TRADES FOR TRAMPS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20596, 21 June 1930, Page 27 (Supplement)

TRADES FOR TRAMPS.

NEW CLUB IN ENGLAND.

SKILFUL CRAFTSMEN. LURE OF THE ROAD. A new tramp club was recently opened in Essex. It is not the first of its kind. There are now at least 10 such institutions in Britain. And the members who patronise them reveal the fact that thousands of so-called tramps are really highly-skilled craftsmen. For instance, in Dorset, where there, is » club, one man showed himself an expert wood-carver. So perfect was his work that a neighbouring church commissioned him to f make a screen. Half of what ho was paid was given to the " club," and the other half furnished him with sufficient capital to open a small wood-carving shop in a popular South Coast resort, where he soon made a comfortable income. Another man, worn out with constant exposure in bitter weather, turned out io be an expert needleman. In timo he made a reputation for himself and the elub, with tho result that a high-class firm of drapers offered him a lucrative position. Appearance is no guide to a man's trade when he is " on the road." ' For at one place where tramps are boarded for the night a man in a most disreputable Condition astonished his companions by solving the deepest mathematical problems! A few questions put to him by the superintendent resulted in his saying that he had been a prominent London accountant beforo taking up teaching at a university. , A rare profession that yielded a steady income was that of a man who travelled the country " patching" trees. This man had travelled all over the world with botanical expeditions. Work was scarce •when he returned from his last adventure, and he took to tree surgery. Fortune came his way when an expert noticed his work and secured a good position for him in a provincial botanical garden. Strangely enough, very few of tho tramps who visit those clubs stay for any length of timo. Most of them earn their keep, and are well looked after. But the lure of the road is irresistible, and eff th<?y go again. This curious restlessness is more than unfortunate in many cases. Some men would make a good livelihood if they would only cither stay permanently at the club or settle down in a workshop. An instance of this is afforded by a man who was a modeller of note. Orders came in from all over the country for his work, but ho would not stay. Eventually, .when ill-health overtook him, he settled down and completed a model for tho architects of one of our modern cathedrals. Men engaged in tho smaller crafts are more numerous.. Some of them make tho most ingenious " gadgets" of various kinds. A now and improved type of pipe was invented by a tramp, who knew nmok/ers' problems from experience. Unfortunately ho lost tho patent, as a friend" stole the idea. Puzzles made in wood and cardboard are a popular trade with our wayfarers. And, of course, basket-making has a large set of followers. This work is both oasy juid profitable.