Davenport Weekly Republican from Davenport, Iowa • 7

7 THE DAVENPORT TIMES: MWEMTlETi 7. liKX) for Times 'Readers His nrifU DOIY1 ATQ and the HE WORKS. GENUS HOBO JLJ1 JUdOLJl YO Various Tricks Devices, Not all tramps are either clever or successful, the "road" is traveled by Wlir Wne Qaoti Tharr, t'rt TA'iiV tnt rr ut iiuo i iusiil tv i iiiu nuui of Ease Gives Some Experiences With Tie Trampers and Schemes to Beguile the Unwary. BY JOSIAH FLYNT, professionals, but it is the earnest endeavor of all at least to make a living, and there are thousands who make something besides. Roughly estimated there are from sixty to seventy-five thousand tramps in the United States, and probably a fifth of all may be classed as "first class" tramps.

There is a second and a third class and even a fourth, but it is the "A No. 1 men," as they call themselves, who are the most interesting. The main distinction between these tramps and the less successful members of the craft Is that they have completely conquered the amateur's squeamishne88 about begging. It seems comparatively easy to go to a back door- and ask for something to eat, and the mere ording of the request is easy, but the hard part of the transaction is to screw up courage enough to open the front gate. The beginner in tramp life goes to a doz- questions about my "unfortunate brother," "Was he born that way?" they asked In hushed voices.

"How did he learn to write? Can he ever get well?" and other, like queries which I had to answer in turn. By the time I hud finished my meal. I saw by a clock on the wall that we had still fifteen minutes to catch our train and gave Red a nudge tinder the table as a hint that we ought to bo going. We were about to get up and thank our hostess for kindness when the man of the house, the clergyman, suggested that we stay to family prayers. "Glad to have you," he said, "If you can remain.

Yovi may get good out of it." I told him frankly that we wanted to catc a train and had only a few minutes to sparo, but he assured nm that he would not bo long and asked me to explain the situation to Rod. I did so with my fingers and I explained to the parson that Hod's wiggling of his head meant that he would be delighted to slay, but a wink of his left eye, meant for me alone, said plainly enough to "let tho prayers go." We stood committed, however, and thero was nothing to do but Join the family In tho sitting room where I was given a Bible to rend two verses, one for Red and one for myself. This pnrt of the progress finished, the parson begau to pray. All went well until ho came to that part of his prayer where ha referred to the "unfortunate Continued on Page Eight.) the middle west. We had come together in the haphazard way that all tramp acquaintanceships are formed We met at a railroad watering tank.

The man's sojourn In trampdom, however, was only temporary; it was a good hiding place until the detectives should give up the hunt for him. He had "planted" his money elsewhere, and meauwhile he had to take his chances with the 'boes. He was not. a man who would ordinarily arouse much pity, but a tramp IT is a popular notion that tramps haye a mysterious sign language in which they communicate secrets to one another in regard to professional matters. It is thought for instance, that they make similar chalk and pencil marks on fences and horse blocks, indicating to the brotherhood such things as whether a certain house is "good" or not, where a ferocious dog is kept, at what time the police are least likely, or most likely, to put in an appearance, how late in the morning a barn can be occupied before the farmer will be up and about and where a convenient chicken coop is located.

Elaborate accounts have been written iu newspapers about the amount of information they give to one another in this way, and many persons believe that tramps rely on a sign language in their begging. It is well to state at the outset that this is a false conception of their methods. They all have jargons and lingoes of their own choosing and making, and they converse in them when among themselves, but the reported puzzling signs and marks which are supposed to obviate all verbal speech are a fabrication so far as the majority of roadsters are concerned. Among the "Blanket Stiffs," in the far west, and among the "Bin-die Men," Mush Fakirs," and "Turn-pikers," of the middle west, the east and Canada, there exists a crude system of marking "good" houses, but these vagrants do not belong to the rank and file of the tramp army, and are comparatively few in numbers. It is furthermore to be said that tho marking referred to is occasional rather than usual.

Probably one of the main reasons that the public has imagined that tramps are heirogly-phies in their profession is that when charity is shown to them the giver is frequently plagued with a visitation from a raft of beggars. This phenomenon, however, is easily explained without recourse to the sign language theory. Outside of nearly all towns of ten thousand inhabitants and more the tramps have little camps or "hang outs," where they make their headquarters while "working" the community. Naturally they compare notes at meal time, and if one beggar has discovered what he considers a generous house he tells his pals about it so that they may also get the benefit of its hospitality. The finder of the house cannot visit it himself again until his face has been forgotten, at any rate he seldom does visit it more than' once during a week's stay in the town, but his companions can, so he tells them where it is and what kind of a story they must tell.

Tramp Theories of Begging. Although the hoboes do not make use of the marks and signs with which the popular fancy has credited them, they have a number of interesting theories about begging and a large variety of clever ruses to deceive people aad it is well for the public to keep as up-to-date in regard to these matters as they keep in regard to the public's sympathies. ies" are like bonnets; those that were fashlouable and eomme il faut. last year, are this year out of date, and they must be changed to suit new tastes and conditions, or be supplanted by new ones. Frequently a fresh version of the old story has to be Improvised on the spot, so to speak.

The following personal experience Illustrates under what circumstances "gaKs" are Invented. It. also shows how even the professionals forget themselves and their post on occas-sions. One morning about eight years ago. I arrived In a small town In the Mohawk valley in company with a tramp called Indianapolis Red.

We had ridden all night In a box car In tho hope of reaching New York by morning, but the freight hnd been delayed on account of a wreck, and we were so hungry when we reached the town In question that we simply had to get off and look for something to eat. It was not a place, as we well knew, where tramps were welcome, hut. the train would not. stop again at a town of any size until long after breakfast and we decided to take our chances. We had an hour at our disposal until the next "freight" was due.

The great question was, what story we should toll and we both rummaged through our collections to find a good one. Finally, after each of us had suggested a number of different stories and had refused them in turn, on the ground that they were too old for such a "hostile" place, lied suggested that we try "the deef duni' gag." There are several gags of this description and I asked him which one he meant. "Let's work it this way," ho said, and he began to Improvise. "I'm your deef 'n' dum' brother, bco? An' we're on our way to New York where I'm going to get a job. I'm a clerk, and you're seeln' mo down to the city sos't nothlnil happen to Ine.

Our money's given out an' we've simply got to ask fer assistance. We're ter'bly hungry, nu' you want to know If the lady o' the liouseil be good enough to help yer brother along. See?" It Worked Too Well. I "saw" all right enough, and accepted the proposition, but the odds seemed against us because tho town was one of the most unfriendly along the line. We picked out a house near the track.

As a rule such houses have been "begged out," but we reasoned that if our story would go at all It would go there, and besides the house was convenient for catching the next freight, train. As we approached the back door I was careful to talk to Itcd on my lingers, thinking that somebody might be watching us. A motherly old lady answered our knock. I told her Red's story in my best manner, hilling it. out with convincing detdils and then scrutinized Red In the way that we all look at creatures who are peculiar or abnormal.

Then she smiled and Invited us Into the dining room where; the rest of the family were at breakfast. It. turned out to be a Free Methodist clergyman's household. We were given places at the table, and ate as ranidlv as we could, or rather Red did I was continually being Interrupted by the family asking me Boat Wiih Elevating Deck. In order to meet the constantly changing tides of the Glasgow Harbor it has been found necessary to construct a ferry boat with an elcvatlngc! deck.

The two pictures produced houses at night, and take my chances iu a shootin' scrape, but I'll be If 1 can beg. 'Tain't like When ye swipe ye don't ask no questions, an' ye don't answer none. In this business ye got to coush up yet-whole soul jus' to get a lump (hand out.) I'd rather swipe." This is the testimony of prac tically all beginners in the beggar's business: at the start thieving seems to them a much easier task. As the weeks and months pass by, however, they become hardened aad discover that their "nerve" needs only to be developed to assert itself, and tho time conies when nothing Is so valuable that they do not feel justified In asking for It. They then definitely identify themselves with the profession and build up reputations as "first class" tramps.

Each man's experience suggests to him how this reputation can best be acquired. One man. for example, finds that he does best with a "graft" peculiarly his own. and another discovers that it is only at a certain time of the year, or In a particular part of the country that he comes out winner. The tramp has to experiment in all kinds of ways ere he understands himself or his public, and he makes mistakes even after an apprenticeship extending over years of time.

How "Gags" Are Invented. In every country where he lives, however, there is a common fund of experience and fact by which he regulates his conduct in the majority of cases. It is the collective testimony of generations and generations of tramps who have lived before hiin. and he acts upon it in about the same way that human beings In general act upon ordinary human e. Emergencies arise when his own ingenuity alone avails and the "average finding" is of no use to him and on such occasions he makes a note on the case and reports about it at the next "hang out" conclave.

If he has invented something of real value, a good begging story, for Instance, and it is generally accepted as good, it is labeled "Shorty's Gag," or "Slim's." as the man's name rnay be, and become his contribution to the general collection of "gags." It Is the man who has memorized the greatest number of "gags" or "ghost stories," as they are also called, and can handle them deftly as circumstances suggest, that. It Is the most successful beggar. There nre other requirements to hi; observed, but unless a man has a good stock of stories with which to "fool" people, he can not expect to gain a foothold among the "blowed In the glass stiffs." He must also keep continually working over bis stoc k. "Ghost stor I r'-yl fill i ill iv 1 firm 'mm. i i.i -it Finiston With Elevatins Deck, thow tho deck at low and high level els.

The deck can be lalufd or lowered by means of a bevel and worm gearing so that the upper dock may be brought on a level with the wharf at any stage of tho tide. The craft Is fl Photo by Bi.sIod. A CUBAN BEAUTY IN BOSTON. Miss Marie Louise Sanchez, a beautiful Cuban be ton Conservatory of Music, being the first Cuban to has entered the Bon-tuily at that establish ment. en front gates before lie can brace himself for the interview at the back door, and there are men to whom a vagrant life is attractive who never overcome the "tenderfoot's" bashful-ness.

It was once my lot to have a rather successful professional burglar for a companion on a short tramp trip in could not. have helped having sympathy for him at meal time. At every interview he had at back doors he was seized with the "tenderfoot's" bashfulness and during the ten days got but one "square meal." His profession of jobber gave him no assistance. "I can steal," he said, "go into Elevating Deck Raised. Ml feet long by 43 broad, while the movable deck Is 78 by 32 feet, The latter Is divided Into a driveway l.

feet wide for vehicles and railway cars and two six-foot walks at the side for the accommodation of passengers. CHILLINGHA CASTLE HOME CA TTLE Famed Herd of Lady Tankevile, an American Woman, is Mistress of This Stately Domain, Noted For Its Landsesrs and Venerated Quadrupeds. BY EVE BLANTYRE SIMPSON. hills in their region, where he doubtless proved a troublesome neighbor, for with a hunter's skill he stalked his game warily, and his arrows sped with unerring surety. The border raiders never drove the ancient denizens of Chillingham before them, for in many a.

foray they proved thenr selves to be truly kittle cattle. They now as in bygone ages f.ve their an tagonists and prove deadly When a veteran among tliem is doomed frills by a sportsman's bullet; no slaughter house axe ever dispatches one of these time immemorial inhabitants of Britain. Changes They Have Seen. What centuries of changes in England these Chillingham cattle have witnessed; They were there when paganism vanished and Christianit dawned. The Roman legions, maybe, fed on them as they pressed their triumphant way north.

The cattle today wander over the Roman road, the making of which drove their forebears further into the mountain solitudes. Now the surviving half hundred ar" girt about by railways, and look contemptuously down on trains full of docile kine being wheeled in trucks, with plaintiff lowing, along the vailey. a'ld they marvel to sec how one unarmed man and a yapping, heel-nipp'ng dog can guide and goad where they will, a herd of Uiese poor spirited beasts of the fields who have bowed their submissive heads to the yoke of 1 rti) i ft if A i are open to the public, who either come for nine miles over tho moor from Bedford on the famous Great North roail, or down the Till valley. In the! ourtyard of the castle- Is a block of stone, In which was founel entombed alive in a stony cell a toad, which the masons' chiseds lib-euati d. For how long a period It hail there imprisoned it is Impossible to conjecture.

On the! walls of the powerful be-turic-ted, north country castle? are some modern works of art alone well worth a long journey to see. Land-seer and the Lord Tankevllle were friends, ami Sir Edwin often stayeil with him at the olel homo of the Greys under the shadow of the Cheviots. There? are a couple' of fine pictures, one of th" red deer in the park, with a companion one' of a trio of a white; bull, a cow and a calf, and in the corner, the Chillingham toad is represented gazing at them. The re is another pic ture which calls to mind the daubers of harboring this original trib" of cattie. Lord Ta.ikeville was nearly ting his death from the horns of an angered of the herel.

but the interference of a clog and the promptitude of a keeper saved his life. Landseer painted Lord Tank-eville, then in his prime, (he was when he died.) with his heed on his fereciinis assailant's neck, while the man whose sure gun saved him is kneeling be.side the nolde beast, whose savage anger death has not yet cooled, and the bonne's stand eagerly scanning their master's face. EVE RLANTRYE SIMPSON. THE last remnant of an ancient race dwell at Chillingham in Northumberland, dose to the Scottish border, a four-footed people clothed in shaggy coats of white. Why this residue of indigenous cattle of Britain, now sheltered at Chilling-ham, should be so easily discernable among their present surroundings is a curious problem, for most of the wild animals by protective nature are equipped in a secretive color.

Highland cattle, for instance, are grey, dun or tawny, like the rocks and lichen covered stones 6tudded over the moors and mosses on which they browse. Mountain hares become snowy as the hilltops in winter, and the dogs of Ireland, setters, water spaniels or its unsurpassable terriers are all ruddy of tince like the newly cut "torf." as Pat calls the peat in bis native bogs. But the well nigh obsolete herd at Chillingham are garbed in a livery so at variance with their surroundings, the query suggests itself, are these untamed Northumbrians the survivors of a glacial period? The brilliant sunshine of brighter Britain robs Shetland ponies and Highland cattle of their shaggy Jocks, for in the benign climate of Maoriland they become so smooth and sleek, with a nap on their glossy coats, it seems as if they had discarded suits of Scottish homespun and donned broadcloth. Breed Almost Extinct. A bare fifty of this venerable Chillingham breed stiil exist.

Another small clan of their kindred, belonging to the Duke of Hamilton, dwindled till an Aberdonian Polled Angus had to be introduced among them; but those who sought ami found sanctuary around Chillingham are as pure of pedigree as thev were- in the days of yore. They have a wide domain to wander over, on a heathery ridge of hilis. an ontr spur from Scott's "Cheviots blue." This trac they are now confined to is deer fenced. Red and dun deer share with the savage bovine herd the spacious moorland prison, where deep denes and ferny hollows afford protection in times of storm. Robin Hood is said to have camped on one of the "-L i-C-' l--i-'--' St TT asilv reached ma'n Orjt on.

Til' siavs Chi II nulla can be from Bedford on tin Northern line to l.o' and Saturrt.iTs are the jvs the -a-t' HILLING HAM CfTLK AND THE LANHHEKU'S GRE AT PICTl'iiK. V. ('bile aid paik. with it; unique resident-.