Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 196, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 August 1910 — Traveling in Hobo's Guise [ARTICLE]

Traveling in Hobo's Guise

Wealthy Hungarian Land Owner Fears Robbery If He Appears to Be Prosperous. New York. —Wearing the garb of a tramp to give the impression that he is a poor man. Lajos Berrar, one of the wealthiest land owners of eastern Hungary, arrived here the other day on the last lap of a trip around the world. Although over sixty-five years old, Mr. Berrar has never been absent from his frontier home before,and he entertains the idea that America is filled with brigands, that only unceasing vigilance and the avoidance of External signs of prosperity can save him from being robbed before he gets back to Tizsafuchred, his native town. When he registered at a local hotel with bls two companions, both husky six-footers, he gave orders thaY he was not to be approached by any Strangers One of the two huskies is a nephew of the aged traveler, Michael Berrar, professor of chemistry in a school at Budapest. His other companion is an Italian who acts as interpreter. This

man said, explaining the older Mr. Berrar’s eccentric garb and customs: “Life on the frontier of Hungary is very primitive, as it lies next to the outposts of Turkey, and the folks there have strange ideas about the other parts of the world. Mr. Berrar has feared all- along that If he dressed in style he would be robbed. We have repeatedly begged him to buy new clothing and then visit the barber, but he clings to his old clothes » and ways, asserting that no one would rob a man who did not look prosperous. He has heard tales of robberies in America.’’