Cold Weather Brings Tramps

COLD WEATHER BRINGS TRAMPS

SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED ON THE STREETS.

Their Proper Disposal Is a Serious Problem For City Authorities.

The problem of the disposal tramps presented itself Monday to the city and county authorities more seriously than ever before. The reasons for this are at once manifest, when the condition of the country at large and especially of our largo cities is taken into consideration. Tramps are beginning to flock into the smaller cities in large numbers and many were seen in Ann Arbor this morning. A prominent citizen said to the Argus Monday that tramps were able to beg from a dollar and a half to two dollars a day here, while in the cities they are unable to get anything. The big barn west of the Athletic Field on the land owned by Mr. Lawrence, has long been a rendezvous for tramps during both winter and summer. It was discovered today that a gang of no less than six had been using the barn for headquarters during the entire summer. Something of the kind was suspected when the barn was cleared out for hay and straw about a mouth ago, but now the barn has been filled the tramps are evidently satisfied with the bedding and intend to make their home there for the rest of the winter. But they will not do it if the officers are able to catch them and this they think they will be able to accomplish in short order.

Said another citizens on the question:

"We can't let these tramps wander about our streets begging and run the risk of their usual mischief, but we can manage to spend good money to take care of them in our jail."

While the tramp has become to be the least dreaded of all law breakers and supposed to be the least dangerous, it is perhaps a wrong impression. To illustrate, take the example of a great railway wreck, in which hundreds of lives are lost. Who caused it? A tramp had been up to his usual game of taking the packing out of an axle box and used it for fuel in cooking. The axle became heated, snapped and hence the wreck. This is but one of the apparently slight but really dreadful things the tramp is wont to do.