Rensselaer Union, Volume 10, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 February 1878 — The Tramp Nuisance. [ARTICLE]

The Tramp Nuisance.

The Chief of the State Detective Force devotes an interesting portion of his report to the “Tramp.” In order to ascertain something definite of the habits and characteristics of this peripatwo men last summer on a tramp in the western part of the State, where they fell in with one gang and another and traveled with them from town to town. They were found to be of various ages and nationalities, and in most cases had in past years been employed in some regular occupation. They had been on the tramp for periods ranging from two or three to fourteen years. During the warm weather they generally slept in barns or in the woods, preferring to keep away from lock-ups and stationhouses. They obtained food by begging and stealing, the latter method apparently being preferred. They were uniformly averse to earning, anything by labor, and though, when begging, they always profess a desire to obtain work, only two were found during a tramp of several weeks who did not scout the idea of working for a living, and show a decided preference for their vagabond life. It was clear that lack of employment had little or nothing to do with the wanderings of these vagrants. They did not seek employment and did not want it, but preferred to subsist upon charity and plunder. One said that it was his habit in winter to-go to some large, city, and commita. petty crime that would send him to some public institution,to be taken care of till warmer weather. There was a complete lack of moral scruple among them, which showed what a dangerous element they might become in the community. Not only did they steal without the least compunction, but there was no doubt that they were ready for any crime that could gratify revengeful or other passions, provided there was a fair chance to escape detection and punishment. In many localities they were a terror to the inhabitants, and obtained what they asked for because unprotected women in the houses which they visited did not 'dare 1 refuse. Ueveral parties hi July set out for Pennsylvania to join in the railroad riots, and others waited about the stations along the Boston & Albany Road in anticipation of a strike. It was plain that their purpose was plunder, and they were ready to take advantage of any opportunity to join in a lawless outbreak. The Chief of the Detective Force is of the opinion that the “tramp system” had its origin in the return- of .“.bummers ” and camp-fol-lowers from the armies after the war. These men had become accustomed to a life of vagrancy and had no disposition to settle down at any regular occupation; but their ranks were soon recruited by the idle and thriftless vagabonds who now for the most part fill the realm of the tramps.— Boston Globe. Nobody knows where you go or how long you stay, if you are broke, but everybody wants to know which way you went and if they think they’ll eatoh you if you happen to be broker. These are times of perilous financial uncertainty.— Burlington Hawk-Eye. While growling at her husband last summer a woman in Chicago was struck by lightning and instantly killed. Ladies should paste this paragraph in their hats.