Democratic Times, Jacksonville, September 8, 1893, page 3


    The genus tramp, who is the harbinger of hard times, was never so numerous as now. He occupies the brake beams and blind baggage of every train which passes through the valley. Trainmen have their hands full driving them off, but they defy even the sternest of conductors. The railroad company thinks to solve the problem by running a boxcar once in awhile for their especial accommodation, thus ridding the country of them. The entire community hopes the scheme will prove successful.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, September 29, 1893, page 3


    Forty tramps got off the overland train at Grants Pass last Saturday.
    Tramps from the north have been annoying the railroad men very seriously on the C.&O.R.R. route, says the Yreka Journal, threatening to do great mischief in destroying property, if not given a ride. The state of affairs having been reported at headquarters, orders were given to transport them, and one freight train last week had over 85 on board. Reports from southern California state that vast crowds of tramps are coming in that direction from Texas, New Mexico and southern Colorado.
"Here and There," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, October 6, 1893, page 3

    Roseburg, Or., Oct. 16.--Every freight train from the north brings in a large number of tramps. Yesterday the city gave 65 of them a Sunday dinner. This morning when the southbound overland arrived they rushed in and took complete possession of one of the coaches. This was too much for conductor Huff, and he summoned night watchman Wright, and with the trainmen proceeded to put them off. A lively scrimmage followed, but the tourists had to get out, one of them being badly injured by a brakeman's lantern coming in contact with his head, and several others bruised. Later on the freight carried them all out of town.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, October 20, 1893, page 3


    Jacksonville has not had an invasion of tramps so far and appears to be about the only town on the coast which has not suffered to some extent from that source.
"Here and There," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, October 20, 1893, page 3


    Tramps are making sad havoc in gardens along the railroad, and chickens are compelled to roost high or go to fill a long-felt want among the tourists.
"Local Notes," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, October 20, 1893, page 3

    Last week these columns briefly told of a young man who met death near Talent by being run over by a freight train. No particulars could be secured at the time of going to press last week, but the further facts, as presented below, have since been gathered:
    His name was Harry Anderson or Andrews, of Riverside, Calif., and he met his death while riding on a northbound extra freight train about a mile north of Talent last Thursday morning about one o'clock .His hat was found about 200 yards south of where he was killed, and it is supposed that in trying to catch his hat he lost his balance and fell under the wheels of the train. He was dragged for quite a distance, and portions of his body were scattered along the track. One of his legs and an arm were completely severed from his body, and the others broken in many places. Before his body was freed from the train it was broken and his head cut until it was impossible to recognize his features and get an accurate description of him.
    He was about twenty-two years of age, smooth shaven, about five feet, six inches tall, and weighed 145 pounds. He wore a dark sack coat without a vest, had a black-striped shirt, light underwear of good quality and a number seven, slate-colored soft hat and had on a pair of number seven Congress gaiter shoes. In his pockets besides $2.20 in cash there was found a metal check bearing the inscription "III M.C. Co. 732," and is supposed to be a meal check issued by the Mountain Copper Company, of Keswick, Calif. Another metal piece in his pocket bore the name of Roberts Bros. & Co., Boston, Mass. and Willows, Calif., and on the other side was the picture of a horseshoe. He had five or six handkerchiefs in his pocket that were marked T.F.M. Two tramps who had come from Dunsmuir to Ashland with him said he was on his way to Butte, Montana, and that his name was Harry Anderson and was a cook by occupation. Coroner E. B. Pickel telegraphed to the chief of police at Riverside asking him to find the boy's parents, but nobody by that name could be found. But a boy by the name of Harry Andrews from Riverside was supposed to be working near Redding, and in all probability is the same person. He was buried at this place Friday.
    The verdict of the coroner's jury was that the deceased was an unknown man about twenty-two years of age and that he came to his death by falling from a moving train. They exonerated the Southern Pacific Company from all blame. The following citizens of Talent composed the jury: D. H. Hanscom, W. R. Lamb, M. L. Pellett, John Briner, S. Carlile and W. W. Estes.
Medford Mail, February 28, 1902, page 6

    If Medford would put up a rock pile and advertise for hoboes this place would not be such a popular place for gentlemen of that stripe. This is the time of the year they begin migrating to the north, and hardly a day passes but some of them are around canvassing citizens.
    People misled by charitable inclinations may take it for granted that deserving men are not going about the streets begging for money. A good many worthy men are at times forced to beat their way over the railroad; but they don't go about advertising their needs except to look for work. The hobo or tramp, on the other hand, makes a study of how to work upon the charitableness of people. It is an art, a profession, with them. One will go about with a limp, claiming he was hurt in a mine or some other place. Another will have his harm in a sling and present a card asking for help. There are firms in the East that make a business of manufacturing such things as are needed by hoboes and tramps for carrying on their profession. These print all kinds of cards, make artificial sores so natural that no one but an expert could tell the difference, and study up all kinds of novel ideas best calculated to reach the pockets of people through their hearts.
    The hobo business has reached big proportions. There is a great army of them scattered all over the United States, and they employ their ingenuity in studying up methods of getting money without working. Many of them show cunning worthy of a better cause, and a rock pile or a prospect of good, healthful toil are about the only things they dread or will serve to keep them away from a place. As most everyone knows, there is a sort of freemasonry among them, by which they leave signs telling others to avoid certain places and what houses or towns are the easiest worked.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, June 1, 1902, page 2


    Tramps, when they fail to connect with a brakebeam, get very weary of the long walks they have to make in getting over the heavy grades of the mountain section of the railroad, and they resort to all manner of desperate schemes to enable them to steal a ride upon the trains. J. C. Slagle, whose farm adjoins the Southern Pacific track six miles north of Medford, states that he saw a hobo, one day last week, deliberately take his life in his hand in order to secure a ride on the train. Just before the northbound afternoon passenger train was due, the tramp laid himself down across the track and never moved a muscle when the train came rushing upon him at the speed of fifty miles an hour. But the vigilance of the engineer prevented the country from being rid of one useless human wreck and the heavy overland was brought up with a jolt by the prompt application of the air brake, just as the front wheels of the locomotive were ready to crush the life out of the leg-weary and desperate tramp. No sooner had the train stopped than the hobo picked himself up and walked unconcernedly down by the cars and when the train started up he caught a rod and swung himself to the brakebeam, congratulating his luck at securing a ride with so little effort. But his hope of at once reaching Portland's beer and free lunches was quickly dispelled, for the conductor stopped the train and one of the brakemen hauled the luckless tramp from his retreat and taking him by the coat collar he escorted him to the rear of the train, where the muscular brake applied by means of his heavy shoe a vigorous massage to several parts of his anatomy, after which he started Weary Waggles down the track to resume his walk and the train again got under headway, with the tramp shouting maledictions on the greed of soulless corporations and the tyranny of a government that no longer protects the weak and downtrodden.
"City Happenings," Medford Mail, June 13, 1902, page 7


    A vagrant ordinance was passed. This ordinance provides that any person without visible means of support; any person begging; any person who habitually roams about the streets without any lawful business; any person living in a bawdy house or found about such places; any person wandering about the streets or alleys after 10 o'clock at night without any lawful business, shall be deemed vagrants and are subject to arrest by the city police, and upon conviction shall be fined not less than five days, nor more than twenty days at hard work upon the city rock pile or upon the streets.
    Ordinance was passed requiring all city prisoners to work out their fines upon the city rock pile or upon the streets.
"City Council Proceedings," Medford Mail, November 7, 1902, page 2


    Six hobos were run in Wednesday night by the police, but were given their liberty the next day on their promising to leave town, which they did in short order. They escaped having to do work upon the streets by the city authorities having no stone pile ready for their attention, and it was too rainy and muddy for the street commissioner to employ them in doing repair work on the streets. The city will soon have a stone pile in the jail yard; then these husky, lazy hobos can be made to earn their lodging while stopping in Medford. These tramps are getting to be very plentiful in Medford of late, for they like the wild geese spend their summer in the North and so soon as cold weather comes on they file out singly and in squads for California, where they spend the winter and then in the spring go north again. Their fall migration is now on, and reports come from all over town of their begging for food and clothing at private residences. And the womenfolks with few exceptions, through either fear or compassion, fix up a meal for them and outfit them with thrown-by coats, shoes, etc.
    With the demand for labor that there now is, no man is compelled to beg, and these hobos should be put to work on the city rock pile until they are willing to get at some honest employment to earn their own living. Their begging and stealing depredations could be largely stopped if people would report them promptly to the police instead of feeding them and sending them on to annoy someone else.
Medford Success, November 14, 1902, page 1. SOHS Research Library M77F2


    Marshal Howard is patiently waiting for a conviction under the new vagrancy ordinance so that he can try the ball and chain apparatus which the city has had prepared for the decoration of such malefactors. Since the passing of the above ordinance the gentry of the genus hobo have sought rather shy of Medford, as they have no particular desire to work on the streets, and as a consequence Chief Howard so far has had no use for the ball and chain.
"City Happenings," Medford Mail, November 28, 1902, page 7


    For the first time since the vagrancy ordinance was passed the chain gang was in evidence on the streets of Medford on Monday. Six professional tourists were gathered in Sunday evening by Chief Howard at a campfire they had built below the Southern Pacific water tank, and on Monday morning were sentenced to five days at hard labor on the streets. The supply of balls and chains was not equal to the demand--there are only three sets--so that three of the traveling gentlemen were placed under the immediate supervision of Street Commissioner Brandenburg. Their names are Harry Shane, Edward Thompson, Fred Heaguy, Jas. Davis, Frank Williams, Fred Watson. Jas. Riley was given his fourth sentence for being drunk, being fined $16.
"City Happenings," Medford Mail, December 26, 1902, page 7


    Tramps, hoboes, "dead broke" travelers and al who may have been accustomed to cheapening their transportation expense accounts by "beating the blind," "swinging the rods" or "riding the decks," to escape payment of railroad fare, will be seriously inconvenienced by the provisions of Senate Bill No. 133, in the event that measure becomes a law. This bill was brought up by Senator Williamson of Crook County, and makes it a misdemeanor to steal rides on railroad trains. Trainmen are empowered under this measure to arrest persons caught in the act of stealing rides, and a penalty of not more than 30 days imprisonment or a fine of not to exceed $50 is prescribed. It seems to us that there is enough legislation in favor of railroads already. It is too bad that they must be protected against the poor hobo and his kind by legislation.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, February 11, 1903, page 2


    Like birds of passage, the touts, roués and thugs are traveling south nowadays to escape the rigors of northern winter. It behooves people to place their valuables under lock and key. Shady characters are stopping off at valley towns en route, and everything portable is liable to turn up missing. Medford has not been inflicted to any great extent with petty thieving this season, owing probably to the fact that offenders of this kind have been apprehended with--to them--painful regularity whenever they "turned a trick" in this man's town. However, the warning conveyed in the above paragraph is not one to be disregarded.
"City Happenings," Medford Mail, November 4, 1904, page 5


    Again the hobo element is paying its semi-annual visit to Gold Hill. As regularly as the cold season of the year set in they begin to drift south to the warmer climate and almost every train carries from five to ten of them. They make the water tank and railroad bridges their headquarters when in a town and spend their time on the street corners asking for money. With the prosperous times that now exist on the Pacific Coast there is no excuse whatever to be out of employment, and their desire to lead a life of ease should not be encouraged by our citizens by listening to their hard luck stories.
Gold Hill News, December 7, 1906, quoted in Gold Hill News, December 8, 1932, page 4


    ASHLAND, Ore., Oct. 18.--One man was killed and two probably fatally injured this morning in a desperate battle between train thieves and three farm hands who were riding in a freight car near Steinman, ten miles from this city.
    The officers of Jackson County are out en masse and a big posse of deputies is scouring the county in an effort to find the murderous robbers.
    Charles Fink, William Homerick and Frederick Mason, the farm hands, saw three thieves going through a couple of box cars in the train on which they were riding. They attempted to capture the thieves and Fink was immediately shot dead.
    Both sides then began fighting and there was a heavy fusillade of bullets. The thieves finally jumped from the train and escaped in the woods.
    Homerick was shot in the knee and in the chest and Mason received a bullet through the thigh.
    When the train reached Siskiyou station the sheriff was notified and he at once sent down a posse of deputies and went himself to the scene of the trouble.
    The farm hands were en route to the Sacramento Valley, where they expected to get work. All had money and watches. On Fink's body was found a bank book showing a deposit of $685 in Hennepin County Savings Bank of Minneapolis, Minn. Fink's parents are believed to be living in Downs, Kansas.
    The train crew did not hear the shooting and were unaware of the trouble until the train reached Siskiyou.
Marysville Daily Appeal, Marysville, California, October 19, 1907, page 1


Medford Daily Tribune, June 11, 1909, page 1




    Chief Shearer reports that the last of the hoboes has quietly crept away to parts unknown. The city is entirely free of Weary Willies for once. When he started to "clean up" he had twenty-three, and it took a week to clean them out.
"Social and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, May 29, 1910, page 5

    The police force of Medford is working overtime to keep Medford clean of hoboes and beggars. Thursday morning five were escorted to the north city limits and told to bid Medford a fond goodbye.
    Early this morning a freight train pulled into Medford, and officers Hull and Cingcade said that hoboes seemed to spring from every car and rod. There were at least 100 on the cars. They rode brakes, couplings and the decks of the cars.
    The policemen ordered them to get back on the freight and not try to stop here.
    They were told Medford had a rock pile, and no further argument was needed.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 6, 1911, page 6

    During the last two days, a class of wanderers known as "bindle stiffs," because they carry their blankets on their backs, and generally walk the ties, have been quite plentiful throughout the valley, and unlike the usual run of unemployed, will take a job when it is offered to them without much quibbling over the wage question.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, March 12, 1914, page 5






    For the first time in a month not a wanderer applied at the police station Monday night for lodging. This is accounted for by the weather, which permits of sleeping outside with comparative comfort.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, April 14, 1914, page 2


    Since there is plenty of work in the valley, there has been a decided falling off in the ranks of the unemployed stopping in this city, according to the police. Wanderers have not come in bunches, as they did a month ago, and there has been none sheltered in the city jail. The old guard of the unemployed, who have been unemployed as far back as the memory of the oldest inhabitant runs, still hold the fort, and pass the time complaining about high taxes.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, April 22, 1914, page 2


    City and county authorities will take steps to rout out the camp of idlers, wanderers, loafers and agitators who have established a camp near the stockyards, and has existed largely upon the pretext that its followers were looking for a chance to go to work upon the Central Point road. Evidence at hand shows that none would go to work if they had a chance. Each day a forage for food is made, and considerable of the hen roost robbing is laid to them. Three or four of the gang are I.W.W.'s, who make from three to four speeches a day.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 23, 1914, page 4


    A squad of hoboes have established a summer camp on the east side of Bear Creek along the P. and E. right of way, and members thereof daily come uptown and buy supplies. They fish and lie around in the sun and enjoy life generally in their way. The camp will probably be broken up by the authorities, before its membership gets too large.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, April 25, 1914, page 2


    The gang of idlers who have been camped the near the stockyards for the last three weeks banked their fires and moved Saturday. Some went to work, and some are camped on Bear Creek, where the fishing is better, and plenty of shade trees. Bear Creek banks are also sheltering a couple of squads of wandering gypsies, who spent the winter in California and possess a motley array of babies, dogs and horses.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, April 27, 1914, page 2




    Residents of the southern part of the city complain of hobo camps in that section, claiming that the wanderers do their washing and cooking at all hours of the day and night. One camp located on the railroad track is within three blocks of Main Street, and steps will be taken by the police to abolish it.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, May 4, 1914, page 2


    A dope fiend who has been making life miserable for a number of restaurant keepers, where he would order a meal and then walk out with remitting, was ordered out of town by the police Sunday. He was in a pitiable condition.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, May 11, 1914, page 2


    Steps towards the routing out of the hobo camps along Bear Creek will be taken by Chief of Police Hittson at once. According to residents of that section it is impossible to keep a hen house full within a mile of the creek. Some have loaded up the old shotgun with rock salt as a cure.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, May 18, 1914, page 2


    A number of hoboes who have been camping under the water tank were run out of the city this morning by the police. The Toft barn and Day planing mill fires are both attributed to tramps, and they will be kept out of the business district as much as possible in the future.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, May 20, 1914, page 2


    Hoboes camped along Bear Creek between Ashland and this city are raising havoc with hen houses and gardens. The gents make night raids for food. It is likely the county authorities will take some action towards abating the nuisance.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, May 21, 1914, page 2


    A gang of hoboes camped on Bear Creek near the city limits were routed from their haunts Monday afternoon by the police and others [and were] ordered out of town.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, June 2, 1914, page 2


    The police estimate that 100 transients were in the city Saturday and Sunday, about half being I.W.W.'s headed for Butte, where labor troubles are brewing. Saturday night a northbound train blocked the Main Street crossing, and a crowd gathered. When the train started, the people were given an exhibition of fancy boarding of a freight train, swinging underneath with careless abandon, and a misstep would have meant the hospital or the morgue.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, June 29, 1914, page 2


    A number of wanderers who have been in the city the 24-hour limit were marched out of town last night by the police. Tramp travel is particularly heavy right now, owing to the annual northbound travel to the harvest fields of eastern Washington and Oregon.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, June 30, 1914, page 2


    Three Mexicans, one of whom had no shoes, and had his feet encased in gunny sacks, passed through Medford Tuesday night, bound south. As they showed no inclination to stop, the police did not bother them. They packed all they possessed in this world on their backs.
"Local and Personal," Medford Sun, July 1, 1914, page 2


    In sprinting to catch a northbound freight train Thursday night a wandering gent crashed head-on into a boxcar standing near the Rogue River Fruit Association office, and was knocked cold. The shock was so severe that he manifested no desire to catch the train, and a dash of cold water in the face revived him.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, July 10, 1914, page 2


    There has been a general scattering of idlers along Bear Creek the last few days, owing to the danger of being called on for fire fighting services. The "jungles" on the P.&E. has been vacated.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, August 18, 1914, page 2


    There has been a decided falling out the last ten days in the number of transients infesting the city. The "jungle " camp on Bear Creek has been abandoned, for most of the wanderers in these parts have gone to work on the Crater Lake road, while the rest of them hit the road for California for the winter. The eight men sentenced to work for the city for overindulgence in liquor have all fled.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, September 8, 1914, page 2


    Two dozen wanderers headed south for the winter, the advance guard of the migratory army, pestered the police all day Monday trying to get out of town. Three or four asked for shelter in the city jail last night, and received it. Train crews on the S.P. report that they are kept busy keeping tramps off the trains.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, September 22, 1914, page 2


    Eight boy tramps, the oldest 19 years of age, passed through Medford Thursday night, and were given shelter in the city jail. They have been employed in the hop yards of the Willamette Valley, and were beating their way back to their homes in California.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, October 2, 1914, page 2


    There has been so much trouble with hoboes in southern Oregon and norther California territory that the Southern Pacific has detailed special officers on its through passenger trains. They are in uniform and wear a badge lettered "State Railroad Police." They patrol at random up and down the line, quite often making this division point a terminal.
"Ashland and Vicinity," Medford Mail Tribune, October 30, 1914, page 7


    Nine wanderers, found asleep under a right-of-way warehouse, were routed out Monday night and put aboard a southbound freight train. They were smoking under the building, and it was feared they might start a fire. This city is not bothered much by hoboes, Ashland receiving the full benefit of the migrations through giving them free hot soup last winter in a spirit of philanthropy.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, November 10, 1914, page 2




    The spring migration of wanderers from the south to the north is now under way, ten being quartered in the city jail Wednesday night. Some of the number engaged in begging on the streets. One who thus sought aid was offered work in an orchard at $1 a day and board, but rejected the offer.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, February 15, 1915, page 2


    The absence of a game warden in this district has led to a very bad state of affairs along Bear Creek. There are several camps along the creek where the hoboes "jungle up." The tramps have been and are in the habit of spearing fish from the creek. No doubt great numbers of them have been taken in this way, as it is well known to local fishermen how easy it is to spear the big fish which congregate in the deep pools. A stop should be put to this practice. The local police in the course of their work of breaking up hobo camps have run across several fish which were speared. Police jurisdiction does not extend over this lawbreaking, however, and they were powerless to act. Some action should be taken by the game authorities.
Ashland Tidings, March 29, 1915, page 1


    John Miller, a floater, was sentenced to 15 days in the county jail this morning on a vagrancy charge. When arrested Miller was trying to sell carpenter tools to a second-hand store and in searching him the police found a bunch of passkeys concealed in his pants leg. He will be held for further investigation of his career.
"Local and Personal," Medford Sun, April 1, 1915, page 6


    Hoboes are reported to be adding to the menu of the Ashland encampment with steelhead trout spread in Bear Creek. The attention of game wardens has been directed to the violation.
"Southern Oregon's Shortstories," Gold Hill News, April 3, 1915, page 1


    Chicken thieves have been bothering the residents in the northern end of this city, and the police are keeping a weather eye peeled for the guilty persons. Mr. Franks and Slinger are among the many who have suffered losses, Mr. Frank losing 30 and Mr. Slinger 15.
"Local and Personal," Medford Sun, April 11, 1915, page 8


    Hungry tramps are being blamed for numerous raids on chicken coops throughout the country districts that have occurred in the last week. The tramps are suspected, as only sufficient meat for a meal has been taken.
"Local and Personal," Medford Sun, April 22, 1915, page 6


    Sheriff Singler arrested a hobo named Fred Chipp near Medford Thursday for alleged burglaries in nearby towns. A companion named Rold, who made his getaway, was arrested later in the day by Officer Mego of the police force. Both men are lodged in the county bastille at this place to await investigation by the grand jury at its next session. The men were camped on the bank of Bear Creek and had goods supposed to have been stolen at Central Point and Eugene in their possession when nabbed.
"Local News," Jacksonville Post, June 5, 1915, page 3


    The Oregon City Courier tells of a visit of a wandering nomad to their office and spreads a very entertaining story of his monologue on travel over their front page. It is not often that we have an opportunity to see Oregon as it looks to a "hobo." He is quoted as saying:
    "Down at San Diego I had good luck, and got a job as a wild man from the Philippines for a couple of weeks. But at San Francisco I couldn't even get a handout. They are so tight at that fair there that even the cops have to pay to get in. Coming out of Frisco there were 138 other fellows on the same freight train, and they all agreed that California was no place for a poor man. It may be all right for tourists, but only the kind that smell of gasoline.
    "Coming up into Oregon things got different. This side of Ashland the 'shacks' on the train didn't even try to collect fare from us 'side-door passengers,' and in some of the towns the cops would even come down to camp at night and drink some of our coffee. When we got up into the hop country some of the constables bothered us a bit, and tried to get us to go to work picking lice off the vines, but most of us oldtimers said our fingers were sore, and they let us beat it out on the next train."
Ashland Tidings, September 13, 1915, page 7


    The annual exodus of wanderers from the north to California is in full swing, but in contrast to former years very few of the gentry stop in this city. Thursday night there were a couple of applications for sleeping quarters in the city jail, but most of the men disembark at Ashland.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, October 15, 1915, page 2


    An innovation in the genus hobo arrived in Gold Hill at an early hour Tuesday. He was a Japanese, so thoroughly imbued with submerged Americanism that he travels via "the rods." In this city he was "ditched" with scant ceremony by a "shack" of the southbound Shasta. His name is Harri, and he was formerly a kitchen boy in the Gold Hill Hotel--when landlord Gale was mine host. Levying tribute of the accustomed "handout," he passed on to Medford, where, he beamed confidently, there are "many Japanese boy."
"Local News Notes," Gold Hill News, October 30, 1915, page 3


    "I have walked all the way from Seattle without begging for a thing except work," said an old tie tourist on Front Street last evening, "and I generally got enough to keep me in grub. But I'm mighty hungry now. Us fellows on the road have our good days and bad days, just as other people have--and this has been one of my bad days." A bystander gave the old fellow a piece of money and another told the man of ups and downs to follow him and he would find him a place to sleep. "Can I work for it?" quickly asked the unfortunate man. When told that he could, he followed. He is 68 years old--and only a passing sample of the discard in the mad game of rush in this peculiar age of cold-blooded commercialism.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, December 11, 1915, page 2



    A gang of hoboes are reported to be using the chaparral on Grape Street with the Pantorium as a hotel outdoors.
"Local and Personal," Medford Sun, June 9, 1916, page 2


    The Southern Pacific water tank, with its cold shade, has caused tired wanderers to linger there, and the police Tuesday afternoon dispersed the gang.
"Local and Personal," Medford Sun, June 14, 1916, page 2


    The police Thursday morning called upon a number of gentlemen who were enjoying the cool of the Espee water tank and informed them that there was quite a demand for hay hands. As none showed any inclination to grab hold of a pitchfork, they were ordered to march, without waiting for the cool of the day or a train.
"Local and Personal," Medford Sun, June 16, 1916, page 2




    Strict orders are now in force to prevent tramps from riding on the trains in the mountainous regions of the West, or on passenger trains anywhere except in the regular legal manner. No chance will be taken to carry irresponsible persons into the guarded zones in that way. Therefore a marked decline in hobo travel may be noted in the immediate future.
"Local and Personal," Ashland Tidings, April 9, 1917, page 5

    "Some were worthy of aid and others were not," said Chief of Police Adams today in speaking of the 131 tramps given lodging in the city prison since December 1. "They were all down and out, broke--didn't have a penny," he continued, "when they applied for admittance.
    "Each one had their hard luck story to tell--sickness, financial reverses, former jail sentences and even marital troubles, but a portion were just plain lazy and wanted no employment. These fellows were the worst to deal with. They kicked at being sent out of the city and rebelled at the thought of work. Others who really were victims of hard luck expressed thanks for the lodging and went upon their way. It is the policy of the city to give no wanderer more than one night free, and on exceptions two," he concluded.

    OMAHA, Neb., Nov. 9.--(AP)--Riding the rods of railroad trains has been tabooed by the American hobo, who prefers to ride more safely and luxuriously in the cushioned seat of someone's automobile.
    Consequently women hoboes are becoming more numerous, and the male members of the American nomads have a problem on their hands, in addition to that of unemployment, Tom Curry of Cincinnati, national secretary of the International Brotherhood Welfare Association, told the annual convention of hoboes here today.
Medford Mail Tribune, November 9, 1926, page 1






    "I ain't got no friends and no kin, and I'm on the road doin' my best to earn a livin' by sellin' pencils," was a portion of a hard-luck story told by an itinerant beggar who arrived in Medford today and "set up shop" on Front Street, after having obtained permission from the police department. "Every muscle in my old body hurts," he continued, "and if I'm not able to sell any pencils here, I guess I'll just have to move on somewhere else. I ain't got any particular destination. Anywhere will do, I guess."
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, September 3, 1928, page 2


    The city prison continues accommodate on the average of six transients nightly with sleeping quarters and at the same time gives the police department assurance they are in a safe place and away from the temptation of breaking into dwellings or business establishments. Many of those given free lodgings are young men in search of work in Medford, with some returning from coast points after having left jobs at the local sawmills or box factory to get their old jobs back.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, February 27, 1929, page 2

    "Weary Willie," the wanderlust citizen who formerly traveled in discomfort on the rods of a freight train, now stands by the roadside and begs a ride from passing motorists, according to Phil Eiker, a director of the Oregon State Motor Association.
    Mr. Eiker pointed out that the once-picturesque tramp is now a "hitchhiker" or "thumber," and states are rapidly realizing the importance of curbing his activities. "Minnesota was the first state to pass a law making it unlawful for a person to stand by the highway and solicit a ride," he said, "while similar laws have been enacted in Maine and New Jersey. The experience of these states is having a beneficial effect throughout the country, and it is a matter of time until every commonwealth prohibits the practice. Although motorists, especially those traveling long distances alone, are inclined to give a lift to strangers hiking by the roadside, it is a dangerous practice and one that should be discontinued by every car owner. Often serious injuries, robbery and even murders have resulted from what was originally a kindly act. The railroads are now patrolling their lines with more care and thereby giving less opportunity to tramps to ride the rods."
Ashland Daily Tidings, September 17, 1929, page 4


Medford Mail Tribune, October 8, 1929, page 8


    Tourists may come and tourists may go, but the auto tramp goes on forever. Miss Marjorie Jones, state representative of the Red Cross, visited Medford yesterday and called attention to the gravity of the problem, and the need of public support in the efforts of that organization to solve it.
    Said Miss Jones: "People must learn to give to organizations such as the Red Cross and then stand behind them in their work. Professional beggars who whimper to churches, service clubs of the hardheartedness of charitable organizations are becoming more numerous each year. Although the Red Cross often buys milk or food for children of such families, they do not feel justified in buying gasoline, that they may repeat their begging in the next town. The disgruntled transients then use this refusal as a means of wheedling provisions, food or clothing from other persons, with the tale that charitable organizations have refused them aid."
    It was to relieve the people of such a burden that the Community Chest was adopted in Medford. Therefore all such requests should be referred to the Red Cross or the headquarters of the Community Chest, as each individual can rest assured that deserving cases will be promptly attended to, while the professional beggars will be convinced Medford is no place to ply their questionable trade.
    Only by the observance of such a program, supported by the people of this community, can this problem be properly handled and successfully solved. Hamilton Patton, head of the Community Chest, informed this paper today that his organization stands steadfastly behind the policy of the Red Cross, realizing that divided responsibility in this direction will only lead to confusion and chaos, rendering a solution of the auto tramp problem practically impossible.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 8, 1930, page B4


    Glad that there are such good Samaritans as he has found in Medford, Vincent LaGrande, 18, is in the city jail recovering from an attack of mumps with which he became afflicted shortly after arriving in the city last Friday from Longview, Wash., searching for work. He was contented this afternoon on a city prison cot, reading magazines in waking hours, smoking an occasional cigarette, and visiting with police officers who bring him three square meals a day.
    He has no fever and feels sufficiently strong to leave the jail house today, but the swelling on both sides of his face must disappear before Dr. B. C. Wilson, attending his case, will allow him to move on. He has received adequate medical care and his condition has never been such that hospital care was deemed necessary. If Vincent had been as sick as reported, there would have been no delay in rushing him to a hospital, officers said this forenoon.
    After reading a report of his condition published today, the youth declared; "Judging from that I must be plenty sick, and I am really surprised to read about myself being so low. They've been very nice to me here and I have no kick coming. I've slept in jails before.
    "I have no mother, there isn't anyone awaiting my homecoming, for I have no home," said Vincent, a willing talker, his youthful face a bit sad from a wistful smile. "My mother died when I was seven years old, and I haven't heard of my father for years.
    "I was working in a mill at Longview, Wash.," he continued, "and my job ran out, so I came down to Medford. And just as I was getting ready to start hiking back to Washington, along comes these mumps and here I am. Even at that I am thankful I've got a place to stay and to have everyone treat me so well. There's nothing wrong with this jail house and I'd just as soon stay here as go to a rooming house or a hospital."
    The boy is expected to be fully recovered in two or three days and is anxious to find work around Medford if possible. He also is anxious to get in touch with a family named Burgess.
    Offers were made today by private citizens not understanding the situation to have the boy moved, but he is content with present surroundings.
Medford Mail Tribune, June 25, 1930, page 6


    The songs of the road have lost their appeal. The small fires that "wearies" build no longer burn with warmth and friendliness. There might have been a day when the "'ard beatin' o' their 'oofs on the 'ighway" sounded a tattoo in the minds of all hobos, which bound them together in one great defense. But that day is gone forever, according to Wm. Lockrey, 18 year old youth of Vancouver, B.C., who started down the trail from Medford this afternoon in a third attempt to get home to Mother.
    They don't wait for death to come to steal a "weary's" coat and "flag that eastbound train" in the new era, William says, and he should know, for two fellow men of the highway not only took his coat last night but the two blankets, underclothes and 50 cents that were given to him by Mr. and Mrs. Rex Lampman, journalists of Los Angeles, and the local Red Cross chapter. In addition they pushed him into the ditch and went on their way.
    The young boy's eyes filled with tears this morning when he endeavored to tell his story and thank Mr. Lampman again for assisting him in a new start out of town. He came to Medford a few days ago with the Lampmans. He was hitch-hiking his way to Vancouver, B.C. from Los Angeles. He had taken his fun where he found it for four months and found very little of it. During the time he was in Los Angeles he had just three days of work.
    Yesterday the Lampmans and local Red Cross fitted him out with a replenished kit and started him on his way north from Central Point. As darkness descended upon the valley two men, who were also traveling by foot, approached him a little this side of Gold Hill and opened conversation.
    After walking and talking for a few minutes, one reached over and struck him. The other grabbed his coat, tore it from him, took his knapsack and two blankets and rolled him into the ditch.
    William hobbled on into Gold Hill, slept there and this morning returned to Medford.
    He had very little to say but "yes" and "no" when interviewed and uttered those words with difficulty. He's going home and he's going to stay there. He wrote the news to his parents and expects them to be glad to see him. He had another coat and another roll on his shoulder when he left Medford for the third time hoping for a ride and no encounters with hobos, who held so romantic a place in his mind a few months ago.
Medford Mail Tribune, June 26, 1930, page 1


    Vincent LaGrande, the 18-year-old tramp boy who has been recovering from an attack of mumps at the city jail, has been given a home. Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln Gray came down from Ruch yesterday and took the boy to their ranch, where he can have all the milk he wants to drink and the food he wants to eat. Vincent appeared happy when Mrs. Gray, an elderly woman, buttoned him up carefully in new clothes and prepared him for the country trip.
    The boy promised to stay with the old folks and help them with chores on the farm. It was the first time he had a home since he was a small youngster.
Medford Mail Tribune, June 28, 1930, page 2


    Farming life may be just the thing for some young men, but it holds no attraction for Vincent LaGrande, 18-year-old tramp boy who recently spent a few days in the city jail recovering from an attack of mumps. He was in Medford Saturday night, preparing for a hitchhike to Chicago, Ill., after having spent ten days on the farm of Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln Gray at Ruch, where he had been promised a home if he cared to stay.
    Three weeks ago, Vincent arrived in Medford in search of work and was en route to Klamath Falls when he became afflicted with an attack of mumps. Not being seriously ill and having been accustomed to sleeping in jails while on the road, the city jail was turned into an infirmary for his benefit. He was given medical attention by the county health department and city policemen acted as "nursemaids," but his case attracted considerable attention when a report was published that he had been denied hospital care, was suffering on a bare prison cot and was receiving treatment unbecoming the welfare of the sick.
    Investigation revealed that the boy was well satisfied with life in the city prison and was not as ill as reported. The case attracted the attention of Mr. and Mrs. Gray, an elderly couple operating a ranch in the Ruch section. Ten days or so ago, they arrived at the prison and offered Vincent a permanent home, all the milk he wanted to drink and all the farm foods he wished to eat if he would come with them.
    The offer was attractive to the boy. He was bundled up in new clothes, given a haircut and was taken to the country. Vincent was apparently pleased at first with farm routine, but it was not so long until he began to feel a little crowded and his feet began itching for the open road. He did not find congeniality with his benefactors and said he was unable to enjoy working for them. For some reason, he did not get along well with Mrs. Gray, but did better with Mr. Gray.
    He was to leave yesterday for Portland, the first lap of a journey east, leaving behind him work that concerned irrigation ditches and farm chores for life in the city. He plans to join his brother in Chicago and remain there indefinitely. He wants to go to school a little more and learn a trade.
    Someday he wants to come back to Medford, because of memories he said that will never leave him.
    He continues appreciative of the good care he received while in the jail house and threw several complimentary remarks in the direction of Dr. B. C. Wilson, county physician, who attended him daily. He thinks well of the Medford police department for the way in which they gave him attention, bringing meals, magazines and smokes, but as for farming, he'd just as soon forget about that.
Medford Mail Tribune, July 7, 1930, page 10


    He entered the jail by choice a year ago. He is held there today, charged with burglary and bound over to the grand jury with bail set at $1000. He came there to sleep the first time. He has been many places and done many things during the intervening year. But he recognized his old bed when he re-entered the jail a few days ago. He also recognized Ike Dunford, county jailer, and introduced himself as Jack Goldberg of New York.
    "You're the man who gave me a bed and a quarter about a year ago," he told Ike as he entered his iron-latticed abode.
    "I didn't recognize him at first," Ike stated yesterday, "but when he mentioned the bed and quarter I knew he was the same fellow who waked me up last summer.
    "My car was parked just outside the jail. I heard someone get in it and grabbed my gun and rushed out. The fellow said he was just looking for someplace to sleep so I brought him into the jail. The next morning I gave him a quarter and sent him on his way. He went across the continent, but he's sleeping in the jail again tonight."
    Goldberg is charged with burglary of the J. J. Osenbrugge residence.
Medford Mail Tribune, August 12, 1930, page 6


    Tate Edwards' chicken coops at Phoenix are not apt to be molested again as long as Edwards can move about and handle a rifle. Last night he heard a noise in the pen, procured a rifle from the house, secreted himself behind some bushes and took a shot in the general direction of the noise. The disturbance stopped, and a few minutes later W. Rumble, a transient, was captured by Edwards and two or three neighbors. In justice court here today, Rumble was bound over to the grand jury on a burglary charge with bail set at $500.
    Since last spring, chicken thieves have been making regular visits to his poultry roosts, and 38 chickens were taken. Last Thursday night, seven hens were stolen and last night another visit was being made when Edwards heard the noise.
    He took a shot at the chicken pen and for a time thought he had struck the prowler. The shot attracted the attention of passersby J. C. Berrang, Emery Layton and W. T. Brown. They came over to ascertain the trouble. They accompanied Edwards, a man past 77 years of age, to the door of the pen. The prowler was hidden in a corner and took a powerful swing at Edwards, striking him in the chest in an effort to make his escape. However, with the assistance of the three men Rumble was taken in custody and held until Deputy Sheriff Oscar Dunford arrived on the scene.
    Edwards said today that he attempted to raise his rifle to shoot at close range, but Rumble's pugilistic activities prevented him from shooting.
Medford Mail Tribune, August 12, 1930, page 6


    This seems to be good writing weather. At any rate we are in receipt of another communication today which is not for publication but merely for the editor's information.
    The writer appears greatly exercised over tree sitters, and "the crowd of bums lining the curbs near the Chamber of Commerce building." Instead of picking on a "nice boy" sitting in a tree, Ye Editor is advised to "pick on the tramps and hoodlums who are disgraceful blots on the landscape of the civic center."
    We are always glad of editorial suggestions, but fear we cannot follow this one. As far as the nice boy in the tree is concerned, we are content to let human nature take its course. Moreover, in our opinion, that incident is closed--the play is played out.
    The hoodlums near the Chamber of Commerce are another matter and present a more serious, and more permanent, problem--namely the problem of unemployment. It is not exclusively a Medford problem, nor even a national problem, it is a worldwide problem.
    We have looked over the human exhibit at the Chamber of Commerce building several times. Some of them are pretty hard-looking customers. Others aren't. Many are simply pathetic--tired, discouraged, and unquestionably undernourished. They are near the Chamber of Commerce building simply because that happens to be the headquarters of the federal employment bureau. These poor devils aren't looking for publicity, or easy money, or charity--they don't even want to sit in a tree--they are looking for a job--any sort of a job that will allow them to keep body and soul together.
    Telling them to move on and be quick about it might improve the atmosphere and scenery of our civic center, but it wouldn't solve the problem. This country has its army of unemployed, and that army is going to move where there is a chance to work. This happens to be the hardest time in the Rogue River Valley, and if the present contingent moved on, there would be plenty of others to move in. Relieving the congestion here would simply increase it somewhere else. Until the unemployment problem is treated for what it is, a national problem, no community can escape its share of responsibility, or successfully throw off its burden.
    So we are not going to pick on these "bums" at the corner of Main and Front. We are merely going to repeat what we remarked several weeks ago that the unemployment problem is a real problem, and now is the time for every individual who intends to have some work done, to start on it, and do his share toward relieving the situation, not so much to benefit the transient or outside worker, as the unemployed at home.
Medford Mail Tribune, August 14, 1930, page 4


To the Editor:
    My heartfelt thanks to you for your splendid editorial in Thursday's issue of the Mail Tribune in defense of the "tramps and hoodlums" who have found refuge in the "civic center." The majority of these men are probably tramps from necessity, not from choice. I for one am glad to know that these men have found a place where they can be comfortable, at least as comfortable as men can be when their stomachs as well as their pocketbooks are empty.
    Telling them to move on would be another example of "man's inhumanity to man." How vastly better it would be for us to open a soup kitchen where these unemployed could be sure of at least one square meal a day.
"Communications," Medford Mail Tribune, August 18, 1930, page 7


To the Editor:
    My heartfelt thanks to you for your splendid editorial in Thursday's issue of the Mail Tribune in defense of the "tramps and hoodlums" who have found refuge in the "civic center." The majority of these men are probably tramps from necessity, not from choice. I for one am glad to know that these men have found a place where they can be comfortable, at least as comfortable as men can be when their stomachs as well as their pocketbooks are empty.
    Telling them to move on would be another example of "man's inhumanity to man." How vastly better it would be for us to open a soup kitchen where these unemployed could be sure of at least one square meal a day.
"Communications," Medford Mail Tribune, August 18, 1930, page 7


To the Editor:
    In yesterday's Tribune an article appeared where a lady had a wonderful inspiration regarding the men congregated around the chamber of commerce building. Her heart seemed to bleed with sympathy regarding those men. Now no one denies that this is a time of slack employment throughout the entire country. I own a small eating place and have plenty of opportunity to come in contact with this class of men.
    They are, as a general class, a set of floaters, and why the people of any community should finance a man, or set of men, to travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific and back again is more than I know.
    Here is a typical case: A man came in the restaurant and was hungry. We gave him something to eat. Thirty days ago he had been at Wichita, Kansas, making $25 to $40 per week; had $65 in cash. He started west, used up the $65, left his car in California and hiked up here. He seemed to be surprised there was no job available.
    What this class of men will have to learn is that the rolling stone "no ketchum the moss," that it takes money to travel, in fact the government says 7¢ per mile for auto. Also that in times of depression one place is as good as another.
    Who was serving soup for Ezra Meeker, the '49ers, the pioneers that settled Kansas and Nebraska and withstood the hot winds, grasshoppers and 57 other pests? They were sturdy, self-reliant, with a definite purpose in view, namely establishing a home. They were not running from place to place, expecting to find a bonanza.
    The only people that ever accomplished anything are the ones that stuck to something for a long term of years.
"Communications," Medford Mail Tribune, August 19, 1930, page 7

    His pack appeared worn and dirty, but heavy as he moved slowly down the street this morning with worn soles dragging on the pavement. The face which showed beneath his cap, set low on his forehead, was expressionless except for lines of fatigue beneath his eyes. He approached a group of job seekers, gathered near the fountain by the Chamber of Commerce building.
    He stopped, mumbling to one, then another. No one heeded his plea. He started on down the street, readjusting his pack with a slight shrug of the shoulders.
    Then from the back of the small crowd a voice called "Hey!" The weary one turned as a man with weather-worn face and grimy clothes approached him and thrust a hand into a ragged pocket. He drew out a small coin and handed it to the "weary," who took it , mumbled, and started on down the street. The donor edged back into the group of unemployed.
Medford Mail Tribune, September 26, 1930, page 5

    The rush of hungry, homeless men to the police station in quest of a place to sleep continues night after night. As many as twenty indigents, and always at least eight, are allowed to sleep in the city jail, police say. In the jail the unfortunates at least find warmth, blankets and a place out of the rain.
    Police believe that it is wiser to permit the down-and-outers to slumber in the jail, rather than have them wandering about the streets of the city all night.
    Most of the men are not criminals in any sense of the word, just hungry, dirty, unfortunate men in search of a place to earn a living. As it is, they get little out of life, and suffer the utmost in misery, in so-called prosperous America.
    It is said that Medford sees little of the vast number of unemployed throughout the nation, as most of the unfortunates travel by the other railway line through Klamath Falls, and into California.
    Last night an aged married couple entered the police station in search of something to eat and a place to sleep. They had walked the streets for hours, and had found no aid. Finally, as a last resort, they went to the police station. They were traveling from California to the home of a relative at Burns, where they expected to be allowed to pass the winter. Hitchhiking along the Pacific Highway had proven a slow mode of travel for the unfortunates.
Medford Daily News, December 14, 1930, page 5


    Registration of unemployed men of Jackson County, for work on the state highway widening projects, initiated as a means of furnishing relief, continued briskly today, with close to 30 men registering with the county court.
    C. H. Armstrong, resident engineer of the state highway commission, reported that about 20 men had put to work since Monday, neediest cases receiving preference. At present the work is not thoroughly organized, but the state highway commission is working on a systemized plan.
    It is planned to place the men at work on both the Pacific and Crater Lake highways in Jackson County, widening the narrow places. Similar work has started in Douglas and many of the Willamette Valley counties.
    One ironclad rule is being adhered to in assigning work: Those employed must be married men and bona fide residents of Jackson County. Single men with dependents will be given consideration after married men with dependents have all been cared for.
    Two single men, who have been residents of the county since last May, were denied their applications. A number of transient laborers met the same refusal.
    "The single man gets just as hungry as the married man with dependents," said County Judge Alex Sparrow this morning, "but he has no hungry children. He has nobody to hustle a meal for but himself.
    "We are not going to provide work for transients. The county judges and highway commission specifically agreed to this. They felt that transients should have remained at home in the first place. The present depression will be something of a blessing if it weeds out part of the auto tramps. I have hopes that a few, after they have starved all winter, will have sense enough to settle down and go to work, and not spend their last dollar for gasoline."   
Medford Mail Tribune, December 17, 1930, page 7