Rensselaer Journal, Volume 12, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 August 1902 — The Real Hobo: What He is and How He Lives [ARTICLE]

The Real Hobo: What He is and How He Lives

By Charles Ely Adams.

WO facts about the hobo may serve to dispel a popular error. Ka****2* First, he is, within certain bounds, a patron of literature. r | I wS There are very many exceptions to the general rule of illiteracy. Bjj L Second, he spends a very respectable amount of his time in the Ex * use °* ‘ water> 6oa P aod towels. Aside from the question of special fitness a man is the creature of his opportunities, and this truth in its scope runs to the last far reaches of Hobo-dom. The dweller In this realm when in the harness obtains but a slight acquaintance with leisure. He rises early, and, as he must work, on an average, ten hours a day, be must have more than eight hours’ sleep. It is true that even this schedule leaves him a few hours to himself on working days; but the fact remains that through fatigue and lack of facilities, for the appointments of a railroad camp are few and extremely rough, he is unable to utilize his spare time to the best advantage. After supper most of the men retire to the bunk tents to lie on their beds and smoke and talk. Some play cards; others, disposed to be exclusive, arrange their blankets for a comfortable reclining position and read books and belated newspapers by the flickering light of a candle fastened at the head of the bunk. Sunday, of course, is the hobo’s day of freedom, and he appropriates the time to avocations of his own inclination. He bathes, shaves, oils his shoes, boils his underclothes, sews on buttons, takes stitches where needed, gossips, write letters to absent “pardners” and reads, i As may be supposed trashy novels predominate among the books of the [hobo’s selection. However, as a counterbalance to themes which are altogether [trivial and volatile, he relishes the polemics of the famous agnostics, being especially affected by their sensationalism and eloquence. On his tramps from camp to camp, the hobo addicted to reading burdens himself with a volume or two which, when he has finished, he exchanges with fellow-travelers of similar propensity. A box of old magazines provided by one contractor for the use of his employes proved to hp greatly appreciated by the men, the demand for the [periodicals being quite extensive and constant. The amount of general information thus acquired by the reading hobo would surprise those gentle personiages of glorious opportunities and cultivation who look upon him as an outlandish, clodlike piece of humanity. The existence of a world more polite than he has ever seen, the developments of popular science, inventions and events of national importance, the recurring crises in European diplomacy—all these chiefly through the medium of the newspapers be is aware of and can discuss with a readiness which would do credit to an even more alert mind. . '