such information is -indicative of the physical and mental condition of -those only who have become problems of charity or -correction. They do not represent the whole group -of homeless men. However, it is evident from these -studies that a large proportion of the entire group is -below par physically. They indicate at least that -defective individuals are comparatively numerous -among hobos and tramps.</p> - - -<h3>THE PHYSICALLY DEFECTIVE</h3> - -<p>Mrs. Alice W. Solenberger found that two-thirds -of her 1,000 cases were either physically or mentally -defective. Of these, 627 men and boys were suffering -from a total of 722 physical and mental deficiencies.<a id="FNanchor_41" href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></p> - - -<table class="fs90 autotable" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl fs80">Condition</td> -<td class="tdc fs80">Instances</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Insanity</td> -<td class="tdcr">52</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Feeble-mindedness</td> -<td class="tdcr">19</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Epilepsy</td> -<td class="tdcr">18</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Paralysis</td> -<td class="tdcr">40</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Other nervous disorders</td> -<td class="tdcr">21</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Tuberculosis</td> -<td class="tdcr">93</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Rheumatism</td> -<td class="tdcr">37</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Venereal diseases</td> -<td class="tdcr">21</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Other infectious diseases</td> -<td class="tdcr">15</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Heart disease</td> -<td class="tdcr">14</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Disorders of organs other than heart</td> -<td class="tdcr">19</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Crippled, maimed, or deformed; from birth or accident<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126"></a>[126]</span></td> -<td class="tdc">168</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Rupture</td> -<td class="tdcr">11</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Cancer</td> -<td class="tdcrr">6</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Blind, including partly blind</td> -<td class="tdcr">43</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Deaf, including partly deaf</td> -<td class="tdcr">14</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Defective health through use of drugs and drink</td> -<td class="tdcr">16</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Defective health from lack of nourishment and other causes</td> -<td class="tdcr">24</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Convalescent</td> -<td class="tdcr">33</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Aged</td> -<td class="tdcr">35</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">All other diseases and defects</td> -<td class="tdcrr">7</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Doubtful</td> -<td class="tdcr">16</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"></td> -<td class="tdc">—</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Total instances</td> -<td class="tdc">722</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Total number of different men in defective health or condition </td> -<td class="tdc">627</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>She tells us that of the 222 more or less permanently -handicapped, 106 men had been entirely self-supporting -before their injuries while 127 were -entirely dependent after injury.</p> - -<p>A careful study of 100 homeless men made in the -Municipal Lodging House of New York City by -F. C. Laubach showed the following defects:<a id="FNanchor_42" href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> - - - -<table class="fs90 autotable" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Tubercular</td> -<td class="tdr">7</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Venereal</td> -<td class="tdr">26</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Bronchial</td> -<td class="tdr">4</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Feeble</td> -<td class="tdr">14</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Senile</td> -<td class="tdr">16</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Deformed</td> -<td class="tdr">4</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Maimed</td> -<td class="tdr">14</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Malnutrition</td> -<td class="tdr">13</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Poor sight</td> -<td class="tdr">9</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Poor hearing</td> -<td class="tdr">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Impediment of speech </td> -<td class="tdr">2</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Physically sound</td> -<td class="tdr">28</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - -<p>Laubach’s 100 cases were selected from more than -400 men. They represented the 100 who remained -longest to be examined (perhaps the 100 the least able -to get away). He found 28 per cent able-bodied<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127"></a>[127]</span> -while Mrs. Solenberger reported 37.3 per cent without -observable defects. That this per cent of -defectives is high for more unselected groups will be -shown by the following extract from the report of -the Municipal Lodging House of New York City for -1915.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>... Fifteen hundred men were studied by a staff of fifteen -investigators. At the same time a medical examination of two -thousand men was conducted by fifteen medical examiners. -This investigation represented the first large attempt in America -to find out about the men who take refuge in a municipal lodging -house....</p> - -<p>Of the 2,000 men who were given a medical examination, -1,774, approximately 9 out of every 10, were, according to the -adjudgments of the examining physicians, physically able to -work. Twelve hundred and forty-seven, or 62 per cent of the -total, were considered physically able to do regular hard manual -labor; 254, or 18 per cent, to do medium hard work; and 173, -or 9 per cent, to do light work only. Two hundred and twenty-six, -1 out of every 10, were adjudged physically unable to -work.<a id="FNanchor_43" href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></p> -</div> - - -<p>This investigation showed that in a lean year, -when many men were out of work, a large proportion -of the lodging-house population is composed of handicapped -men. The physical condition of 400 tramps -interviewed by the writer is not so much in contradiction -as in supplement to the foregoing studies.<a id="FNanchor_44" href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> -Only men in transit were tabulated. Nearly all of -them were the typical migratory workers or hobos. -Observation was limited to apparent defects that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128"></a>[128]</span> -would hinder in a noticeable manner the working -capacity of the men.</p> - - -<table class="fs90 autotable" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Senile</td> -<td class="tdc">6</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Maimed</td> -<td class="tdc">8</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Eye lost or partly blind</td> -<td class="tdc">5</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Eye trouble</td> -<td class="tdc">5</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Venereal disease</td> -<td class="tdc">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Partly paralyzed</td> -<td class="tdc">2</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Tuberculosis</td> -<td class="tdc">2</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Feeble-minded</td> -<td class="tdc">7</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Chronic poor health</td> -<td class="tdc">4</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Impediment of speech</td> -<td class="tdc">2</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Temporarily injured</td> -<td class="tdc">4</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Oversized or undersized</td> -<td class="tdc">4</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlrr">These 50 defects were distributed among 48 persons</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>Subtracting those who could be classed mentally -defective, we have but forty-one persons who were -apparently physically handicapped. It will be noted -that the percentage of the aged is considerably lower -than the previous tables show. The same is true of -the maimed and injured. They were all men who -were able to “get over the road.” One of the -maimed men had lost an arm while the two others -had each lost a foot.</p> - -<p>Eye trouble was listed separately because these -were ailments that were passing. Three of the men -had weak eyes and this condition had been aggravated -by train riding and loss of sleep. One man -had been gassed in the army and his eyes suffered -from the wind and bright light. Only one man -admitted that he was suffering from a venereal -disease.</p> - -<p>Both men suffering from tuberculosis were miners. -Both had been in hospitals for treatment. One of -them was in a precarious condition. The men -listed as oversized and undersized might be properly -considered physically handicapped. Two of them -were uncomfortably fat while the other two were -conspicuously under weight and height.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129"></a>[129]</span></p> - - -<h3>THE HOBO’S HEALTH ON THE JOB</h3> - -<p>Often the seasonal work sought by the migratory -worker is located in out-of-the-way places or with -little or no medical or sanitary supervision. Sometimes -there are not even tents for the men to sleep -in. Life and work in the open, so conducive to -health on bright, warm days, involves exposure in -cold and stormy weather. In the northwest, where -rain is so abundant that workers suffer considerably -from exposure, strikes have even been called to -enforce demands for warm, dry bunkhouses.</p> - -<p>In addition to the exposure to the elements there -are other hazards the migratory and casual workers -run. On most of his jobs, whether in the woods, the -swamps, in the sawmills, or the mines and quarries, -in the harvest, on bridges or on the highways, the -hobo faces danger. Since he is in the habit of working -only a few days at the time, a well-paying, -hazardous job appeals to him. The not infrequent -accidents are serious since few of these foot-loose -men carry insurance.</p> - -<p>Seasonal labor generally consists of hard work like -shoveling or lifting and carrying heavy loads. Only -men who can do hard work are wanted. Not much -so-called “light work” aside from a few jobs in -kitchens, in stables, or about camps is open to the -transient. Many homeless men are not physically -able to do eight or ten hours’ hard labor without -suffering. They are often weak from eating poor -food or from dissipation. Even if they go on a job -with their minds made up to remain one or two -months they are often obliged to leave after a few -days. Often the hobo works on jobs where there is -no medical attention. Sometimes, where the job<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130"></a>[130]</span> -includes large numbers of men, a physician is hired -to go from camp to camp. He is usually known as -a “pill peddler” and all he pretends to do is give -first aid to the injured and treat passing ailments. -Serious cases he sends to the hospital.</p> - -<p>Big industrial organizations usually carry some -sort of medical insurance and in some cases accident -insurance. This system of workingmen’s compensation -for industrial accidents is maintained sometimes -by fees taken from the pay of the men, sometimes -entirely by the employer. The accident compensation, -the hospital, and medical privileges apply only -to ailments and injuries caused by his work.</p> - -<p>The food the hobo receives on the job is not -always palatable, nor does it always come up to the -requirements of a balanced diet or the caloric needs -of a workingman. In the business of feeding the -men, considerable exploitation enters which the men -are powerless to prevent. The boarding contracts -are often left to boarding companies that agree to -feed the men and furnish bunks for prices ranging -(since the war) from five to eight dollars a week. -For the privilege of boarding the workers, they agree -to keep the gangs filled. Often in the West the men -furnish their own beds, but private “bundle beds” -are passing. Some companies furnish good beds, but -the general rule is to supply a tick that may be filled -with straw and a couple of quilts which are charged -to the worker until he returns them. These quilts -and blankets are often used again and again by -different men without being cleaned during a whole -season.</p> - -<p>Several boarding companies maintain free employment -agencies in Chicago, well known to the hobo<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131"></a>[131]</span> -and generally disliked. The chief complaint against -them is that in hard times, when men are plentiful, -there is a tendency to drop on the quality and the -quantity of the food. In such an event the monotony -of the menu and the unsavory manner in which -food is prepared is a scandal in Hoboland. However, -all complaints against boarding companies are not -due to bad food. Poor cooking is another ground for -much dissatisfaction. Efficient camp cooks are rare -and too high priced for the average boarding company.</p> - - -<h3>THE HEALTH OF THE MAN ON THE “STEM”</h3> - -<p>The hazards the homeless man takes while at -work in the city are far less than on the seasonal -out-of-town work. The health problem of the -transient “on the stem” is nevertheless serious. It -is not so much a problem of work conditions as of -hotels and lodging accommodations and restaurants.</p> - -<p>The cheap lodging-houses and hotels in Chicago -are under the surveillance of the Chicago Department -of Health. The department has done much -to keep down contagion and to raise the standards of -these places. Infectious diseases have been more -rare here than in hotels in the Loop. These hotels -survived the influenza epidemics as well as any in the -city. There has been a gradual rise in the standards -of health and sanitation of the hotels and lodging-houses, -but just how much this is due to the watchful -care of the Department of Health cannot be said. -Other factors, such as business competition, may also -have entered in to improve conditions.</p> - -<p>In many respects the cheap workingmen’s hotels -still fall far below the standards set by law. Indeed, -if all of them lived up to the letter of the law in every<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132"></a>[132]</span> -respect, many would find it unprofitable to operate. -These hotels are in buildings that were erected for -other purposes, buildings that cannot be adequately -made over to accommodate comfortably hundreds -of men.</p> - -<p>The problem of ventilation is present in the older -hotels for men. In some corners, in hallways and -isolated rooms, there is never any circulation of air. -The smells accumulate from day to day so that the -guest on entering a room is greeted by a variety of -odors to which each of his predecessors has contributed.</p> - -<p>The following statement of an investigator indicates -what is one of the most objectionable features -of the cheap hotel.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>The lack of adequate toilet facilities is deplorable. In one -hotel I found two toilets for one hundred and eighty men and -in another seven for three hundred and eighty. Some of the -toilets have absolutely no outside ventilation, opening on sleeping -rooms. Some of them are located in halls with no partition -separating them from sleeping rooms and are a source of foul and -nauseating odors.<a id="FNanchor_45" href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></p> -</div> - - -<p>With respect to wash basins and bath facilities the -condition is no better. Many do not even have hot -water. In some places from twenty to forty men use -the same wash bowl.</p> - -<p>The Department of Health has taken an active -part in the campaign against vermin, and co-operates -whenever a complaint is made. Their task seems -hopeless since the patrons are so transient and so -frequently carry vermin from one place to another. -The very buildings are often breeding places for -bedbugs, lice, and roaches.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133"></a>[133]</span></p> - - -<h3>SICKNESS AND DISEASE</h3> - -<p>If the homeless man becomes sick or injured while -at work he likely will be cared for by the hospital -maintained by the industry. But he is in dire distress -when he has no job and is in need of medical -attention. Occasionally men without funds go to -private physicians and not infrequently they get free -treatment, but the traditional and easier method of -meeting such situations is to go to an institution. -Chicago, with its numerous hospitals and medical -colleges, is a Mecca for the sick and the afflicted of the -“floating fraternity.” Homeless men come sometimes -several hundred miles for treatment to this -great healing center of trampdom. They have no -scruples against entering an institution as a charity -patient. To them it is not charity, but something -due to the sick.</p> - - -<h3>VENEREAL DISEASE</h3> - -<p>Venereal disease and ailments growing out of -venereal disease play a considerable <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">rôle</span> among the -tramp population. The Chicago Health Department -on the basis of the medical examination of -inmates of the House of Correction estimates that -10 per cent of the homeless men are venereally -infected.<a id="FNanchor_46" href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> This is double the rate of infection found -in drafted men.<a id="FNanchor_47" href="#Footnote_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></p> - -<p>The transient does not take venereal disease -seriously. He takes no precautions to protect himself -after exposure. Necessity forces him out on -some job where he must work, sometimes even in an<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134"></a>[134]</span> -active stage of infection. Often he tries to treat -himself with remedies recommended by druggists or -friends. Once the transient submits to treatment in -a hospital or by a physician he will seldom continue -it after the active stage of his case has been passed.</p> - -<p>Along the “stem,” sex perversion is not infrequent -and occasionally from such contacts infections -occur. Embarrassing as it is for the homeless man -to apply to a hospital or clinic for treatment for -social disease, it is doubly so when thus infected. -That such cases are not numerous is true, but they -do exist, and they provide an answer to the pervert -who holds that homosexuality is safe from disease.<a id="FNanchor_48" href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a></p> - - -<h3>ALCOHOLISM AND HEALTH</h3> - -<p>Practically all homeless men drink when liquor -is available. The only sober moments for many -hobos and tramps are when they are without funds.<a id="FNanchor_49" href="#Footnote_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> -The majority, however, are periodic drinkers who -have sober periods of a week, a month or two, or<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135"></a>[135]</span> -even a year. These are the men who often work all -summer with the avowed purpose of going to some -lodging-house and living quietly during the winter, -but usually they find themselves in the midst of a -drunken debauch before they have been in town more -than a day or two. Rarely does one meet a man -among migratory workers who does not indulge in -an occasional “spree”; the teetotalers are few indeed.</p> - -<p>The homeless man on a spree usually drinks as -long as his money lasts, and then he usually employs -all the devices at his command to get money to -prolong the debauch. For the time being he will -disregard all other wants. After he sobers up and -finds himself sick, weak, and nervous, his plight is a -sad one. He has no appetite for the only food he is -able to buy and the food he craves he cannot afford. -He is too weak and shaky to work, and too disheartened -to beg. In summer he can go to the parks or -the docks and sleep it off. Getting drunk in winter -means more or less exposure for these men, and their -sobering up not infrequently takes place in the hospital—or -in jail. In view of these after-effects, drinking -is more serious for the homeless man than for -any other.</p> - -<p>Chronic or periodic drunkenness with its accompanying -exposure leaves a stamp on the constitution -of the homeless man that is not easily erased. It -aggravates any latent weaknesses that he may have, -and if he does not go to the hospital after a debauch -with lung trouble, nervous diseases, heart trouble, or -rheumatism, he is at least lowering his resistance to -these and other diseases. The man who survives best -spends long periods on the job and only occasionally -visits the city.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136"></a>[136]</span></p> - -<p>When the amount of exposure, the extent of dissipation, -and the malnutrition that falls to the lot -of the homeless man are taken into consideration, it -is remarkable that he is as free from sickness as he -is. The fact that he is outdoors much of the time -may have something to do with this.</p> - - -<h3>THE PROBLEM OF HEALTH</h3> - -<p>Disease, physical disability, and insanitary living -conditions seem to be, as things are, the natural and -inevitable consequences of the migratory risk-taking -and irregular life of the homeless man. These -effects of his work and life upon his physical constitution -will be considered by many the most appalling -of all the problems affecting the hobo and the tramp. -Municipal provision and philanthropic effort have -been and will continue to be directed to the treatment -of his diseases and defects and to the improvement -of his living conditions. The efficiency of the -homeless man as a worker and his chance of regaining -his lost economic and social status depend upon -his physical rehabilitation. A clearing house for -the homeless man when established should, therefore, -include as one of its activities facilities for diagnosis -of the needs, medical, vocational, social, of each -individual.</p> - -<p>The living conditions of the homeless man, -although revolting to the public, are intolerable to -him, chiefly as a symbol of his degradation. -Lodging-house sanitation and personal hygiene are -of minor import, in his thinking, as compared with -working conditions, or, for that matter, with the -problems of his social and political status, to be -discussed in the next two chapters.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_41" href="#FNanchor_41" class="label">[41]</a> Alice W. Solenberger, <cite>One Thousand Homeless Men</cite>, p. 36.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_42" href="#FNanchor_42" class="label">[42]</a> F. C. Laubach, <cite>Why There Are Vagrants</cite>, p. 21</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_43" href="#FNanchor_43" class="label">[43]</a> <cite>Report of the Advisory Social Service Committee of the Municipal Lodging -House</cite>, pp. 9-11. New York City: September, 1915.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_44" href="#FNanchor_44" class="label">[44]</a> This unpublished study of 400 tramps was made while riding freight -trains from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Chicago in the summer of 1921. All the -cases tabulated were cases in transit. A large part of them were men who -regularly beat their way about the country. Document 115.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_45" href="#FNanchor_45" class="label">[45]</a> George S. Sobel, <cite>Report to Committee</cite>, summer, 1922.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_46" href="#FNanchor_46" class="label">[46]</a> Letter from Chicago Health Department to Committee on Homeless -Men.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_47" href="#FNanchor_47" class="label">[47]</a> U.S. Surgeon General’s Office, <cite>Defects Found in Drafted Men</cite>.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_48" href="#FNanchor_48" class="label">[48]</a> Unpublished Document 87 is a statement from Dr. Ben L. Reitman, -based upon cases in his practice of venereal infection caused by homosexual -relations.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_49" href="#FNanchor_49" class="label">[49]</a> It is of interest to note the findings of the study of 2,000 men in connection -with the Municipal Lodging House of New York City, 1914:</p> - -<p>“Of 1,482 men who made statements regarding their habits, 1,292—approximately -9 out of every 10—said they drank alcoholic liquors. Six hundred -and fifty-seven or 44 per cent said that they drank excessively; 635, or -43 per cent, said that they drank moderately; and 190, or 13 per cent, claimed -to be total abstainers.</p> - -<p>“Of the 2,000 who were given a medical examination, 775, or 39 per cent, -were diagnosed as suffering from alcoholism. According to Dr. James Alexander -Miller, these ‘figures probably do not represent by any means the number of -individuals who were alcoholic ... but rather indicate only the number -who manifested acute evidence at the time of investigation.’”—From the -<cite>Report of the Advisory Social Service Committee of the Municipal Lodging House</cite>, -pp. 9-22. New York: September, 1915.</p> - -<p>Here we have in a few words a cross-section of the drinking population -among the homeless men in New York where conditions are not materially -different and where the population is essentially the same as in Hobohemia.</p> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137"></a>[137]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak left" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X<br /> -<span class="left fs80">SEX LIFE OF THE HOMELESS MAN</span></h2> - - -<p class="drop-capy">Tramping is a man’s game. Few women are -ever found on the road. The inconveniences -and hazards of tramping prevent it. Women do -wander from city to city but convention forbids them -to ride the roads and move about as men do. One -tramp who had traveled 8,000 miles in six months -said: “I even saw two women on the road, and last -summer I saw a woman beating her way in a box -car.”</p> - -<p>Tramping is a man’s game. Few pre-adolescent -boys are tramps. They do not break away permanently -until later in their teens. How does the -absence of women and children affect the life of the -migratory worker? What difference would it make -if tramps traveled like gypsies, taking their women -and children with them? How does the absence of -women and children affect the fantasy and the -reveries and eventually the behavior of the homeless -man?</p> - -<p>The majority of homeless men are unmarried. -Those who are married are separated, at least temporarily, -from their families.<a id="FNanchor_50" href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> Most homeless men in -the city are older than the average man on the road -and would be expected, therefore, to have had -marital experience. They are content to live in town -while the younger men are eager to move in the restless -search for adventure and new experience.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138"></a>[138]</span></p> - - -<h3>THE TRAMP AND HIS ASSOCIATIONS WITH WOMEN</h3> - -<p>The homeless man has not always been homeless. -Like most of us, he was reared in a home and is so -far a product of home life. He enters upon the life -of the road in his late teens or early twenties. He -brings with him, as a rule, the habits and memories -gained in the more stable existence in the family and -community. Frequently it has been his conflict -with, and rebellion against, that more stable existence -that set him on the road.</p> - -<p>Most of these men have mothers living. If their -mothers are dead, they speak of them reverently. -The mission workers often direct their appeals to -these early memories, “the religion of our mothers.” -The only correspondence that some homeless men -carry on is with their mothers. Some of them only -write one or two letters a year but these are letters -home. In most of the missions there is a sign with -the inscription, “When Did You Write to Mother -Last?”</p> - -<p>Other women may, and sometimes do, exert a -wholesome influence upon him. He is often profoundly -touched by the women of the missions who -stand on the street corner and plead with him for his -soul’s sake. Young and attractive women invite -more attention because of their sex than their -message. Though he may have little or no interest -in the religious appeal, feeling for these women is -generally idealized and wholesome. The missions -have learned the value of young and attractive -women and employ them extensively as evangelists.</p> - -<p>Women in places where the hobo has worked or -boarded, generally older women, frequently take a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139"></a>[139]</span> -mother’s interest in him. “Mother” Greenstein, -who keeps a restaurant on South State Street, is the -idol of a great many “bos.” She never turns a -hungry man away. She is known far and near by -tramps and hobos. Many men know her by reputation -who have never seen her.</p> - -<p>Another woman who has become well known to -many homeless men is “Aunt” Nina S. She kept a -rooming-house for years and always gave any man -who came to her in winter some place to sleep. She -could always find room. Her only compensation was -the good will of the homeless man.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>51. Another woman who has won a place in the hearts of -men of West Madison Street is an old lady whom the “bos” -call “Mother.” She does not give them anything; on the contrary -she begs from them but she takes a motherly interest in all -the “boys.” She is against anyone who makes life hard for -them and hates the bootleggers, the gypsies, the gamblers, and -all who exploit them. She will denounce and curse anyone who -dares to call them “bums” in her presence. Her hobby is cats. -She spends several hours a day going up and down the street -feeding cats. All the “boys” are tolerant of all cats on the street -because they belong to “Mother.” He is a poor “bo,” indeed, -who will not spare “Mother” a dime now and then for milk -for her “kitties.”</p> -</div> - - -<p>When the tramp works he usually goes out on -some job where there are no women. He may spend -six months in a lumber camp and not see a woman -during all that time. He may work for a whole -summer, along with hundreds like himself, and never -meet a woman. Sometimes there are women on -such jobs, but they are generally the wives of the -bosses and have no interest in the common workers. -Children in such families frequently strike up a more -intimate acquaintance with them. The only company<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140"></a>[140]</span> -for such a man is men, and men who are living -the same unnatural life as himself.</p> - -<p>There are jobs open to the homeless man that are -more wholesome. Sometimes he finds himself in -communities where he is neither isolated nor an outcast. -The tramp is not often interested in small-town -or country associations, because they generally -tend to terminate seriously and he does not want to -be taken seriously. If he has the money to spend, -and he usually has while he is working, he can meet -women, but he meets them in town when he has -leisure. He may have a hundred reasons for going -to town, but the major reason, whether he admits it -or not, is to meet women. The types of women he -meets depends upon his personality, his taste, and -his purse. In this he is like the soldier or the sailor.</p> - -<p>The younger hobos, especially those who are on -the road and off again by turns, are able at times to -save money and put on a “front.” These younger -men are frequently able, therefore, to get into the -social life of the communities in which they find -themselves. When they are in town with money -to spend they “go the limit” while it lasts, and then -they go out to work and save up another “stake.” -Usually they have a number of women on their -correspondence lists. As they go from one city to -another they make new acquaintances and forget -the old friends. Usually they are as transient in -their attachments to women as to their jobs.</p> - -<p>Many of these younger men ultimately settle -down, but they do not always have the ability to -make permanent attachments though they may try -again and again. They invariably seek greener -pastures. Wherever they are, they will be found<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141"></a>[141]</span> -“burning the candles at both ends.” As long as they -are young and attractive they have little difficulty -in finding girls who are willing to assist them in -scattering their cash.</p> - -<p>Among these are the show girls who sing or dance -in the cheap burlesque theaters on South State and -West Madison streets. Thousands of hobos, who -never can hope to come in personal contact with -chorus girls, throng the cheap playhouses of Hobohemia. -The titillations of a State Street vaudeville -are vulgar and inexpensive. The men, many of -them, at least, would not and could not appreciate -a higher grade of entertainment.</p> - -<p>The hobo has few ideal associations with women. -Since most of them are unmarried, or living apart -from their wives, their sex relations are naturally -illicit. The tramp is not a marrying man, though he -does enter into transient free unions with women -when the occasion offers. There are many women -in the larger cities who have no scruples against -living with a man during the winter, or for even a -year or two, without insisting upon the marriage rite. -They are not prostitutes, not even “kept women.”</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>52. M. lived with Mrs. S. N. for four or five years, off and -on, whenever he was in town. What little money he earned he -brought home, though he took money from Mrs. N. more frequently. -She worked and usually when she came home very -tired he would have the house work done and a meal ready. -When she was sick he waited on her. He listened to her troubles -and was patient and good natured. In winter he always got up -and made the fires. She was always jealous of him and when he -would leave town for a month or two she fancied that it was to -get away from her and to live with some other woman. Finally -they separated, but they are still good friends. He is living with -another woman and she with another man. Of late he is only -in Chicago in winter.</p> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142"></a>[142]</span></p> - -<p>The tramp who succeeds in living in idleness -with a woman in such a companionship considers -himself fortunate. The woman who can find a man -like M. is often content, provided he is faithful to -her, although she prefers a man who can be depended -upon to earn a little money. The women who enter -these free unions have the least to gain and the most -to lose. The general experience of women who keep -their “men” is that when they are in the direst need -the men will desert them; on the other hand, when -the men are in need they will return.</p> - -<p>A certain class of detached men makes a practice -of getting into the good graces of some prostitute for -the winter. The panderer is not a characteristic -tramp type, but certain homeless men are not averse -to becoming pimps for a season. These attachments -between homeless men and prostitutes are often quite -real. Some of them even become permanent, others -last a year or two, but most of them are only of a -few months’ duration. While they do persist they -are often more or less sentimental.</p> - - -<h3>THE HOBO AND PROSTITUTION</h3> - -<p>Most hobos and tramps because of drink, unpresentable -appearance, or unattractive personality, -do not succeed in establishing permanent, or -even quasi-permanent, relationships with women. -For them the only accessible women are prostitutes -and the prostitutes who solicit the patronage of the -homeless man are usually forlorn and bedraggled -creatures who have not been able to hold out in the -fierce competition in higher circles.</p> - -<p>These women, otherwise so isolated and so hard -pressed by their exigent wants, do not live on the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143"></a>[143]</span> -“main stem,” but adjacent to it. They are conveniently -located so that even the “floater,” who comes -to town with a few months’ savings, has no trouble -in finding them. The upper-class prostitutes keep -men on the street getting the business for them. -Pandering is an art, and many of these pimps have -become adept in catching the men who come to -town with “rolls.” Only a small part of the commerce -of the homeless man is with the “live ones.” -He usually has so little money that he is forced to -bargain for the attention of the lowest women that -walk the streets.</p> - -<p>Men with “rolls” are scarce in Hobohemia. One -man met on West Madison Street said: “I came in -last night with $380 and now I’m flatter’n a pancake. -I didn’t even get a pair of sox. Hallelujah! I’m a -bum.” He was still too drunk to realize the situation, -but next day he was uncertain whether he had -been robbed by a woman or by a “jack roller.” He -did not even know whether he had been robbed or had -lost his money. He had worked all winter and spring -on a ranch near Casper, Wyoming, and had come to -town with a trainload of cattle.<a id="FNanchor_51" href="#Footnote_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> It is seldom that -the second-rate prostitute gets hold of so much money.</p> - -<p>From these “second raters” the tramp is doubly -liable to infection. Most of them have been diseased -at some time while some of them are infected all the -time. More than one-third of them, according to -Dr. Ben L. Reitman, of the Chicago Health Department, -are constantly spreading infection. The -homeless man is well aware of the risk he runs -when he patronizes the prostitute, but he does not -realize the gravity of the danger.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144"></a>[144]</span></p> - - -<h3>PERVERSION AMONG THE TRAMPS</h3> - -<p>All studies indicate that homosexual practices -among homeless men are widespread. They are -especially prevalent among men on the road among -whom there is a tendency to idealize and justify the -practice. Homosexuality is not more common -among tramps than among other one-sex groups. -In the prison and jail population, the authorities -are forced to wage a constant warfare against it. -The same condition prevails also in the navy or -merchant marine, and, to a lesser extent, in the army.<a id="FNanchor_52" href="#Footnote_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> - -<p>Among tramps there are, it seems, two types of -perverts. There are those who are subjects, in the -words of Havelock Ellis, “of a congenital predisposition, -or complexus of abnormalities.” Ellis contends -that certain individuals, different temperamentally -and physically from the rest of us, are not attracted -by the opposite sex but are easily attracted by their -own sex. Most of them are men who have developed -from childhood feminine traits and tastes, and they -may be regarded as predisposed to homosexuality. -The second group is composed of individuals who -have temporarily substituted homosexual for heterosexual -behavior. Most of these perverts by conversion -are men who, under the pressure of sex isolation, -have substituted boy for woman as the object of their -desires. This is chiefly because boys are accessible -while women are not.</p> - - -<h3>THE BOY TRAMP AND PERVERSION</h3> - -<p>The boy does not need to remain long in hobo -society to learn of homosexual practices. The -average boy on the road is invariably approached<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145"></a>[145]</span> -by men who get into his good graces. Some -“homos” claim that every boy is a potential homosexual. -This is without doubt an exaggeration as -well as a defense, for not all boys are subject to -persuasion. Sometimes boys will travel alone or with -other boys to avoid the approaches of older men. -Often boys will refrain from traveling with adults, -even well-behaved adults, because they realize that -they will be under suspicion. It is not uncommon -to hear a boy who is seen traveling with an older man -spoken of as the “wife” or “woman.” It is only -natural that many boys fear to be alone with adult -tramps.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>53. The case of M. is typical. He is a sixteen year old boy -who travels alone. He is a handsome lad; small for his age and -neat in appearance. He is just the type of boy that would -attract the average “wolf” who idealizes pink cheeks and an -innocent appearance. He travels alone because of his fear of -“wolves.” He had not been away from home three weeks and -he says that he has been accosted several times. Although he -had been in Chicago but a day he had received advances from -two men who tried to persuade him to go to a room.</p> -</div> - - -<p>Many devices are employed by them to place the -lad in their debt or under their protection. If -methods of persuasion do not work, force is sometimes -used. One man gave a brakeman a dollar to put -a boy off the train at a lonely siding. Another man -learned which direction a certain boy was traveling -and followed him from town to town, “accidentally” -meeting him at each place. The lad was without -funds, and so was the man, but the latter was able to -beg and usually had a “lump” when he met the boy -and he always divided. Another man led a boy a -mile or so out in the country to a place where he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146"></a>[146]</span> -claimed he had worked during the previous year and -where he knew they could both get something to eat.</p> - -<p>Another common ruse is to take a boy to a room -or a box car to sleep. The man suggests that he -knows a clean car in a safe place with plenty of straw -or paper on the floor. In a big city the boy is often -enticed to a room for the same purpose. There are -many cases on record in the Chicago courts.<a id="FNanchor_53" href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>54. A. F., a boy sixteen years old, was being held in a room -on West Ohio Street to which he had been enticed for immoral -purposes by John M. J. M. was arrested on complaint of one F. -He was found in company with another boy in a room in the -E. Hotel on South State Street. John was held for trial on -$3,000 bonds which he could not furnish. He died in jail waiting -for trial.</p> - -<p>55. C. J. This man worked on a boat plying between Michigan -ports and Chicago. He persuaded a Michigan boy whose -home was near Lansing but who had run away and was loafing -about the docks on the lake front, to come with him to Chicago. -He promised to help the boy get a job, etc. He took him to a -room on South State Street where he held him for three days -and had improper relations with him. Prior to his apprehension -he had turned the boy over to another man for the same purpose.</p> -</div> - - -<p>Josiah Flynt, who was familiar with tramp life, -seems to be of the opinion that most boys are forced -into the practice. However, it does not seem probable -that force is so extensively employed as is sometimes -believed. These accounts serve as a defense -reaction on their part, yet we cannot say that -such forced initiations do not occur. But even -those who at the outset were the victims of “strong -arm” methods often become reconciled to the -practice and continue it. Often they become promiscuous -in their relations and many of them even -commercialize themselves.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147"></a>[147]</span></p> - -<p>Writers on the sex behavior of men and boys often -refer to the relationship as it exists among tramps as -a sort of slavery. By slavery is meant that boys are -held in bondage to men and forced to steal and beg -for them. This condition may exist in isolated -instances but it is not general. It is even suggested -by some authorities that there exists some sort of -organization among tramps through which boys -have been “caught” and kept in servitude. The best -evidence that such an organization does not exist is -the fact that perverted sex practices are frowned upon -by the tramps themselves.</p> - -<p>The court records show, however, that not infrequently -boys are held in rooms, or taken to lonely -buildings, or out on the lake front, or in the parks, -but the case that gets into court is seldom one in -which both parties were free agents. If there is -slavery in these latter cases it is slavery to their passions, -or to a state of mind growing out of their habits -and their isolation.</p> - -<p>The duration of an intimacy of this kind in the -city is seldom more than a few days. On the road, -however, the “partnership” may last for weeks. -Whereas, out of town the pair can travel as companions -aiding each other, in the city they can get along -better alone. It is difficult for partners to remain -together long in the city, especially if one has money -and the other none, or if one drinks and the other -does not. Living in a metropolis is a problem the -tramp can solve better alone.</p> - - -<h3>ATTITUDES OF THE PERVERT</h3> - -<p>Tramp perverts argue that homosexual intercourse -is “clean” and that homosexuals are less liable<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148"></a>[148]</span> -to become infected with venereal disease. The Vice -Commission of Chicago, in its report for 1911, states -that homosexual individuals “are not known in their -true character to any extent by the physicians -because of the fact that their habits do not, as a rule, -produce bodily disease.”<a id="FNanchor_54" href="#Footnote_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></p> - -<p>It is also urged by perverts that in the homosexual -relation there is the absence of the eternal complications -in which one becomes involved with women. -They want to avoid intimacies that complicate the -free life to which they are by temperament and habit -committed. Homosexual attachments are generally -short lived, but they are real while they last. Sometimes -a man will assume a priority over a boy and -will even fight to maintain it. The investigator during -his study of this phase of the tramp problem -made two unsuccessful attempts to step between -men and their boys, or “lambs.” In one case his -interference was resented by both the man and the -boy, but in the other it was rather enjoyed by the -boy, though he would not be separated from his -“wolf.”</p> - -<p>The investigator met S., a veteran “wolf” on -Madison Street. When he was asked why his face -was so badly bruised he said that he and another man -had fought over a boy. “He was trying to get my -kid into a room with him.” He claimed that he hit -the man and ran but that he was arrested. He was -held over night in the Desplaines Street Station on -a charge of disorderly conduct, but was discharged -the next morning. What hurt him most was not -the night in jail or his bruised face but the fact that -the other man had left town with the boy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149"></a>[149]</span></p> - -<p>In his sex life, as in his whole existence, the homeless -man moves in a vicious circle. Industrially -inadequate, his migratory habits render him the -more economically inefficient. A social outcast, he -still wants the companionship which his mode of -life denies him. Debarred from family life, he -hungers for intimate associations and affection. The -women that he knows, with few exceptions, are -repulsive to him. Attractive women live in social -worlds infinitely remote from his. With him the -fundamental wishes of the person for response and -status have been denied expression. The prevalence -of sexual perversion among the homeless men -is, therefore, but the extreme expression of their unnatural -sex life. Homosexual practices arise almost -inevitably in similar situations of sex isolation. A -constructive solution for the problems of the sex life -of the homeless man strikes deeper into our social -life than this study can carry us.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_50" href="#FNanchor_50" class="label">[50]</a> Of the 1,000 men studied by Mrs. Solenberger, 74 per cent gave their -marital status as single. Of the 400 interviewed by the writer 86 per cent stated -that they were unmarried. Only 8 per cent of the former and 5 per cent of the -latter survey claimed they were married. The others claimed to be widowed, -divorced, or separated from their wives. Unpublished Document 142.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_51" href="#FNanchor_51" class="label">[51]</a> Unpublished Document 114.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_52" href="#FNanchor_52" class="label">[52]</a> Iwan Bloch, <cite>Sexual Life of Our Times</cite>, p. 540.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_53" href="#FNanchor_53" class="label">[53]</a> Unpublished Document 32.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_54" href="#FNanchor_54" class="label">[54]</a> <cite>The Social Evil in Chicago</cite>, pp. 296-97.</p> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150"></a>[150]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak left" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI<br /> -<span class="left fs80">THE HOBO AS A CITIZEN</span></h2> - - -<p class="drop-capy">Where are we to place the hobo as a citizen? -What is his actual status as a member of -society or as a functioning unit in the state? Where -does he stand in relation to organized society and its -laws and its mores?</p> - -<p>The public dismisses these questions by assigning -the hobo and the tramp to the class of “undesirables.” -This reaction of the public is, of course, -emotional and superficial, based partly on the shabby -and unkempt appearance of the men of the road and -partly on their reputation as beggars, vagrants, -drunkards, and petty thieves. Any study of the -homeless man as a citizen must go farther and take -into account such factors as nativity, naturalization, -and patriotism; legal residence and the right -and opportunity to vote; obedience to law; and his -political aspirations.</p> - - -<h3>NATIVITY, NATURALIZATION, AND PATRIOTISM</h3> - -<p>Students of hobos and tramps have been struck -by the fact that the great majority of homeless -men are native-born Americans. Mrs. Solenberger -found that of 1,000, 623 were native born. Of the -400 tramps interviewed by the writer during the -summer of 1921, only 61 were foreign-born and 23 -of these had taken out naturalization papers. From -these and other studies it appears that from 60 to -90 per cent of hobos and tramps are native born.</p> - -<p>The tramp is an American product. The foreign-born -in this group are chiefly of the older immigration. -Among these, Englishmen, proverbial as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151"></a>[151]</span> -“globe-trotters,” are conspicuous. The number of -homeless men from the newer immigration is small, -and the individuals who are found in the tramp and -hobo group seem often out of place.</p> - -<p>One test of patriotism is military service. The -writer found that of the 400 he interviewed, 92 had -seen military service. This figure is high, since there -were only 183 men of the whole group between the -ages of twenty and thirty-four. These men were -listed in 1921 and would include many who were not -in the draft age when the allotments were drawn in -1918. There were of the 400, 58 who were probably -under the draft age in 1918. When we consider the -proportion of physically and mentally unfit, it seems -that this figure is high.<a id="FNanchor_55" href="#Footnote_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a></p> - - -<h3>THE HOBO AND HIS VOTE</h3> - -<p>What is the status of the hobo as a voter? He -seldom remains in one place long enough to acquire -legal residence. His work, because of its seasonal -character, often takes him away from his legal residence -just at the time when he should be there to -register or vote. Whether he has a desire to cast his -ballot or not, he is seldom able to do so.</p> - -<p>A canvass of thirty-five Hobohemian hotels in -Chicago has shown that about a third of the guests -are voters. In March, 1923, there were 3,029 -registered voters from these hotels, which have a -total capacity of 9,480. Many of these, though they -are in the city only in winter or for a few weeks at<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152"></a>[152]</span> -a time, manage to maintain a residence here and, -if they are in the city during an election, they vote.</p> - -<p>Charges are even made that tramps and hobos -sell their votes, that they often engage in “repeating.” -There is not as much ground for such charges -as one would expect. The average tramp does not -have the courage to take the chances that the -“repeater” must expect to run. He realizes also -that he is always under more or less suspicion even -when he is going straight, and this serves as a brake.</p> - -<p>Homeless men as a group make much of the fact -that they are excluded from the ballot, and they remind -all who have the patience to listen that the exclusion -is unjust because they perform an important and -legitimate function in the labor world. They seem -to protest against their exclusion more than to demand -the ballot. One man said that he did not know -if he would vote if he had a chance, “but it’s the -principle of the thing.”</p> - -<p>The International Brotherhood Welfare Association -has repeatedly stood for some form of universal -suffrage that would permit migratory workers to -vote, regardless of the length of their residence in a -community.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>During the latter part of May, 1922, a convention of the -Farmer-Labor Party was held in Chicago. Certain members -of the hobo group failed in the attempt to get a resolution -through the convention in favor of giving the vote to migratory -workers. Certain delegates feared that the hobo was too irresponsible -to use the ballot. The farmer element in the Farmer-Labor -Party resented the idea of giving support to the tramp -group by whom they had been harassed so much in the harvest -fields. Nor is the I.W.W. particularly interested in “votes for -the hobos,” because in their opinion the ballot is at best an indirect -method of accomplishing what can be easier secured by direct -action.</p> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153"></a>[153]</span></p> - -<p>Forty-eight of the 400 homeless men studied by -the writer claimed to have voted in the presidential -election of 1920.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>56. One of the men interviewed in this study said: “I happened -to drop into Salt Lake the last day of the registration so I -got my name on the dotted line. I swore I had been in the state -a year. They couldn’t prove I wasn’t, so it passed. I’d been -in ten or fifteen states that year. Well, when election came I was -working in Bingham. My boss was short of help and didn’t -want me to lay off to vote, so I quit and went to Salt Lake. Got -there just before the polls closed.”</p> -</div> - -<p>One man said that he beat his way 1,000 miles to -cast his ballot. Most of the 48, however, had voted -because at election time they were living in or near -their legal residence. What was the attitude of the -352 who did not vote? The following are the reasons -given (with reference to 1920 election):<a id="FNanchor_56" href="#Footnote_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a></p> - - -<table class="fs90 autotable" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">No desire to vote and no legal residence</td> -<td class="tdr">28</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Having legal residence but no desire to vote</td> -<td class="tdr">54</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">No legal residence but desire to vote </td> -<td class="tdr">129</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Under twenty-one</td> -<td class="tdr">88</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Aliens</td> -<td class="tdr">38*</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">In military service</td> -<td class="tdr">9</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Disfranchised</td> -<td class="tdr">2</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Not known</td> -<td class="tdr">4</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"></td> -<td class="tdr">—-</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlrrr">Total</td> -<td class="tdc">352</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlrr fs80">* Sixty-one foreign-born in 400; 23 naturalized.</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>There were 28 men both ineligible to vote and -indifferent to the ballot. The group of 54 who had no -desire to vote included men who were at home, or -near their legal residence, and could have voted had -they been interested. The two listed as disfranchised<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154"></a>[154]</span> -were both men who had been dishonorably -discharged from the navy. Both were under twenty-one -and had enlisted under the pressure of wartime -enthusiasm. One of these was not interested in voting -and the other said that the vote was a joke -anyway.</p> - - -<h3>THE HOMELESS MAN AND THE LAW</h3> - -<p>The migratory worker is not saddled with responsibility -for law and order. As he makes his way -about the country, he is unincumbered. He has -nothing to lose and nothing to protect but his person, -and that he protects best by constantly moving. -The homeless man has no interest in common with -the settled man of the community who has attachments -and property, and at whose expense he often -lives. The migratory worker, for a time, may be -physically a part of a community, but he actually -does not become absorbed into its social life. The -wanderer who fails to win a place in the life of a -community often takes his own course. This -course is sometimes in harmony with the interests -of the community, but more often counter to them, -and he fails under the surveillance of the law.</p> - -<p>To the tramp and the hobo the police are the -guardian angels of organized society, created to -protect the community against criminals and -migrants. To him there are two varieties of -police—civil and private. The uniformed upholder -of the law, the civil police, is given the uncomplimentary -epithet, “harness bull.” The plain-clothes men -are called “dicks,” “fly cops,” and “stool pigeons.” -The private police who protect the property of the -railroad are held in even lower contempt.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155"></a>[155]</span></p> - - -<h3>THE PRIVATE POLICE</h3> - -<p>The chief job of the “dicks” is to keep the “bos” -off the trains. The private police are unpopular, -not only among homeless men, but also among the -employees of the railroads. Brakemen and switchmen -will often aid tramps in their effort to avoid the -police. Railroad police must often contend with a -lack of co-operation by the civil police. The town -police, or “town clown” as he is called, may order -the tramps to leave on the “next train,” while the -railroad police may be making every effort to prevent -their riding the trains. The town police are not -anxious to fill the jail; they prefer that the transients -move on; they reason that the railroad should take -away what the railroad brought.</p> - -<p>The railroad policeman shows results, not by the -number of convictions as the civil police, but by his -ability to keep at a minimum the number of offenses -against railroad property. His endeavor is to put -fear into the hearts of all trespassers on the right-of-way. -He becomes a hunter of men, not to seize and -detain them, but to pursue and terrorize them. He -is to the railroad property what the scarecrow is to -the cornfield.</p> - -<p>Railroad police sometimes drive men off fast-moving -trains by throwing stones or shooting at -them. Not infrequently they catch and maltreat a -tramp; however, they are seldom able to get hold of -a veteran tramp. The inexperienced man or the -boy is more likely to be caught. These means of -putting fear into men do not stop tramping. As they -become fearful of the railroad “bull,” they become -more cautious, and the “bull’s” problem is increasingly -difficult.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156"></a>[156]</span></p> - - -<h3>WHAT THE TRAMP THINKS OF THE PRIVATE POLICE</h3> - -<p>To migrants the railroad is “the tramp’s traditional -highway.” The tramp, however, expects -opposition from the railroad police and even from -the train crews; nevertheless he measures his success -as a “boomer” by his ability to outwit this opposition. -Encounters with the railroad police are a -favorite theme of conversation in the “jungles” and -along the “stem.”</p> - -<p>One man tells of being held in Hutchinson, -Kansas, on suspicion:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>57. A bunch of us came in on a freight and started up town. -It was about midnight and the moon was shining. We were -sneaking along the shade of a row of box cars. A couple of men -halted us and ordered us to come out into the light. I had a -notion to run but one of the other fellows said they had “gats” -and we’d better take no chances. It was a good thing we didn’t -run because we found out that a couple of men had escaped -from the jail. All the police and a lot of the citizens had been -drafted to find them. Most of them carried guns and nothing -would have suited them better than to have had some one to -shoot at.</p> - -<p>They rounded up about ten “bos” out of the yards and took -us to a room in the depot where they held us for about an hour -till one of the guards came from the jail. He did not see the -escaped men in the crowd so we were turned loose. The railroad -“bull” ordered us to walk out of town. We walked out a -ways and then sneaked back and caught a freight.</p> - -<p>I think we got off easy. I had a buddy once who was held a -week until the police could get a picture. He was caught by -the railroad “bull” and turned over to the “town clown.” -They are always sorry if they can’t get something on a “bo” -they hold.</p> -</div> - - -<p>Youths in their first adventures on the road accept -with zest the conflict with the private police. A<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157"></a>[157]</span> -student who made a practice of “working the -harvest” each summer gives the following statement:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>58. My first experience with a bull was at Marshalltown, -Iowa. I had been selling books up near Mason City, Iowa, and -after three weeks of that loathsome occupation, I threw my -prospectus into the ditch and started for home. Late one night -I caught an express train on the Northwestern from Ames, Iowa, -bound for Chicago, and rode from there to Marshalltown; -unfortunately the train pulled into the station very slowly and -the long string of lights on the station platform shed a great deal -of light on the train. I started to get off when a rough voice -cursing loudly told me to get off on that side. He took me by the -shoulder and asked me what in hell I was doing riding on that -train. “Don’t you know,” he said, “what we do with fellows -who ride the front ends of these trains?” He gave me a kick and -told me to get out of the yards. It was my first encounter with -the “bulls” and I have since learned that “bull” tactics are very -much the same.</p> - -<p>Another time I crawled off the train into the waiting arms of -a Rock Island “bull” in Council Bluffs, Iowa. He showed me -his star and searched me over carefully, feeling every lump in my -clothing. During the search he said, “Will you give me all I find -on you?” The question rather startled me but I quickly -replied, “Yes.” Finding nothing, he seemed disappointed and -said, “I can’t understand why you haven’t more money on you! -What are you, anyway?” I told him I was a college student -looking for work. “The hell you are!” he sneered, “you’re a -Weary Willie, now get out of here, quick.”</p> - -<p>At Grand Island some fifty of us tried to ride a merchandise -freight out of the yards, when an energetic “bull” pulled himself -out of a car and waved a revolver wildly warning all not to -get on. It was a long freight and the men strung themselves -up and down the track the full length of it. In spite of his -efforts, several got aboard. My companion and I were quite -close to him and made no effort to get on.</p> - -<p>My next encounter occurred at Bureau, Illinois, a division -point on the Rock Island. There were four of us on the tender -(behind the engine), my room mate and I and two lads who had -jumped on some miles down the line. They had been jumping -on and off and having a good time generally. Both of them had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158"></a>[158]</span> -on white shirts and could be easily recognized by the train men. -At Bureau a rough looking “bull” poked his head over the tender, -waved a gun, cursed madly and told us to get down from there. -We were lying flat on one corner and I did not believe he had -seen us. The two boys did as they were told while I held my -room mate down and told him not to move. I heard him -swearing at the boys as the train pulled out.</p> - -<p>With a companion I left a Rock Island freight one afternoon -to get a drink of water. We came back to see our train far up -the track toward Des Moines. I noticed by my table that an -express train would soon be in. My companion was a long, lean -individual, a bluffing, blustering type probably weighing about -175 pounds. A “bull” was waiting for us at Valley Junction, -just outside of Des Moines. He pulled us off and marched us -out in front of all the passengers and into the station. We both -noticed that we had climbed a mail train and that our future was -not very bright. The station agent was not in and I sized -Mr. “Bull” up as he searched us. He was a young fellow, not -over twenty-five and did not look nearly as hard as he talked. -My companion was as pale as a sheet and would say nothing. -I talked to him as best I could, and after scaring us to the best of -his ability he finally turned us loose, actually buying us a ticket on -the auto bus to Des Moines. He acted almost human toward us.</p> -</div> - - -<p>A man, prominent in Hobohemia as a soap-boxer, -recites this experience out of a great number that he -has had with railroad and other private police.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>59. I was traveling in Indiana with a man by the name of -Sullivan, known around the country as “Sully.” We got off -at Flora, a railroad town in Indiana. It was cold and the town -was “hostile” because so many “bos” had been there that the -people were hardened to them. We knew better than to hang -around the railroad yards so we decided to go out of town a ways -and build a fire to keep warm while we waited for a train. We -started out but Sully decided to return and learn from the switchman -when a train would be leaving. I said that I would go out -along the track and build a wind break with some old ties and -make a fire.</p> - -<p>I dragged some ties together and had the wind break up by -the time Sully returned. I had the fire going too and was taking<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159"></a>[159]</span> -off my shoes. I had stepped in some water while dragging ties -and my feet were wet and cold.</p> - -<p>Everything went fine for about half an hour. I was drying -my shoes and socks and Sully and I were talking about where we -were going and what to do. It was at the time of the Steel -Strike, and Sully was planning on going up there to get a job -as a “scab herder.” He said that by that means he would get -in with the company and that he could work some “sabotage” -in the interest of the workers. At that time I was traveling and -selling literature, and holding street meetings in the interests of -the I.B.W.A.</p> - -<p>All of a sudden something hit me in the back between the -shoulder blades. I looked around quickly and there were two -“bulls.” We were on railroad property and I knew we were in for -it. Sully ducked and went over the fence. I had my shoes off -and couldn’t run. One of them gave me another tap on the -back with a black jack. “What are you here for?” “I am -drying my shoes,” was the only answer I could think of. As I -hurried to get my shoes on one of them slapped me on the side -of the head. I jumped and ran while they cursed me and told -me never to let them catch me again. I met Sully an hour later -and together we cursed all railroad “bulls” as cowards and -sneaks.</p> - -<p>Sometime after that I was told by a friend that Sully was an -employee of the Pinkerton agency. I did not believe it but -before a year was out I heard it from two or three sources. I -made an effort to find out and I learned it was true; that he was -in their employ at the time we got chased. Then it came to me -why he went back to talk to the switchmen and how he got away -without being hit. He was traveling with me because he was -trying to get a line on me as an agitator.</p> -</div> - - -<p>These stories are typical of those that any experienced -tramp can tell.</p> - -<p>The private police “talks by hand” because it is -the most practical method at his command. The -argument of the club coincides most admirably with -the mood he is in when on duty searching trains -and keeping trespassers off railroad property. He<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160"></a>[160]</span> -is a hunter and the tramp is his prey. If it is -a game to the police, it is no less so to the tramp. -One lad who had been caught a time or two said: -“I get a lot of ‘kick’ out of riding trains out of -a place when I know the ‘dicks’ are trying to keep -me off.”</p> - -<p>When a town has a railroad policeman who is -“hard,” the fact is soon noised about. A few years -ago, Galesburg, Illinois, was known throughout the -country for the “bad” colored policeman who -guarded the yards. The hobo who could tell a -story of an encounter with the big “nigger bull” had -an exploit to be proud of. For some time Green -River, Wyoming, boasted a “hard bull” known to -the “floating fraternity” as “Green River Slim.” -As the reputation of a “bad” policeman travels -ahead, so the information about his tactics and methods. -Where he may be found, how avoided, how he -watches the trains, are usually common knowledge -to the average “bo” before he reaches a town.</p> - - -<h3>ATTITUDE OF THE PRIVATE POLICE</h3> - -<p>The <cite>Hobo News</cite> for April, 1922, reprinted an -article “The Hobo; a Real Problem to the Railroad,” -by T. T. Kelihor, chief special agent of the -Illinois Central Railroad. The article was given -space in the <cite>News</cite> in order that the hobos might see -how the “bulls” regarded them. It was followed by -a caustic criticism from the editor who charged that -the writer “like the rest of his fraternity cannot -distinguish between Hobos and Bums and Tramps -and Yeggs.”</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>The railroads of this country are the chief sufferers from this -cancerous social growth. There is no property right or other<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161"></a>[161]</span> -rights of the railroad that the modern hobo feels called upon -to consider or respect. Millions of dollars’ worth of railway -property and merchandise in transit are destroyed and -stolen annually by this class. The actual value of merchandise -stolen is only a small part of the loss of merchandise -in trains.</p> - -<p>The average hobo realizes that he is not provided with means -of carrying away a large amount of bulky goods. Consequently -when hobos enter a merchandise car, they break open a great -many cases and dump or throw out the contents on the floor in -searching for small, compact, valuable goods that they can carry -off concealed about their persons. It often happens that they -will not take more than $50.00 value in valuable articles, but -they will destroy and damage $500.00 worth of goods by destroying -the original containers and soiling the contents by trampling -on them on the dirty floor of the car and otherwise damaging -them.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The amount of property the tramp actually steals -and destroys is not known. He probably is blamed -for more damage than he does. Those who speak for -the hobo class claim that most of the goods stolen -from cars is taken by train crews who shield themselves -by pointing to the tramp, who is already an -outlaw as far as the railroad is concerned, because he -steals rides. Aside from the loss of property, Mr. -Kelihor calls attention to the great loss of life attributed -to tramping.</p> - -<p>The loss of life and limb on account of hobos riding -trains and trespassing on the right-of-way, and the -consequent financial and economic loss to the country -and the railroads, is appalling. The reports for all -railroads during 1919 show:</p> - - -<table class="fs90 autotable" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Trespassers killed</td> -<td class="tdc">2,553</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Trespassers injured </td> -<td class="tdc">2,658</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"></td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlrrr">Total</td> -<td class="tdc">5,211</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162"></a>[162]</span></p> - -<p class="noindent">And during 1920:</p> - - -<table class="fs90 autotable" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Trespassers killed</td> -<td class="tdc">2,166</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Trespassers injured </td> -<td class="tdc">2,362</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"></td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlrrr">Total</td> -<td class="tdc">4,528</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>During 1921, on the Illinois Central and the Yazoo and -Mississippi railroads, 98 trespassers were killed and 221 injured.</p> -</div> - -<p>How many of these persons killed were actually -hobos, perhaps even the railroads could not say. To -the railroad officials anyone is a trespasser on railroad -property who is not a patron or an employee. -On the other hand, all the instances of tramps killed -or injured on the railroad are not recorded.</p> - -<p>In a communication of August 2, 1922, to the -Homeless Man Committee, W. P. Riggs, chief special -agent of the American Express Company, says in -part:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>On our more important exclusive trains we have inspectors -employed to ride them for the purpose of keeping tramps and -other unauthorized persons off such trains. As in the past we -have suffered serious loss through such parties breaking into our -sealed cars and robbing them. There have also been instances -where parties under the guise of tramps beating their way around -the country turned out to be real bandits, who would at the -opportune time hold up the mail clerks and messengers.</p> - -<p>The tramp situation is the worst in this section during the -spring, summer, and fall; yet we also have more or less trouble -with them in winter months.</p> - -<p>Generally speaking, we do not receive much assistance from -civil authorities in combatting tramps.</p> -</div> - - -<p>J. H. Hustin, Jr., superintendent of property -protection for the New York Central Railroad, -writes the committee as follows:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>It is the endeavor of our police officers to keep the tramp off -our right-of-way. Many of our freight trains on the Western<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163"></a>[163]</span> -territory are protected by police officers enroute between terminals, -and it is part of their duty to keep such train riders off our -trains. Usually the tramp is placed under arrest and taken -before the local authorities for disposition.</p> - -<p>During the spring and fall we experience most of our difficulties -with train riders, especially in connection with the opening -and closing of navigation.</p> - -<p>In general, we receive the co-operation of the city authorities. -When business is quiet and a large number of men are out of -work, we obtain little direct assistance from the local police and -courts; while, when business is good and there is little unemployment, -such co-operation is very satisfactory.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>THE CIVIL AUTHORITIES AND THE TRAMP</h3> - -<p>The average man on the street, or the average -housewife, sees in the tramp either a parasite or a -predacious individual. The average man may admit -that there are many migratory men who would -work, but he feels that most of them will not, and -that they have neither permanent habits nor good -intentions; they need to be watched. If the public -opinion decrees that the town needs to be protected -against tramps, it is the duty of the police to do it. -There seems to be a relation between the pressure -that the police bring to bear on the tramp and the -pressure that the tramps impose upon the community -which is reflected in the pressure the residents place -on the police. In towns where vagrancy has become -a problem, the police are very energetic in keeping -down the number of apparently idle men.</p> - -<p>In small towns, especially railroad towns, through -which many tramps move, the police are “hostile.” -A policeman in a Wyoming town on the Union Pacific -Railroad asserts: “We’ve got to be hard on these -fellows or they will eat us out of house and home in -a week.” In the larger towns the police are sporadic<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164"></a>[164]</span> -in their harshness. Men of the road will ask one -another about the attitude of the police in certain -cities. “Omaha was good the first part of the -winter,” reported a man in a circle about a camp -fire, “I think I’ll go to Chi this winter if I don’t go -to the Coast. I heard they were pretty easy on -them there last winter.” Again, “I was in Chicago -the most of the winter. They are all right there if -you stay on the ‘stem.’” “How has K. C. been -lately? I haven’t been there for five years.”</p> - -<p>The average hobo will often avoid certain towns -because he has heard that the “bo” will not be well -received. He will sometimes go to a town even when -he has heard of its drastic method of treating the -transients. A “hard” police force and a drastic -policy of repression do not keep tramps away. It -selects out those who are willing to run the risk. -Timid and inexperienced men are kept away, but the -daring and veteran tramps who cause the police the -most trouble are not so readily frightened off.</p> - -<p>The police do not regard the tramp as a serious -offender. If he steals, it is generally for something -to eat or to wear. Every man on the road steals -potatoes or green corn from the nearby fields, or -fruit from the neighboring orchard, or chickens that -stray within reach of the jungle.</p> - -<p>Tramps will boast about what they will do when -times get hard and cold weather crowds them. “I -won’t starve. I worked all summer, and I won’t go -hungry this winter.” This man was “broke” in -spite of a summer’s hard labor in the harvest fields. -His earnings quickly went for drink. He did get -hungry, and his clothes were torn to tatters before -spring, but he did not break in any windows as he had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165"></a>[165]</span> -threatened. There are “crooks” among the tramps, -but not so many as might be supposed. The average -tramp does not possess the courage to be a first-class -crook.</p> - -<p>Warden Wesley Westbrook, of the Cook County -jail, supports this estimate of the tramp as an offender:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>I am convinced that the tramp does not have the courage to -be a criminal. He will steal something to eat or wear, and he -may steal a door mat or some article he may sell for a quarter to -get a coffee-an’; or, if he is drinking, to get the price of a pint of -whiskey. But tramps do not become criminal in the serious -sense. They make noise and threats sometimes but I have found -them an easy group to get along with. It takes considerable -courage to break into a house or to hold a person up and the -tramp will not do this. He seems to think that he can get a -living easier and with less risk.</p> -</div> - - -<p>But whether a major offender or not, the fact is -that the homeless man is almost always liable to -arrest as a vagrant. He is marked as a potential -offender. He always faces the possibility of being -arrested on suspicion. Where the ex-convict is -harassed by the authorities because they have his -record, the tramp is often held because they do not -have his record. Often migrants are taken from -freight trains and transported many miles to the -scenes of some offense only to be turned loose. Often -they are held for days in local jails until they can -prove an alibi or their identity can be established. -For them there is no redress.</p> - -<p>The status of the homeless man in the courts is -not high. Again and again men are arraigned before -the judge for vagrancy, fighting, drunkenness, begging, -petty stealing, and other minor offenses. Any -policeman can walk along West Madison Street any -day and see some man or perhaps a dozen who could<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166"></a>[166]</span> -be arrested on some charge. If all policemen did -this the jails would be full and the police courts in -which these cases are tried would be continually overflowing. -Only the most conspicuous cases are -arrested. Those are numerous enough to keep an -average judge busy in an average police court.</p> - -<p>The judge who sits in the Desplaines Street police -court, where more tramps are arraigned than in any -other court in Chicago, faces sometimes as many as -100 men whose cases must be disposed of within a -few hours. One morning the investigator visited -Judge LaBuy’s court in the Desplaines Street station -and saw more than fifty cases of vagrancy, disorderly -conduct, drunkenness, etc., disposed of in less -than half an hour. There was little material at hand -by which the judge could arrive at a just decision, -consequently he disposed of the cases with only that -evidence that was apparent. Apparently neither the -needs of the individual were being met nor the -demands of justice satisfied.<a id="FNanchor_57" href="#Footnote_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a></p> - -<p>The experiences of the tramp or hobo in the police -court do not increase his respect for the law and the -administration of justice. He finds the administration -of justice a mechanical process. At the points -where the law touches his life it has lost every trace -of the human touch unless it be the brutal “third -degree” or the traditional “sixty days.” The courts -sometimes put fear into his heart but they do not -reform him.</p> - -<p>What status as a citizen does the hobo wish? His -attitude toward the police and his reaction toward -the civil authorities that represent organized society -seem to be tempered with antipathy. Most of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167"></a>[167]</span> -songs he sings are songs of protest. The organizations -to which he allies himself are antagonistic to -things as they are.</p> - -<p>In many ways, the migratory worker is “a man -without a country.” By the very nature of his -occupation he is deprived of the ballot, and liable -when not at work to arrest for vagrancy and trespassing. -The public ignores him generally, but now -and again pities or is hostile to him. With no status -in organized society, he longs for a classless society -where all inequalities shall be abolished. In the -I.W.W. and other radical organizations, he finds in -association with restless men of his own kind the -recognition everywhere else denied him.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_55" href="#FNanchor_55" class="label">[55]</a> It must be remembered that the 400 include tramps in transit who are, -perhaps, the better and most fit of all the types. At least there would be in -such a group a greater number of able-bodied men than in any 400 selected at -random in the “stem” of one of our cities. Again, 400 is not a sufficient number -to permit more than a tentative conclusion.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_56" href="#FNanchor_56" class="label">[56]</a> From an unpublished study by the author of 400 tramps, Document 115.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_57" href="#FNanchor_57" class="label">[57]</a> Unpublished Document 80.</p> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169"></a>[168-169]</span></p> -<h2>PART IV</h2> -<p class="center p1 fs150">HOW THE HOBO MEETS HIS PROBLEM</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_171"></a>[170-171]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak left" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII<br /> -<span class="left fs80">PERSONALITIES OF HOBOHEMIA</span></h2> - - -<p class="drop-capy">Like other communities, Hobohemia has its eminent -persons. In the flux and flow of the life -on the “main stem” certain individuals are conspicuous. -They are for the most part the soap-box -orators, the organizers and promoters of utopias. -These men are the most loved or the most hated of -all the Hobohemian celebrities. They are either -overwhelmingly approved or are unsparingly condemned -as grafters and parasites. But whether -exploiters or benefactors they are centers of interest. -They are powers. Among the many men of this -group are: James Eads How, Dr. Ben L. Reitman, -John X. Kelly, Michael C. Walsh, Daniel Horsley, -and A. W. Dragstedt.</p> - -<p>Outside of these leaders of the migratory workers -are mission workers, like Charles W. Langsman, of -the Bible Rescue Mission; and John Van de Water, -of the Helping Hand Mission; and Brigadier J. E. -Atkins, of the Salvation Army, which is neither a -mission nor a church.</p> - -<p>It has been the policy of the Baptist Church on -North LaSalle Street and the Immanuel Baptist -Church on South Michigan Avenue more than other -churches to feed homeless men. Dr. Johnston Myers -is pastor of the latter church, and probably the most -talked-of minister in Hobohemia when times are -hard. Dr. Myers is contrasted by homeless men with -the Greensteins on South State Street. “Mother” -Greenstein’s “bread line” is known the country over.</p> - -<p>These or their counterparts may be found in any -city where hobos gather.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_172"></a>[172]</span></p> - - -<h3>DR. JAMES EADS HOW, “THE MILLIONAIRE HOBO”</h3> - -<p>How, a man of wealth and education, renounced -all to share the lot of the hobos. He is not an -imposing personality, but he is a kindly, ingratiating, -almost saintly man. He is a dreamer and a visionary -with a program for reforming the world. Every cent -that he does not spend for doughnuts and twenty-five-cent -flops goes to the “cause.” He hopes that other -millionaires will see his good works and imitate him.</p> - -<p>How is a bachelor in his late forties. According -to rumor, which he neither affirms nor denies, he has -two college degrees, one of them in medicine. He -plans soon to enter a college for a year to study law, -so as to be the better prepared to promote the interests -of the International Brotherhood Welfare Association -and the “Hobo College.” The I.W.W. -believes the world will be reformed by organization -and direct action first, and education second. How -puts education first. He hopes to establish a central -hobo university to which the numerous hobo colleges -in the large cities will be feeders.</p> - -<p>To How the hobos are a “chosen people” who -have been denied their own. They will come into -their own in time. All his repeated failures to build -up a strong organization of migratory workers have -not shaken his faith in his vision. How still believes -that hobos and millionaires will sooner or later work -together in harmony to construct the House of -Happiness for humanity.</p> - - -<h3>DR. BEN L. REITMAN, “THE KING OF THE HOBOS”</h3> - -<p>With the exception of James Eads How, “the -millionaire hobo,” Reitman is known to more migratory -workers than any other man in the country. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_173"></a>[173]</span>Several years ago, while he was roaming casually -over the United States, Reitman was dubbed by the -papers the “King of the Hobos.” This title was -well earned by more than twenty years on the road, -including two or three tramps around the world.</p> - - -<div class="figcenter illowp70 " id="i_173" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_173.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">DR. BEN L. REITMAN</div> -</div> - - -<p>His own description of himself given to the -papers several years ago still holds:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>I am an American by birth, a Jew by parentage, a Baptist by -adoption, a physician and teacher by profession, cosmopolitan -by choice, a Socialist by inclination, a celebrity by accident, a -tramp by twenty years’ experience, and a reformer by inspiration.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The only modification that he would make today -is that he has settled into the routine of his profession. -He still lectures at the “Hobo College.” He still -intercedes for hobos and guarantees their bills in -case they do not make good. He is still a refuge for -the sick and afflicted and not a day passes that he -does not treat some down-and-outer free. He is still -a reformer but he has lost that “lean, hungry look” -of his hobo days, and since he owns a Ford, the hobos -charge him with being an aristocrat.</p> - - -<h3>JOHN X. KELLY, SOAP-BOXER AND ORGANIZER</h3> - -<p>John Kelly has been associated with James Eads -How for more than fifteen years. Before he met How -he was a curbstone orator. Beating his way from -city to city, he has talked in the “slave markets” of -every metropolitan city in the United States. He -has been jailed many times for his “soap-boxing,” -and has often been forced to leave town between the -suns because of free-speech fights. He has often -beaten his way 1,000 miles to be present at a hobo -convention and to participate in the demonstrations -of the hobo against the upper strata of society.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_174"></a>[174]</span></p> - -<p>Kelly is still an organizer, though he is not an -enthusiastic or hopeful one. He still has faith, but -he is no longer the staunch advocate of democratic -hobo organizations he formerly was. Years of bitter -experience have taught him that the average hobo -will not stand up under any responsibility. At one -time he was an I.W.W. soap-boxer, but he no longer -believes that the “Wobblies” are doing anything for -the hobo, and he frankly tells them so.</p> - -<p>From a champion of democracy, he has swung -over to an advocate of benevolent autocracy. He is -still active in the “Hobo College,” but is often at -variance with How and opposes him bitterly on -some issues.</p> - -<p>How, an idealist, has never learned that the -ordinary hobo organization is almost sure to fail if -left to manage itself. “But,” says Kelly, the organizer, -“they’ll never succeed. They will never be -cured of quarreling over trifles. They have got to be -saved by some other method than their own power.”</p> - - -<h3>MICHAEL C. WALSH, ORGANIZER AND PROMOTER</h3> - -<p>Walsh has long been a factor in the hobo life of -Chicago. At present he is the head of a struggling -organization of workers known as the United Brotherhood -of American Laborers, which seeks to organize -workers around an insurance program. Walsh designates -himself “Journalist and Lecturer, Founder of -the Famous Hobo College,” “The Society of Vagabonds,” -and “The Mary Garden Forum.” He -further styles himself, not without reason, a graduate -of the “University of Adversity.”</p> - -<p>Left an orphan at an early age, he began wandering, -working casually at his trade as an iron-worker.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_175"></a>[175]</span> -He traveled extensively over the United States and -went abroad as a tramp worker and a beach-comber. -In 1906-7, becoming interested in the problem of the -down-and-outs, he conducted the Liberty Hotel in -Seattle for the unemployed. Later in San Francisco -he was again active in the interest of the unemployed. -Still later he joined James Eads How in -St. Louis and aided in organizing the “penniless men -of his own city.” In 1915 he came to Chicago and -organized the “Hobo College.” Other hobos say -that the “college” had been in existence years before -Walsh arrived on the scene, but that he did -play a part in making it popular.</p> - -<p>Walsh, as president of the “college,” was able to -attract the assistance of many leading citizens. He -won the services of Mary Garden, who took special -pride in singing there occasionally. He has been -active among the unemployed, and at one time -attracted considerable public notice which got him -into disrepute with the local police.</p> - -<p>Walsh has also sought the limelight as a lyceum -and chautauqua lecturer. His subjects dealt with -the various aspect of the hobo problem. Walsh, -like many of the hobo celebrities, only sees in the -tramp problem one cause, and that is, unemployment. -“Give the boys plenty of jobs and there will be no -tramps.” This is a popular interpretation among -the tramps themselves.</p> - - -<h3>DANIEL HORSLEY, “PROFESSOR” AND BOOKDEALER</h3> - -<p>Daniel Horsley is a bookseller. His establishment, -at 1237 West Madison Street, is called the -hobo bookstore. The place is known as the “Proletariat”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_176"></a>[176]</span> -to the men on the “stem.” Here many -men who have no other address receive their mail. -Says one man, “Where is —— lately, Dan?” “I don’t -know, but I suppose he is on his way to Chicago. -I have had some mail for him for two weeks.” The -men meet their friends at the “Proletariat,” or they -leave things there for safekeeping. They all know -Mr. Horsley, and he has the good will of all the -“bos.”</p> - -<p>Horsley has been somewhat of a hobo himself, as -the following excerpt will show:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>My occupation during the past 14 years has carried me -through many grades of labor. First, the coal mining industry -was for many years my sole occupation. The miner, having more -dangers to confront than most workers, does not last long. The -industry claimed two of my brothers. After having received -a dose of black damps (foul air), my health was not of the best so -I decided the open air would be the most beneficial.</p> - -<p>I started with a picture machine to earn my living as I -recuperated. I traveled through Nebraska, Dakota, Wyoming, -Montana, and Alberta, Canada. In every small town we would -generally come across some of the boys (hobos). Returning from -the Northwest I came back East without the machine. I -stayed a while in Iowa and then went back to the West. Previous -to and during the war I was in the shipbuilding industry. -Leaving there I worked for a short while in the woods but decided -to come East again. Visiting the eastern seaboard I saw great -industries closing down so I finally landed in Chicago.</p> -</div> - - -<p>Dan’s work is selling books and periodicals but -he gets his recreation by mounting the soap box -occasionally. He is a devout student of Marxian -economics, and he likes nothing better than to talk -economics to an audience of workers. At the “Hobo -College” he is known as “professor,” and he gives -lectures there now and then on economics, or his -other favorite topic, current history.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177"></a>[177]</span></p> - -<p>The <cite>Hobo News</cite> has printed a number of his -articles on economic subjects. His writing, like his -teaching and soap-boxing, is along Marxian lines. -He has little patience for anyone who sees things -differently. His hobby is education, and the book -business gives him a chance to get to the homeless -man and all other workers the kind of literature that -he thinks will start them thinking.</p> - - -<h3>A. W. DRAGSTEDT, “THE HOBO INTELLECTUAL”</h3> - -<p>Mr. Dragstedt is one of the numerous ex-secretaries -of the “Hobo College” for the year 1922-23. -As secretary of the “college,” it was his business -to attend to the finances of the institution and to -manage the programs. It is the secretary’s job to -find speakers for various occasions, and to advertise -the meetings. In short, the secretary must be a -diplomat and an executive. Dragstedt has all the -earmarks of a good hobo secretary.</p> - -<p>Born in Sweden some forty years ago, he emigrated -to this country and settled in Montana before -he was out of his teens. He did not remain settled -long, but went here and there in search of work until -he developed into a regular hobo. He has worked at -nearly all the migratory occupations and has seen -nearly all the states of the Union. He is now one of -the seasoned veterans of the floating fraternity. He -is getting over his passion for travel, but he has not -yet learned to settle down. He still likes to feel that -he is free to go whenever the notion strikes him, -although for a year or so he has not gone very far -from the city.</p> - -<p>Dragstedt is a man of wide and varied experience, -but he seldom can be persuaded to talk about himself.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_178"></a>[178]</span> -He did his bit in the late war and went as far -as France. Most hobos who have been across like -to tell about it, but not he. But Dragstedt talks. -He has ideas and he talks about them. He has a -great many ideas, some of them consistent and -others not, but they keep him occupied and he is -generally keeping someone else interested. He is a -type of the hobo intellectual.</p> - -<p>As a high brow, Dragstedt is a poet of no mean -ability. His poems either protest against the “system” -or idealize tramp life. He is also an artist. -The walls of the “Hobo College” are adorned with -samples of his workmanship such as cartoons and -decorated placards. He has an ambition to become -a cartoonist, but he is a hobo, and hobos are men who -will not apply themselves. He has two or three -scenarios that might be developed into fair picture -plays, but he will not go back to them to polish -them up. This calls for more application than he -cares to give. In this, again, he is a hobo, but he -does not grieve about that.</p> - - -<h3>CHARLES W. LANGSMAN, EXPONENT OF LOVE</h3> - -<p>Recently, Superintendent Langsman celebrated -his twentieth spiritual birthday. For twenty years -he has been connected with the Bible Rescue Mission. -Before he became converted, to use his words, he was -an “ordinary bad man of the street.” He has lived -the life of the tramp. He knows hobos from the -human side. He knows their weaknesses, their -temptations, and their trials. For twenty years he -has worked with them to aid them. Hundreds of -men have been lifted out of the quicksands of a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_179"></a>[179]</span> -transient and aimless life by him, while he has -inspired thousands to make an effort.</p> - -<p>In his official capacity he is the superintendent of -the Bible Rescue Mission. He is also vice-president -of the midwest district of the International Mission -Union. To the men on the street he is known as -“Charley.” No mission man in Chicago is better -known.</p> - -<p>The Bible Rescue Mission is the only one that -feeds men the year around. Mr. Langsman feels -that hungry men need food just as much in summer -as in winter. To him feeding is an evidence of the -spirit of Christianity. Because of this policy of feeding, -he has been severely criticized by the homeless -men themselves and by missions. Many of the “bos” -say that “Charley” has a “doughnut philosophy.” -They maintain that religion is not worth much if it -can only get into a man’s heart through his stomach. -These criticisms come back to Superintendent Langsman, -but they have not changed his policy.</p> - -<p>One of Langsman’s hobbies is a homeless man’s -picnic each year. When “Charley” stages a picnic -it is a gala day for West Madison Street. All the -“boys” come out for a ride to the country in trucks -furnished by various firms and to eat sandwiches -provided by the churches.</p> - - -<h3>JOHN VAN DE WATER, THE FRIEND OF THE DESERVING</h3> - -<p>The Helping Hand Mission at 850 West Madison -Street is essentially a family mission with Sunday-school, -parents’ classes, and other auxiliary activities. -It does not, however, neglect the homeless man. -Superintendent John Van de Water, for the last eight<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_180"></a>[180]</span> -years superintendent of the Helping Hand Mission, is -one of the few practical men in the mission work. -Throughout the winter his organization feeds, upon -an average, 100 men a day. However, no one is fed -who will not work. He operates a wood yard and any -able-bodied man who asks for aid is given a chance to -work. His is the only mission that has such a test.</p> - -<p>Mr. Van de Water does not care for converts -that must be “bought” with doughnuts and coffee, -and he has little patience with the missions imposed -upon by men who become converted only for a -place to sleep or something to eat. He is in favor -of concerted action among missions, because where -they work separately they lay themselves open to -exploitation.</p> - -<p>The homeless man is often an ungrateful individual, -but Mr. Van de Water feels that more than a -fourth of the men aided really appreciate the help -they get. Many men prefer the mission floor in -cold weather to the floor in the “flophouse,” which is -seldom scrubbed.</p> - - -<h3>BRIGADIER J. E. ATKINS AND THE SALVATION ARMY HOTELS</h3> - -<p>Most exploited and least loved by the hobos is the -Salvation Army. But the Salvation Army does more -for the hobo than any other agency. In every city of -the country it is the “good Samaritan” to the down-and-outs. -Not only is it interested in working upon -the hearts of men, but it seeks to help people to walk -alone. One of the pioneers in this program of -practical salvation is Brigadier J. E. Atkins.</p> - -<p>Brigadier Atkins, a native of Wales, enlisted with -the Salvation Army forty-three years ago. He was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_181"></a>[181]</span> -sent to this country in 1886 as a worker at the time -when the first split occurred in the ranks. At that -time he was a regular officer in the ranks, and later -became a division officer. Before the war he was -placed in charge of the Salvation Army industrial -work in Denver, Kansas City, and Des Moines.</p> - -<p>He entered the army as a chaplain, and was -assigned to the first division. He was attached to -“Young Teddy” Roosevelt’s organization, and as a -consequence saw considerable action. In this capacity -he spent twenty-one months overseas, serving -with his organization in all its major offensives. -Twice he was gassed, and, as a result, his voice has -been permanently impaired.</p> - -<p>Since his discharge from the army, Brigadier -Atkins has been in charge of the four Salvation Army -hotels for men in Chicago which cater to the superior -class of homeless men. These hotels are operated -on the usual Salvation Army business-like basis. -The policy is to make them pay their way, if possible, -but not to charge prices greater than the commercial -hotels. It is the Atkins aim to give all the service -that is consistent with the price: to keep the price -as low as possible, and to keep the places clean and -orderly. He is insistent on getting clean, sober -guests in the Army hotels, and no apparently clean, -sober man without funds need go away. The contrary -is said to be true by many “bos,” but they are -generally men who have been “found out.”</p> - - -<h3>DR. JOHNSTON MYERS AND THE IMMANUEL PLAN</h3> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>We have knocked out the heavy stone barrier which stood -between us and the people and placed in its stead a glass, business, -inviting front, bearing such announcements as, “We worship, -we heal, we clothe, we feed, we find employment for those<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_182"></a>[182]</span> -in need”; “Your friends are inside, come in.” Between five -hundred and one thousand people accept this invitation daily. -We are prepared to meet and help them.</p> -</div> - - -<p>This is what Dr. Myers has done with a typical, -forbidding, gray-stone church, the Immanuel Baptist -Church, at 2320 Michigan Avenue. For twenty-seven -years he has been pastor of this church, and -all that time he has been adhering to the Immanuel -plan outlined above. For ten years previous to his -coming to the Immanuel Church, he was pastor of -the Ninth Street Baptist Church of Cincinnati, where -he followed this scheme of serving humanity as well -as God.</p> - -<p>Dr. Myers is a practical religionist. He is bringing -religion out of the clouds, and has made it an -everyday, functioning affair. In his mind it does not -hurt a church to have a kitchen in the basement nor -to operate a restaurant in the building. His church -serves an excellent meal for thirty cents. Many of -the workers in the automobile salesrooms and the -students from the medical college near by are in the -habit of taking lunch at the church.</p> - -<p>Most of the churches in the business area have -closed their doors, but the Immanuel Baptist is more -conspicuous today than ever before. The business -men on the street are proud of it. They contributed -recently to help rebuild it after the steeple had been -blown down by a gale. The church does not serve -its members as it used to, because most of the families -have moved away and now most of its congregation -is composed of homeless men.</p> - -<p>Dr. Myers does not try to preach to the men, nor -does he try to use the material aid he gives as a -means of coaxing men to become converted. He<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_183"></a>[183]</span> -does not believe in such conversions. He and his -staff have learned that the average homeless man cannot -hold money. The men who apply know this -too. “Johnston Myers will feed anyone but it is -pretty hard to get any ‘jack’ from him.”</p> - - -<h3>THE GREENSTEINS AND “MOTHER’S RESTAURANT”</h3> - -<p>Few hobos enter Chicago who have not heard of -“Mother” Greenstein. For years Mother and -Father Greenstein ran a saloon on South State -Street. It was a barrel-house and the “bos” -flocked to it when they had money. It was one of -the few saloons in that area that was on “the square.” -Among the hobos it is asserted that “Mother” is the -richest woman in Chicago. But her wealth has not -changed her habits. She reared a family of seven -children, and most of them have gone through college -and into business for themselves. The Greensteins -are proud of their family, but no less proud of their -work. With the coming of prohibition, they closed -the saloon and opened a restaurant on the corner of -Ninth and State streets.</p> - -<p>The place is known as “Mother’s Restaurant,” -and it is one of the few places in Hobohemia that has -the right to write “Home Cooking” on the window. -Day after day “Mother” is on the job, cooking -steaks and chops and French-fried potatoes, while -“Father” waits table and serves at the bar. Mother -lives in her work. She is proud of her kitchen, and -she likes to serve hungry men. The hobos say no -chef in the Blackstone or Drake can prepare more -savory dishes. The Greensteins did not earn their -reputation by serving hungry men who could pay<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_184"></a>[184]</span> -their way, but by serving the penniless and hungry -at times when it is hard for hungry men to get food.</p> - -<p>A sign is painted on the wall outside the restaurant: -“Mother’s Restaurant. Don’t Go Hungry. -See Mother.” Last winter another sign placed in -the window read: “Attention! Starting Monday, -Dec. 20 [1921], ‘Mother’ Will Serve Hot Coffee and -Rolls Free ... from 5 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span> to 7 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span>” Some -mornings the bread line at 901 South State Street -contained as many as 500 men who were out to get -a bowl of coffee and something to eat, but none were -ever turned away. There is always plenty of bread -and plenty of coffee, and good coffee, too.</p> - -<p>The hobos do appreciate “Mother.” The old-timers -of South State Street swear by her.</p> - - -<h3>HOBO LEADERSHIP</h3> - -<p>This rapid sketch of a few persons in the <cite>Who’s -Who</cite> of Hobohemia gives a picture of the local leadership -among the homeless men. All these persons, -and many others who embody either the aspirations -of the hobos or the organized religious and philanthropic -impulses of the larger community toward -the migrant, must be taken into account in any -fundamental policy and program for his welfare. -All these leaders are dealing with the homeless man -as a human being, that is, with his personal needs, his -memories, and his hopes. Working with these -leaders, the social agencies may secure both insight -into his attitudes and wishes and his co-operation for -his own well-being.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_185"></a>[185]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak left" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII<br /> -<span class="left fs80">THE INTELLECTUAL LIFE OF THE HOBO</span></h2> - - -<p class="drop-capy">The homeless man is an extensive reader. This -is especially true of the transients, the tramp, -and the hobo. The tramp employs his leisure to read -everything that comes his way. If he is walking -along the railroad track, he picks up the papers that -are thrown from the trains; he reads the cast-off -magazines. If he is in the city, he hunts out some -quiet corner where he may read. The tramp is a -man with considerable leisure, but few books.</p> - -<p>The libraries are open to them, but comparatively -few use them. Public libraries are generally imposing -structures and, dressed as he usually is, the tramp -hesitates to enter them. Dan Horsley, who is a -newsdealer and runs a bookstore on West Madison, in -an article in the <cite>Hobo News</cite> for October, 1922, writes:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>Just as a hobo would feel out of place in a Fifth Avenue -church, so he would feel in the average library. He does not -make general use of the libraries because of the menacing fear -of the law. He is always watching lest he be caught as a vagrant, -and this prevents him seeking recreative study; so he gets his -own literature to read and seeks some quiet place.</p> -</div> - - -<p>There are men in the hobo class who are not -deterred by these scruples. Some of the most -persistent users of the library have been initiated -during the winter time when they were forced inside -for shelter. The newspaper reading-room of the -Chicago Public Library has become for them a -favorite retreat during the cold winter days. It is -also a good resting place in the hot summer months.</p> - -<p>Lodging-houses sometimes have reading-rooms -in which guests may find the local newspapers and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_186"></a>[186]</span> -current periodicals. Such reading material is usually -extensively read and much thumb-marked. -Most lodging-houses and rooming-houses do not -provide reading matter for their guests. Seldom -does a tramp throw away a paper. He passes it on -to someone else, and after it has served its usefulness -as reading matter, he may use it at night for a bed -either in a “flophouse” or a park, along the docks, -or in box cars.</p> - -<p>The hobo reads the daily papers but does not -indorse them. He looks with disapproval upon the -so-called “capitalist” press. If he belongs to the -radicals he is sure that the press is against him. But -in spite of this he reads it. He reads it for the -news.</p> - -<p>Radical papers, to be sure, are steadfast in their -efforts to promote his interests and champion his -cause, but it is a cause that is so well known to the -homeless man that it has lost its novelty. There are -many radical papers. Among them are the <cite>Weekly -People</cite>, the <cite>Truth</cite>, the <cite>Industrial Solidarity</cite>, the -<cite>Worker</cite>, the <cite>Hobo News</cite>, the <cite>Liberator</cite>, the <cite>Voice of -Labor</cite>. These are not printed primarily for the -homeless man, but have a wide circulation among -the so-called “slum proletariat.”</p> - -<p>The homeless man reads a certain amount of -religious literature, but little of it is perused in the -spirit hoped for by the mission worker or street -evangelist. He reads it because it is handed to him -and it kills time.</p> - -<p>Short-story magazines are popular. Next to -short-story magazines would come railroad or engineering -journals and other magazines dealing with -popular mechanics.</p> - - -<div class="figcenter illowp70 " id="i_186a" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_186a.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">MEMBERS OF THE JEFFERSON PARK INTELLIGENTSIA</div> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter illowp70 " id="i_186b" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_186b.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">THE HOBO READS PROGRESSIVE LITERATURE</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_187"></a>[187]</span></p> - -<p>Sex stories are, of course, popular. The tramp -has a preference for books of adventure and action. -Jack London is the most widely read of novelists -among the “bos.” Books on mechanics, <cite>How to -Run an Automobile</cite>, <cite>Uses of the Steel Square</cite>, <cite>Block -Signal Systems</cite>, <cite>Gas Engines</cite>, have a wide sale.</p> - -<p>Works on phrenology, palmistry, Christian Science, -hypnotism, and the secrets of the stars, etc., are of -perennial interest. Joke books and books explaining -tricks with cards or riddles, detective stories, and -books in the field of the social sciences are surprisingly -popular. Bookstores patronized by tramps keep in -stock special pocket-size editions of works on sociology, -economics, politics, and history. The radical -periodicals recommend books to the serious-minded -hobo reader. Following is a list from the <cite>Hobo News</cite>:</p> - - - -<ul> -<li><cite>Easy Outlines on Economics</cite>, by Noah Ablett</li> -<li><cite>A Worker Looks at History</cite>, by Mark Starr</li> -<li><cite>Philosophical Essays; Positive Outlines of Philosophy</cite>, by J. Dietzgen</li> -</ul> - - -<p>Among the books recommended for the proletariat -in the I.W.W. literature list for April, 1922, are the -following:</p> - - -<ul> -<li><cite>The Ancient Lowly</cite>, C. Osborne Ward</li> -<li><cite>Ancient Society</cite>, Lewis H. Morgan</li> -<li><cite>Capital</cite>, Karl Marx</li> -<li><cite>Capital Today</cite>, Herman Cahn</li> -<li><cite>The Economic Causes of War</cite>, Achille Loria</li> -<li><cite>Essays on the Materialistic Conception of History</cite>, Antonio Labriola</li> -<li><cite>Evolution of Man</cite>, Wilhelm Boelache</li> -<li><cite>Evolution of Property</cite>, Paul Lafargue</li> -<li><cite>Social and Philosophical Studies</cite>, Paul Lafargue</li> -<li><cite>Stories of the Great Railroads</cite>, Charles Edward Russell</li> -<li><cite>The Universal Kinship</cite>, J. Howard Moore<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_188"></a>[188]</span></li> -<li><cite>History of Great American Fortunes</cite>, Gustavus Myers</li> -<li><cite>History of the Supreme Courts</cite>, Gustavus Myers</li> -<li><cite>Origin of the Family; Private Property and the State</cite>, Frederick Engels</li> -<li><cite>The History of the I.W.W.</cite>, Frederic Brissenden</li> -</ul> - - -<p>These books are kept in stock at the I.W.W. -headquarters and extensively sold and read by the -intellectuals. Soap-box orators get fuel for the fires -they seek to kindle from books of this sort. It is -common knowledge on the “stem” that one can tell -the books a speaker reads by the opinions he -expresses and the programs he favors.</p> - - -<h3>THE HOBO WRITER</h3> - -<p>The hobo who reads sooner or later tries his hand -at writing. A surprisingly large number of them -eventually realize their ambition to get into print. -It is not unusual to meet a man of the road with a -number of clippings in his pocket of articles he has -contributed to the daily press. Most of the great -dailies have columns that are accessible to the free-lance -writer, and the pages of the radical press are -always open to productions of the hobo pen. Most -of these contributions are in the form of letters to -editors. One man who writes many such letters -proudly exhibited an article recently published in -the <cite>Chicago Daily Tribune</cite>. It was signed “F. W. B.” -He explained that these letters stood for “Fellow -Worker Block.” That was his nom de plume.</p> - -<p>The hobo writer does not concern himself with -letters alone. A number of them are ambitious to -become novelists, essayists, and even dramatists. -Some of these men have manuscripts that they have -carried about with them for years in search of a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_189"></a>[189]</span> -publisher. One such author, an old man, said: “I -have material enough together to write a book. All -I want is to get someone to help me organize it. I -want someone to go over it with me. You see, -I never had much schooling and my grammar is not -very good.” Another man carried about a great roll -of manuscript which purported to be a “society -novel.” It was entitled <cite>The Literary in Literature</cite>. -It was written in lead pencil and represented the -accumulated effort of several years. When the mood -struck him, he added a chapter or a paragraph. -Before the last page had been written, however, the -first was so badly dimmed from being carried around -that it could not be deciphered.</p> - -<p>Some hobo writers have visions of a financial -success that will put them on “easy street.” One -man offered to share the proceeds from the publications -of a series of essays on economics if the investigator -would typewrite it. “Why, this will bring -thousands of dollars,” he said. “If I can only get a -publisher interested, but,” he added, “they don’t -seem to care for live subjects.”</p> - -<p>Another hobo writes songs and has the same difficulty -with publishers. He still feels, after hundreds -of failures, that he will eventually get into the -limelight.</p> - -<p>The hobo writer who plies the pen for the love of -it is not unusual. One man has been working on a -play for several months. He cannot get anyone -interested, but that has not quenched his enthusiasm. -Another man spends most of his leisure on the north -side of Hobohemia, writing fantastic paragraphs. -They are interesting and amusing. He does not -try to publish them. He writes them because he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_190"></a>[190]</span> -enjoys it. Most numerous of the hobo writers are -the propagandists and dreamers. They are the -chief contributors to the rebel press. Many of them -care to be identified with no other. They are not -artists nor do they write for gain. They have little -patience for the writer who lives for the so-called -“filthy lucre.”</p> - -<p>But whatever their motive, most of these hobo -writers, for the want of a better medium, become -contributors to the radical press. Without them -radical sheets like the I.W.W. publications and the -<cite>Hobo News</cite> would not appeal to the homeless man. -The radical press in turn serves as a pattern by -which hobo writers fashion and color their literary -productions.</p> - - -<h3>THE “INDUSTRIAL SOLIDARITY”</h3> - -<p>The <cite>Industrial Solidarity</cite> is a typical I.W.W. -paper. It comes nearer than any other I.W.W. paper -to reflecting the mind and the spirit of the -average hobo. It is a six- or eight-page weekly and -sells for five cents. It is published in Chicago from -where it is distributed to individual subscribers or -in bundles to the peddlers or newsdealers.</p> - -<p>The issue of July 1, 1922, contains the following -articles:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>In bold headlines across the front page under the caption, -“Company Brought on Herrin Mine War” is a detailed narrative -of the whole affair written by George Williams who is supposed -to have been an eye-witness. This article contains four full -columns, two of them on the front page. Another front-page -article is devoted to the freeing of political prisoners. It has -special reference to the fifty-two I.W.W. in Leavenworth who -refused to ask the President for pardon. The article is headed, -“Hundreds of Cities in Million Signature Petition Drive.”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_191"></a>[191]</span> -The slogan was “Let Them Go Free.” Attorney-General -Daugherty, who at best is not popular with the floating population, -is shown in a cartoon on the front page marching in a -parade carrying a banner on which is inscribed, “Please, Let -Morse out of Prison.” Over the cartoon is written the ironical -legend, which harks back to some remark that had been used -against the “Wobblies,” “This is no Children’s Crusade.”</p> - -<p>Considerable space is devoted to the spring drive for membership. -At the time of the publication of this number the drive -was on in full blast in the harvest fields where the so-called -“slugging committees” were out enrolling members. One long -article was published telling of “conditions” in Kansas and -Oklahoma where the Ku Klux Klan was offering active opposition -to the I.W.W. The articles had been sent in by some -“bo” who told in detail how the “Wobblies” outwitted the -“town clowns,” or local police, and the K.K.K.</p> -</div> - - -<p>According to the I.W.W. literature list for April, -1922, the following periodicals are issued regularly:</p> - - -<table class="fs90 autotable" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdc dt br">Name</td> -<td class="tdc dt br">Issued</td> -<td class="tdc dt br">Where<br />Published</td> -<td class="tdc dt br">No. Each<br />Issue</td> -<td class="tdc dt">Language</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl bt br"><cite>Industrial Solidarity</cite></td> -<td class="tdc bt br">Weekly</td> -<td class="tdc bt br">Chicago</td> -<td class="tdr bt br">12,000</td> -<td class="tdc bt">English</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl br"><cite>Industrial Worker</cite></td> -<td class="tdc br">Weekly</td> -<td class="tdc br">Seattle</td> -<td class="tdr br">10,000</td> -<td class="tdc">English</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl br"><cite>Industrial Unionist</cite></td> -<td class="tdc br">Bi-weekly</td> -<td class="tdc br">New York</td> -<td class="tdr br">(?)</td> -<td class="tdc">English</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl br"><cite><span lang="ru" xml:lang="ru">Golos Truzenika</span></cite></td> -<td class="tdc br">Bi-weekly</td> -<td class="tdc br">Chicago</td> -<td class="tdr br">3,000</td> -<td class="tdc">Russian</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl br"><cite><span lang="hu" xml:lang="hu">A Felszabadulas</span></cite></td> -<td class="tdc br">Weekly</td> -<td class="tdc br">Chicago</td> -<td class="tdr br">5,000</td> -<td class="tdc">Hungarian</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl br"><cite><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Il Proletario</span></cite></td> -<td class="tdc br">Weekly</td> -<td class="tdc br">Chicago</td> -<td class="tdr br">6,000</td> -<td class="tdc">Italian</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl br"><cite><span lang="es" xml:lang="es">Solidaridad</span></cite></td> -<td class="tdc br">Weekly</td> -<td class="tdc br">Chicago</td> -<td class="tdr br">5,500</td> -<td class="tdc">Spanish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl br"><cite><span lang="ru" xml:lang="ru">Rahotnicheska Mysl</span></cite></td> -<td class="tdc br">Weekly</td> -<td class="tdc br">Chicago</td> -<td class="tdr br">2,800</td> -<td class="tdc">Bulgarian</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl br"><cite><span lang="ro" xml:lang="ro">Muncitorul</span></cite></td> -<td class="tdc br">Bi-weekly</td> -<td class="tdc br">Chicago</td> -<td class="tdr br">4,200</td> -<td class="tdc">Roumanian</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl br"><cite><span lang="cs" xml:lang="cs">Jedna Velka Unie</span></cite></td> -<td class="tdc br">Monthly</td> -<td class="tdc br">Chicago</td> -<td class="tdr br">2,700</td> -<td class="tdc">Czecho-Slovak</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl br"><cite><span lang="fi" xml:lang="fi">Tie Vapauteen</span></cite></td> -<td class="tdc br">Monthly</td> -<td class="tdc br">Chicago</td> -<td class="tdr br">7,000</td> -<td class="tdc">Finnish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl br"><cite><span lang="fi" xml:lang="fi">Industrialisti</span></cite></td> -<td class="tdc br">Daily</td> -<td class="tdc br">Duluth</td> -<td class="tdr br">16,000</td> -<td class="tdc">Finnish</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl br bb"><cite><span lang="hr" xml:lang="hr">Snaga Radnika</span></cite></td> -<td class="tdc br bb">Bi-weekly</td> -<td class="tdc br bb">Duluth</td> -<td class="tdr br bb">3,500</td> -<td class="tdc bb">Croatian</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>“Wobbly” papers are extensively used as lesson -sheets. <cite>Solidarity</cite> has one long article of this character -which is an analysis and criticism of craft unionism. -Finally, there are several communications from<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_192"></a>[192]</span> -members on the road and four or five editorials on -questions of the day.</p> - -<p>The <cite>Solidarity</cite> is only one of a number of I.W.W. -publications, but the most important as far as the -hobos are concerned. The organization maintains a -publishing company of its own, the Equity Press, -which is situated at the I.W.W. headquarters in -Chicago.</p> - - -<h3>THE “HOBO NEWS”</h3> - -<p>The <cite>Hobo News</cite>, published in St. Louis, contains -sixteen pages and carries no advertising. It is published -monthly and sells for ten cents. It is distributed, -like <cite>Solidarity</cite>, by bundle orders or subscription.</p> - -<p>The July, 1922, issue of the <cite>Hobo News</cite> has the -following contents:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>An article by Laura Irwin entitled, “Half Dead (Unnecessary -Movement a Crime).” It laments the fact that more care is -given to machines and animals than to men by the big interests. -Another article is a reprint entitled, “Hobos in Missouri.” -It is a description of life on the road. Daniel Horsley, a Chicagoan, -has an article on “Hobo Life and Death: Something to -Think About.” It is a discussion of the struggle for existence. -There is also a short story entitled “Callahans’s Castle” depicting -jungle pastimes.</p> - -<p>Under the heading “Near Poetry” are several short poems -by different hobo contributors. Some of the titles are: “History,” -“Adrift,” “To a Hobo,” “Labor’s March,” “Our Boss,” -“The Hobo: of Course,” and “The Glory of Toil.” Several -letters to the editor deal with subjects of general interest to the -hobos. The editor writes on the prospects for work the coming -winter. There are two cartoons. One shows the figure of a -worker hewn out of stone at the top of a mountain. He is -being assailed by politicians and capitalists. Over the cartoon -is this legend, “These Shall Not Prevail against Him.” Another -cartoon shows a tramp waiting at the water tank. A train is -approaching in the distance. It is entitled, “The Regular Stop.”</p> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_193"></a>[193]</span></p> - -<p>No class of men are in a better position to know -life than the migratory population. These men have -a large fund of experience, but they do not seem to -have developed any sense of the relative values. -With all this experience and with all these contacts -with life, they are not able to interpret it. The intellectuals -are obsessed by the class struggle, and instead -of writing literature, they prefer to repeat the formulas -and play with the mental toys which the doctrinaire -reformers and revolutionists have fashioned for -them.</p> - -<p>We cannot say therefore that the radical press in -monopolizing the hobo pens has robbed art. Among -all these contributors to the radical publications, -there are few who might produce literature. Many -of them do not have patience to write literature nor -the courage to formulate a new idea. They prefer -to ride a hobby and repeat familiar formulas.</p> - -<p>Writers who do find themselves do not remain in -the hobo class. Others have the ability to rise, but -because of drink or drugs are unable to do so. These -men may find a place on the staff of one of the radical -papers. They may even aspire to an editorship. -Such a goal is not uncommon among the intellectuals. -The <cite>Hobo News</cite> is one paper that the hobo writer likes -to be identified with because it is more than a doctrinaire -propagandist sheet. It maintains some literary -features, and every issue has one or more articles -or poems that portray hobo life.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_194"></a>[194]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak left" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV<br /> -<span class="left fs80">HOBO SONGS AND BALLADS</span></h2> - - -<p class="drop-capy">Much so-called hobo verse which has found its -way into print was not written by tramps, -but by men who knew enough of the life of the road -to enable them to interpret its spirit. The best -hobo poems have been written behind prison bars. -Many of the songs of the I.W.W. have been written -in jail.</p> - -<p>The poetry most popular among the men on the -road are ballads describing some picturesque and -tragic incident of the hobo’s adventurous life. The -following by an unknown author illustrates the -type. Here is an incident told in the language of -the road in a manner that every “bo” can understand -and appreciate.</p> - - -<p class="p1 center fs90"><span class="smcap">The Gila Monster Route</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The lingering sunset across the plain</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Kissed the rear end of an east-bound train,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And shone on the passing track close by</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where a dingbat sat on a rotten tie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He was ditched by the “shack,” and cruel fate,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The “con” highballed, and the manifest freight,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pulled out on the stem behind the mail,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And beat it east on a sanded rail.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">As she pulled away in the fading night</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He could see the gleam of her red tail lights.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then the moon arose, and the stars came out;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He was ditched on the Gila Monster Route.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">There was nothing in sight but sand and space;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No chance for a bo to feed his face;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Not even a shack to beg for a lump.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor a hen house there to frisk for a gump.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_195"></a>[195]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">As he gazed far out on the solitude</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He dropped his head and began to brood.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He thought of the time he lost his pal</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In the hostile berg of Stockton, Cal.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They had mooched the stem and threw their feet,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And speared four bits on which to eat;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But deprived themselves of their daily bread,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And sluffed the coin for dago-red.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then, down by the tracks, in the jungle’s glade,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On the cool, green grass in the tule’s shade,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They shed their coats, and ditched their shoes,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And tanked up full of that colored booze.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then, they took a flop with their hides plumb full,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And did not hear the harness bull,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till he shook them out of their boozy nap,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With a husky voice and a loaded sap.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They were charged with vag, for they had no kale,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the judge said sixty days in jail;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But the john had a bundle, the worker’s plea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So he gave him a floater and set him free.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They had turned him out, but ditched his mate,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So he grabbed the guts of an east-bound freight;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He had held his form to the rusty rods</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till the brakeman hollered, “Hit the sod.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So the bo rolled off and in the ditch,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With two switch lights and a rusty switch,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A poor, old, seedy, half-starved bo</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On a hostile pike without a show.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then all at once from out of the dark</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Came the short, sharp notes of a coyote’s bark;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The bo looked up and quickly rose,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And shook the dust from his threadbare clothes.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Far off in the west through the moonlight night</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He saw the gleam of a big head light;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">An east-bound stock run hummed the rail,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It was due at the switch to clear the mail.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_196"></a>[196]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">As she pulled up close the head-end “shack”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Threw the switch to the passing track,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The stock rolled in and off the main,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The line was clear for the west-bound train.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">As she hove in sight far up the track,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She was working steam with the brake shoes slack;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whistling once at the whistling post,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She flittered by like a frightened ghost.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">You could hear the roar of the big six wheel,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As the drivers pounded the polished steel,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the screech of the flanges on the rail,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As she beat it west o’er the desert trail.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The john got busy and took a risk,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He climbed aboard and began to frisk,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He reached up high and began to feel</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For an end-door pin, then he cracked a seal.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">’Twas a double-deck stock loaded with sheep;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The john got in and went to sleep;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The “con” highballed, and she whistled out,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They were off—down the Gila Monster Route.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p>The following ballad by Harry Kemp, the “tramp -poet,” describes a situation that is familiar to those -who know Hobohemia. Many men in the tramp -class, to escape cold and hunger, have yielded to a -similar temptation.</p> - - -<p class="p1 center fs90"><span class="smcap">The Tramp Confession</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">We huddled in the mission</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Fer it was cold outside</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And listened to the preacher</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Tell of the Crucified;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent6">Without a sleety drizzle</div> - <div class="verse indent8">Cut deep each ragged form,</div> - <div class="verse indent6">An’ so we stood the talkin’</div> - <div class="verse indent8">Fer shelter from the storm.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_197"></a>[197]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They sang of Gods and Angels</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An’ Heaven’s eternal joy</div> - <div class="verse indent0">An’ things I stopped believin’</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When I was still a boy;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent6">They spoke of good an’ evil</div> - <div class="verse indent8">An’ offered savin’ grace</div> - <div class="verse indent6">An’ some showed love for mankind</div> - <div class="verse indent8">Ashinin’ in their face.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">An’ some their graft was workin’</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The same as me and you;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But some was urgin’ on us</div> - <div class="verse indent2">What they believed was true.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent6">We sang an’ dozed an’ listened,</div> - <div class="verse indent8">But only feared, us men</div> - <div class="verse indent6">The time when, service over,</div> - <div class="verse indent8">We’d have to mooch again.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">An’ walk the icy pavements,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An’ breast the snow storm gray,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till the saloons was opened,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An’ there was hints of day.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent6">So, when they called out, “Sinners,</div> - <div class="verse indent8">Won’t you come?” I came....</div> - <div class="verse indent6">But in my face was pallor</div> - <div class="verse indent8">An’ in my heart was shame....</div> - <div class="verse indent6">An’ so fergive me, Jesus,</div> - <div class="verse indent8">Fer mockin’ of thy name.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Fer I was cold an’ hungry;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They gave me food and bed</div> - <div class="verse indent0">After I kneeled there with them,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An’ many prayers was said.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent6">An’ so fergive me, Jesus,</div> - <div class="verse indent8">I didn’t mean no harm....</div> - <div class="verse indent6">Fer outside it was zero</div> - <div class="verse indent8">An’ inside it was warm.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_198"></a>[198]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Yes, I was cold an’ hungry</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An’ Oh, Thou Crucified,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thou Friend of all the Lowly,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Fergive the lie I lied.<a id="FNanchor_58" href="#Footnote_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h3>WANDERLUST</h3> - -<p>Many men have seen charms in the life on the -road; Walt Whitman and Vachel Lindsay are or were -tramp poets. For men who cannot endure the -security and the tyranny of convention, this care-free -existence has an irresistible appeal. The following -swinging poem by H. H. Knibbs vibrates with -the call of the road.</p> - - -<p class="p1 center fs90"><span class="smcap">Nothing to Do but Go</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">I’m the wandering son with the nervous feet,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That never were meant for a steady beat;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ve had many a job for a little while,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ve been on the bum and I’ve lived in style;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And there was the road, stretchin’ mile after mile,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And nothing to do but go.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So, beat it, Bo, while your feet are mates;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Take a look at the whole United States;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There’s the little fire and the pipe at night;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And up again when the morning’s bright;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With nothin’ but road and sky in sight,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And nothin’ to do but go.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So, beat it, Bo, while the goin’s good,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While the birds in the trees are sawin’ wood;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">If today ain’t the finest for you and me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then there’s tomorrow that’s going to be,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the day after that, that’s comin’, see,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And nothin’ to do but go.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_199"></a>[199]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then beat it, Bo, while you’re young and strong;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">See all you can, for it won’t last long;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">You can tarry for only a little spell,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On the long, gray road to Fare-Ye-Well,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That leads to Heaven or maybe Hell,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And nothin’ to do but go.<a id="FNanchor_59" href="#Footnote_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p>“Away from Town,” by Harry Kemp, is a vivid -picture of the springtime yearning that the hobo -feels to be off to the country after spending the -winter in the city’s slums. Not all tramps who -feel, with the passing of winter, the urge to move, are -enticed from the “gaunt, gray city” in search of -“country cheer,” but a goodly number love the -grass and shade and a season in the “jungles.” It is -the same call that makes truants of school boys and -fishermen of staid business men.</p> - - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">High perched upon a box-car, I speed, I speed today;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I leave the gaunt, gray city some good, green miles away,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A terrible dream in granite, a riot of streets and brick</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A frantic nightmare of people until the soul turns sick—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Such is the high, gray city with the live green waters ’round</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Oozing up from the Ocean, slipping in from the Sound.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’d put up in the Bowery for nights in a ten-cent bed</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where the dinky “L” trains thunder and rattle overhead;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’d traipsed the barren pavements with pain of frost in my feet;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’d sidled to hotel kitchens and asked for something to eat.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But when the snow went dripping, and the young spring came as one</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who weeps because of the winter, laughs because of the sun</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I thought of a limpid brooklet that bickers through weeds all day,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And I made a streak for the ferry, and rode across in a dray,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_200"></a>[200]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">And dodged into the Erie where they bunt the box cars round.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I peeled my eye for detectives, and boarded an outward bound.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For you know when a man’s been cabined in walls for part of a year,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He longs for a place to stretch in, he hankers for country cheer.<a id="FNanchor_60" href="#Footnote_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h3>POEMS OF PROTEST</h3> - -<p>In spite of its transient charms, the life of the -tramp is a hard one. It is fine to be free, but it is -good to have a home. The hobo likes freedom, but -is not satisfied to be an Ishmaelite. His speeches -and his poetry are filled with protests against the -social order which refuses to make a place for him; -against the system that makes him an outcast.</p> - -<p>The following poem entitled “The Dishwasher” -was written by Jim Seymour, the “Hobo poet.” -The second half, omitted here, is a prophecy of the -overthrow of the “system.”</p> - - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Alone in the kitchen, in grease laden steam,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I pause for a moment—a moment to dream:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For even a dishwasher thinks of a day,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Wherein there’ll be leisure for rest and for play.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And now that I pause, o’er the transom there floats,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A strain of the Traumerei’s soul stirring notes.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Engulfed in a blending of sorrow and glee,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I wonder that music can reach even me.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But now I am thinking; my brain has been stirred.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The voice of a master, the lowly has heard.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The heart breaking sobs of the sad violin,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Arouse the thoughts of the sweet might have been.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Had men been born equal, the use of their brain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Would shield them from poverty: free them from pain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor would I have sunk into the black social mire,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Because of poor judgment in choosing a sire.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_201"></a>[201]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But now I am only a slave of the mill,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That plies and remodels me just as it will;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That makes me a dullard in brain burning heat;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That looks at rich viands not daring to eat;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That works with his red, blistered hands ever stuck,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Down deep in the foul indescribable muck;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where dishes are plunged seventeen at a time;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And washed in a tubful of sickening slime.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But on with your clatter; no more must I shirk.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The world is to me but a nightmare of work.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For me not the music, the laughter and song;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For no toiler is welcome amid the gay throng.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For me not the smiles of the ladies who dine;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor the sweet, clinging kisses, begotten of wine.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For me but the venting of low, sweated groans,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That twelve hours a night have instilled in my bones.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p>Arturo Giovannitti won his reputation as a poet -by a poem in blank verse which pictures the monotony -of prison life. “The Walker” was written in -jail, as was “The Bum,” the poem by which Giovannitti -is best known among the hobos. As an -I.W.W. and a radical, his writings breathe the spirit -of protest. “The Bum,” the first three verses of -which follow, is an eloquent tirade against religion:</p> - - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The dust of a thousand roads, the grease</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And grime of slums, were on his face;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The fangs of hunger and disease</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Upon his throat had left their trace;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The smell of death was in his breath,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But in his eye no resting place.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Along the gutters, shapeless, fagged,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With drooping head and bleeding feet,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Throughout the Christmas night he dragged,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His care, his woe, and his defeat;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till, gasping hard, with face downward</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He fell upon the trafficked street.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_202"></a>[202]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The midnight revelry aloud</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Cried out its glut of wine and lust</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The happy, clean, indifferent crowd</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Passed him in anger and disgust:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For—fit or rum—he was a bum,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And if he died ’twas nothing lost.<a id="FNanchor_61" href="#Footnote_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p>In the following poem, by an unknown writer, -“The Bum on the Rods and the Bum on the Plush” -states the case of labor against capital in the language -and accents of the hobo:</p> - - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The bum on the rods is hunted down</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As the enemy of mankind,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The other is driven around to his club</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Is feted, wined, and dined.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And they who curse the bum on the rods</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As the essence of all that is bad,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Will greet the other with a winning smile,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And extend the hand so glad.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The bum on the rods is a social flea</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who gets an occasional bite,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The bum on the plush is a social leech,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Blood-sucking day and night.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The bum on the rod is a load so light</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That his weight we scarcely feel,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But it takes the labor of dozens of men</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To furnish the other a meal.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">As long as you sanction the bum on the plush</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The other will always be there,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But rid yourself of the bum on the plush</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the other will disappear.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then make an intelligent, organized kick,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Get rid of the weights that crush.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Don’t worry about the bum on the rods,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Get rid of the bum on the plush.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203"></a>[203]</span></p> - -<p>The following verses are taken from a selection -written by Henry A. White, who is a veteran of the -road and for many years connected with the publication -of the <cite>Hobo News</cite>. It is entitled “The Hobo -Knows.” In it one can detect an unfamiliar note of -resignation, the resignation of an old man who has -hoped and struggled, and learned.</p> - - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He knows the whirr of the rolling wheels,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And their click on the time-worn joints;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His ear is attuned to the snap and snarl</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of the train, at the rickety points.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He knows the camp by the side of the road,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the “java” and “mulligan” too;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The siding long, and the water tank</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Are as home to me and you.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He knows the fright of hunger and thirst,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And of cold and of rain as well;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of raggedy clothes and out-worn shoes,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An awful tale he can tell.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He knows what it means to slave all day,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And at night eat the vilest of fare;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">What a tale he can tell of loathsome bunks,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Cramped quarters, and noisome air.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He knows what the end of it all will be</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When he crosses the line at the goal;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A rough, pine box, and a pauper’s grave</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And he has paid his toll.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h3>THE HOBO’S OBSERVATIONS AND REFLECTIONS ON LIFE</h3> - -<p>The poets who have written best about the tramp -are those who have recorded their reflections on their -own life and his. Robert W. Service sees in “The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_204"></a>[204]</span> -Men That Don’t Fit In” a great group of wanderers -who move here and there in response to an imperious -wanderlust.</p> - - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">There’s a race of men that don’t fit in,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A race that can’t stay still;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So they break the hearts of kith and kin,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And roam the world at will.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They range the field and they rove the flood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And they climb the mountain crest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Theirs is the curse of the gypsy blood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And they don’t know how to rest.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">If they just went straight they might go far;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They are strong and brave and true;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But they’re always tired of the things that are</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And they want the strange and new.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They say, “Could I find my proper groove</div> - <div class="verse indent2">What a deep mark I would make!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So they chop and change, and each fresh move</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Is only a fresh mistake.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And each forgets as he strips and runs</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With a brilliant, fitful pace,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It’s the steady, quiet, plodding ones</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who win the lifelong race.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And each forgets that his youth has fled,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Forgets that his prime is past,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till he stands one day with a hope that’s dead,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In the glare of the truth at last.<a id="FNanchor_62" href="#Footnote_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p>There are men in the tramp class who are always -chasing rainbows, always expecting to “strike it -rich” sometime and somewhere. Bill Quirke, for -many years contributor to the <cite>Hobo News</cite>, gives -expression to this sentiment in the poem, “One Day; -Some Way, I’ll Make a Stake.” This poem was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_205"></a>[205]</span> -written a few months before Bill was killed by an -automobile in California. From the heart of it we -quote:</p> - - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">For years I’ve drilled the rough pathway,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And weathered many a wintry blast,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ll make another stake some day</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For luck must turn my way at last.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’m far too old for working, too</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They say my work is almost through;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My ore assesses never a flake</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But still I hope to make a stake.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p>In the <cite>Hobo News</cite> of August, 1921, Charles Thornburn -records his reflections while he contemplates the -empty, beaten faces of the men of the “stem”:</p> - - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">With ever restless tread, they come and go,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or lean intent against the grimy wall,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">These men whom fate has battered to and fro,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In the grim game of life, from which they all</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Have found so much of that which is unkind,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Still hoping on, that fortune yet may mend,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With sullen stare, and features hard and lined,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They wander off to nowhere, and the end.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Their thoughts we may not fathom, in their eyes</div> - <div class="verse indent2">One seems to sense a vision, as though fate</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Had let one little glimpse of fairer skies</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Brighten their souls before she closed the gate.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet have they hopes and dreams which bring them peace,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Adding to life’s flat liquor just the blend</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Called courage, that their efforts may not cease</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To seek the gold, hid at the rainbow’s end.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p>“The Wanderer” is from the pen of Charles -Ashleigh. It is said to have been written in jail. It -is a justification, not complete, of the hobo principle -of living for the day and by the day, of enjoying<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_206"></a>[206]</span> -the sweets of life, if they can be secured, and of -avoiding its problems.</p> - - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Is there no voice to speak for these, our kin;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The strange, wild sorrows for the wanderer’s soul;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The shining comradeship we sometimes win</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When on our wilful way to visioned goals?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">We are the ones to whom the forests speak,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For whom the little by-streets run awry;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ships are our mistresses, and vaulted peaks</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Draw us unconquered to the tyrant sky.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And what if we in sordid corners sink,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or perish in the crash of lawless fight;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Our souls have had the wine of life to drink,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">We’ve had our blazing day. Let come the night.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p>The hobo characterizes the district where the -employment agencies are located as the “slave -market.” Louis Melis, prominent in Hobohemia -as a soap-boxer, has written a poem entitled “The -Slave Market” from which the following verses -have been taken:</p> - - -<p class="p1 center fs90"><span class="smcap">The Slave Market</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">This is the city of lost dreams and defeated hopes;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Always you are the mecca of the Jobless,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The seekers after life and the sweet illusions of happiness.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Within your walls there are the consuming</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Fires of pain, sorrow and eternal regrets.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Roses never bloom here; silken petals</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cannot be defiled.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Streets in ragged attire, sang-froid in their violence;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Years come and go; still your hideousness goes on</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And mute outcasts garnish</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Your every rendezvous.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Blind pigs, reeking with a nauseous smell everywhere;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The so-called “flops,” the lousy beds</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_207"></a>[207]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Where slaves of mill and mine and rail and shop</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Curl up and drop away unconscious,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In fair pretense of sleep.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Employment sharks entrapping men,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Human vultures in benign disguise,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Auctioning labor at a pittance per day.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And it’s always “What will you give?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“What will you take?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The pocketing of fat commissions;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Old men, young men, tramps, bums, hobos,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Laborers seeking jobs or charity</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Each visioning happiness from afar.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They swarm the city streets, these slaves,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For all must live and strive,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And always the elusive job sign</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Greets their contemplative glance.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A job—food, clothing, shelter;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Wage slaves selling their power;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh, you Slave Market, I know you!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">From timbered lands, North, East, South and West</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From distant golden grain belts,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From endless miles of rail,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">These workers float to the city.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Timber beasts, harvesters, gandy dancers—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Adventurers all. From every clime and zone,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Each comes with hope of work or</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Else to blow his pile.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h3>BATTLE SONGS OF THE HOBOS</h3> - -<p>There are many types of tramp songs but most conspicuous -are the songs of protest. The I.W.W. have -done much to stimulate song writing, mostly songs of -the struggle between the masses and the classes.</p> - -<p>Most hobo songs are parodies on certain popular -airs or on hymns. One can easily determine when -certain songs were written if he knows when certain -popular airs, to which they are fitted, were the rage.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_208"></a>[208]</span> -The tunes most used by the tramp song writers are -those that are so well known that the song may be -sung by any group of transients. When the songs -are parodies on hymns there is usually a note of -irony running through them. The following is called -the hobo’s “Harvest War Song.” It was written -by Pat Brennan and is sung to the tune of -“Tipperary.”</p> - - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">We are coming home, John Farmer; We are coming back to stay.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For nigh on fifty years or more, we’ve gathered up your hay.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We have slept out in your hayfields; we have heard your morning shout;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We’ve heard you wondering where in hell’s them pesky go-abouts?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent11"><em>Chorus</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">It’s a long way, now understand me; it’s a long way to town;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It’s a long way across the prairies, and to hell with Farmer Brown.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Here goes for better wages, and the hours must come down,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For we’re out for a winter’s stake this summer, and we want no scabs around.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">You’ve paid the going wages, that’s what kept us on the bum,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">You say you’ve done your duty, you chin-whiskered son-of-a-gun.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We have sent your kids to college, but still you rave and shout</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And call us tramps and hobos, and pesky go-abouts.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But now the long wintry breezes are a-shaking our poor frames,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the long drawn days of hunger try to drive us bos insane,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It is driving us to action; we are organized today;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Us pesky tramps and hobos are coming back to stay.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p>Joe Hill, whose real name was Joseph Hilstrom, -holds the place of honor among the I.W.W.’s as a song -writer. Before his death he was one of the most -enthusiastic of the I.W.W. organizers. His execution -in Utah in 1915 has not lessened his popularity among<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_209"></a>[209]</span> -the “Wobblies.” Most of his songs are parodies. -“The Tramp” is a parody on the old tune: “Tramp, -Tramp, Tramp; the Boys Are Marching.”</p> - - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">If you will shut your trap,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I will tell you ’bout a chap,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That was broke and up aginst it too for fair;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He was not the kind to shirk,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He was looking hard for work,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But he heard the same old story everywhere.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent9"><em>Chorus</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Tramp, tramp, tramp, keep on a-tramping,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nothing doing here for you;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">If I catch you ’round again;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">You will wear the ball and chain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Keep on tramping, that’s the best thing you can do.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He walked up and down the street,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">’Till the shoes fell off his feet;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In a house he spied a lady cooking stew,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he said, “How do you do,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">May I chop some wood for you?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">What the lady told him made him feel so blue.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">’Cross the street a sign he read,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Work for Jesus,” so it said,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he said, “Here is my chance, I’ll surely try,”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he kneeled upon the floor,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till his knees got rather sore,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But at eating time he heard the preacher say:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Down the street he met a cop,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the copper made him stop,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he asked him, “When did you blow into town?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Come with me to the judge.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But the judge he said, “Oh fudge!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bums that have no money needn’t come around.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p>“The Preacher and the Slave,” also written by -Joe Hill and sung to the tune of “Sweet Bye and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_210"></a>[210]</span> -Bye,” is especially popular among the malcontents -because of its attack upon religion:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Long haired preachers come out every night,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Try to tell you what’s wrong and what’s right;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But when asked how ’bout something to eat</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They will answer in voices so sweet:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent8"><em>Chorus</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">You will eat bye and bye</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In that glorious land above the sky;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Work and pray, live on hay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">You’ll get pie in the sky when you die.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And the starvation army, they play,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And they sing and they clap and they pray,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till they get all your coin on the drum,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then they’ll tell you when you’re on the bum:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Workingmen of all countries, unite,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Side by side we for freedom will fight;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When the world and its wealth we have gained</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To the grafters we’ll sing this refrain:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent7"><em>Last Chorus</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">You will eat bye and bye</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When you’ve learned how to cook and to fry;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Chop some wood, ’twill do you good,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And you will eat in the sweet bye and bye.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p>The “Portland County Jail” is one of the few -songs of the road that does not wear out.</p> - - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">I’m a stranger in your city,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My name is Paddy Flynn;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I got drunk the other evening,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the coppers run me in.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_211"></a>[211]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">I had no money to pay my fine,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">No friends to go my bail,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So I got soaked for ninety days</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In the Portland County Jail.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent7"><em>Chorus</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh, such a lot of devils,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The like I never saw;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Robbers, thieves, and highwaymen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And breakers of the law.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They sang a song the whole night long,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the curses fell like hail,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ll bless the day they take me away</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From the Portland County Jail.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The only friend that I had left,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Was Happy Sailor Jack;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He told me all the lies he knew,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And all the safes he’s cracked.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He cracked them in Seattle;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He’d robbed the Western Mail;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It would freeze the blood of an honest man,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In the Portland County Jail.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h3>HOBO VERSE IN A LIGHTER VEIN</h3> - -<p>The characteristic hobo is an optimist who sees -the humorous side of many an unpleasant or dangerous -situation. The average seasoned “bo” with full -stomach and money in his pocket can enjoy to the -full the never-ending series of happenings on West -Madison Street. If there is nothing else, he can be -amused at the other man’s predicament. Many of -these humorous experiences have found their way into -poetry.</p> - -<p>The hobo is ironic even in the face of death. The -following poem, by an unknown writer, caricatures -the contrast between the sentiment and the reality -of the hobo’s existence.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_212"></a>[212]</span></p> - - -<p class="p1 center fs90"><span class="smcap">The Hobo’s Last Lament</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Beside a Western water-tank</div> - <div class="verse indent2">One cold November day,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Inside an empty box-car,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A dying hobo lay;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His old pal stood beside him,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With low and drooping head,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Listening to the last words,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As the dying hobo said:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I am going to a better land,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where everything is bright,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where beef-stews grow on bushes</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And you sleep out every night;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And you do not have to work at all,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And never change your socks,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And streams of goodly whiskey</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Come trickling down the rocks.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Tell the bunch around Market street,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That my face, no more, they’ll view;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Tell them I’ve caught a fast freight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And that I’m going straight on through.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Tell them not to weep for me,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">No tears in their eyes must lurk;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For I’m going to a better land,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where they hate the word called work.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Hark! I hear her whistling,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I must catch her on the fly;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I would like one scoop of beer</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Once more before I die.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The hobo stopped, his head fell back,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He’d sung his last refrain;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His old pal stole his coat and hat</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And caught an East-bound train.<a id="FNanchor_63" href="#Footnote_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p>A. W. Dragstedt, a prominent personality in -Chicago’s Hobohemia, is a man who goes and comes<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_213"></a>[213]</span> -when he pleases. According to hobo custom, he goes -to the country each summer, but he usually spends -his leisure in town. He is an optimist. The following -two verses were written at a time when he was -down but not downhearted.</p> - - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">It takes a very little for me to be happy;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The world has a smile for each day that goes by;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My diet of coffee and doughnuts so snappy,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Makes me very clever and mentally spry.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">My shoes are but uppers, pants full of patches;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My stomach feels pleased when I fill it with soup;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When sleepy and tired my slumber I snatches,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In haystacks and hallways; sometimes in the coop.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p>“No Matter Where You Go” is a humorous -presentation of the futility of wandering. Where to -go next when the hobo wants to move is always a -problem. Usually the “bo” gives an unfavorable -report of the district he has just left.</p> - - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Things are dull in San Francisco,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“On the bum” in New Orleans;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Rawther punk” in cultured Boston,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Famed for codfish, pork, and beans.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“On the hog” in Kansas City;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Out in Denver things are jarred;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And they’re “beefing” in Chicago</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That the times are rather hard.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Not much doing in St. Louis;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It’s the same in Baltimore;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Coin don’t rattle in Seattle</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As it did in days of yore.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Jobs are scarce around Atlanta</div> - <div class="verse indent2">All through Texas it is still.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And there’s very little stirring</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In the town of Louisville.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_214"></a>[214]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">There’s a howl from Cincinnati,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">New York City, Brooklyn too;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In Milwaukee’s foamy limits</div> - <div class="verse indent2">There is little work to do.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In the face of all such rumors,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It seems not amiss to say</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That no matter where you’re going</div> - <div class="verse indent2">You had better stay away.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h3>POETRY AND HOBO SOLIDARITY</h3> - -<p>In song and ballad the hobo expresses life as he -feels and sees it. Through poetry he creates a background -of tradition and culture which unifies and gives -significance to all his experiences. His ballads of -the road and his battle songs of protest induce a -unanimity of sentiment and attitudes, the strongest -form of group solidarity in the hobo world.</p> - -<p>Through the universal language of poetry the -homeless man bridges the chasm of isolation that -separates him from his fellows. In song and ballad -he communicates his memories and his hopes to men -everywhere who, fascinated by his experiences, perceive -in them only a different expression of the human -wishes of every person.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_58" href="#FNanchor_58" class="label">[58]</a> H. Kemp, <cite>The Cry of Youth</cite>, p. 60. By special permission of the publisher, -Mitchell Kennerley.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_59" href="#FNanchor_59" class="label">[59]</a> H. H. Knibbs, <cite>Songs of the Outlands</cite>, p. 50. By permission, and special -arrangement with, Houghton, Mifflin Company, the authorized publishers.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_60" href="#FNanchor_60" class="label">[60]</a> H. Kemp, <cite>The Cry of Youth</cite>, p. 78. By permission of the publisher, -Mitchell Kennerley.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_61" href="#FNanchor_61" class="label">[61]</a> Arturo Giovannitti, <cite>Arrows in the Gale</cite>, p. 40.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_62" href="#FNanchor_62" class="label">[62]</a> From <cite>The Spell of the Yukon</cite>, p. 15, by Robert W. Service, author of <cite>Ballads -of a Cheechako, Rhymes of a Red Cross Man</cite>, and <cite>Ballads of a Bohemian</cite>, published -by Barse & Hopkins, Newark, N.J.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_63" href="#FNanchor_63" class="label">[63]</a> <cite>Hobo News</cite>, June, 1917.</p> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_215"></a>[215]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak left" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV<br /> -<span class="left fs80">THE SOAP BOX AND THE OPEN FORUM</span></h2> - - -<p class="drop-capy">“Killing time” is a problem with the homeless -man. The movie and the burlesque are the -only forms of commercialized amusements within -the range of his purse. Even these are only patronized -infrequently and by a few. For the vast -majority there is no pastime save the passing show -of the crowded thoroughfare. Most of them spend -their leisure time shuffling along the street reading -the menu cards in the cheap restaurants, or in other -forms of “window shopping.” Sometimes they stray -out of the “stem” into the Loop. Perhaps they -will go to the parks and lie on the grass, or to the -lake front where they may sit down and look out on -the water.</p> - -<p>The homeless man, as he meanders along the -street, is looking for something to break the monotony. -He will stand on the curb for hours, watching -people pass. He notices every conspicuous person -and follows with interest, perhaps sometimes with -envy, the wavering movements of every passing -drunk. If a policeman stops anyone on the street, -he also stops and listens in. If he notices a man -running into an alley his curiosity is aroused. -Wherever he sees a group gathered, he lingers. He -will stop to listen if two men are arguing. He will -spend hours sitting on the curb talking with a -congenial companion.</p> - -<p>During the summer, time hangs heavier on the -hobo’s hands than in winter. In cold weather, he -is usually hard pressed to find food and shelter. If -the inclement weather overtakes him without funds<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_216"></a>[216]</span> -and jobless, and this is generally the case, he is -absorbed with the problem of “getting by.” He is -driven to his wits’ end to find a warm place to sleep -at night and a comfortable place to loaf during the -day. It often takes a whole day’s scouting to -find a place to sleep at night and food enough to -appease his gnawing and growling stomach.</p> - -<p>There are homeless men who have time on their -hands even in winter. They are those who have -the rare ability to save enough in summer to live -in winter. The parks are no longer inviting. The -soap-box orators have either gone out of business or -are forced indoors. The hobo follows them and, -where he can afford it, helps to support them inside -much as he did in the open. He spends more time -in the movies and burlesques and will sit for half a -day at times watching one show.</p> - -<p>Listening to speeches is a popular pastime in -Hobohemia. Nothing, unless it is reading, occupies -so much of the homeless man’s leisure time.</p> - - -<h3>STREET SPEAKING IN HOBOHEMIA</h3> - -<p>Hobohemia knows but two types of speakers—the -soap-box orator and the evangelist. The evangelist -has been longer on the job. Religious speakers -are usually associated with established organizations, -or they represent mission groups of which there are -many varieties on the “stem.” There are evangelists -who adhere to no faith or creed. They are -“free lances,” as most hobo speakers are, only their -message is a religious one. Few of these latter take -contributions, and seldom do they essay to make converts -in the sense of having a following. They are -enthusiasts driven into the streets with the irresistible<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_217"></a>[217]</span> -urgency of their message. In Hobohemia, where -time hangs heavy on the hobo’s hands, there is an -audience for every message.</p> - - -<div class="figcenter illowp70 " id="i_217a" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_217a.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">THE SOAP-BOX ORATOR—THE ECONOMIC ARGUMENT</div> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter illowp70 " id="i_217b" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_217b.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">AN OUTDOOR MISSION MEETING—THE RELIGIOUS PLEA</div> -</div> - - -<p>In a later chapter<a id="FNanchor_64" href="#Footnote_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">rôle</span> of the evangelist -in the life of Hobohemia is considered; here we are -interested in the soap-box orators whose message is -secular rather than other-worldly. The man on the -soap box is a reformer or a revolutionist, seeking to -change conditions. The missionary, on the other -hand, is seeking less to change conditions than to -change mankind. This is the basis of the conflict -between their rival doctrines. The soap-boxers may -contend with each other concerning what is best for -the down-and-out in the here and now, but they are -unanimous in their opposition to the “sky pilots” -and the “mission squawkers.” They maintain that -it is more important to enjoy life here than to live -on the prospect of joy hereafter. They have lost -patience with the preacher because he only promises -“pie in the sky when you die,” and they want the -pie now.</p> - -<p>The men and women who bring religion to the -tramp in Hobohemia have taken root in the life of the -“stem.” Their street singing, their preaching and -praying, although little heeded by the hobo, would -be greatly missed if absent. But the missionary, -transplanted from another area of life, remains more -or less of an alien. The soap-box reformer is no less -of an institution and he is, moreover, native to the -soil. He is closer to the actual life and mundane -interests of the homeless man. He stands on the -curbstone and publishes his opinions on the great -questions of the day in a positive and convincing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_218"></a>[218]</span> -manner, and his ideas are generally couched in language -that the man on the street can understand. -The hobo’s intellectual interests revolve about the -problem of labor. The soap-box orator is the hobo’s -principal source of information on this topic.</p> - -<p>Soap-boxers are “free lances” most of the time. -Either they are out of harmony with all organizations -or no organization has been willing to adopt -them. Those who make street speaking a profession -are a great deal like the ancient sophists. They are -able to plead one cause today and a different cause -tomorrow. Their allegiance is to be had by any -group that can make the proper bid. With some of -them the inducement must be a financial one, while -others are interested only in ideas. If the idea -attracts them they will take up the new angle of the -subject with the same enthusiasm that they did the -old. In this respect they are influenced by public -opinion. They love to harangue the crowds but they -like to have the crowd on their side.</p> - - -<h3>EDUCATING THE PROLETARIAT</h3> - -<p>Soap-boxers usually take themselves seriously, -though their audiences do not always do so. They -take themselves seriously in spite of their frequent -and often abrupt changes in positions on the issues -they discuss. They are usually made to explain -these changes, and these explanations, if not always -logical, are usually sincere. They invariably give -their best thoughts on the subject they discuss. -Whatever they have gleaned from the available -sources they are striving to express in language that -is live and understandable to the man on the street. -These efforts to clear the issues, to spread propaganda<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_219"></a>[219]</span> -or whatever it may be called, is termed by the soap-boxers, -“education.”</p> - -<p>Not all the “stem” intellectuals who assume the -burden of educating the proletariat use the soap -box. Many of them wield the pen. The latter are, -in the main, free-lance writers, and most of their -productions are tinctured with “red.” But they -are generally able to catch the ear of the down-and-out, -whether he is a hobo or not. The writings of -these cloistered radicals, who are striving to bring -the chaotic proletariat to a unity of the faith, provide -the soap-box pulpiteer with facts and ideas which -he interprets and passes on to his curbstone audience -in the shape of poems, songs, articles, and essays. -The writers provide, for them, an abundance of -material out of which the orators build their castles. -Most of these literary radicals are optimistic about -the success of their efforts to “get the worker’s mind -right,” and thus prepare him for the new order. -The masses must be educated, but the soap-boxer, -whose burden it is, must himself be educated, and -that is the job of the writer who works behind the -scenes.</p> - -<p>Just how much education the Hobohemian proletariat -gets from this speaking and reading is not -easily estimated. They learn something about the -class struggle, industrial organization, and politics. -Sometimes an observation on science or literature -or art will fall from a speaker’s lips, but most of -these observations are new only to the stranger in -the class. The old-timer, however, hears only old -ideas restated; or, at best, new facts and figures -interpreted to support old ideas. It is like a game -with a limited number of pieces and a limited number<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_220"></a>[220]</span> -of moves. Sometimes, to be sure, a speaker -endeavors to serve “science” to the “floating fraternity.” -Lectures on biology, psychology, sociology, -or economics may be heard any evening or holiday -during the summer. Most of these lectures go over -the heads of the audience, and it is questionable -whether the speakers have sufficient background to -speak intelligently of the sciences they are attempting -to expound.</p> - -<p>This effort to educate the proletariat is, nevertheless, -not altogether without results. It gives -men something to occupy their minds. It gives them -some understanding of their common interests; -creates a certain amount of solidarity and, perhaps, -best of all, “kills time.” Some speakers realize this -and declare that the soap box is primarily a kind of -entertainment. One man makes it a point to try -to amuse his crowd as well as to “instruct” them. -“You’ve got to keep ’em interested. You have to -amuse them and make ’em laugh before you can get -any ideas into their heads. Whenever things get -dry, I leave an opening for a drunk or someone to -ask me a question or crack a joke, and interest picks -up again.”</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p><span class="smcap">An Afternoon Series of Soap-Box Orations</span></p> - -<p>60. During a Sunday in July, 1922, no less than twenty men -spoke on the box at the corner of Jefferson and Madison streets; -and as many topics were treated. In the afternoon the following -speakers shared the time:</p> - -<p>1. The meeting was opened by a man who borrowed a box -from a nearby fruit stand. He tried to get another man to -speak first so that he would not have to hurt his voice gathering -the crowd, but no one cared to start. He talked for twenty -minutes about graft in the patent-medicine trade. He had a very -catchy speech well tempered with humor and he gathered a big<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_221"></a>[221]</span> -crowd. Evidently he had made a study of the patent-medicine -business and his speech was an “exposure” of the game. He -finished by selling some pamphlets dealing with the subject.</p> - -<p>2. The second speaker was an I.W.W. who talked for fifteen -minutes on education. He was a good talker and held the crowd. -He wound up by selling some I.W.W. literature and periodicals -in which the thoughts of economists had been reduced from the -difficult academic language to the understanding of the man on -the street. He also passed out some literature, i.e., old issues -of the <cite>Solidarity</cite>, and I.W.W. papers.</p> - -<p>3. Another I.W.W. talked twenty minutes on organization. -He argued that the rich man organizes and for that reason is -successful. He does not want the poor man at the bottom to -organize because he fears that he will not be able to keep him -at the bottom. He didn’t blame the rich man for organizing; -he blamed the poor man for not organizing. He gave some -literature away and sold some.</p> - -<p>4. A speech on superstition followed. It lasted twenty -minutes and was aimed at a mission group that was holding a -meeting across the street. The argument was that the Bible and -the church were the most powerful instruments in the hands of rich -men for keeping the poor man down. No collection was taken.</p> - -<p>5. A twenty-minute speech on the economic organization of -industry was given by a man who took great pains to remind the -crowd that he had spent seven years to learn all about it. He -made a plea for the co-operation of labor to combat the organization -of capital. No collection was taken.</p> - -<p>6. The next man argued that the unemployment problem is -caused by two things; the overcrowding of population and the -concentration of wealth into the hands of a few. Eighty-five -per cent of the people had but 15 per cent of the wealth and 15 -per cent of the people had 85 per cent of the wealth or more than -they could possibly consume. This man usually takes up a -collection on the ground that he is handicapped physically, but -he did not on this occasion. He spoke for twenty minutes.</p> - -<p>7. No more speakers wanted the box so a drunk got on the -stand and asked for the attention of the crowd. He furnished -amusement for fifteen minutes. He was witty but easily led -from subject to subject.</p> - -<p>No speaker talked long enough to bore the crowd. Each -speaker, when he had finished, yielded the box to his successor.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_222"></a>[222]</span> -The crowd was a characteristic Hobohemian gathering, willing -to stand so long as they could be interested. Like most such -gatherings, it kept diminishing and increasing in size. Some -would stand in front and listen for an hour while others would -only stop a few minutes on the outer edge of the gathering. The -reaction to the speakers was for the most part sympathetic. -Occasionally a man on the sidelines would be seen to frown -disapproval but it is the habit of those who are not interested -to worm their way out of the group and go their way.</p> - -<p>While the sixth speaker of the above list was talking the -crowd was attracted to the side by a discussion between one of -the previous speakers and another man. The argument attracted -so many listeners that the speaker was irritated and he called to -one of the men engaged in the discussion, “Say B—, do you -think that’s a square deal?” “Sorry C—, I didn’t know we were -disturbing you.” The crowd on the side dispersed and gathered -around the speaker on the box.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>SOAP-BOX ETHICS AND TACTICS</h3> - -<p>Just as there are certain unwritten laws that are -found in the jungle camps, so there are unwritten -laws that the soap-boxer observes. Regardless of -how much they differ in their schemes, they are -seldom personal in their opposition to one another. -Soap-boxers behave toward one another when not on -the box much as lawyers do when they are out of the -courtroom, and even while on the box they consider -one another’s interests. For example, a speaker -in resigning the rostrum to his successor will frequently -close with some such statement as this: -“I’d like to talk longer on this subject but there are -other speakers here and they have something to say -that you might like to hear.”</p> - -<p>The practice of taking up personal collections is -looked down upon by most curbstone speakers. -They feel that the soap box should not be exploited. -Collections are not always approved by the audiences.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_223"></a>[223]</span> -Some men label their speeches “lectures” and “pass -the hat” on the ground that they have spent years -in getting the information. When they “perform -the hat trick on the ‘simpoleons’ [simpletons]” they -regard it as a compensation for the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">rôle</span> they play as -educators. They chew fine the complex intellectual -food so that it may be taken up by the untrained -and unlearned. But unpopular as is the practice -of collecting money, it is not a barrier. The audience -is exceedingly tolerant toward the hat-passer and -more so if he has a good “line” of talk, or if he is -handicapped.</p> - -<p>Most men who talk to Hobohemian crowds make -their living by selling some kind of literature. Sometimes -they sell pamphlets they have written themselves, -or they sell pamphlets or periodicals on a -commission. Getting money in this way is not -unpopular among the soap-boxers. It is a practice -that is rather favored, for it is the best way of getting -the down-and-out to thinking, and if the soap-box -orators are united on any one thing it is this: that -the proletariat must be educated.</p> - -<p>One of the favorite methods of distributing literature -is to sell it from the box. Enthusiastic persons -in the crowd often buy a paper and pay for several -others to be distributed from the box. Sometimes -a man will take the stand and dispose of a hundred -papers or pamphlets in a few moments by persuading -those who have money to buy for those who have none.</p> - -<p>A man who entertains the “slum proletariat” -need not be without status because he lives by street -speaking. Most of them either directly or indirectly -earn their living in this way, though many of them -would not admit it. If a man can plead the cause<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_224"></a>[224]</span> -of the under dog to the satisfaction of the man on -the street, if he has a philosophy that pleases the -crowd, and if he can present it in an attractive -manner, very few resent his passing the hat.</p> - -<p>So with all their contentiousness the soap-box -orators manage to keep on speaking terms, and rather -informally turn favors to one another. Seldom do -they “knock” one another, and seldom do they -crowd one another away from a corner or place one -another in embarrassing positions. In this they have -gone farther toward reaching a unity of purpose than -the various mission groups who compete on opposite -corners for the same crowds.</p> - -<p>It must not be thought that soap-boxing is a game -that is without its tricks. There are tricks for -getting the crowds, tricks for holding the crowds, and -tricks for exploiting the crowds. Speakers do not -like to be the first one up on the box, nor do they like -to be the last one up when the crowd has become tired. -If a man wants to pass the hat, it is to his advantage -to get the first chance at the crowd. Men will do -considerable jockeying to get on the box just when -they think it will be to their advantage.</p> - - -<h3>FREE-LANCE VERSATILITY</h3> - -<p>Street speakers who stand before the same audiences -one or more times a week throughout the -year tend to wear out. Some of them are resourceful -enough to find something new to say, but others -find it difficult to say old things in a new way, so -they are likely to fall into the habit of repeating -themselves. Sometimes they try to keep from growing -stale by speaking in as many places as possible, -but since their audiences are limited to the Hobohemian<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_225"></a>[225]</span> -population they are always talking to a -number who have heard them say the same things -before. After a speaker has made the rounds of all -the corners he is forced to get a new “line.”</p> - -<p>Some men, however, persist in delivering old -thread-bare messages in their old, well-worn way. -The speeches of some men are so well known that -the only interest is one of curiosity. The crowd -listens to see if anything was left out. The hobby -of one free-lance speaker is Henry George and the -Single Tax. To the crowd he is the “P and P” -man, because he usually ends his speeches by selling -copies of <cite>Progress and Poverty</cite> at “cost.” Everyone -who has been in town long enough to become -acquainted with the principal soap-boxers is familiar -with this man’s “line,” but usually he hears him again, -partly, perhaps, because of his apparent sincerity.</p> - -<p>Most soap-boxers, when they find themselves -growing stale, are able to change. B’s hobby for -a long time has been a speech on birth control, -which he followed by selling some books on sex, but -he wore this subject out and recently changed to a -speech on superstition at the close of which he sells -literature of an anti-religious nature. Another -speaker whose speech on patent medicine and quack -doctors finally lost its novelty is now talking on -birth control. Another has gone from trade unionism -to the Ku Klux Klan. An old-timer on Madison -Street said of a certain speaker: “That man used -to be with the I.W.W.; then he went over to How’s -organization and now he’s free lancing.” “What is -his line now?” is a question that is commonly -asked in regard to a soap-box pulpiteer. They are -expected to change.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_226"></a>[226]</span></p> - -<p>In search of variety and for financial reasons, -free lancers of ability hire out as campaigners for the -political parties. “Where is John L. now?” asks -one man. “Oh, he’s up in Wisconsin campaigning -for Senator LaFollette. Last month he was in -Missouri stumping for Senator Reed.” John carried -credentials from both the Democrats and Republicans -and he can plead the cause of either.</p> - -<p>The <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">rôle</span> of the soap-boxer, like that of the ancient -sophist, is that of instructor or entertainer. Men -go in search of these curbstone gatherings. On -Sundays and holidays the crowd expects them. -Homeless men who have a job in the city during the -week spend the Sunday on the “stem” partly in -order to hear the evangelists and soap-boxers. It -is their life. They like to see old friends on the street, -but they like especially to see familiar faces on the -box.</p> - - -<h3>THE OPEN FORUM</h3> - -<p>The open forum is a place, usually indoors, where -persons may gather in formal meeting to discuss -topics of interest. It is usually a winter retreat for -the soap-boxers and their followers. In order to -maintain a forum it is necessary to hire a hall and -govern themselves by some sort of organization. -The “Hobo College” is probably the most conspicuous -open forum in Chicago. It is but a branch -of a chain of “colleges” that are maintained in the -larger cities of the country by the wealth of James -Eads How, the “millionaire hobo.” It has operated -in Chicago nearly every winter since 1907. -Scarcely a soap-boxer in Chicago has not at some -time been associated with this institution. Many -of them at some time have either been officers or<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_227"></a>[227]</span> -leading lights of the “college.” The I.W.W. generally -maintains a hall where a forum is conducted during -the winter, though it does not offer the variety of -discussion and subjects that the “college” does.</p> - -<p>The forum is far from being a harmonious nestling -ground for hibernating soap-boxers. It is rather a -veritable battle ground of contending factions. -These advocates of the “new society” who agree and -disagree so smilingly in the open often become caustic -and bitter in their attacks when forced to share the -same hall. There close association generates factions -and cliques. There are always the “ins” and the -“outs.” New leaders are ever getting the chair, -and old policies are constantly replaced. The -“Hobo College” for the winter of 1922-23 had no -less than six secretaries in as many months and three -complete “house cleanings.”</p> - -<p>The order of procedure at the “Hobo College” -is practically the same as in most of the open forums. -Meetings are held on the afternoons or evenings at -set dates, or there is a regular program of a certain -number of meetings a week. On Sunday two -meetings are often held. Meetings and programs -are advertised in conspicuous places. The meetings -are so arranged that there is time at the end of the -principal speech for criticism, remarks, or questions -from the floor, after which the speaker has an opportunity -to defend himself. If distinguished visitors -are present, they are usually called upon. Meetings -at the “Hobo College” are different from most -forums in that they usually terminate with a lunch.</p> - -<p>The open forum has some advantages over the -street meetings. The group is more select and less -transient. A subject for discussion is viewed from<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_228"></a>[228]</span> -various angles by different speakers who have come -at least partially prepared. On the soap box the -problem of disciplining the crowd is left entirely to -the speaker. Once he loses their interest they either -harass him or desert him. In the forum the audience -is honor bound to remain until the speaker has -finished. In the open forum speakers may be invited -who are supposed to lend a certain distinction to the -occasion. No one can lend distinction to a soap box. -Not the least advantage of the forum over the soap -box is that most of the audience can participate in the -meeting. The disadvantage is that it is not so -accessible and hence becomes exclusive.</p> - -<p>The question is often asked, “How do soap-boxers -get initiated into the game of outdoor speaking?” -For most of them the answer is, “In the -open forum.” In the open forum the beginners, the -aspirants, learn to take part in the discussions. -They learn here to find words to express themselves. -In the forum they take sides and learn to defend -or oppose propositions, and they learn to order and -present their thoughts.</p> - -<p>The forum has been described as a refuge for -the hibernating soap-boxer. It is more than a -refuge; it is a study center. It is to the free-lance -speaker what a summer school is to the teacher; -an opportunity to relax and “polish up.”</p> - - -<h3>THE SOAP BOX AND HOBO OPINION</h3> - -<p>Soap-boxers all say that they have enjoyed more -liberty in Chicago than in most cities. Chicago -police have always taken a generous and liberal -attitude toward the curbstone forum. A man who -has been prominent in several free-speech fights says:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_229"></a>[229]</span></p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>The free-lance speaker is a great help to the police in this -town. It’s easier to handle these crowds when they have someone -to listen to. When a man gets restless, it gives him something -to think about. If you don’t believe it just go into a town -where the soap-boxer is suppressed and see how bitter the “bos” -are.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">rôle</span> of the soap-boxer is to make hobos -think. He succeeds to a greater extent in this than -we realize. In his efforts to hold his audience for -half an hour he throws off a great many ideas. Much -of this ammunition is fired in the air, but not all of -it. What he actually does is to keep the minds of -his hearers on objective things. Otherwise their -thoughts would turn inward, and for the homeless -man introspection is not a pleasant pastime.</p> - -<p>It is probably true that the soap-box orator -makes no permanent impression on his audience. -He does, to be sure, give voice to some ill-defined -sentiments in which all are agreed. But no practical -unanimity is ever achieved. This agitation starts -no mass movement. There has never been an effective -permanent organization among hobos. The -very nature of the hobo mind resents every kind of -discipline that any form of organization would -impose. He is by circumstance, tradition, and -temperament an individualist.</p> - -<p>What of the soap-box reformer and revolutionist? -Is he a menace or merely a joke? The curbstone -orator is not an agitator in the ordinary sense of that -word. He is merely a thinking hobo. In him the -homeless man becomes articulate. It is something to -these outcast men to hear in these curbstone forums -the reverberations of their own unuttered thoughts. -It is something to the homeless man merely to have -a voice.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_64" href="#FNanchor_64" class="label">[64]</a> Chapter xvii, “Missions and Welfare Organizations.”</p> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_230"></a>[230]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak left" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI<br /> -<span class="left fs80">SOCIAL AND POLITICAL HOBO ORGANIZATION</span></h2> - - -<p class="drop-capy">The hobo is an individualistic person. Not even -the actors and artists can boast a higher proportion -of egocentrics. They are the modern Ishmaels -who refuse to fit into the routine of conventional -social life. Resenting every sort of social discipline, -they have “cut loose” from organized society.</p> - -<p>For them there is only the open road which offers -an existence without discipline, without organization, -without control. To the restless and dissatisfied the -life of a vagabondage is a challenge, the most elementary -way by which men seek to escape from reality.</p> - -<p>Out of this unrest, efforts have arisen through -which the hobo has striven to materialize his dreams. -Among the organizations initiated or promoted by -migrants are the Industrial Workers of the World -(I.W.W.), the International Brotherhood Welfare -Association (I.B.W.A.), the Migratory Workers’ -Union (M.W.U.), the United Brotherhood of American -Laborers, and the Ramblers.</p> - - -<h3>INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD</h3> - -<p>The I.W.W. was formed in Chicago in July, 1905. -Its headquarters are here and its conventions have -almost invariably been held here. Chicago has been -favored by the migratory radicals because it is a -transportation center, and because of its tolerant -attitude toward street speakers.</p> - -<p>Theoretically, the I.W.W. is an organization of -all industrial workers, but it has been most enthusiastically -supported, however, by the hobos. It was -conceived in the “stem,” and cradled and nurtured<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_231"></a>[231]</span> -by the floating workers. The hobo has always been -identified with it and, in the West, has played a militant -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">rôle</span> in fighting its battles.</p> - -<p>“The backwardness and unprogressiveness of -trade unions as organized in the American Federation -of Labor, and the impotency of trade union as organized -in the American Federation of Labor, and the -impotency of political socialism to safeguard the -ballot and provide the organs necessary to carry on -production in the future society,” are the reasons, on -paper at least, for the existence of the I.W.W. It is -an effort to organize the workers along industrial -lines, that is, to substitute, for trade unions, industrial -unions for all the workers in one industry. All -the industrial unions, metal-workers, construction-workers, -seamen, agricultural-workers, it seeks to -combine into one mammoth organization called the -“One Big Union.”</p> - -<p>The structure of the I.W.W. is simple. The unit -is the industrial local, which is composed of all the -workers of an industry in a locality. The various -locals of an industry combine to form an industrial -department. The departments join together to form -the “One Big Union.” The organization is managed -by a general secretary who is virtually the executive -head. The general secretary-treasurer is assisted -by an executive board elected by the six unions having -the largest membership. A seventh member is -elected by the other smaller unions.</p> - -<p>Some of the “wobbly” spokesmen boast of 100,000 -members, but that is an overestimate. The membership -is fluctuating and rises and falls with the -seasons, but perhaps it has reached 100,000 at times. -The membership is “on the road” most of the time,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_232"></a>[232]</span> -and even the locals are migratory, so that definite -figures are not always at hand. The dues are fifty -cents a month, so that many loyal members are not -always in good standing. The members in good -standing represent probably but a third or a fourth -of the men who designate themselves I.W.W.’s.<a id="FNanchor_65" href="#Footnote_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></p> - -<p>When certain seasonal occupations begin, as the -harvest fields, the construction camps, and lumbering -camps, the organizers set to work enrolling members. -Rumors circulate that no one will be permitted to -work on certain jobs unless he carries a red card; -that the “wobblies” will throw all non-members off -freight trains; that all the other workers are taking -out membership cards; that the employers of a -certain district are going to cut the wages of transient -labor, or that in other localities the wages are good -because the I.W.W. will not permit anyone without -a red card to work.</p> - -<p>The I.W.W. as an organization does not officially -sanction methods of intimidation, and will take action -against any cases brought to its attention. However, -force and fear get members. Men who are -seeking work in a community on jobs over which the -“wobblies” have assumed control will take out -cards to avoid conflict. Men will join the organization -to facilitate “riding the rods.” Memberships for -convenience only are short lived, seldom enduring over -the summer.</p> - - -<h3>APPEAL OF THE I.W.W.</h3> - -<p>The I.W.W. does not depend wholly on fear to -win its members. The great appeal of the I.W.W.,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_233"></a>[233]</span> -as of all other radical organizations, is to the spirit -of unrest that is a part of every hobo’s make-up. -The I.W.W. program offers a ray of hope to the man -who is down-and-out. Why the “wobbly” creed -makes so stirring an appeal to the hobo may be best -understood by quoting the preamble of its constitution:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>The working class and the employing class have nothing in -common. There can be no peace as long as hunger and want are -found among millions of the working people and the few, who -make up the employing class, have all the good things of life.</p> - -<p>Between these two classes a struggle must go on until the -workers of the world organize as a class, take possession of the -earth and machinery of production, and abolish the wage -system.</p> - -<p>We find that the centering of the management of industries -into fewer and fewer hands makes the trade unions unable to -cope with the ever growing power of the employing class. The -trade unions foster a state of affairs which allows one set of -workers to be pitted against another set of workers in the same -industry, thereby helping to defeat one another in wage wars. -Moreover the trade unions aid the employing class to mislead -the workers into the belief that the working class have interests -in common with their employers.</p> - -<p>These conditions can be changed and the interest of the working -class upheld only by an organization formed in such a way -that all its members in any one industry, or in all industries if -necessary, cease work whenever a strike or lockout is on in any -department thereof, thus making an injury to one an injury -to all.</p> - -<p>Instead of the conservative motto, “A fair day’s wage for -a fair day’s work,” we must inscribe on our banner the revolutionary -watchword, “Abolition of the wage system.”</p> - -<p>It is the historic mission of the working class to do away with -capitalism. The army of production must be organized, not -only for the everyday struggle with capitalists, but also to carry -on production when capitalism shall have been overthrown. -By organizing industrially we are forming the structure of the -new society within the shell of the old.</p> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_234"></a>[234]</span></p> - -<p>The hobo, dissatisfied with things as they are, has -no time to wait for the slow-moving processes of -evolution. The preamble appeals to him because -it is anti-evolutionary; it preaches the gospel of -struggle and revolt. It is opposed to compromise -and reconciliation, and affirms that the fight must -go on as long as there is an employing class. No -man, down-and-out, can hear this doctrine without -a thrill. The declaration that no quarter shall be -given to the capitalist is music to his ears.</p> - -<p>Every member of the I.W.W. is expected to be an -agitator. Wherever he goes it is the mission of the -“wobbly” to sow seeds of discontent and to harass -the employer. Certain members go from job to job -as “investigators.” They usually remain long -enough to start a disturbance among the regular -employees, and to get discharged. Agitators regard -a long list of dismissals as evidence of their success.</p> - -<p>Official agitators make no effort at organizing. -They merely “fan the flames of discontent” and pass -on. They are followed by the pioneer organizer, an -aggressive individual who starts the work of forming -a local. He is of the militant type and often gets -no farther than to arouse the men to the need of -organization. Sooner or later he also gets discharged, -which is to him evidence that he has “put -it over.”</p> - -<p>In the third stage of the offensive comes the real -organizer. He follows the militants and reaps what -they have sown. He works coolly and quietly in -organizing the workers. He persuades and argues, -but not in the open. The employer only learns of -his presence when he has won over the men and is -ready to make a demand.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_235"></a>[235]</span></p> - - -<h3>CHICAGO’S ATTITUDE TO I.W.W.</h3> - -<p>The I.W.W. is little understood by society in -general. The public believes that it is an organization -of “tramps who won’t work,” and that the -initials stand for “I Won’t Work,” or “I Want -Whiskey.” It is true that many “wobblies” do -want whiskey and many do not want work, but the -organization is neither pro-whiskey nor anti-work. -During the war the opposition to the organization -was intense, and Chicago was a center of arrests and -prosecutions. At present, however, the I.W.W. in -Chicago enjoys a freedom for its activities not found -in many other cities.</p> - -<p>There are two reasons for this tolerant attitude. -In the first place, West Madison Street, where the -I.W.W. is most active, is virtually isolated from -other parts of the city. It is hemmed in on the -north and south by factories, and on the east by the -river. Then, too, Chicago is situated far from the -battle grounds of the organization. The “wobblies” -wage a yearly war, but it is with the farmers in the -harvest belt, the lumber barons of the northwest, the -contractors, the mine operators; but all these are -remote from Chicago. If Chicago serves any part -in this warfare it is the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">rôle</span> of a winter training camp -where the tactics of the summer campaign are worked -out.</p> - - -<h3>INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD WELFARE ASSOCIATION</h3> - -<p>Next in importance to the I.W.W. is the hobo -organization known as the International Brotherhood -Welfare Association, or the I.B.W.A. Like -the I.W.W. it started in 1905, but its membership<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_236"></a>[236]</span> -at no time has exceeded 5,000. The I.B.W.A., -like the I.W.W., looks forward to a new social order, -a society in which there will be no classes. But where -the I.W.W. proposes to use force and direct action or -industrial organization to accomplish its purposes, -the I.B.W.A. would use education. The I.B.W.A. -stresses welfare work, brotherhood, and co-operation -among the hobos. It aims to organize and educate -the unorganized and uneducated homeless and migratory -workers.</p> - -<p>The I.B.W.A. is largely the creation of James -Eads How, a member of a wealthy St. Louis family. -How, dissatisfied with the ease and comfort of a rich -man’s life, left home and drifted into the group of -hobos and tramps. Becoming interested in their -problems, he set to work to better their condition. -He conceived the idea of a great international hobo -organization and converted several hobo “soap-boxers” -to his cause. The program of the I.B.W.A. -is set forth in Article III of the constitution:</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>A. To bring together the unorganized workers.</p> - -<p>B. To co-operate with persons and organizations who desire -to better social conditions.</p> - -<p>C. To utilize unused land and machinery in order to provide -work for the unemployed.</p> - -<p>D. To furnish medical, legal and other aid to its members.</p> - -<p>E. To organize the unorganized and assist them in obtaining -work at remunerative wages and transportation when required.</p> - -<p>F. To educate the public mind to the right of collective -ownership in production and distribution.</p> - -<p>G. To bring about the scientific, industrial, intellectual, -moral and spiritual development of the masses.</p> -</div> - - -<p>Another section of the constitution states that -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_237"></a>[237]</span>the organization aims to “unite the migratory -workers, the <em>Disemployed</em> and the unorganized -workers of both sexes for mutual betterment and -development, with the final object of abolishing -poverty and introducing a classless society.”</p> - - -<div class="figcenter illowp70 " id="i_237" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_237.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">JAMES EADS HOW</div> -</div> - - -<h3>“HOBO COLLEGE”</h3> - -<p>The most important of the auxiliary institutions -of the I.B.W.A. is the “Hobo College.” This unique -institution is How’s idea. How, as a strong believer -in progress through education, desires to bring to the -hobo worker the rudiments of the natural and social -sciences. The “Hobo College” affords the migrant -an opportunity to discuss topics of practical and -vital interest to him, and to attend lectures by -professors, preachers, and free-lance intellectuals.</p> - -<p>The “Hobo College” in Chicago<a id="FNanchor_66" href="#Footnote_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> has received -considerable newspaper publicity. Like all the hobo -colleges, the Chicago branch only operates in winter. -During the summer most of the “students” are out -of town at work on different migratory occupations.</p> - - -<h3>HOLDING COMMITTEE</h3> - -<p>How’s income, which he inherited, is at the disposal -of the hobos, but it is “fed out” by degrees, according -to the terms of the will. As the money comes into -How’s hands it is distributed and apportioned by -the Holding Committee, which is composed of a -member of the How family, a member of the “Hobo -College,” a member of the Junior League (a non-functioning<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_238"></a>[238]</span> -organization for boy tramps), and the -acting secretary and all previous secretaries of the -I.B.W.A. Most of this money goes to the support -of the various organizations of the I.B.W.A., including -the <cite>Hobo News</cite>.</p> - -<p>The Holding Committee also may contribute at -times to the purchase of halls and other property, -to transport delegates to and from conventions, or -rather to pay their fare back after they have “beaten -their way” to the meeting, and to promote propaganda. -A plan is now on foot to maintain a lobby -at Washington to support legislation in behalf of the -hobo. One proposal is a federal labor exchange. -The Holding Committee may and often does contribute -to other causes.</p> - - -<h3>CO-OPERATIVE “FLOPS”</h3> - -<p>One of How’s ambitions is to establish hobo -stopping places in all the principal cities of the -country. Already he has opened “Hotels de Bum” -in more than twenty cities. Some of them are -owned by the I.B.W.A., but most of them only -rented for the winter months. The “hotel” in -Cincinnati is typical. It is a two-story frame -building, located in the Hobohemian section of the -city. The second floor, designed for “flopping,” is -equipped with about forty cots. The first floor is -divided into a loafing- or reading-room and a kitchen. -In the kitchen there are a gas range and enough -pots and kettles to “boil up” clothes or cook a “mulligan.” -At the rear of the building is a small wood -yard where ties and other wood are cut for the heater. -The management of these hotels is left to the men -who select a house committee from their number.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_239"></a>[239]</span> -The committee looks after the building and insists -that the men keep the place clean. A small tax is -imposed now and then to meet current expenses and -to pay one man a small fee for looking after the -accounts. The ordinary “mission stiff” cannot survive -long in an I.B.W.A. hotel. He usually leaves -when asked to contribute his share toward the upkeep. -But a man without money is welcome, if -he does his part. Some of these hotels pay their -way. Most of them, however, never meet expenses, -but the deficit generally is made good by How.</p> - - -<h3>RÔLE PLAYED BY HOW</h3> - -<p>Whatever the future of the I.B.W.A., at present -it is almost a one-man organization. Regardless of -the ideals How entertains about democracy, he -really controls the I.B.W.A. He does all this because -he holds the purse. The I.B.W.A., with all its auxiliaries, -are dependent in the last analysis upon the funds -of Dr. How. None of these institutions is self-supporting. -The membership fees are not sufficient -in many cases to cover the running expenses. The -Chicago branch of the “Hobo College,” for instance, -has been one of the most active in the country, but -it has never paid its way. How does not take advantage -of the fact that his money maintains the institution. -He does not have as much to say about the -disposition of funds as certain other members of the -Holding Committee, but his right to impose his will -upon the organization is ever present with the -leaders.</p> - -<p>How has been persuaded at times to withhold -funds from certain locals thought to be radical. He -fears the I.W.W. who sometimes crowd into a local<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_240"></a>[240]</span> -group and outvote the non-I.W.W. In such cases, -How’s money is used to spread their propaganda. -The initiation fee of the I.B.W.A. is so small (ten cents -and ten cents a month dues) that a large number of -men may be enrolled for a few dollars. When the -I.W.W. recently lost one of their halls in Chicago, -they tried to work their way into the I.B.W.A., but -the plot was found out and the books for the time -being were closed. When How cuts off the rent -allowance to a local it soon closes its doors.</p> - -<p>The fact that the I.B.W.A. is virtually How’s -organization has had interesting effects on the -behavior of the members. Certain officials compete -with one another to get into his good graces. Others -take a stand in bitter opposition to him. There is -always jealousy between those “who sit on the right -hand and those who sit on the left hand.” Individuals -in the various locals with a grievance write directly -to How. Complaints go to him more often -than to general headquarters.</p> - - -<h3>MIGRATORY WORKERS’ UNION</h3> - -<p>The Migratory Workers’ Union, or the M.W.U., -composed wholly of hobos, was organized within the -I.B.W.A. in 1918. Some of the leaders of the -I.B.W.A. felt that the older organization was neglecting -the interests of the migratory worker. They -charged that it was too much concerned with welfare -work and too little with the organization of the -workers. They converted How to the idea of a -migratory workers’ union and he contributed to its -establishment.</p> - -<p>The originators of the M.W.U. had other ends in -mind. They wanted to organize a powerful group<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_241"></a>[241]</span> -of workers within the I.B.W.A. that would be able -to dominate the conventions and bring pressure to -bear on How. They hoped that the M.W.U. would -grow to such proportions that How would fear it, -and that he would not dare to use it as a “plaything.” -Secondly, the M.W.U. was a scheme to -get funds independently of the How allowance. -Thirdly, the originators planned to organize the -workers along industrial lines more effectively than -had the I.W.W., which at the time was unpopular -on account of its opposition to the war. Fourthly, -the M.W.U., starting with a “clean slate” and a less -radical program than the I.W.W., might attract the -more moderate of its members who had lost faith in -the revolutionary movement. The thought of winning -over the lukewarm members of the I.W.W. was -probably the argument that appealed to How.</p> - -<p>The “Aims and Objects” of the organization contain -a decidedly less radical program than the -preamble to the I.W.W. constitution.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>1. A national agitation against the unconstitutional laws as -they affect the migratory worker.</p> - -<p>2. Federal inspection of all construction camps by the United -States Public Health Service.</p> - -<p>3. To work in favor of the abolition of the chain-gang system -and all prison contract labor.</p> - -<p>4. Free transportation to and from the jobs for all migratory -workers.</p> - -<p>5. The abolition of privately owned employment agencies.</p> - -<p>6. A shorter work day.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The M.W.U. has not been active in Chicago, -though one of its officers has always been a Chicago -man. It has been most active in Ohio and Indiana -but is even dying there.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_242"></a>[242]</span></p> - - -<h3>UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF AMERICAN LABORERS</h3> - -<p>Michael C. Walsh is the general secretary-treasurer -and the chief promoter of the United -Brotherhood of American Laborers. Walsh, an old -organizer for the I.W.W., is not in harmony with the -“wobblies” at present. Although at one time the -president of the “Hobo College,” he has also withdrawn -from that institution.</p> - -<p>The aim of the Brotherhood is to unite all migratory -and even non-migratory workers with the slogan, -“What is the concern of one is the concern of all.” -Its program promises reading-rooms, picture shows, -lectures, but the chief attraction is an accident and -life insurance policy which every member takes out.</p> - -<p>Members of the M.W.U. and the I.B.W.A. accuse -Walsh of drawing up an impractical program for -economic and legislative reform, and charge that the -“aims” of the Brotherhood were borrowed from their -organizations and only slightly modified.</p> - - -<h3>BENEVOLENT AND PROTECTIVE ORDER OF RAMBLERS</h3> - -<p>The Benevolent and Protective Order of Ramblers -is supposed to be a semi-secret organization of the -floating fraternity, but its membership is composed -of a small number of Chicago’s “home guards.” -It was organized by John X. Kelly and has no benefits -nor program except that the members agree to -help one another when in trouble. It holds meetings -(for members only) now and then, but it does not -aim to deal with any economic or social problems. -The “Ramblers” endeavors to add a human touch -to the migrant’s life. It is, in short, a hobo good-fellowship -club that meets where and when it is convenient<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_243"></a>[243]</span> -to drink the “milk o’ human kindness” and -to sing “Hail! Hail! You Ought to Be a Rambler.”</p> - - -<h3>HOBO CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENTS</h3> - -<p>Dissatisfied with things as they are, the hobo -experiments now and again with co-operative projects. -Most of these are attempts to do on a small -scale what the dreamers hope to accomplish in the -future on a larger, a national, or an international -scale. That co-operative organizations failed is no -discredit to the leaders nor any conclusive proof -against the value of co-operative movements as a -motive in economic life. The failure is to be explained -at least in part by the egocentricity and -individualism or the irresponsibility of the migratory -workers.</p> - -<p>Of the following five interesting cases of co-operative -projects among migratory workers, only -one took place in Chicago. The story of all of these -attempts has, however, been written by the prime -mover of them, John X. Kelly. Sooner or later all -hobo co-operative experiments end the same way. -They fail because of suspicion and lack of harmony.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>61. My first attempt to organize a co-operative scheme was -in 1909 in Redlands, California. I knew a group of men; some -of them radical and all of them idealists. It occurred to me -that they were the very types to make a communistic plan work. -I knew of a tract of land, one hundred and sixty acres, open for -settlement. Fourteen dollars to file a claim and a little additional -expense and labor would have put the place in working -condition.</p> - -<p>I presented my plan to these men and ten of them approved -the idea. They had all been soap-boxers and agitators and I -felt that here at last is a group of men who can make a co-operative -organization a success. Our scheme was very simple,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_244"></a>[244]</span> -everyone was to bear his share of the burden and to receive his -share of the profits. No matter what a man did as long as it -was part of the work of running the farm would be considered -as important as any other part. The government of the place -would be absolutely democratic. A manager would be elected -from the number and he would remain manager for a certain -term or as long as he gave satisfaction. The land was to be -divided up as follows: each man was to have a five acre plot as -his individual property and the other hundred and ten acres of -ground was to be worked co-operatively.</p> - -<p>We had scarcely got organized when dissensions arose. -Some were satisfied with the manager but others feared him and -mistrusted him. Some declared that it was impossible to -determine how much of one kind of work was equal to another -kind of work. Some were not satisfied because they felt that -they were going to be imposed on and they would not join an -organization in which there was no assurance that they would -get a square deal. The result of this disputation was the breakup -of the movement. Each man went his way.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>My second endeavor to promote a hobo co-operative movement -was in 1917 in St. Louis. It was in the winter time and -there were many idle men in town. I conceived what I thought -was the most modern and up to date plan ever brought into being -to promote the interests of the down-and-outs. Knowing that -the unemployed were being exploited by semi-religious and -charitable organizations who gave little in return for much work, -I set about to solve the problem in another way. Dr. James -Eads How of St. Louis, founder of the International Brotherhood -Welfare Association, contributed $200 to be used as follows: -$100 to be spent for a horse and wagon, $50 for a gasoline engine -and a saw, while the rest was to be used to buy food until funds -could be had for the sale of wood. It was a reserve fund only -to be used in case of emergency. A saloon-keeper gave us the -use of a yard in East St. Louis free of charge. There was an -old store in connection with the yard that could also be used. -The place was in the heart of East St. Louis and accessible to -any part of the city. The American Car Repairing Company -gave us all the wood we cared to haul away. Eleven policemen -sent in orders for wood. They were willing to pay three dollars -a load for this wood sawed and split into kindling.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_245"></a>[245]</span></p> - -<p>The conditions under which the men entered the program -were similar to the first venture. They were all to have an equal -share in the profits. The manager, the man who operated the -saw; all who worked in and around the wood yard, after expenses -were deducted, were to share alike. Everything was to be -democratic, no one was to be an exploiter, and nobody was to be -exploited. Everyone agreed and after I had remained with the -project a day or so until it got under way, I left them to work -out their own problems.</p> - -<p>Within a week a committee of three came to me in St. Louis -with a story of confusion and a cry of being buncoed by the -manager. They said that some of the members would not work. -I sent them back to straighten out matters but conditions -seemed to get worse in so far as finances were concerned, and -within six weeks the co-operative wood yard disbanded.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A short time later I went over to East St. Louis and took the -horse and wagon and other property of the wood yard to St. -Louis where I had interested a number of the St. Louis Group of -the I.B.W.A. to take a chance with the communistic scheme. -Instead of selling the wood by the load this time they were going -to sell small bundles of kindling coated with pitch. The men -did not care this time to use the buzz saw and engine so I bought -six hand saws and six hatchets. I also bought a half barrel of -pitch into which the kindling could be dipped. I succeeded in -raising $32.00 as a jungle fund so that the boys could “get by” -while working to get a start.</p> - -<p>A start was all that was made as the entire group got intoxicated -with “joy” with some of the jungle fund. Next morning -the secretary, who was handling the fund returned half of it with -the statement that the co-operative wood yard was a fizzle. The -man who had been elected manager died while on this drunk.</p> - -<p>Here was a group of men that I was satisfied would make a -success of a communistic scheme if one could be put over, but -they failed miserably. Some men in both these wood yard -experiences blamed me because the schemes did not succeed.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The fourth venture was in Chicago in 1920. I tried to put -over a co-operative lodging house scheme in the “Slave Market -District” where thousands of migratory workers congregate -because of the cheap living conditions. Instead of the Scissors Bill<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_246"></a>[246]</span> -class this group was made up of radicals who at some time in their -unhappy lives had taken part in some co-operative experiment. -Again I went to Dr. How with my new idea and at my suggestion -he agreed to pay three months rent in advance to help the movement -along by retaining one of the rooms as an office for the -I.B.W.A. Five rooms were rented for twenty-five dollars and -the I.B.W.A. took one of them at half the price or twelve and a -half dollars a month. Later we rented four additional rooms at -fifteen dollars making the total rent for nine rooms forty dollars -of which nearly a third was paid by the I.B.W.A.</p> - -<p>As national secretary of the I.B.W.A. I was supposed to have -my office there, but I could do most of my work at home so I -turned the room rented for office over to the club for a sitting -room. The I.B.W.A. contributed fifty-eight dollars to buy furniture. -Some other furniture was also bought by money contributed -by the men. The place was to be operated on a -fifty-fifty basis. All the profits and the expenses were to be -equally shared. Everyone agreed and the organization was effected.</p> - -<p>Now the funny part comes. Quarrels soon arose over trifles, -and the members began calling each other grafters, and parasites. -I was even called a parasite though the only part I played was to -start the project and to encourage it to operate smoothly. -Before six months had elapsed the co-operative flat was a thing -of the past. The men sneaked away all of the furniture, that -of the I.B.W.A. as well as some that belonged to the members -of the group. They hauled it all away to furnish two small flats. -They also left an eighteen-dollar gas bill which the amateur -promoter had to pay.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The fifth and last experiment is not a case of co-operation but -it illustrates what might be expected from the hobo.</p> - -<p>During the winter of 1916 a St. Louis lady, Dr. Innis, conducted -a free dispensary for the “bos” who could not get hospital -treatment. Dr. How paid the bill for conducting the place. -Dr. Innis took a great interest in the migratory worker and -co-operated with us in working out a scheme by which the hobo -could save some money during the summer to hold him over the -winter months. She agreed to receive and hold in trust all the -money that any man would send to her and in the fall when he -came to town turn it over to him. We got out a lot of letters and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_247"></a>[247]</span> -cards by which this correspondence banking could be carried on -and about a hundred and fifty men agreed that it was a good -scheme and that they would take advantage of it.</p> - -<p>The result was amusing. Out of all the men who approved -the plan only one sent in any money. That one man sent in one -dollar. Shortly after Dr. Innis got a letter from this man. He -said he was “broke” and would like to have his dollar back.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>My conclusion is that it is impossible to accomplish anything -along co-operative lines and in a democratic manner. I know -the hobo worker fairly well and I tried patiently to put over -schemes that they have, for the most part, favored, and I worked -with fair representatives of the group, but they will not co-operate. -They are suspicious and selfish when it comes to the -final test of their pet ideas. Co-operative schemes may work but -I don’t think they will be a success along democratic lines.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>FAILURE OF HOBO ORGANIZATIONS</h3> - -<p>Hobo organizations have never been a success -in this country. It is proverbial that conventions -of the I.W.W. and the I.B.W.A. have always been -veritable battle grounds of contending interests. -The I.B.W.A. has had four conventions during the -winter of 1921-22 and the summer of 1922 and they -all failed to accomplish anything because of jealousies -and bitter feelings. The convention in Cincinnati -on May Day, 1922, continued in session for three -days and did not get any farther than to argue about -the power of the convention to act in the name of -the I.B.W.A. One whole session was spent in a -quarrel about the election of a chairman.</p> - -<p>Between the M.W.U. and the I.B.W.A. there is -considerable antipathy, yet the M.W.U. cannot -stand alone and will not co-operate with the parent -organization. The I.W.W. is against both, but even -in the I.W.W. there is a perpetual clash between the -migratory workers and the “home guards.” Active<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_248"></a>[248]</span> -and zealous organizers usually find room for complaint -against the office force.</p> - -<p>The hobo, like other egocentric types, is suspicious. -The I.W.W. at its inception spent days arguing -whether the name of its chief officer should be -that of president. Some felt that to model the -organization after others would be a step in imitation -that might lead to other forms of imitation. Some -reasoned that most presidents of organizations they -had known were “parasites” and their head officer -might become one also if given the name. The -hobo’s suspicious attitude toward all organizations -and persons in power is not altogether without -ground. As a group the migratory workers usually -get the “short end” of every bargain they drive with -organized society. Every contractor they work for -“does” them for something. If he does not charge -them for tools they lost or destroyed he may charge -them for rent on a pair of boots or a blanket they may -have used. They may buy a job from some private -agency and later lose the job because the agency and -the contractor have an understanding to sell as many -jobs as possible. The hobo gets the opinion that -most officers in most organizations are playing the -game for what they can get out of it and he concludes -that it is the natural thing to do.</p> - -<p>The mobility and instability of the hobo or tramp, -which is both cause and consequence of his migratory -existence, unfits him for organized group life. Moreover, -he is propertyless, and therefore the incentive -of fixed ownership and fixed residence to remain -faithful to any institution is gone. While the man -of property secures himself best by associating with -his neighbor and remaining in one locality, the hobo<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_249"></a>[249]</span> -safeguards himself by moving away from every difficulty. -Then, too, the hobo is without wife and -child. His womanless existence increases his mobility -and his instability.</p> - -<p>In pointing out the repeated and seemingly inevitable -failures of hobo organizations, the fact must -not be lost sight of that they are absolutely necessary -to his social existence. Only in these social and -political organizations can the migratory worker -regain his lost status. Only in association with his -fellows can he again hope and dream of an ideal world -of co-operation. These organizations will either -survive repeated failures or take new forms, because -they satisfy this fundamental need of the social outcast -for status. Then, too, in these groups, his -rebellious attitudes against society are sublimated -into a radical idealism. Were these organizations -destroyed, the anti-social grudge of the individual -would undoubtedly be reflected in criminality.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_65" href="#FNanchor_65" class="label">[65]</a> According to the financial statement for the I.W.W. for May and June -of 1922, there were in good standing 18,234 members. This, it must be remembered, -was just before the summer membership drive, which is said to have -recruited over 18,000 additional members.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_66" href="#FNanchor_66" class="label">[66]</a> The Chicago branch of the “Hobo College” is located at present (1922-23) -at 913 West Washington Boulevard. It has taken the name temporarily of -“Brotherhood College,” because the owners of the property would not rent the -hall so long as the word “hobo” was connected with the movement. The -change was made rather reluctantly. The second and third floors are in use; -the second floor for reading-room and kitchen, the third floor is a lecture-hall.</p> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_250"></a>[250]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak left" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII<br /> -<span class="left fs80">MISSIONS AND WELFARE ORGANIZATIONS</span></h2> - - -<p class="drop-capy">In the winter of 1921-22 there were twenty-five -missions in the Hobohemian areas of the city. -This number tends to expand and to contract with -the increase or the decrease in number of men out -of work. The number of missions in the West -Madison Street section is larger than the number in -the South State Street and North Clark Street -regions combined. The influence of the Salvation -Army, which has outgrown the status of a mission, -upon similar organizations is profound. The names -of many of the missions suggest their origin in imitation -of this pioneer body in religious work for the -“down-and-outs”: Christian Army, Samaritan -Army, Saved Army, Volunteer Rescue Army. The -names of other missions are as interesting: Bible -Rescue Mission, Cathedral Shelter, Helping Hand -Mission, Pacific Garden Mission, Sunshine Gospel -Mission.</p> - -<p>The uniforms of the “armies” that make up the -working force of certain of the missions are often so -nearly alike that it is difficult to tell them apart. A -short time ago the Salvation Army brought suit -against the Saved Army to prevent it from using the -poke bonnets, the blue uniform, the song “The -War Cry” on the ground that they were so similar -to those of the Salvation Army that the public -was confused. It is claimed by representatives of -the Salvation Army that individuals contribute to -these other missions and “armies” under the impression -that the contribution is for the Salvation -Army.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_251"></a>[251]</span></p> - - -<h3>TYPES OF MISSIONS<a id="FNanchor_67" href="#Footnote_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a></h3> - -<p>Aside from the religious work of the Salvation -Army and the Volunteers of America, three types of -missions are to be found in Hobohemia: (1) the -permanently established local mission, (2) the migratory -national mission, and (3) the “wild cat” local -mission.</p> - -<p>1) The permanently established local mission -either owns its building or holds it on a long lease. -These missions are sponsored by some church or -by a board of directors composed of business men -of more or less local prominence. Not infrequently -these contributors are successful converts.</p> - -<p>These local missions dispense charity in the form -of food, clothing, and beds for homeless men.<a id="FNanchor_68" href="#Footnote_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> They -differ, however, in their methods of relief as well as -in their policies of relief. One mission may care for -every man who asks for aid without question as to -his worthiness, another feels that better service can -be done by helping only those who are willing to -work, or those who are incapacitated for manual -labor. Only the verbose intoxicant is ever ejected -from the mission—all others may come and go as -they wish.</p> - -<p>In the permanently established mission is found -the better type of mission worker who is compensated -by a definite salary rather than paid on a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_252"></a>[252]</span> -commission basis. The permanent workers consist -of a superintendent and a secretary assisted by converts -who have made good, usually old men who use -the mission as a refuge. Still further help comes -from students of the various religious institutions -in the city and from the friends of the mission.</p> - -<p>2) The national migratory missions may have -headquarters in Chicago or some other metropolitan -center with branches or sub-missions in nearby -towns and cities. These organizations are generally -financed by solicitations. Men and women are -employed to canvass places of business; to “drum” -on the streets and to make house-to-house calls. -This practice of drumming on the streets is known -as “ballyhooing.” These solicitors receive, in most -cases, as much as 50 per cent of the amount they -collect, which greatly lessens the sum to be used for -the homeless men after the rent for the building, -the salaries of the men in charge, and other expenses -have been deducted from the remaining 50 per cent.</p> - -<p>The shifting of these missions is proverbial. If -they are not moving from city to city they are moving -from one street to another, or from one location to -another on the same street. The workers are as -transient as the institutions themselves: migrating -back and forth between cities, and affiliating themselves -first with one mission and then with another. -Often they are rural folk who, through urban mission -work, find expression for the wishes of adventure and -recognition. The fascination of the city has an -attraction for the migratory mission worker as for -the migratory laborer. They prefer this life, even -under adverse conditions, to any other field of service. -Others are veterans, who have been in mission work<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_253"></a>[253]</span> -for years with four or five different organizations in -as many cities.</p> - -<p>3) The “wild cat” local mission, more or less -ephemeral in nature, springs up during some crisis -as an unemployment situation. Using the crisis -as an excuse for soliciting funds to aid the unemployed, -they operate for awhile, and when conditions -have been ameliorated, they go out of existence. -The workers, enthralled by a few months in the service, -then affiliate with another mission.</p> - - -<h3>MAKING CONVERTS</h3> - -<p>The following narrative by an observer in the -Bible Rescue Mission one Sunday evening early in -April, 1922, describes the technique of conversion.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>62. More than a hundred men were in the audience. The -night was cold and they were glad to be inside. Then, too, -there were rolls and coffee to be served after the meeting. Near -the close of the service the evangelist stept down from the stand -and asked if anyone in the audience wished to be prayed for. -Surely out of an audience of so many men, all sinners, someone -was concerned about his soul. All a man would have to do was -to raise his hand. That was easy; just believe with all your -heart, raise your hand for prayer. It was worth taking a chance -on anyway. Three hands went up.</p> - -<p>“That’s fine! Three men have asked to be remembered -before the Lord. Is there anyone else? Just one more, let’s -make it four. Won’t someone else raise his hand. Yes, there’s -another hand. God bless you, brother. Now, will the four -men who raised their hands please stand?”</p> - -<p>This was more than they had bargained for, but they stood. -All eyes were on the four, all homeless men with the characteristic -beaten look. They were self-conscious and uncomfortable. -One of the men, somewhat older than the others, seemed to be -stirred by emotion.</p> - -<p>“Now,” continued the evangelist, “will the four brothers -who just stood up kindly come forward and kneel with us in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_254"></a>[254]</span> -prayer?” There was a moment of hesitation. Finally, the old -man led the way. One of the others followed in a halting fashion. -A worker came down from the stand and escorted to the front the -younger of the remaining two. The fourth man sat down. -Another worker sat down beside him and pleaded with him for -some time. The man seemed to resent it at first, but at length -he yielded and was led into the circle. He had a sheepish look -as he slumped to his knees between two of the other converts.</p> - -<p>Several of the workers began to labor with members of the -audience while the little circle kneeled on the floor and prayed. -No other converts were made so the meeting came to an end with -handshakes and congratulations for the new converts. Then -the lunch was passed and the tension relaxed.</p> - -<p>Once outside I asked a man who had been inside what he -thought of the meeting. He laughed, “Oh, it’s just like all of -them. I wanted to laugh out loud when I saw that old duck -get saved. He gets saved every winter. This winter he got -saved twice. He always manages to get saved in missions where -there is something to eat.”</p> -</div> - - -<p>Women play a leading <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">rôle</span> in mission work. The -homeless man, who remembers his home and mother, -listens with respect to the prayers and appeals of -the women workers, and is stirred by the singing of -young girls. A religious plea by a woman of strong -personality will sometimes overwhelm a despondent -and homesick man.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>63. Probably the most interesting event of our investigation -was a Salvation Army revival meeting, held in a little auditorium -behind the smoking room. Each Sunday night at about 8:00, -these services are held. Eight or nine girls, one the leader, and -one the pianist, make up the cast and chorus. When they are -ready the invitation is extended to those in the smoking room and -anywhere from six to thirty are likely to go into the “church.”</p> - -<p>The leader is a very versatile lady. She can utter a fervent -prayer, sing louder than all the rest of the girls together, play a -tambourine at the same time, and make a stirring appeal to -the audience that they “come forward to Jesus and be saved.” -The girls join in the chorus, clapping as they sing. They have<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_255"></a>[255]</span> -all been saved, and testify as to the truth of the leader’s words. -“Isn’t that true, girls?” and they all nod their heads in perfect -accord.</p> - -<p>The old songs are sung, songs with simple tune and words as -“He’s the Lily of the Valley.” Anyone hearing these songs once -can join in, and all are asked to do so, but few respond. Yet -it is inspiring to see some forlorn looking bum concentrate on the -little book and sing forth earnestly, as some of them do. Very -few, however, wish to be saved. They are willing to attend the -services, and maybe to sing, but they will not volunteer to join -the army of God, and when personal solicitation is undertaken, -few remain in the room.</p> -</div> - - -<p>During warm weather the missions hold street -meetings. Headed by the mission band, the company -marches outside to get the crowd. A few -songs are sung, several testimonials are given, and -the curbstone audience is invited to the hall.</p> - -<p>Few mission workers are able to gather and -hold a crowd on the street. It is more difficult -to preach on account of the noise of passing street -cars and automobiles. The crowd outside is less -stable and not so considerate as the indoor audience. -Often the meetings are disturbed by drunken men -or by competing mission groups on the same street. -A mission band may not be able to gather any crowd, -even though hundreds of men are passing or loafing -on the streets. Sometimes their audiences will be -stolen by soap-boxers who start near by with the -“economic arguments.”</p> - - -<h3>PERMANENT, PERIODIC, AND TEMPORARY CONVERTS</h3> - -<p>Every mission has its permanent, periodic, and -temporary converts; its “alumni.” Some of these -linger about the mission doing odd jobs, others go<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_256"></a>[256]</span> -to work or into business, only returning occasionally -to bear testimony. Many of these have prospered -both spiritually and materially, and assist the mission -in its work. Certain missions celebrate the “spiritual -birthdays” of these converts. A bouquet of flowers is -placed on the pulpit and a special program is arranged -in honor of the occasion. The anniversary of the -conversion of a permanent convert is a time of -rejoicing. The “twice-born man” bears his testimony -to the saving power of the gospel that snatches -“a brand from the burning,” and asks the prayers of -the saints that he may continue “faithful until the -end.” Each of the “saved” who are present wears -a flower in the lapel of his coat and takes advantage of -the occasion to add his testimony.</p> - -<p>The following typical cases of converts were -secured through hearing the testimony of men in the -missions and by later interviews with each of the -converts. The information given was also verified -by mission workers who knew the men.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>64. H. M., in his own words, was once “one of the worst -jail birds and boozers” in this part of the country. For years, -he declares, he was never sober. His arrival home usually -meant the beating of his wife. At the end of every month he -was in debt to the saloon keeper. He gravitated from one house -to another unable to pay his rent, until his family was living in -an old dilapidated shack. His religious transformation changed -the whole situation. He is now in business for himself. He is -considered one of the most competent and reliable in his field. -He and his wife work at the mission and are among its largest -financial contributors.</p> - -<p>65. About twenty years ago T. S., a typical “down-and-out,” -wandered into a Chicago mission. He had deserted his family -in an eastern state and started on the bum. Exposure and -“booze” had almost completely enervated him. He was dirty, -unshaved, and in rags. His visit to the mission led to his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_257"></a>[257]</span> -conversion and subsequently to reconciliation with his wife and -three children. He is now superintendent of a business concern -in the city.</p> - -<p>66. P. W., a man of foreign birth and a graduate from one -of the leading universities of his native country, became addicted -to drink, deserted his wife, and leaving her in dire need came to -this country. He became so low a bum that he was taking his -food from garbage cans in the alleys of Chicago, spending every -cent he could get for “booze.” He was so debilitated from -alcohol, exposure, and lack of nourishment when he came to the -mission that he was hardly able to walk. He was converted and -restored to health. His wife later joined him. He became -nationally known as a worker in missions.</p> - -<p>67. Some years ago a young lad left his home in Germany -and came to the United States. His associates here were persons -who spent their leisure time in dissipation. One morning he -awoke after a drunken night and decided to go down on West -Madison Street with the bums where he thought he belonged. -He despaired of life. He wandered into one of the missions to -get warm and was converted. Although he had a meager education -he is now studying in one of the religious institutions of -the city with the expressed purpose of doing religious work.</p> - -<p>68. P. D. came into the mission drunk one night and was -converted. Several times previous to this he had been thrown -out for disturbing the meeting. According to his own statement -he entered the mission one time and was “saved and stayed -saved.” He is now general labor foreman for a large construction -company.</p> -</div> - - -<p>Of course there are temporary converts who become -victims of their old environment. For awhile -they go straight, but eventually they yield to “the -world, the flesh, and the devil.” Some periodic converts -kneel before the altar every year and each time -go out with renewed determination to avoid sin, but -they often succumb the first time they are subjected -to temptation. The mission workers expect this -periodicity of conversion with some of these men just -as they expect the winter.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_258"></a>[258]</span></p> - -<p>“Backsliders” are usually well meaning men but -weak. Any convert who remains on the “stem” -is likely to become a “backslider.” The emotional -nature of many of these men may induce a mood of -sincere repentance, but it is difficult to keep the -resolution to reform.</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>69. L. S. is a youth of the city. He is twenty-three. His -parents are strict German Lutherans and he spent several years -in a Lutheran parochial school. He left home over a month -ago (April, 1922) because of some trouble he had with his folks. -Shortly after he entered the —— —— Mission on Madison -Street where he “got religion” but in a week he “back slid.” -He was melted into consenting and was rushed to the front and -“saved” before he knew what had happened. After the men -on the outside laughed at him he “weakened.” Now he feels -that there is “nothing to religion anyway,” though he admits -that the mission worker at one time kept him out of jail.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>MISSION BREAD LINES</h3> - -<p>During the winter of 1921-22, twelve of the -missions in Chicago, maintained “bread lines,” that -is, dispensed food, as coffee and doughnuts, or a -bowl of soup and vegetables. The term “bread -line,” used figuratively for “free lunch,” originally -described the long lines of men during years of want -and unemployment waiting outside relief stations -for bread and soup.</p> - -<p>Missions without “bread lines” claim that the -food is given as a bait to get conversions. They -hold that “meal ticket” converts lose their religion -as soon as they become economically self-sustaining. -The unregenerate homeless man looks down upon -the regular attendants at the mission, and accuses -them of getting converted for “pie card” reasons. -He calls them “mission stiffs,” a term as uncomplimentary -as for an Indian to be called a “squaw man.”</p> - - -<div class="figcenter illowp70 " id="i_258a" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_258a.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">A FREE LUNCH AT A MISSION</div> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter illowp70 " id="i_258b" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_258b.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"> - <div class="blockquot"> - <p><em>By permission of the Helping Hand Mission</em></p> - </div> - A WINTER’S NIGHT IN A MISSION - </div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_259"></a>[259]</span></p> - - -<h3>WELFARE ORGANIZATIONS</h3> - -<p>The mission is not the only institution to which -the homeless man turns. Social service agencies, -public and private, many of which are organized -primarily for family rehabilitation, have given assistance -to the homeless man.</p> - -<p>The United Charities, although engaged chiefly in -work with families, has a homeless-men division. -During the year ending September 30, 1922, 1,026 -non-family men received assistance. Of these, 629 -were given material or personal service, and 397 were -referred to other organizations. The Jewish Social -Service Bureau also maintains a homeless men’s -department which, in the year 1921, gave personal -and material aid to 1,333 men. During 1922, the -number of men helped fell to less than half this -number, largely as a result of the improved industrial -situation. The Bureau works in close association -with two Jewish sheltering-homes, which together -house about 70 men. Homeless men who apply for -assistance are cared for here until their cases are carefully -investigated. The Central Bureau of (Catholic) -Charities, in conjunction with the Mission of -the Holy Cross, provides shelter and food for destitute -men, and aids them to become self-supporting.</p> - -<p>The Chicago Urban League, organized to promote -co-ordination and co-operation among existing -agencies for the welfare of Negroes, maintains an -employment bureau for men out of work. During -the winters of 1920-21 and 1921-22, when thousands -of men<a id="FNanchor_69" href="#Footnote_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> were without house accommodations, the -League took the lead in co-operating with churches<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_260"></a>[260]</span> -and other organizations to secure temporary housing -quarters.</p> - -<p>The hotels for homeless men maintained by the -Salvation Army and by the Christian Industrial -League have already been described.<a id="FNanchor_70" href="#Footnote_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> In addition, -both organizations maintain industrial homes where -men are given temporary work and are helped to -become self-supporting.</p> - -<p>The American Legion has been active in behalf of -unemployed ex-service men, many of whom are also -homeless men. Its work has consisted chiefly in -getting jobs for the unemployed, and in this it has -had the hearty co-operation of the newspapers. The -Legion Hall was turned over to homeless veterans -for sleeping quarters during the winter of 1921-22.</p> - -<p>The Chicago Municipal Lodging House was first -opened on December 21, 1901. It provided free -temporary shelter and food for destitute, homeless -men. At first it was operated under the Department -of Police, but was transferred on January 1, -1908, to the Department of Health, and later, on -April 17, 1917, transferred to the Department of -Public Welfare. In its early history, the Municipal -Lodging House was fortunate in having as its superintendent -men like Raymond Robins, James Mullenbach, -and Charles B. Ball, who set high standards for -its administration.<a id="FNanchor_71" href="#Footnote_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> The Municipal Lodging House -met the severe test of the unemployment years of -1908 and 1914 by showing how its organization could -expand to meet extraordinary situations. For example, -while only 23,642 lodgings were given in 1907,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_261"></a>[261]</span> -the number rose to 105,564 in 1908; and the 78,392 -lodgings given in 1913 rose to 452,361 in 1914. The -Municipal Lodging House closed in 1918-19 because -of lack of applicants during wartime prosperity, but -it did not reopen during the hard winters of 1920-21 -and 1921-22. Many destitute men, who would -otherwise have been inmates of the Municipal Lodging -House with the medical attention, sanitary sleeping -quarters, and other assistance for rehabilitation -which it offered, became instead “regular feeders” -at the “bread lines” and permanent patrons of -Hogan’s “flop.” There seems to be no doubt that -the absence of municipal provision made for an -increase of promiscuous begging and injudicious -almsgivings.</p> - -<p>Many other institutions and agencies regularly or -sporadically extend assistance to the homeless man. -Yet, in perhaps no other field of social work is there -more overlapping and duplication of effort, or so -low standards of service. For example, the missions -and some of the churches, working independently of -one another, boast that they feed and clothe the -needy, but they make little or no effort to distinguish -between those who do and those who do not deserve -assistance. Consequently, the missions lay themselves -open to exploitation by the homeless man. A -constructive program for rehabilitation demands the -co-ordination of the efforts of all agencies now -engaged in serving his needs.</p> - - -<h3>THE HOMELESS MAN AND RELIGION</h3> - -<p>The missions, and for that matter, the welfare -agencies are unpopular with the habitués of Hobohemia. -The hobo, in his songs and in conversation,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_262"></a>[262]</span> -shows unmistakably his aversion to all efforts to -remake his character or to reshape his destiny. This -feeling of antipathy is naturally strongest with the -adherents of the I.W.W. who come in competition -and conflict with the mission worker.</p> - -<p>With full recognition of the cynical reaction of -the average hobo to the mission, it cannot be denied -that thousands of homeless men are converted every -winter, and that a certain proportion of these, how -large no one knows, lead permanently changed lives. -The mission touches the inner life of these men in a -way that no social agency or organization has ever -done, or perhaps can do.</p> - -<p>Even the homeless man has aspirations above the -satisfaction of his physical wants; he desires to live -in a larger, more complete sense. The I.W.W., with -its radical program of changing “things as they are,” -appeals to the restless and rebellious spirit of youth. -But the broken man, or the old man who has given -up hope, finds comfort and peace in adapting himself -to “things as they are.” Religion to him is just this -change of attitude, “making oneself right with God.” -While the young man is confident that he can right -what is wrong in this world, the old man looks to the -next world to compensate for the inequalities and -injustice of present existence.</p> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_67" href="#FNanchor_67" class="label">[67]</a> In the section on “Types of Missions” and “Permanent, Periodic, and -Temporary Converts,” the writer is indebted to material furnished by Mr. L. -Guy Brown from an unpublished study of “Missions in Chicago.”</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_68" href="#FNanchor_68" class="label">[68]</a> One mission of this type on West Madison Street records that during the -year ending September, 1921, 56,718 homeless men visited the mission. During -this time 4,016 men knelt at the altar (were converted). Nearly 29,000 meals -were served to hungry and unemployed men, while 4,145 tickets were issued -which entitled the bearer to sleep at a flophouse or cheap rooming-house.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_69" href="#FNanchor_69" class="label">[69]</a> The officials of the League estimate that there were 7,000 homeless men -among the Negroes in the winter of 1921-22.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_70" href="#FNanchor_70" class="label">[70]</a> See pp. 27-28.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_71" href="#FNanchor_71" class="label">[71]</a> See Raymond Robins, “What Constitutes a Model Municipal Lodging -House,” <cite>Proceedings of the National Conference of Charities and Correction</cite> (1904), -155-66.</p> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_263"></a>[263]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="APPENDIXES">APPENDIXES</h2> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_265"></a>[264-265]</span></p> -<h2 class="left nobreak" id="APPENDIX_A">APPENDIX A<br /> -<span class="left fs80">SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS</span></h2> - - -<p class="drop-capy">This study has pictured the life and the problems -of the group of homeless migratory and casual -workers in Chicago. It now remains to sum up -the findings of the investigation and to outline the -recommendations which seem to flow from the facts.<a id="FNanchor_72" href="#Footnote_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a></p> - - -<h3>FINDINGS</h3> - - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">1. The homeless casual and migratory workers, while found in -all parts of the city, are segregated in great numbers in four -distinct areas: West Madison Street, Lower South State -Street (near the Loop), North Clark Street, and Upper -State Street (the Negro section).</p> - -<p class="hang">2. The number of homeless men in these areas fluctuates greatly -with the seasons and with conditions of employment.</p> - -<p class="hang">3. The concentration of casual and migratory workers in this -city is the natural result of two factors: (<em>a</em>) the development -of Chicago as a great industrial community with diversified -enterprises requiring a variety of unskilled as well as -skilled laborers, and (<em>b</em>) the position of Chicago as a center -of transportation, of commerce and of employment for the -states of the Mississippi Valley.</p> - -<p class="hang">4. The homeless men in Chicago fall into five groups: (<em>a</em>) the -seasonal laborer, (<em>b</em>) the migratory, casual laborer, the hobo, -(<em>c</em>) the migratory non-worker, the tramp, (<em>d</em>) the non-migratory -casual laborer, the so-called “home guard,” (<em>e</em>) -the bum. Groups <em>b</em>, <em>c</em>, <em>d</em>, and <em>e</em> constitute what are known -in economic writings as “The Residuum of Industry.” In -addition to these groups of the homeless casual and migratory -workers are the groups of seasonal laborers and -the men out of work, which expand and contract with -the periods of economic depression and of industrial -prosperity.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_266"></a>[266]</span></p> - -<p class="hang">5. The causes which reduce a man to the status of a homeless -migratory and casual worker may be classified under five -main heads as follows:</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquota"> -<p class="hang"><em>a</em>) <em>Unemployment and Seasonal Work</em>: these maladjustments -of modern industry which disorganize the routine of life -of the individual and destroy regular habits of work.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>b</em>) <em>Industrial Inadequacy</em>: “the misfits of industry,” whether -due to physical handicaps, mental deficiency, occupational -disease, or lack of vocational training.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>c</em>) <em>Defects of Personality</em>: as feeble-mindedness, constitutional -inferiority, or egocentricity, which lead to the -conflict of the person with constituted authority in -industry, society, and government.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>d</em>) <em>Crises in the Life of the Person</em>: as family conflicts, misconduct, -and crime, which exile a man from home and -community and detach him from normal social ties.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>e</em>) <em>Racial or National Discrimination</em>: where race, nationality, -or social class of the person enters as a factor of -adverse selection for employment.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>f</em>) <em>Wanderlust</em>: the desire for new experience, excitement, -and adventure, which moves the boy “to see the world.”</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">6. To satisfy the wants and wishes of the thousands of homeless -migratory and casual workers at the lowest possible -cost, specialized institutions and enterprises have been -established in Chicago. These include:</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquota"> -<p class="hang"><em>a</em>) Employment agencies.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>b</em>) Restaurants and lodging-houses.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>c</em>) Barber colleges.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>d</em>) Outfitting stores and clothing exchanges.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>e</em>) Pawnshops.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>f</em>) Movies and burlesques.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>g</em>) Missions.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>h</em>) Local political and social organizations, as “The Industrial -Workers of the World” and the “Hobo College.”</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>i</em>) Secular street meetings and radical bookstores.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">7. Chicago as the great clearing house of employment for the -states of the Mississippi Valley naturally and inevitably -becomes the temporary home of men out of work for the -entire region. The following appear to be the facts in -regard to the workers and the conditions of employment:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_267"></a>[267]</span></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquota"> -<p class="hang"><em>a</em>) Fluctuations of industry, such as seasonal changes, and -of unemployment, force large numbers of men into the -group of homeless migratory and casual workers.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>b</em>) At the same time, the homeless migratory and casual -worker develops irregular habits of work and a life-policy -of “living from hand to mouth.”</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>c</em>) Employment records indicate that the lower grade of -casual workers prefer work by the day, or employment -by the week or two, to “permanent” positions of three -months or longer.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>d</em>) The Illinois Free Employment offices, efficiently administered -with simple but well-kept records and with -courteous treatment of applicants, placed 50,482 persons -in the year ending September 30, 1922, mainly in positions -in and near Chicago.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>e</em>) The private employment agencies dealing with the homeless -man, about fifty in number, which are, in general, -poorly equipped, with the minimum of record keeping -required by law and with inconsiderate treatment of -applicants, place about 200,000 men a year in positions, -for the most part, outside of Chicago.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>f</em>) The law relating to private employment agencies as -approved June 15, 1909, in force July 1, 1909, and as -amended and approved June 7, 1911, in force July 1, 1911, -appears not to be enforced in two points:</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotb"> -<p class="hang">i) the requirement that sections three (3), four (4), and -five (5) of the law be posted in a conspicuous place in -each room of the agency; and</p> - -<p class="hang">ii) the return to the applicant of three-fifths of the registration -and other fees upon failure of applicant to -accept position or upon his discharge for cause.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">8. The health and hygiene of the homeless migratory and casual -worker is of vital concern not only for his economic efficiency -but also because of the relation of his high mobility to the -spread of communicable diseases.</p> - -<p class="hang">9. The homeless migratory and casual workers constitute a -womanless group. The results of this sex isolation are:</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquota"> -<p class="hang"><em>a</em>) No opportunity for the expression and sublimation of the -sex impulse in the normal life of the family.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_268"></a>[268]</span></p> - -<p class="hang"><em>b</em>) In a few cases, the substitution for marriage of free unions -more or less casual, usually terminated at the will of the -man without due regard to the claims of the woman.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>c</em>) The dependence of the greatest number of homeless men -upon the professional prostitute of the lowest grade and -the cheapest sort.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>d</em>) The prevalence of sex perversions, as masturbation and -homosexuality.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">10. The attraction for the boy of excitement and adventure -renders him peculiarly susceptible to the “call of the road.”</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquota"> -<p class="hang"><em>a</em>) Hundreds of Chicago boys, mainly but not entirely of -wage-earning families, every spring “beat their way” to -the harvest fields, impelled by wanderlust, and the opportunity -for work away from home.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>b</em>) Of these a certain proportion acquire the migratory habit -and may pass through successive stages from a high-grade -seasonal worker to the lowest type of bum.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>c</em>) The boy on the road and in the city is constantly under -the pressure of homosexual exploitation by confirmed -perverts in the migratory group.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>d</em>) Certain areas of the city frequented by boys have been -found to be resorts and rendezvous for homosexual -prostitution.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">11. While the majority of the homeless migratory workers are -American citizens of native stock:</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquota"> -<p class="hang"><em>a</em>) They are in large numbers for practical purposes disfranchised -because they seldom remain in any community -long enough to secure legal residence.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>b</em>) They constitute a shifting and shiftless group without -property and family, and with no effective participation -in the civic life of the community.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>c</em>) According to statements from police authorities they -contribute but slightly to the volume of serious crime.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>d</em>) Both on the road and in the city, they are at all times -subject to arbitrary handling and arrest by private and -public police and to summary trial and sentence by the -court.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>e</em>) The attitude of Chicago, like that of other communities -toward the homeless man, has been a policy of defense -intrusted to the police department for execution.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_269"></a>[269]</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">12. Social service to the homeless migratory and casual worker -has for the most part been remedial rather than preventive; -unorganized and haphazard rather than organized and -co-ordinated.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquota"> -<p class="hang"><em>a</em>) Professional beggars and fakers exploit public sympathy -and credulity for individual gain to the disadvantage of -the men who need and deserve assistance.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>b</em>) The missions and certain churches feed, clothe, and provide -shelter for several thousand men during the winter -months.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>c</em>) The Dawes Hotel, the Christian Industrial League, and -the Salvation Army hotels provide lodging at a low charge.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>d</em>) The Salvation Army maintains the Industrial Home with -workshops which accommodate a limited number of men.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>e</em>) The United Charities and the Central Charity (Catholic) -Bureau, although concerned mainly with family relief, -give certain forms of assistance to the homeless man.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>f</em>) The Jewish Social Service Bureau maintains a department -for homeless men, which acts as a referring agency -to two shelter houses.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>g</em>) The American Legion and other patriotic organizations -have provided assistance of various types to the ex-service -man out of employment.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>h</em>) The Municipal Lodging House, which closed its doors in -1918, has not been reopened, despite the evident need of -the winters of 1920-21 and 1921-22.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>i</em>) The Cook County agent provides free transportation to -non-residents to place of legal residence and refers -residents to Oak Forest Infirmary.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>j</em>) The county and city hospitals and dispensaries provide -free medical care.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>k</em>) Unco-ordinated effort of the organizations for service to -the homeless man has resulted in duplication of activities, -a low standard of work, and the neglect of a constructive -program of rehabilitation.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>RECOMMENDATIONS</h3> - -<p>The findings of this study indicate conclusively: -(<em>a</em>) that any fundamental solution of the problem is -national and not local, and (<em>b</em>) that the problem of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_270"></a>[270]</span> -the homeless migratory worker is but an aspect of -the larger problems of industry, such as unemployment, -seasonal work, and labor turnover.</p> - -<p class="p1 center fs90"><span class="smcap">National Program</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>The committee approves, as a national program for the control -of the problem, the recommendations suggested by the studies -on unemployment and migratory laborers contained in the <cite>Final -Report of the Commission on Industrial Relations</cite> (pp. 114-15; -103):</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotb"> -<p class="hang">1. The enactment of appropriate legislation modifying the title -of the Bureau of Immigration to “Bureau of Immigration -and Employment” and providing the statutory authority -and appropriations necessary for—</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotc"> -<p class="hang"><em>a</em>) The establishment of a national employment system,<a id="FNanchor_73" href="#Footnote_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> -under the Department of Labor, with a staff of well-paid -and specially qualified officials in the main offices at -least.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>b</em>) The licensing, regulation, and supervision of all private -employment agencies doing an interstate business.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>c</em>) The investigation and preparation of plans for the regularization -of employment, the decasualization of labor, the -utilization of public work to fill in periods of business -depression, insurance against unemployment in such -trades and industries as may seem desirable, and other -measures designed to promote regularity and steadiness -of employment.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotb"> -<p class="hang">2. The immediate creation of a special board made up of the -properly qualified officials from the Departments of Agriculture, -Commerce, Interior, and Labor, and from the Board -of Army Engineers to prepare plans for performing the largest -possible amount of public work during the winter, and to -devise a program for the future for performing, during periods -of depression, such public work as road building, construction -of public building, reforestation, irrigation, and drainage of -swamps. The success attending the construction of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_271"></a>[271]</span> -Panama Canal indicates the enormous national construction -works which might be done to the advantage of the entire -nation during such periods of depression. Similar boards -or commissions should be established in the various states -and municipalities.</p> - -<p class="hang">3. The Interstate Commerce Commission should be directed by -Congress to investigate and report the most feasible plan of -providing for the transportation of workers at the lowest -reasonable rates, and, at the same time, measures necessary -to eliminate the stealing of rides on railways. If special -transportation rates for workers are provided, tickets may be -issued only to those who secure employment through public -employment agencies.</p> - -<p class="hang">4. The establishment by states, municipalities, and, through the -Department of Labor, the federal government, of sanitary -workingmen’s hotels in which the prices for accommodations -shall be adjusted to the cost of operation. If such workingmen’s -hotels are established, the Post Office Department -should establish branch postal savings banks in connection -therewith.</p> - -<p class="hang">5. The establishment by the municipal, state, and federal governments -of colonies or farms for “down-and-outs” in order to -rehabilitate them by means of proper food, regular habits of -living and regular work that will train them for lives of usefulness. -Such colonies should provide for hospital treatment -of cases which require it.</p> -</div> - -<p class="p1 center fs90"><span class="smcap">The Chicago Plan for the Homeless Man</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>For the local situation and for such action as lies in the hands -(<em>a</em>) of the citizens of this community, (<em>b</em>) of the city of Chicago, -(<em>c</em>) of Cook County, and (<em>d</em>) of the state of Illinois, this committee -recommends:</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotb"> -<p class="hang">I. <span class="smcap">As a Program for Immediate Action</span>—</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotc"> -<p class="hang">1. <em>The establishment of a Municipal Clearing House for -Non-Family Men.</em></p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotd"> -<p class="hang"><em>a</em>) <em>Purpose</em>:</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquote"> -<p class="hang">i) To provide facilities for the registration, examination, -classification, and treatment of homeless<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_272"></a>[272]</span> -migratory and casual workers in order, on the -basis of individual case-study.</p> - -<p class="hang">ii) To secure by reference to the appropriate agency -emergency relief, physical and mental rehabilitation, -industrial training, commitment to institutional -care, return to legal residence, and -satisfactory employment.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotd"> -<p class="hang"><em>b</em>) <em>Organization</em>: The Clearing House will maintain the -following departments:</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquote"> -<p class="hang">i) <em>Information Bureau</em>: to provide information in -regard to employment, public institutions, social -agencies, indorsed hotels, and lodging-houses, etc.</p> - -<p class="hang">ii) <em>Registration</em>: by card, giving name, age, occupation, -physical condition, reference, residence, -nearest relative or friend, number of lodgings, -disposition, and all other information.</p> - -<p class="hang">iii) <em>Vocational Clinic</em>: to provide medical, psychiatric, -psychological, and social examination as a -basis of treatment.</p> - -<p class="hang">iv) <em>Records Office</em>: to record findings of examination, -to clear with other agencies, local and national, -and to enter recommendations and results of -treatment.</p> - -<p class="hang">v) <em>Social Service Bureau</em>: to provide for both immediate -and after-care service for the men under the -supervision of the Clearing House.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotd"> -<p class="hang"><em>c</em>) <em>Personnel</em>: to consist of director, clerical force, interviewers, -social workers, and experts, as physician, -psychiatrist, psychologist, and sociologist.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>d</em>) <em>Intake of Clearing House</em>: registrants to be referred to -the Clearing House by:</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquote"> -<p class="hang">i) <em>Citizens</em>, to whom homeless men have applied for -relief.</p> - -<p class="hang">ii) <em>Missions</em>, where food or lodging have been -received by homeless men.</p> - -<p class="hang">iii) <em>Charities.</em></p> - -<p class="hang">iv) <em>Travelers’ Aid Society.</em></p> - -<p class="hang">v) <em>Local organizations.</em></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_273"></a>[273]</span></p> - -<p class="hang">vi) <em>Police Department</em>: closing of police stations to -lodgers and provision for supply of such applicants -with tickets of admission to the Clearing -House; direction by police to the Clearing House -of persons found for the first time begging.</p> - -<p class="hang">vii) <em>Courts, police stations, House of Correction, and -county jail</em>: provision to every homeless man or -boy upon discharge with ticket of admission to -Clearing House guaranteeing three days’ liberty -with food, lodging, and an opportunity for honest -employment.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotd"> -<p class="hang"><em>e</em>) <em>Classification</em>: As a result of examination in the -Vocational Clinic the men will be divided for treatment -into three groups: (1) boys and youths, (2) -employable men, and (3) unemployable men. The -unemployable will be further divided into: (i) the -physically handicapped, (ii) the mentally defective, -(iii) alcoholics and drug addicts, (iv) the habitually -idle, (v) the untrained, and (vi) the aged.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>f</em>) <em>Treatment</em>: Upon the basis of the preceding examination -and classification, the men will be given the -following services:</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquote"> -<p class="hang">i) Those in need of emergency relief, temporary -lodging, meals and bath, by the agencies in the -field and by the Municipal Lodging House -(when reopened).</p> - -<p class="hang">ii) Those in need of clean clothes, free laundry -work at the Municipal Laundry (to be established).</p> - -<p class="hang">iii) Those who are proper charges of other communities -and who may be better cared for there, -transportation from relatives or from Cook -County agent.</p> - -<p class="hang">iv) Those in need of medical service, treatment at -the Cook County Hospital, Municipal Tuberculosis -Sanitarium, or dispensaries, and observation -at the Psychopathic Hospital.</p> - -<p class="hang">v) For the unemployable physically disabled, education -as provided in the Chicago plan for the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_274"></a>[274]</span> -physically handicapped (under consideration by -the state in co-operation with private agencies).</p> - -<p class="hang">vi) For the unemployable but physically able-bodied, -individual arrangements for industrial -education.</p> - -<p class="hang">vii) For the aged and permanently physically disabled, -placement in the Oak Forest Home.</p> - -<p class="hang">viii) For the employable, references with vocational -diagnosis and recommendation to the Illinois -Free Employment offices and other employment -agencies.</p> - -<p class="hang">ix) For persons under the supervision of the Municipal -Clearing House, when desirable, individual -case work and after-care.</p> - -<p class="hang">x) For incorrigible vagrants and beggars for whom -no constructive treatment is provided in the -program for immediate action (see constructive -treatment in “Program for Future Action”) -commitment to the House of Correction.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotd"> -<p class="hang"><em>g</em>) <em>Administration</em>: The Clearing House to be administered -by the city of Chicago under the City Department -of Public Welfare; the director of the Clearing -House to be also superintendent of the Lodging House -and of the Municipal Laundry and the Municipal -Bath House, a physician on full time to be assigned -by the City Department of Public Health, a psychiatrist -and psychologist by the state criminologist of -the State Department of Public Welfare.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>h</em>) <em>Advisory Committee</em>: Under the auspices of the -Chicago Council of Social Agencies, an advisory committee -to the director of the Clearing House be -organized to be composed of public and private -agencies and civic, philanthropic, commercial, industrial, -and labor organizations, co-operating with the -Clearing House.</p> - -<p class="hang"><em>i</em>) <em>Financing</em>: An appeal to be made at once to the -city council for funds to equip and maintain the -Municipal Clearing House, Municipal Lodging House, -Laundry and Bath House, to provide for the following -budget:</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_275"></a>[275]</span></p> - -<p class="p1 center fs90"><span class="smcap">Tentative Annual Budget for Caring Adequately for Homeless Transient Men in Chicago</span></p> - - -<table class="autotable fs90" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdc dt br bb">Clearing House</td> -<td class="tdc dt br bb">Maximum*</td> -<td class="tdc dt bb">Minimum</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl br">Rent of headquarters, including light and heat</td> -<td class="tdr br">$ 2,500.00</td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl br">Heat and light in free quarters</td> -<td class="tdr br"></td> -<td class="tdr">$ 1,000.00</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl br">Equipment</td> -<td class="tdr br">1,000.00</td> -<td class="tdr">1,000.00</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl br">Office supplies, stationery, printing, etc.</td> -<td class="tdr br">500.00</td> -<td class="tdr">500.00</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl br">Staff:</td> -<td class="tdr br"></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl pad1 br">Superintendent</td> -<td class="tdr br">6,000.00</td> -<td class="tdr">4,000.00</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl pad1 br">Assistant</td> -<td class="tdr br">2,500.00</td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl pad1 br">Six interviewers and field workers</td> -<td class="tdr br">9,000.00</td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl pad1 br">Two interviewers and field workers</td> -<td class="tdr br"></td> -<td class="tdr">4,000.00</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl pad1 br">Two stenographers</td> -<td class="tdr br">2,400.00</td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl pad1 br">One stenographer</td> -<td class="tdr br"></td> -<td class="tdr">1,500.00</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl pad1 br">Physician (part time)</td> -<td class="tdr br">1,800.00</td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl pad1 br">Psychiatrist (part time)</td> -<td class="tdr br">1,800.00</td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl pad1 br">Director of vocational guidance</td> -<td class="tdr br">4,000.00</td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl pad1 br">Janitors</td> -<td class="tdr br">1,800.00</td> -<td class="tdr">1,800.00</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl br"></td> -<td class="tdc br">————</td> -<td class="tdc">————</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl pad3 br bb">Total</td> -<td class="tdr br bb">$33,300.00</td> -<td class="tdr bb">$13,800.00</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p class="fs80 p1b">* The maximum budget represents expenditures in the event headquarters cannot -be secured free of rent, services of physician and psychiatrist cannot be secured from -city and Institute for Juvenile Research, and at a time when a full staff will be necessary.</p> - - -<div class="blockquotb"> -<p>2. <em>The reopening of the Municipal Lodging House</em> under the -following conditions (adapted from “Program for Model -Municipal Lodging House,” by Raymond Robins):</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotc"> -<p><em>a</em>) <em>Administration</em>: under the City Department of Public -Health in close affiliation with the Clearing House -for Homeless Men.</p> - -<p><em>b</em>) <em>Purpose</em>: to provide free, under humane and sanitary -conditions, food, lodging, and bath, with definite -direction for such permanent relief as is needed for -any man or boy stranded in Chicago.</p> - -<p><em>c</em>) <em>Registration and preliminary physical examination</em>: -made in Clearing House a condition to admission.</p> - -<p><em>d</em>) <em>Standard of service</em>:</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotd"> -<p>i) Sanitary building.</p> - -<p>ii) Wholesome food.</p> - -<p>iii) Dormitories quiet, beds comfortable and clean.</p> - -<p>iv) First-aid treatment: vaccination, bandages and -simple medicaments furnished free.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_276"></a>[276]</span></p> - -<p>v) Isolation ward for men suffering from inebriety, -insanity, venereal diseases, etc.</p> - -<p>vi) Fumigation of lodgers’ clothing, including hat -and shoes, every night.</p> - -<p>vii) Nightly shower bath required.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotb"> -<p>3. <em>The establishment of a Municipal Laundry and a Municipal -Bath House by the city of Chicago</em>: to be operated in -close affiliation with the Municipal Clearing House.</p> - -<p>4. <em>Utilization of existing facilities for industrial training</em>: -Co-operation with existing educational institutions for -the vocational training of boys and youths and of the -physically handicapped, mentally defective, and industrially -inadequate who are unemployable but willing to -work. (See “Program for Future Action.”)</p> - -<p>5. <em>Employment agencies</em>:</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotc"> -<p><em>a</em>) The extension of the service of the Illinois Free -Employment office.</p> - -<p><em>b</em>) The enforcement of the law relating to private employment -agencies: the requirement that sections -three (3), four (4), and five (5), of the law be posted -in a conspicuous place in each room of the agency; -and the return to the applicant of three-fifths of the -registration and other fees upon the failure of applicant -to accept position or upon his discharge for cause.</p> - -<p><em>c</em>) The further study of private employment agencies -and of labor camps in order to provide the homeless -man with adequate protection against exploitation.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotb"> -<p>6. <em>Public health and housing</em>:</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotc"> -<p><em>a</em>) The further building of sanitary workingmen’s hotels -with low charge for accommodations.</p> - -<p><em>b</em>) The maintenance and raising of standards of cheap -hotels in Chicago through rigid inspection and tightening -of requirements.</p> - -<p><em>c</em>) Medical examination, inspection, and supervision of -men in flops, together with vaccination and hospitalization -of needy cases.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotb"> -<p>7. <em>Vagrancy Court</em>: the reorganization of the Vagrancy -Court for the hearing of cases of incorrigible vagrants -and beggars on the basis of the investigations of the -Clearing House.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_277"></a>[277]</span></p> - -<p>8. <em>Protection of the boy</em>:</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotc"> -<p><em>a</em>) Prevention of aimless wandering through the provision -of wholesome and stimulating recreation, through -the extension of all activities for boys, and through the -further development of vocational education and -supervision. The Vocational Guidance Bureau of -the Board of Education should be removed to an -area of the city free from unwholesome contacts.</p> - -<p><em>b</em>) An educational campaign organized through the Mid-West -Boy’s Club Federation should be carried on in -all the boys’ organizations in Chicago showing the -danger of “flipping” trains and playing in railroad -yards. The National Safety Council has a great deal -of material which could be used in such a campaign.</p> - -<p><em>c</em>) Co-operation with such organization as the Brotherhood -of Railway Trainmen, the special police organizations -of the railroads, the Lake Carriers Association, -and automobile clubs, in a program to prevent -boys wandering away from home. Pamphlets should -be prepared for distribution, asking for co-operation -and enforcement of working certificate regulations -in this and other states, child labor laws, juvenile -court laws, etc.</p> - -<p><em>d</em>) The enlistment officers of the army, navy, and marine -should demand the presentation of a birth certificate -in all cases in which they doubt the age of the -applicant.</p> - -<p><em>e</em>) The co-operation of the managers of the hotels and -lodging-houses in an effort to keep boys under seventeen -out of the hotels in the Hobohemian areas, or at -least to use their influence in preventing boys and -men from rooming together.</p> - -<p><em>f</em>) Because most of the contacts the boy has with tramps -are unwholesome, the police should not permit boys -to loiter or play in the areas most frequented by the -tramp population; namely, West Madison Street, -South State Street, North Clark Street, and adjacent -territory. Parents ought to be made aware of the -nature of the contacts the boy has with the tramp in -these areas and in the parks.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_278"></a>[278]</span></p> - -<p><em>g</em>) The assignment of special plain-clothes policemen -experienced in dealing with vagrants to the parks and -other places in which tramps congregate. They -should be instructed to pick up and hold in the Detention -Home any boy under seventeen years found in -company with a tramp.</p> - -<p><em>h</em>) More strenuous effort should be made to occupy the -leisure time of boys who frequent the districts in -which the tramps congregate. It is the boy with -leisure time who is the most susceptible to the unwholesome -contacts. Supervised recreation should be -carried on to an extent that boys who play in Hobohemian -areas might be attracted to other sections. -When school is not in session a more extensive program -of summer camps might help.</p> - -<p><em>i</em>) Since the Juvenile Court of Cook County is equipped -to investigate the cases of vagrant boys under seventeen -in Chicago, and return them to their homes, all -vagrant boys apprehended by anyone in the daytime -should be reported to the chief probation officer, -Juvenile Court. Vagrant boys over seventeen should -be directed to the Clearing House.</p> - -<p><em>j</em>) After five o’clock vagrant boys under seventeen should -be turned over to the police who will take them to -the Detention Home, from which home they will be -taken to the office of the chief probation officer the -first thing in the morning.</p> - -<p><em>k</em>) Whenever a boy under seventeen is taken in custody -by the police, because of contact with tramps, or -whenever a boy is held as a complaining witness -against a tramp, he should always be reported to the -Juvenile Court. It is the responsibility of the court -to put the boy in touch with some proper individual -or agency, so that he will be adequately supervised -and befriended in the future.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotb"> -<p>9. <em>Publicity and public co-operation</em>: the education of the -public through news items in the daily press and editorial -comment; public co-operation through tickets of -admission to the Clearing House providing food and -lodging in the Municipal Lodging House constantly to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_279"></a>[279]</span> -be distributed through societies, institutions, hotels, -business offices, churches, clubs, housewives, and other -citizens.</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquota"> -<p>II. <span class="smcap">A Program for Future Action</span>—</p> -</div> - -<div class="blockquotb"> -<p>1. <em>That a bond issue</em> be submitted for approval to the voters -of the city of Chicago providing for the erection of adequate -buildings for a Municipal Clearing House, Municipal -Lodging House, and Municipal Laundry and Bath -House.</p> - -<p>2. <em>That an Industrial Institute</em> be established by the state -of Illinois in Chicago for the vocational training of the -physically handicapped, mentally defective, and industrially -inadequate, who are unemployable, but willing -to work.</p> - -<p>3. <em>That a State Farm Colony for Industrial Rehabilitation</em> be -established by the state of Illinois for the compulsory -detention and re-education of unemployables, such as -beggars, vagrants, petty criminals, who are unwilling -to receive industrial training.</p> - -<p>4. <em>That a Department of Industrial Training of the House of -Correction</em> be opened, pending the establishment of the -State Farm Colony for Industrial Rehabilitation, for -the commitment and re-education of unemployables, -such as beggars, vagrants, and petty criminals.</p> -</div> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_72" href="#FNanchor_72" class="label">[72]</a> The findings and recommendations of this study were prepared by the -Committee on Homeless Men of the Chicago Council of Social Agencies and its -report accepted by the Council.</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_73" href="#FNanchor_73" class="label">[73]</a> The United States Employment Service established in 1918 requires -adequate appropriations for its efficient functioning.</p> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_281"></a>[280-281]</span></p> -<h2 class="left nobreak" id="APPENDIX_B">APPENDIX B<br /> -<span class="left fs80">DOCUMENTS AND MATERIALS</span></h2> - - -<h3>CHAPTER I. HOBOHEMIA DEFINED</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">115. <cite>Summary of a Study of Four Hundred Tramps</cite>, Nels Anderson, -summer, 1921.</p> - -<p class="hang">124. An evening spent on the benches in Grant Park; description -of men and their talk.</p> - -<p class="hang">135. <cite>A Study of Eight Cases of Homeless Men in Lodging Houses</cite>, -R. N. Wood, December, 1922.</p> - -<p class="hang">145. An unpublished paper on the hobo, “Along the Main Stem -with Red,” Harry M. Beardsley, March 20, 1917.</p> - -<p class="hang">146. <cite>Chicago’s Hobo Area</cite>, Sherman O. Cooper, December, 1917.</p> - -<p class="hang">157. <cite>Chicago’s Hobo District</cite>, Melville J. Herskovits, December, -1919.</p> - -<p class="hang">159. Comparative statistics for the three wards in which Hobohemia -is located, 1910-20.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>CHAPTER II. THE JUNGLES: THE HOMELESS MAN ABROAD</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">1. “A Day in the Jungles,” A. W. Dragstedt, a hobo who -knows the jungles.</p> - -<p class="hang">76. “Job Hunting via Box-Car in the Northwest,” <cite>Hobo News</cite>, -Bill Quirke, September, 1921.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>CHAPTER III. THE LODGING HOUSE: THE HOMELESS MAN AT HOME</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">2-3. Recital of an evening spent by Nels Anderson in a flophouse, -April, 1922.</p> - -<p class="hang">70. Statistics: Bridewell population, lodging-house patrons, -registered voters.</p> - -<p class="hang">79. <cite>Report of Visit to Ten Gambling Houses in Hobohemia</cite>, Nels -Anderson, January 1, 1923.</p> - -<p class="hang">105. Casual worker, ex-soldier, twenty-eight, few days in town, -lost money in gambling-house.</p> - -<p class="hang">151. <cite>A Dozen Hotels in the Loop</cite>, George F. David, August, 1922.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>CHAPTER IV. “GETTING BY” IN HOBOHEMIA</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">4. Jewish hobo, parasitic philosophy, middle-aged, begs from -Jewish agencies in all cities.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_282"></a>[282]</span></p> - -<p class="hang">5. Transient dreamer, twenty-seven, known to many agencies -in different cities.</p> - -<p class="hang">6. Boy in teens, Jewish, moves with ease from agency to -agency, good solicitor.</p> - -<p class="hang">7. City bum, twenty-four, petty robber, works occasionally, -jail experience.</p> - -<p class="hang">8. “Fat,” a panhandler with a self-justifying philosophy, -works on favorable jobs.</p> - -<p class="hang">9. Englishman, forty-one, paralyzed arm, alcoholic, mendicant, -was a bricklayer.</p> - -<p class="hang">89. Faker, Bulgarian, forty-five, plays deaf and dumb, “works” -restaurants.</p> - -<p class="hang">90. Home-guard bum, sixty-nine, works at odd jobs, often -mendicant, drinks some.</p> - -<p class="hang">95. Ex-soldier, funds about gone, going East for work, clean, -sober, “working” charities.</p> - -<p class="hang">97. Boy tramp, eighteen, left home to avoid school, wants to -be engineer, works.</p> - -<p class="hang">98. Two young men temporarily without money and work, -adjusted in a few days.</p> - -<p class="hang">102. City bum, thirty-five, talkative, lazy and unkempt, mendicant -much of time.</p> - -<p class="hang">103. Away from family for work, gets money from wife, loafs, -later returns home.</p> - -<p class="hang">104. Jewish tramp, sells papers, tin worker, served time in jail -for wife desertion.</p> - -<p class="hang">111. Loafs, fat, unattractive, works some, not welcome home; -his family sends him money.</p> - -<p class="hang">112. Well-to-do sister ashamed of him, sends him money; he -calls it “borrowing.”</p> - -<p class="hang">113. Beggar with a philosophy, condemns peddlers who beg part -of time, works occasionally.</p> - -<p class="hang">123. Spanish war and world-war veteran, forty-six, compensation, -tries to go to school.</p> - -<p class="hang">131. Description of life with the “slum proletariat” by one of -them.</p> - -<p class="hang">152. <cite>Mendicancy in Chicago</cite>, Melvin L. Olsen, December, 1919.</p> - -<p class="hang">155. <cite>Case Studies of Beggars in Chicago</cite>, Joseph Arnsdorff, -December 16, 1919.</p> - -<p class="hang">161. Statement from the secretary of the Mid-City Commercial -Association on the hobo problem.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_283"></a>[283]</span></p> - - -<h3>CHAPTER V. WHY DO MEN LEAVE HOME?</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">10. Pioneer hobo and tramp, “played all the games,” fifty-six, -blames self for misspent life.</p> - -<p class="hang">11. Belgian, fifty-eight, coal miner, lumber jack, Chicago in -winter, single, seldom penniless.</p> - -<p class="hang">12. Pioneer hobo, fifty-one, perhaps dying, miner’s “con,” -away from home (Ohio) thirty years.</p> - -<p class="hang">13. Migratory worker, single, fifty-six, ever restless, mines, -sea, harvest, sheep shearer.</p> - -<p class="hang">14. Anemic man, lung trouble, textile worker, light work only, -hopes open air will help.</p> - -<p class="hang">15. Beggar, peddler, one leg, industrial accident, justifies -begging and drink.</p> - -<p class="hang">16. Migrant, would settle down, drinks, loses jobs, single, -getting old, health failing.</p> - -<p class="hang">17. “Dope” user, weak, anemic, poorly clad, dirty, beat way -from Boston.</p> - -<p class="hang">18. Old man, seventy-eight, poor-farm and hospital experience, -mendicant, lives on fifty or sixty cents a day.</p> - -<p class="hang">19. Restless young man, twenty-four, no permanent desires, -carpenter, capable, sober, congenial.</p> - -<p class="hang">20. Restless young worker, easily bored by the monotony of a -job.</p> - -<p class="hang">26. Irish, ex-soldier, ex-sailor, twenty-seven, sings, wants to -study music, ex-secretary of “Hobo College.”</p> - -<p class="hang">27. Feeble-minded, left home in war time, odd jobs, in town -often, often in missions.</p> - -<p class="hang">28. Pessimistic, imaginative, unstable, about forty-five, fair -worker.</p> - -<p class="hang">29. Periodical drinker, quarrelsome when drunk, otherwise -good worker.</p> - -<p class="hang">30. College man, twenty-seven, ex-salesman, left wife, homosexual -experience, avoids work.</p> - -<p class="hang">31. Chronic drinker, stockyards worker, seldom migrates, -many arrests, away from wife twelve years.</p> - -<p class="hang">32. Boy tramp, sixteen, on way to Texas, from Ohio, parents -dead, only brother a soldier.</p> - -<p class="hang">33. Left home when jilted by girl, too sensitive to return, very -transient.</p> - -<p class="hang">34. Returned home after jail experience, humiliated, left home, -away for several years.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_284"></a>[284]</span></p> - -<p class="hang">35. Ex-soldier, as small-town boy left home in crisis, stayed -away to make bluff good, twenty-two.</p> - -<p class="hang">36. Boy left home in fear of punishment from father, returns -occasionally.</p> - -<p class="hang">37. Migrant because of trouble over woman, about thirty, -dare not return, radical.</p> - -<p class="hang">38. Became migratory to avoid paying alimony, dare not -return, about forty.</p> - -<p class="hang">39. Boy tramp, nineteen, egotist, traveled much, works little, -gambles, jail record.</p> - -<p class="hang">40. Oldest boy becomes runaway, twenty, other boys in family -follow, dislikes father.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>CHAPTER VI. THE HOBO AND THE TRAMP</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">41. Scotchman, thirty-two, single, ex-soldier, sailor, nurse in -winters, casual in summer.</p> - -<p class="hang">42. Deck hand summers, migrant to South in winter, single, -generally sober.</p> - -<p class="hang">43. Carpenter, casual, often discharged, would settle but losing -efficiency by drink.</p> - -<p class="hang">44. Old man, fifty-eight, plasterer, fair worker but casual, has -ceased migrating, sober.</p> - -<p class="hang">45. One-time harvest hand, seldom leaves Chicago, peddles -trinkets, gambles.</p> - -<p class="hang">46. Romantic tramp, revels in wandering, carries tiny camera, -seeks notice, does not work.</p> - -<p class="hang">86. Recital of experiences of boy tramp, now a doctor in Chicago.</p> - -<p class="hang">91. Russian, able-bodied hobo, about thirty-five, clean, sober, -works in and near Chicago.</p> - -<p class="hang">92. Boy, eighteen, on way home (Indiana) from winter in -West, plans to leave tramp life.</p> - -<p class="hang">100. Congenial, irresponsible man of twenty-five, sober, clean, -very transient, works as porter.</p> - -<p class="hang">109. Runaway boy from Hammond, Indiana, sixteen, in Hobohemia -looking for work, very worldly wise.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>CHAPTER VII. THE HOME GUARD AND THE BUM</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">47. City bum, twenty-three, in missions when broke, works as -teamster, “got” religion once.</p> - -<p class="hang">48. Wife deserter, drinks, loiters on “stem,” odd jobs, formerly -pig killer.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_285"></a>[285]</span></p> - -<p class="hang">49. Ex-pugilist, single, forty-five, now mission “stiff,” works -on clocks in summer, alcoholic.</p> - -<p class="hang">50. Health ruined by drink, thirty-two, light jobs, baker, -farms in summer, Chicago much of time.</p> - -<p class="hang">72. Crippled in industrial accident, sixty-two, family grown, -would care for him, drinks.</p> - -<p class="hang">78. Classification of types of homeless men submitted by Mr. -Wirth of Jewish charities.</p> - -<p class="hang">127. Classification of tramps, hobos, and other types of homeless -men by Dr. Ben L. Reitman.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>CHAPTER VIII. WORK</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">73. Pioneer type, fifty, seldom comes East, miner, prospector, -lumber jack.</p> - -<p class="hang">77. Man forced to be idle by hard times, learned to get along, -later refused work.</p> - -<p class="hang">83. Old man, fifty, single, winters in Chicago, farm jobs in -summer, drinks some.</p> - -<p class="hang">93. Laborer, migrant, forty-four, becoming radical on account -of work shortage, had some money.</p> - -<p class="hang">94. Ex-soldier, twenty-seven, without funds but hopeful, -hustling worker.</p> - -<p class="hang">96. Boy tramp, twenty, reformatory record, traveled much in -three years.</p> - -<p class="hang">114. Brought cattle from Wyoming to Chicago, lost all with -women and drink, still happy.</p> - -<p class="hang">134. <cite>Study of Employment Agencies and Labor Placement Problems</cite>, -E. H. Koster, August, 1922.</p> - -<p class="hang">158. <cite>The Unemployed and the Unemployable in Chicago</cite>, Rupert -R. Lewis, December, 1917.</p> - -<p class="hang">160. Statistics of the Chicago Free Employment offices for the -year ending September 30, 1922.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>CHAPTER IX. HEALTH</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">106. Ex-soldier, released from army hospital, gets compensation, -drinks much.</p> - -<p class="hang">107. Italian bricklayer, rheumatism, gets aid from union, -family in Italy, sons in war.</p> - -<p class="hang">108. Mental case, talks to self, attracts much attention on -street, loud and vulgar.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_286"></a>[286]</span></p> - -<p class="hang">117. Teamster, thirty-six, raised in slum, unemployable with -locomotor ataxia, peddles pencils.</p> - -<p class="hang">121. Chicago boy, does not go home, needs medical attention -for feet and eyes, gambles.</p> - -<p class="hang">122. Boy tramp, great wanderer, homosexual, intelligent, two -years on road.</p> - -<p class="hang">139. Mortality statistics for Hobohemia for 1922, non-resident -cases.</p> - -<p class="hang">147. Communication of Dr. Herman N. Bundesen, commissioner -of public health, concerning the health and medical -care of the homeless man in Chicago.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>CHAPTER X. SEX LIFE</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">51. Middle-aged woman, character on West Madison Street, -feeds cats, scolds everyone.</p> - -<p class="hang">52. Street faker, aspires to be actor, jail experience, free-union -experience.</p> - -<p class="hang">53. Boy tramp, going West, travels without difficulty but is -often accosted by perverts.</p> - -<p class="hang">54. Homosexual case, boy involved, man died in jail while -awaiting trial.</p> - -<p class="hang">55. Bum who works on docks and boats, involved in boy case, -Bridewell for term.</p> - -<p class="hang">81. Four boys in Grant Park, each with jail and tramp experience.</p> - -<p class="hang">82. Case of boy in teens, tramp, “flirting” with men in Grant -Park.</p> - -<p class="hang">87. <cite>Cases of Venereal Disease Due to Homosexual Infection</cite>, Dr. -Ben L. Reitman.</p> - -<p class="hang">110. Boy tramp, nineteen, exploited by perverts, decidedly -feeble-minded, on way home (Indiana).</p> - -<p class="hang">120. Young man, twenty-two, well dressed, homosexual prostitute, -loafs in Grant Park.</p> - -<p class="hang">125. Observations upon the unnatural attachments of some -homeless men and boys.</p> - -<p class="hang">141. Wife deserter, left home to enable her to divorce him.</p> - -<p class="hang">142. Statistics showing marital condition of homeless men.</p> - -<p class="hang">153. <cite>The Sexual Life of Habitual Wanderers</cite>, J. L. Handelman, -August 22, 1919.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_287"></a>[287]</span></p> - - -<h3>CHAPTER XI. CITIZENSHIP</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">56. Case of a transient voter showing difficulty hobo has of -voting.</p> - -<p class="hang">57. Hobo’s affair with police in Kansas, hobo bitter against -police.</p> - -<p class="hang">58. University of Iowa student and police, fair observer, has -been hobo, letter to writer.</p> - -<p class="hang">59. Recital of hobo and private police in Ohio, narrator has -settled in Chicago.</p> - -<p class="hang">80. Report of visit to police court, hobos tried at rate of one -a minute, August 28, 1922.</p> - -<p class="hang">85. <cite>Report of Two Weeks’ Commitment to the Cook County Jail</cite>, -Nels Anderson, May, 1922.</p> - -<p class="hang">149. Case of police persecution.</p> - -<p class="hang">162. Newspaper clippings on the death of Martin Talbert in a -Florida convict camp.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>CHAPTER XII. HOBOHEMIAN PERSONALITIES</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">22. Marxian socialist, soap-boxer, dogmatic and undiplomatic, -would educate “slaves.”</p> - -<p class="hang">25. Dreamer, poet, migrant, critic, very changeable, good -family, single, ex-soldier.</p> - -<p class="hang">75. Pamphlet on Mike Walsh published by himself, states his -policies and achievements.</p> - -<p class="hang">126. Character sketch of J. E. How, “Millionaire Hobo,” also -correspondence with Nels Anderson.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>CHAPTER XIII. THE INTELLECTUAL LIFE OF THE HOBO</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">23. Tries to write saleable songs and novels, sober but gambles, -single.</p> - -<p class="hang">116. Leader in hobo organization, writes for <cite>Hobo News</cite>, carries -I.W.W. card.</p> - -<p class="hang">119. Hobo philosopher, carries bundle, sells pamphlets about -self, sleeps in parks.</p> - -<p class="hang">129. Thirty-one copies of the <cite>Hobo News</cite> containing various -types of hobo literature.</p> - -<p class="hang">150. Manuscript on “What the Hobo Reads,” Daniel Horsley.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>CHAPTER XIV. HOBO SONGS AND BALLADS</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">130. Collection of hobo songs and poems made by Nels Anderson, -forty-one selections.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_288"></a>[288]</span></p> - - -<h3>CHAPTER XV. THE SOAP BOX AND THE OPEN FORUM</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">21. Soap-boxer, scientific bent, takes self and message seriously, -calls it “education.”</p> - -<p class="hang">24. Single-tax advocate, about fifty, living away from family, -sells Ford’s <cite>Weekly</cite>.</p> - -<p class="hang">60. Notes on an afternoon’s series of talks on the soap box on -Madison Street.</p> - -<p class="hang">138. Debate, “Hobo College” v. students from the University -of Chicago, “Kansas Industrial Courts,” April 12, 1923.</p> - -<p class="hang">140. <cite>Study of “Hobo College” in Chicago</cite>, Charles W. Allen -(teacher at college), 1923.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>CHAPTER XVI. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">61. Co-operative movements among hobos, experiences of -John X. Kelly, now in Chicago.</p> - -<p class="hang">74. Financial statement of the I.W.W., May and June, 1922.</p> - -<p class="hang">84. Conversation with an I.W.W. who was once a steady -migratory worker, old soldier.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>CHAPTER XVII. MISSIONS AND WELFARE AGENCIES</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">62. “Visit to Bible Rescue Mission,” Nels Anderson’s experience, -spring, 1922.</p> - -<p class="hang">63. <cite>Salvation Army Revival</cite>, Sherman O. Cooper.</p> - -<p class="hang">64. Case of “X” at the Bible Rescue Mission, bears public -testimony to former badness.</p> - -<p class="hang">65. Ex-bum and wife deserter, graduate foreign university, -steady man now.</p> - -<p class="hang">66. Mission worker, “saved” twenty years ago, was alcoholic -and a failure, in business now.</p> - -<p class="hang">67. German, Madison Street bum, came into mission to get -warm, got religion, left old life.</p> - -<p class="hang">68. Ex-drunkard, often thrown out of mission, finally got -converted and is a new man.</p> - -<p class="hang">69. Young man, mission “stiff,” easily converted, became a -“backslider” next day.</p> - -<p class="hang">71. Wife deserter, mission hanger-on, clean, erect, active but -avoids work.</p> - -<p class="hang">99. Letter by Bill Quirke to <cite>Hobo News</cite> on missions in Los -Angeles. He assails missions.</p> - -<p class="hang">118. Ex-soldier in Legion headquarters, trying to get job on -strength of army experience.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_289"></a>[289]</span></p> - -<p class="hang">143. <cite>Study of Missions and Mission Characters</cite>, L. G. Brown, -1923.</p> - -<p class="hang">156. <cite>A Study of Missions</cite>, H. D. Wolf, August, 1922.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>APPENDIX A. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">128. Unpublished materials by Nels Anderson, covering his -study of 400 tramps, 230 typewritten pages.</p> - -<p class="hang">144. <cite>Study of 110 Runaway Boys in Chicago Detention Home</cite>, -F. C. Frey and B. W. Bridgman, 1922.</p> - -<p class="hang">148. “Outline of Program for the Prevention and Treatment of -Vagrancy,” prepared by the Committee on Relief of the -Chicago Council of Social Agencies, and submitted to the -Executive Committee of the Council, June 13, 1918.</p> - -<p class="hang">154. Responses to requests for information on the homeless -man problem from social agencies in the larger American -cities.</p> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_291"></a>[290-291]</span></p> -<h2 class="left nobreak" id="APPENDIX_C">APPENDIX C<br /> -<span class="left fs80">BIBLIOGRAPHY</span></h2> - - -<h3>HISTORY AND SOCIOLOGY OF WANDERLUST AND VAGRANCY</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Aydelotte, Frank</span>, <cite>Elizabethan Rogues and Vagabonds</cite> (“Oxford -Historical and Literary Studies”). Oxford: Clarendon -Press, 1913. Pp. 187.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Florian, Eugenio</span>, <cite><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">I Vagabondi Studio Sociologico-guiridico, -Parte prima, L’Evoluzione del Vagabondaggio</span></cite>. Torino, -1897. Pp. 1-124.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Hutten, John Camden</span>, <cite>The Book of Vagabonds and Beggars</cite>. -Translated and printed in England by Hutton, 1860.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Joffroy and Dupouy</span>, <cite><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Fugues et Vagabondage</span></cite>. Paris: Alcan, -1909. Pp. 368.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Marie, A. A., and Meunier, R.</span>, <cite><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Les Vagabonds</span></cite>. Paris: Giard -and Brière, 1908. Pp. 331.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Mariet</span>, “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Le vagabondage constitutionnel des dégénéres</span>” -(continued article), <cite><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Annales medicopsychologique</span></cite>, 1911-12.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Mayhew, Henry</span>, <cite>London Labour and the London Poor</cite>. London: -Griffin, 1862. Pp. 504.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Pagnier, Armand</span>, <cite><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Du Vagabondage et des Vagabonds, Étude -Psychologique, Sociologique et Medico-legale</span></cite>. Lyons, France: -1906.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Parker, Carlton H.</span>, <cite>The Casual Laborer</cite>. New York: Harcourt, -Brace & Howe, 1920. Pp. 199.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Ribton-Turner, Charles J.</span>, <cite>A History of Vagrants and Vagrancy -and Beggars and Begging</cite>. London: 1887. Pp. 720.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Speek, Peter A.</span>, “The Psychology of the Floating Workers,” -<cite>Annals of the Amer. Acad. of Pol. and Soc. Science</cite> (Philadelphia), -LXIX, 72-78.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Tannenbaum, Frank</span>, <cite>The Labor Movement</cite>. New York: -Putnam, 1921. Pp. 259.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Thanet, Octave</span>, “The Tramp in Four Centuries,” <cite>Lippincotts</cite>, -XXIII (May, 1879), 565.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Tugwell, Rexford G.</span>, “The Gypsy Strain,” <cite>Pacific Monthly -Review</cite>, III, 177-96.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Wilmanns, Karl</span>, <cite><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Zur Psychopathologie des Landstreichers</span></cite>. -Leipzig: Barth, 1906. Pp. 418.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Wilmanns, Karl</span>, “Psychoses among Tramps,” <cite><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Centralblatt -für Nervenheilkunde</span></cite>, December, 1902.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_292"></a>[292]</span></p> - - -<h3>THE LABOR MARKET AND INDUSTRIAL MOBILITY</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Baker, Oliver E.</span>, <cite>Seed Time and Harvest</cite>, <cite>Bull. United States -Dept. of Agric., No. 183</cite>, March, 1922.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Brissenden, Paul F.</span>, “Measurement of Labor Mobility,” -<cite>Jour. of Pol. Econ.</cite>, XXVIII (June, 1920), 441-76.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Brissenden, Paul F., and Frankel, Emil</span>, “Mobility of -Industrial Labor,” <cite>Pol. Science Quar.</cite>, XXXV (December, -1920), 566-600.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Devine, Edward T.</span>, “The Shiftless and Floating City Population,” -<cite>Annals of the American Academy of Soc. and Pol. -Science</cite>, X (September, 1897), 149-64.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Fry, Luther C.</span>, “Migratory Workers of Our Industries,” -<cite>World’s Work</cite>, XL (October, 1920), 600.</p> - -<p class="hang">Immigration Commission, Reports of, <cite>The Floating Immigrant -Labor Supply</cite> (<cite>Immigrants in Industry</cite>), 25 parts, XVIII, -331-525. Senate Reports, Washington, 1911.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Lescohier, Don D.</span>, <cite>The Harvest Worker</cite>, <cite>Bull. United States -Dept. of Labor, No. 1020</cite>, April, 1922.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Lescohier, Don D.</span>, <cite>The Labor Market</cite>. New York: Macmillan, -1919. Pp. 338.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Slichter, Samuel H.</span>, <cite>Turnover of Factory Labor</cite>. New York: -Appleton, 1919. Pp. 460.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>THE PROBLEM OF UNEMPLOYMENT AND VAGRANCY</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Beveridge, W. H.</span>, <cite>Unemployment: A Problem of Industry</cite>. -London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1909. Pp. 317.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Bliss, W. D. P.</span>, <cite>What Is Done for the Unemployed in European -Countries</cite>. <cite>United States Labor Bull. No. 76</cite> (1908), pp. -741-934.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Booth, William</span>, <cite>The Vagrant and the Unemployable</cite>. London: -1909. Pp. 79.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Dawson, W. H.</span>, <cite>The Vagrancy Problem</cite>. London: P. S. -King & Son, 1910. Pp. 270.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Hunter, Robert</span>, <cite>Property</cite>. New York: Macmillan, 1912. -Pp. 380.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Kelly, Edmond</span>, <cite>The Elimination of the Tramp</cite>. New York: -Putnam & Sons, 1908. Pp. 111.</p> - -<p class="hang">Laws of Various States Relating to Vagrancy.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Laubach, Frank C.</span>, <cite>Why There Are Vagrants</cite>. New York: -University of Columbia Press, 1916. Pp. 128.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_293"></a>[293]</span></p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Lewis, Burdette G.</span>, <cite>The Offender, and His Relations to Law -and Society</cite>. New York: Harper, 1921. Pp. 380.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Lewis, O. F.</span>, “Vagrancy in the United States,” <cite>Proceedings of -the National Conference of Charities and Corrections</cite> (1907), -pp. 52-70.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Marsh, Benjamin C.</span>, “Causes of Vagrancy and Methods of -Eradication,” <cite>Annals of the Amer. Acad. of Pol. and Soc. -Science</cite>, Vol. XXIII, No. 3, pp. 445-56. Philadelphia: -1904.</p> - -<p class="hang">Massachusetts Association of Relief Officers, <cite>Report on Best -Methods of Dealing with Tramps and Wayfarers</cite>, 1901.</p> - -<p class="hang">“The Men We Lodge,” <cite>Report of the Advisory Social Service -Committee of the Municipal Lodging House</cite>. New York -City: Dept, of Public Charities, 1915. Pp. 42.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Nichols, Malcolm</span>, “National Aspects of the Transient Problem,” -<cite>The Family</cite>, III (June, 1922), 89-91.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Ostwald, Hans Otto</span>, <cite><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Die Bekämpfung der Landstreicherei</span></cite>. -Stuttgart: R. Lutz, 1903. Pp. 278.</p> - -<p class="hang"><cite>Report of the Commissioner of Public Affairs.</cite> Portland, Ore.: -Wood Yard, 1915.</p> - -<p class="hang"><cite>Report of the Mayors Committee on Unemployment.</cite> New York -City: 1917. Pp. 132.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Wolfe, Albert B.</span>, <cite>The Lodging Problem in Boston</cite>. Boston: -Houghton Mifflin, 1906. Pp. 200.</p> -</div> - - -<h3>THE I.W.W. AND THE CASUAL LABORER</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Brooks, John Graham</span>, <cite>American Syndicalism</cite>. New York: -Macmillan, 1913. Pp. 264.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Brissenden, Paul F.</span>, <cite>The I.W.W.: A Study of American -Syndicalism</cite>. New York: University of Columbia, 1920. -Pp. 438.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Hoxie, R. F.</span>, “The Truth about the I.W.W.,” <cite>Jour. of Pol. -Econ.</cite>, XXI (November, 1913), 785-97.</p> - -<p class="hang"><cite>I.W.W. Song Book.</cite> Chicago: The Equity Press, 1922.</p> - -<p class="hang"><cite>Preamble and Constitution of the I.W.W.</cite> Chicago: General -I.W.W. Headquarters, 1921. Pp. 69.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">St. John, Vincent</span>, <cite>The I.W.W., Its History, Structure and -Methods</cite>. Chicago: The Equity Press.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Tridon, André</span>, <cite>The New Unionism</cite>. New York: Huebsch, -1913. Pp. 198.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_294"></a>[294]</span></p> - - -<h3>MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF THE HOBO AND THE TRAMP</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Brown, Edwin A.</span>, <cite>“Broke,” the Man without a Dime</cite>. Chicago: -Brown & Howell, 1913. Pp. 370.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Davies, William H.</span>, <cite>Autobiography of a Super-Tramp</cite>. New -York: A. A. Knopf, 1917. Pp. 345.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Ellis, Havelock</span>, <cite>Studies in the Psychology of Sex: Sex Inversion</cite>. -II, 391. Philadelphia: Davis, 1915.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Forbes, James</span>, “Jockers and the Schools They Keep,” <cite>Charities -Survey</cite>, XI (1903), 432.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Flynt (Willard), Josiah</span>, <cite>My Life</cite>. New York: Outing Publishing -Co., 1908.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Flynt (Willard), Josiah</span>, <cite>Tramping with Tramps</cite>. New York: -Century, 1899. Pp. 398.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Howard, Oliver Otis</span> (Maj. Gen., U.S. Army), “The Menace -of Coxyism,” <cite>North Amer. Rev.</cite>, CLVIII (1894), 687-96.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Kemp, Harry</span>, <cite>The Cry of Youth</cite>. New York: Mitchell, -Kennerley, 1914. Pp. 140.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Kemp, Harry</span>, <cite>Tramping on Life</cite>. New York: Boni & Liveright, -1922. Pp. 438.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Knibbs, H. H.</span>, <cite>Songs of the Outlands</cite>. New York: Houghton, -Mifflin Co., 1914. Pp. 73.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Lindsay, Vachel</span>, <cite>Handy Book for Beggars</cite>. New York: Macmillan, -1916. Pp. 205.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">London, Jack</span>, <cite>The Road</cite>. New York: Macmillan, 1907. -Pp. 224.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">London, Jack</span>, <cite>War on the Classes</cite>. New York: Macmillan, -1905. Pp. 278.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">McCook, J. J.</span>, “A Census of Tramps and Its Revelations,” -<cite>Forum</cite>, XV, 753.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">McGregor, Tracy W.</span>, <cite>Twenty Thousand Men</cite>. Detroit: -McGregor Institute, 1922. Pp. 29.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Mullin, Glen</span>, “Adventures of a Scholar Tramp,” <cite>Century -Magazine</cite>, Vol. CV (February and March).</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Service, Robert W.</span>, <cite>The Spell of the Yukons</cite>. New York: -Barse & Hopkins, 1907. Pp. 99.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Wyckoff, W. A.</span>, <cite>The Workers: The East</cite>. New York: Scribners, -1897. Pp. 270.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Wyckoff, W. A.</span>, <cite>The Workers: The West</cite>. New York: Scribners, -1898. Pp. 380.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_295"></a>[295]</span></p> - - -<h3>STUDIES OF THE HOMELESS MAN IN CHICAGO</h3> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Anderson, Nels</span>, “Cases Studies of Homeless Men in Chicago” -(typewritten manuscript in office of Chicago Council of -Social Agencies and Department of Sociology, University -of Chicago).</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Anderson, Nels</span>, “The Juvenile and the Tramp,” <cite>Journal of -Criminal Law and Criminology</cite>, Vol. XIV (1923-24).</p> - -<p class="hang">“The Chicago Municipal Lodging House for Men,” in the <cite>Report -and Handbook of the Department of Health of the City of -Chicago</cite> (1911-18), pp. 1076-81.</p> - -<p class="hang">“Fifty Cheap Lodging Houses,” <cite>First Semi-Annual Report of -the Department of Public Welfare of Chicago</cite> (March, 1915), -pp. 66-73.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Foley, R. W.</span>, “The Shifting Population of Homeless Men and -the Cheap Lodging House” (typewritten manuscript of -twenty-nine pages in Department of Sociology, University -of Chicago).</p> - -<p class="hang"><cite>Report to the Mayor and Alderman by the Chicago Municipal -Markets Commission on a Practical Program for Relieving -Destitution and Unemployment in the City of Chicago</cite>, December -28, 1914.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Robins, Raymond</span>, “What Constitutes a Model Municipal -Lodging House,” <cite>Proceedings of the National Conference of -Charities and Correction</cite> (1904), pp. 155-66.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Solenberger, Alice W.</span>, <cite>One Thousand Homeless Men</cite>. New -York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1911. Pp. 374.</p> - -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">Stead, William T.</span>, <cite>If Christ Should Come to Chicago</cite><a id="FNanchor_74" href="#Footnote_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> Chicago: -Laird & Lee, 1894. Pp. 463.</p> -</div> - - -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_74" href="#FNanchor_74" class="label">[74]</a> The first chapter describes the homeless-man areas of 1893.</p> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_297"></a>[296-297]</span></p> -<p class="p1 center fs150">INDEX</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_299"></a>[298-299]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak left" id="INDEX">INDEX</h2> - - -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">“A No. 1,” <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Adler, Herman M., <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Agencies, conflicting policies of, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Alcoholism, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134-35</a></li> - -<li class="indx">American Express, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li> - -<li class="indx">American Legion, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ashleigh, Charles, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Association of hobo with women, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Associations: I.B.W.A., <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235-40</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">I.W.W., <a href="#Page_230">230-35</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">J.P.A., <a href="#Page_ix">ix</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">M.W.U., <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Atkins, Brigadier J. E., <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180-81</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Attitude of perverts, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Ball, Charles B., <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ballot, hobo regard for, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Barber colleges, <a href="#Page_37">37-38</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Barrel-house, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Begging, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bills of fare on “stem,” <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bloch, Iwan, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Boarding companies, <a href="#Page_130">130-31</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bookstore, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Borrowing, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Boy tramp, and perversion, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">and wanderlust, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Boyd, Charles J., <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Boys and tramp life, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bread lines, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brennan, Pat, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> - -<li class="indx">“Bughouse Square,” <a href="#Page_9">9-10</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bum, the, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">“Carrying the banner,” <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Catholic charities, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Christian Industrial League, <a href="#Page_27">27-28</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chicago, a winter shelter, <a href="#Page_12">12-13</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chicago labor exchange, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chicago plan for homeless men, <a href="#Page_271">271-79</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chicago Urban League, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Civil authorities and tramp, <a href="#Page_163">163-64</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Clearing house for homeless men, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Clothing stores, <a href="#Page_35">35-36</a></li> - -<li class="indx">“Coffee-an’” level, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cooking in jungles, <a href="#Page_22">22-23</a></li> - -<li class="indx">College,” “Hobo, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Construction work, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Court experience of hobo, <a href="#Page_165">165-66</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Criminal, hobos not, <a href="#Page_164">164-65</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Crises in life of person, <a href="#Page_77">77-79</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Crop moving, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cubicles or “cages,” <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Dawes, General C. G., <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Day in the jungles, <a href="#Page_21">21-25</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dragstedt, A. W., <a href="#Page_25">25</a> n., <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177-78</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Drug addicts, <a href="#Page_67">67-68</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">not hobos, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Educating the proletariat, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Egocentricity, <a href="#Page_74">74-76</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ellis, Havelock, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Employment agencies, comparison of, <a href="#Page_115">115-17</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">private, <a href="#Page_111">111-12</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">public, <a href="#Page_114">114-16</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Employment service, need of, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Evangelists and soap-boxers, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Faking, street, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Farmer-Labor Party, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Flops, co-operative, <a href="#Page_238">238-39</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Flynt, Josiah, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fortune-tellers, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> - -<li class="indx">“Free-lance” speakers, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Free-union marriages, <a href="#Page_141">141-42</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">“Getting by,” a game, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">meaning of, <a href="#Page_40">40-41</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Giovannitti, Arturo, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Grafts, old and new, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Grant Park, in summer, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Greenstein, “Mother” <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183-84</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Handicapped men, <a href="#Page_125">125-28</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Harvey-Dammarell hotels, <a href="#Page_28">28-29</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Harvey-McGuire hotels, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> - -<li class="indx">“Hat trick,” the, <a href="#Page_45">45-46</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hazards of casual work, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Health Department, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Healy, William, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hill, Joe, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hobo, definition of, <a href="#Page_87">87-89</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">and drink, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">and exposure, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">health in town, <a href="#Page_131">131-33</a>;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_300"></a>[300]</span></li> -<li class="isub1">hostility to in small town, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">names for, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">nativity of, <a href="#Page_150">150-51</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">origin of, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">pioneer, and frontiersman, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">poor beggar, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">and religion, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">status of, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">voting, <a href="#Page_151">151-52</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">what he reads, <a href="#Page_187">187-89</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">worker, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hobohemia, defined, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li> - -<li class="indx">“Hogan’s Flop,” <a href="#Page_31">31-33</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Home, why men leave, <a href="#Page_61">61</a> ff.</li> - -<li class="indx">Home guard, <a href="#Page_96">96-97</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">types of, <a href="#Page_100">100-101</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Homeless men, and the law, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">mostly unmarried, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Horsley, Dan, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175-77</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Housing problem, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> - -<li class="indx">How, James Eads, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">I.B.W.A., <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235-40</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Holding Committee, <a href="#Page_237">237-38</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">origin of, <a href="#Page_235">235-36</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">program of, <a href="#Page_236">236-37</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Industrial attractions, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">fishing, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">ice harvesting, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">lumbering, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">sheep-shearing, <a href="#Page_107">107-8</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Industrially inadequate, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Industry, changes in, <a href="#Page_62">62-63</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">hazards of, <a href="#Page_65">65-66</a></li> - -<li class="indx">I.W.W., <a href="#Page_230">230-35</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">literature list, <a href="#Page_187">187-88</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">methods and appeal, <a href="#Page_232">232-34</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">origin of, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">periodicals, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">program, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">treatment in Chicago, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">treatment by Ku Klux Klan, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">“Jack rolling,” <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51-52</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Jewish Social Service Bureau, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Job hunting, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Jobs sold, estimate of, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Jockers, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Johnson, Glenn R., <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Jungle, buzzard, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">a day in, <a href="#Page_21">21-25</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">democracy in, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">laws of, <a href="#Page_20">20-21</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">location and types of, <a href="#Page_16">16-17</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on lake front, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">trial in, <a href="#Page_24">24-25</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">womanless, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Juvenile Protective Association, <a href="#Page_ix">ix</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Kelihor, T. T., <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kelly, John X., <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173-74</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243-46</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kemp, Harry, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> - -<li class="indx">“Killing time,” <a href="#Page_215">215-16</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Klein, Nicholas, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Knibbs, H. H., <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Lady barbers, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Langsman, Charles W., <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178-79</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Laubach, F. C., <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Leadership in Hobohemia, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lescohier, Don D., <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Library privileges, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Life, loss of, <a href="#Page_161">161-62</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Light work, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Living, cheap in city, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lodging-houses, municipal, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260-61</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">quasi-charitable, <a href="#Page_27">27-28</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">sanitary conditions of, <a href="#Page_131">131-32</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">types of, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Medical attention, free, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on the job, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Melis, Lewis, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mental tests, <a href="#Page_71">71-73</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Migratory Workers’ Union, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240-41</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">aims and objects, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Miller, H. A., <a href="#Page_82">82</a> n.</li> - -<li class="indx">Missions, <a href="#Page_250">250-58</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">converts of, <a href="#Page_253">253-54</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">competition between, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">migratory national, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">permanent local, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">soliciting funds, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">“wild cat,” <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mission stiffs, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mobility, complicates problem, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">effects of, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248-49</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">of handicapped men, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> - -<li class="indx">“Mooching,” <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Movies and burlesque, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mullenbach, James, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Municipal Lodging House (Chicago), <a href="#Page_260">260-61</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">(New York), <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mushfaker, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Myers, Dr. Johnston, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181-83</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">National program, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Negro hobos, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li> - -<li class="indx">New York Central Railroad, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>News, Hobo</cite>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Odd jobs, in city, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Old men, <a href="#Page_69">69</a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_301"></a>[301]</span></li> - -<li class="indx">“One Big Union,” <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Open forums, <a href="#Page_226">226-28</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Organizations among hobos, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">failure of, <a href="#Page_247">247-49</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">“Panhandling,” <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Park, R. E., <a href="#Page_82">82</a> n.</li> - -<li class="indx">Partnerships among hobos, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Passing the hat, <a href="#Page_223">223</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Patriotism, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pawn shops, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Peddling on street, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Personal degradation, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Personality, defects of, <a href="#Page_72">72-76</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Perversion among tramps, <a href="#Page_144">144-47</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pintner and Toops, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a> n.</li> - -<li class="indx">Poems and ballads, <a href="#Page_194">194-214</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">“Away from Town,” <a href="#Page_199">199-200</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">“Beaten Men,” <a href="#Page_205">205</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Bum,” “The, <a href="#Page_201">201-2</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Bum on the Rods and the Bum on the Plush,” “The, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Dishwasher,” “The, <a href="#Page_201">201-2</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Gila Monster Route,” “The, <a href="#Page_194">194-96</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">“Harvest War Song,” <a href="#Page_208">208</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Hobo Knows,” “The, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Hobo’s Last Lament,” “The, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">“Men That Don’t Fit In,” <a href="#Page_204">204</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">“No Matter Where You Go,” <a href="#Page_213">213-14</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">“Nothing to Do But Go,” <a href="#Page_198">198-99</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">“One Day; Some Way,” <a href="#Page_205">205</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">“Optimism,” <a href="#Page_213">213</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">“Portland County Jail,” <a href="#Page_211">211</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Preacher and the Slave,” “The, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Slave Market,” “The, <a href="#Page_206">206-7</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Tramp,” “The, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Tramp Confession,” “The, <a href="#Page_196">196-98</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Wanderer,” “The, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Police, encounters with hobos, <a href="#Page_156">156-58</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">methods of, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">private, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">types of, <a href="#Page_154">154-55</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Poorhouse, aversion of hobo to, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>;</li> - -<li class="indx">Population, turnover in Hobohemia, <a href="#Page_13">13-14</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Program for future action, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> - -<li class="indx">“Proletariat,” <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Property, destruction of, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Prostitutes, “second raters,” <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Prostitution, <a href="#Page_142">142-43</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Punk, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Queen, Stuart A., <a href="#Page_26">26</a> n.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Racial discrimination, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Radical press, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Raid on jungles, <a href="#Page_23">23-24</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Railroad yards, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Reitman, Ben L., <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a> n., <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172-73</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Religion, practical, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">and love, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">and work, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Restaurants and lunchrooms, <a href="#Page_33">33-35</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">sanitary conditions of, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Robins, Raymond, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rountree, B. Seebohm, <a href="#Page_64">64</a> n.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Sabotage, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Saloons, <a href="#Page_38">38-39</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Salvation Army, <a href="#Page_27">27-28</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Scissor Bill, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Seasonal fluctuations, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Seasonal workers, <a href="#Page_89">89-90</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Second-hand clothing, <a href="#Page_35">35-36</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Service, Robert W., <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sex isolation of hobo, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Seymour, James, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Short jobs, <a href="#Page_118">118-19</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sickness and disease, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Soap-boxers, ethics and tactics of, <a href="#Page_222">222-24</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">and opinion, <a href="#Page_228">228-29</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">rôle</span> on stand, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">versatility of, <a href="#Page_224">224-26</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Social center for hobos, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in the jungles, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Solenberger, Alice W., <a href="#Page_9">9</a> n., <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125-26</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><cite>Solidarity</cite>, the <cite>Industrial</cite>, <a href="#Page_190">190-91</a></li> - -<li class="indx">State farm colony, <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Stealing, petty, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Street speaking, <a href="#Page_216">216-20</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">lectures, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Strike jobs, <a href="#Page_120">120-21</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Summary and findings, <a href="#Page_265">265-79</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Terman, L. M., <a href="#Page_71">71</a> n.</li> - -<li class="indx">Testimonies of converts, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Thornburn, Charles, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tramp, the, <a href="#Page_93">93-95</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tramping, a man’s game, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tucker, St. John, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tugwell, Rexford, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Types, rendezvous of, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">of homeless men, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">numbers of each in Chicago, <a href="#Page_105">105-6</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">of peddlers, <a href="#Page_42">42-43</a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_302"></a>[302]</span></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Unemployables, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Unemployment, <a href="#Page_64">64-65</a></li> - -<li class="indx">United Charities, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Vagrancy, explanation of, <a href="#Page_85">85-86</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in small towns, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Van de Water, John, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179-80</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vaudeville, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Venereal disease, <a href="#Page_133">133-34</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Walsh, Michael C., <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174-75</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wanderlust, <a href="#Page_82">82-83</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Welfare organizations, <a href="#Page_259">259-60</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Westbrook, Warden Wesley, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li> - -<li class="indx">White, Henry A., <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Winter, “getting by” in, <a href="#Page_52">52-53</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Women and homeless men, <a href="#Page_138">138-42</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Work, a national problem, <a href="#Page_121">121-22</a></li> - -<li class="indx">“Working the folks,” <a href="#Page_46">46-47</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Writings of hobos, <a href="#Page_188">188-90</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Younger hobos, <a href="#Page_140">140-41</a></li> -</ul> - - -<p class="p4 center fs60">PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> -<div class="transnote"> -<a id="TN"></a> -<p><b>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE</b></p> - - -<p>Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been -corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within -the text and consultation of external sources.</p> - -<p>Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the -text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.</p> - -<p>Some hyphens in words have been silently removed, some added, when -a predominant preference was found in the original book.</p> - -<p>Pg <a href="#Page_20">20</a>: ‘jungles; “buzzing,” or’ replaced by ‘jungles; (3) “buzzing” -or’.</p> - -<p>Pg <a href="#Page_101">101</a>: ‘carried bedding’ replaced by ‘Carried bedding’.</p> - -<p>Pg <a href="#Page_130">130</a>: ‘are often let to’ replaced by ‘are often left to’.</p> - -<p>Pg <a href="#Page_134">134</a>: ‘of veneral infection’ replaced by ‘of venereal infection’.</p> - -<p>Pg <a href="#Page_143">143</a>: ‘have become adepts in’ replaced by ‘have become adept in’.</p> - -<p>Pg <a href="#Page_150">150</a>: ‘and its mores.’ replaced by ‘and its mores?’.</p> - -<p>Pg <a href="#Page_156">156</a>: ‘can’t get someting’ replaced by ‘can’t get something’.</p> - -<p>Pg <a href="#Page_216">216</a>: ‘It oftens takes’ replaced by ‘It often takes’.</p> - -<p>Pg <a href="#Page_224">224</a>: ‘tricks of holding’ replaced by ‘tricks for holding’.</p> - -<p>Pg <a href="#Page_282">282</a>: ‘Family send him money’ replaced by ‘Family sends him -money’.</p> - -<p>Pg <a href="#Page_287">287</a>: ‘carrys bundle’ replaced by ‘carries bundle’.</p> -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOBO ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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