An American Hobo in Europe

onditioned wayfarer. I started out happily enough one fine day at dawn to make the long journey and though I did feel a qualm or two the first few days after leaving Billy, the feeling so

had worked several months I had saved nothing. Anyway, it wasn't safe to travel hobo style with money, for if anyone suspects you

cars are loaded, making the cars as dark as a pocket. When in them one can't see anything and can hardly turn around. There are no conveniences whatever. One must take a sufficiency of supplies with him to last during the trip in the shape of food and water, and one must go unwashed and unkempt during the journey. Lots of hobos travel that way, and think nothing of it, but I didn't care to do so. It is almost as bad, if not worse, than being in jail, for one can take little or no exercise, and the only light and ventilation afforded is from the roof, where there is an aperture about two feet wide, over which there is a sl

fire to the snow sheds in revenge for being put off a train in the lonely mountains. Fires occur in the snow-sheds every year, but of course it is hard to tell who or what starts a fire. The sheds are of wood an

, is the bar and behind it a back bar with the finest of glassware. The liquors are of excellent quality. Opposite the bar, near the wall, are faro and crap tables. At the rear of the long apartment is a horseshoe shaped lunch counter, where the best the market affords can be had at reasonable rates. The bar and restaurant are patronized by gamblers and by outsiders who never gamble. Anyone over the age of twenty-one may step inside and play, and no questions are asked. The crap game is interesting. It is played with dice and anyone may throw the dice. The way some fellows throw them would make a horse laugh. Some throw them with a running fire of conversat

erous, and seem to be just as ready to

and willing to take a chance in the games. Sometimes they win and sometim

nd floor was the saloon and above were the gambling rooms. A pretty tough crowd was in them at the time of my visit and the crowd was so dense it was rathe

aces, but the Reno officers are alert and fearless, and s

pectable people. There are many wholesale and retail establishments in the town; ice plants, machine

of speckled beauties in the shape of mountain trout, flows through the town. Surrounding Reno

ts of the town, and from the looks of things in the vicinity could tell that it was a hobo camping place. Old tin cans were strewn about, and down the bank near the water wa

tricks?" was the greeti

iddlin',"

you bou

for a while," said I. I was cautious and didn't want thi

come from?"

the way from Bloomington, Illinoi', and

? I just came

id; how's thing

andy; ever

d the chap and began to q

h in the cool, swift-flowing river. The river was neither broad nor very deep but so clear that I could see every stone at the bottom of it. Not a fish could I see but doubtless they were plentiful. After

hands. There are extensive cattle corrals about half a mile from the town

he plank in great shape. No harm was done them unless they grew obstreperous, in which case there was a great deal of tail

ot in Reno is a

dest road in the country. It winds around bare mountain sides to a great height and is continually going upward. It was built in the early Bonanza mining days when times were flush and is said to have cost a lot of money. It has paid for itself many times over and

platform of a car taking a little flier to Carson, Virginia City, Washoe, Steamboat Springs or any other place along the line they care to

ght, so I concluded to beat my way out of town on one of them. I noticed that others did it and that it was easy. All a

the blind baggage I found I wasn't the only pebble on the beach for a number of other non-paying passengers were there who must have got on before the train pulled out. There were just seven deadheads on the car, excluding myself, and they were not a bit glad to see me. Seven on the platform of a car is a good many, bu

airly good English: "It's too much

e this; not much! Jump off yourself an

only a pocket knife with me. Even had I been armed what could I have done against seven men in close qu

ut a little cold made them feel like hunting their holes. After riding along for an hour or so through the bare, cheerless plains of Nevada, the e

get off your

the train as soon as she slacked up they'd throw me off. I knew they would do so when opportunity offered, so off I hopped, mad as blazes. As I didn't want to lose my coat I walked back to get it and I had to walk a mile or so to do so.

. In the sage brush, as I walked along, I could hear the sudden whirr of birds as they flew off startled, and

other animals of the same species. One or two coyotes can make more noise than a pack of wolves or dogs. Th

after midnight when I reached it, for there wasn't a soul to b

nd talked to the engineer, who didn't seem averse to a chat. His vigil was a lonely one, and anything to him was agreeable t

ain was made up of closed box-cars and there was no other

rning hours, but luckily I had my overcoat wi

summer time there is dust and heat to contend with, according to how

ht and was glad when day

t a bite of breakfast and a cup of hot coffee, and then the train was off for

e county. It contains about two thousand inhabitants, and used to be as wild and woolly a place as any in the West, but it has tamed down some since. Saloons are plentiful and all drinks are ten cents straight, with no discount for qu

hed to bathe, but the water was so intolerably filthy that I deemed

he robbery a trellis-work of structural iron was put up from the money-counters clear to the ceiling with mere slots for the receiving

ttle town with good people in it, who treated me well. I learned there were some wonderful natural hot springs about a mile or so

ills, at the base of which was a little lake about 100 yards in diameter. The hills we

er was clear and pure as crystal but near the banks were sulphur springs which bub

ater-hole so deep that bottom has never been found, although it has been sounded to a depth of several thousand f

body has never been recovered. I needed a bath myself so I disrobed and plunged in. The water was neither too hot nor too cold but half way between the two. It was

rder towns. The towns were very small, and hardly more than railroad stations. They were composed of a general

a trestle has been built through it, which saves many miles. The trestle is forty or fifty miles long, I should judge, and as I clung tig

hed Ogden, the end of the S. P. line. As funds were l

s, the Wasatch range, and contains about 50,000 people. It has a Mormon tabernacle, tithe-

uthouse to bunk in. The terms suited me. The board was plentiful and good, and the sleeping quarters comfortable. I never saw a man about the place and wondered whether the lady was married or not. She was old enough to be. I knew she was a

week days and one for Sundays, but if the mother-in-law is thrown in, I pass. One good healthy mother-in-law of the right sort can make it mighty interesting for a fellow, but a bunch of them; whew! Excuse me! During my stay in Ogden I didn't see any funny business going on, and wouldn't have suspected there was any, but from what I could learn on the outside, there was something doing. I saw lots of rosy

two long narrow ledges of rocks that begin high up on a mountain side and run down almost to the bottom of the mountain where the car tracks are. These rocks form two continuous lines that run down side by side with a space of several feet between them, and they are rough and raggedy on top. Imagine two rails with about four or five feet of space

y plains of Nevada, and I appreciated it. A little variety is the spice

ng watches of the night were dreary. A companion then would have been agreeable. I missed little Billy. At a small station in Wyoming called Rock Creek, I was put off the train one afternoon and as I hadn't a dime left, I

ked a chap who loo

g with hair o

cattle?" as

d at the busine

ou do your

alifo

at twenty dollars per month and chuck, and while on the range my bedroom was to be a large one-all Wyoming. It didn't take the cowboys long to get on to the fact that I was a tenderfoot, b

nding cattle just then, that didn't matter so much. I got on to their way of herding quickly enough, and that was all that was ne

day long. At night after feeding, the cattle rested. On dark nights they generally squatted down contentedly and chewed the cud, but on a moonlit night they would keep on their feet and feed. The very first moonlit night I was put on watch I got into trouble. The cattle arose to feed, a

camp and aroused the sleeping cowboys. They knew instinctively what the trouble was and got out of their warm blankets cussing to beat the band. They mounted their ponies and off we all rode to gather the scattered herd. It was no picnic. There were four of us, and as the cattle had strayed

fter the steer like a shot, for it knew its business, and got in range in a jiffy. Out flew the rope and settled around the steer's

e irate cowboy. "I guess you won't do it

e that I didn't understand my business; that I didn't know any more about herding cattle than a kid; that I had lied to him about being a cowboy and that I had better skip. He cursed me up and down and kept up his abuse so long that I finally got tired of it and fired back. That made matters worse. We soon were at it, tooth and

, you-,"

he, and one of the blows I put in was a tremendous one, for it knocked him down and h

uick; if you don't, I'll beat the life out of you," yelled I.

id me off a

on the roof; take the elevator"; "Every time you take a drink things look different"; "In God we trust; all others must pay cash"; "We lead; others follow"; "Razors put in order good as new," etc., etc. The young fellow told me th

he address of the wholesaler in Omaha where I could obtain all the signs I wanted. The little scheme looked good to me but unfortunately I had only two dollars in my possession. This I offered him for forty signs with the name of the wholesaler thrown in. He accepted. I soon found that the little Israelite had told me the truth, for the signs

learned that I could buy all the signs I wanted in hundred l

the signs in small towns and cities, and found little difficulty in doing so. No more handouts for yours truly, no more wood-ch

crossed the muddy-looking Missouri River on a bridge while riding the bumpe

coaches and climbed upon the roof of the car, where I rode along for many a mile. Bye-and-bye, however, the wind became so keen, cold and cutting, and the rush of air so strong, that I became numbed and was obliged to climb

every seat has an occupant, but he and the brakeman usually go to the smoker and sit down there. I was in the coach next to the smoker, and later on, I saw the conductor coming around again for ticke

as usual, but when he came to the rear coach I was in he locked the rear door behind him. It was through this door I had been making my exit. He then passed slowly through the train again from the front looking at the hat checks. When I saw him coming and the brakeman following in the rear I tried the usual tactics but found the door locked. I was trapped. The conductor came up to me and seeing no hat-check asked me

he was bluffing, but I got off at the next station just the same. I concluded I

k Different," and it made quite a hit in the saloons, but I could only get ten cents for it. The Chicago saloon keepers wanted all the money to come their way. In the smaller towns this sign sold readi

d showed them the signs I was selling to help pay expenses. Some laughed, and told me to "git," but one or two sternly told me they had a mind to run me in. They didn't, though. I got along all right as far as Detroit, where I crossed over to Windsor, Canada, on a boat which ferried the whol

t 25,000 people at the Falls called "Nia

f which I forget. It is not nearly so large as the city on t

dollar are there, and so are hotels, boarding and rooming houses, plenty of stores, an extensive government reservation called Prospect Park, a Ferris Wheel, Shoot-the-Chutes, candy and ice cream booths, a ho

at I remained there nearly a week

sweet life I did. I saw them early, late and often, and every time I saw them they made my hair rise higher and higher. They are stupendous, trem

t twenty-five miles from Buffalo the Niagara River enters rocky canyons, which are formed by Goat Island, and which divide the river. The rushing, roaring and leaping of the waters on either side of the island is tre

o that one part of the stream shoots along the Ame

to the Canadian. I saw the falls from both sides, and when viewed from the Canadian side they are indescribably grand. No words of mine can describe them. You can hear the thunde

the waters take their tumble they flow on placidly enough until they strike another narrow gorge or canyon, about a mile below

itors don't care, for they go there to spend their money, anyway. Some do care, however, for their means are limited. The grafters, who are not only hackmen, but storekeepe

o the Falls every year, as I said, and a milli

can make money. I am not now speaking of the grafters, but the manufacturers who have established factories along the banks of the Niagara River and utilize its waters for running their machinery, etc. Th

rendering navigation impracticable. The trolley line running from Buffalo to the Falls is one of the best patronized roads in the country, and is crowded every day and overcrowded on holidays and Sundays. The fare is fifty cents the round trip and the scenery, through which a part of the road passes, is very fine. The road runs pretty close to the Ni

number of very large manufacturing plants, which

up in G. She's a beaut, and no mistake. Delaware Avenue is a corker. Imagine a thoroughfare about 150 to 200 feet wide, with driveways in the center shaded by fine old trees, and ample sidewalks also shaded by fine trees. Along the sidewalks, but set far back, are

like their city, lovely, and I speak of them as I found them. There are many Canadians in the city (for Canada is only across the Niagara River and can b

l in the saloons along the water front and on Main Street, the leading thoroughfare. Lots of people laughe

eir queer accent. It is nothing like the American, but peculiarly

had been there a day or so I became acquainted with a young girl whose front name was Rose.

its effects. She craved chocolates but was too poor to buy them herself. I pitied her. She told me in her frank and artless way that she had thought a great deal of a certain young fellow, but he w

think he'll come back to me?" she asked

Rose," responded I, with considerab

t he writ

ain't much of a writer," said I.

's true," sai

nt to Delaware Park and spent several whole afternoons rowing on the little lake. We fed the ducks, walked in shady groves, and the time flew swiftly by in her company. During the morning I sold signs and in the afternoon I went with Rosie. I put in a whole lot of time in Buffalo with her, more than I should have done. One day I told her that I would have to go and then there was a k