How Tramps Travel.

Woodville Examiner, Volume XXI, Issue 3570, 26 June 1903, Page 3 (Supplement)

How Tramps Travel.

It is well.know that American railways involuntarily carry gratis thousands of tramps every year. Probably fewer tramps steal rides now .than twenty years ago, when it was a common sight to- see a freight train (goods train) loaded with them, but the practice still continues to a greater or loss extent, notwithstanding the efforts of - the railway companies to the contrary. These efforts have, however, made the tramp more wary, and the means he employs to attain his ends are frequently ingenious and amusing. Probably the easiest way for a tramp to steal a ride is to board a "freight” at a moment when the trainmen are off their guard, and then to take the chances of being discovered ■ AFTER THE TRAIN IS IN MOTION But this is entirely too democratic a mode of travel for the self-respecting tramp. He prefers a passenger train, for his conveyance, and will go to his wits' cud to accomplish Ms design. Some tramps ride on the trucks beneath the cars, but this is uncomfortable and dangerous. After- an accident which occurred to a train between Colorado and California, it was found that a tramp had been secreted in the baggage ear, which was telescoped in the collision. He escaped with a broken leg. At another time a tramp boarded a train in California just before it entered a tunnel. When the conductor came through for the tickets the train was already

IN THE TUNNEL and the tramp, upon being asked for his ticket, replied that he had been told that anybody w’as allowed to ride through the tunnel without charge. When the conductor informed him that this was not the ease, ho looked very much surprised, but said that they would surely not put him off the train in the middle of the tunnel. “Well,” said the conductor, “if I had caught you a little sooner that is exactly what I should have done.” However the tramp was allowed to complete his ride, and, as the tunnel was a long one, he was helped considerably on his way.—From “'Hie Leisure Hour.”