Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 September 1895 — LIFE WITH THE HOBOES. [ARTICLE]

LIFE WITH THE HOBOES.

What th* Tramp Eats and th* Eoc*ntric Tog* H* Wears. As a rule, the “poke out” beggar has but one meal a day, and it is usually breakfast. This is the main meal with all vagabonds, and even the lazy tramp makes frantic efforts to find it. Its quantity as well as its quality depends largely on the kind of house he visits. His usual breakfast, if he is fairly lucky, consists of coffee, a little meat, some potatoes, and “punk an’ plaster,” as he calls bread and butter. Coffee, more than anything else, is what every man of his kind wants early in the morning. The clothes of the “poke out” beggar are not much, if any, better than his food. 'ln summer he seldom has more than a shirt, a pair of trousers, a coat, some old shoes and a battered hat. Even in winter he wears little more, especially if he goes South. While I lived with him I wore these same ‘‘togs.” I shall never forget my first tramp suit of clothes. The coat was patched in a dozen places, and was nearly three sizes too large for me; the vest was torn in the back, and had but two buttons; the trousers were out at the knees, and had to be turned up in London fashion at the bottom to keep me from tripping; the hat was an old Derby, with the crown dented in numerous places; and the only decent thing I had was a flannel shirt. I purchased this rig of an old clothes man, and thought that it would be just the thing for the road, and so it was, but only for the “ppke out”' tramp’s road. ‘The hoboes laughed at me and called me “hoodoo,” and I never got in with them in any such garb. Nevertheless, I wore it for nearly two months, and so long as I associated with lazy beggars only, it was all right. It is by no means uncommon to see a “poke out” vagabond wearing some sort of garment which belongs to a woman’s wardrobe.He is so indifferent that he will wear anything that will shield his nakedness, and I have known him to be so lazy that he did not even do that. Ore odd fellow I remember particularly. He had lost his shirt somehow and for almost a week went about with only a coat between his body and the world at large. Some of his pals, although they were of his own class, told him that he ought to find another one and the more he delayed it the more they labored with him. One night they were all gathered together ata "hang out,” not far from Lima, Ohio,| and the odd fellow was told that unless he found a shirt that night they would take away his coat also. He begged and begged, but they were determined, and as he did not show any intention of doing as he was bidden, they relieved him of his jacket. And all that night and the following day he was actually so lazy and stubborn that he would not yield and would probably be there still, in some form or other, had his pals not relented and returned him the coat. As I said, he went for nearly a week without finding a shirt, and not once did he show the least shame or embarrassment. Just at present I understand that he is in limbo, wearing the famous “zebra - ’ —the penitentiary dress. It is not popular among tramps and they seldom wear it, but I feel that the old rascal, in spite of the disgrace and inconvenience that his confinement brings upon him, is tickled indeed that he is not bound to find his own clothes.