Vast Army of Weary Willies Find Their Way To Racine

Racine, Wisconsin, 1915--

Members of the police department agree that just now a larger number of vagrants and tramps infest the city than was ever known before. They come from Chicago, Milwaukee and other cities and pretend that they are in search of employment, but the majority of them would not work "on a bet." These fellows seek shelter at the Wisconsin street tramp house and the hard luck stories told would fill a big book. Usually they claim to have a wife and children in some distant city suffering for the want of the necessities of life, while they are out seeking something to do. Of course they always walk into town, when the truth is they steal rides on freight or passenger trains.

Some nights as high as forty can be seen sleeping on the plank beds in the Wisconsin street abode. When released in the morning the majority hike for the back doors of homes and beg for breakfast. They tell housekeepers that they have not had a morsel to eat for from twenty-four to forty-eight hours and are fast starving to death. Usually a warm breakfast is served and a nice little paper of food put up for lunch while they are traveling the highways looking for a job.

Only yesterday morning a citizen offered to pay not less than five strong and able bodied fellows 25 cents an hour to shovel snow. Two of the men took shovels and after starting in quit before the sidewalk was half cleaned. The other three complained that they were ill and unable to do such hard work.

On the other hand, many men who call at the police office for shelter are unfortunate and only too willing to work and to do anything to earn an honest living. It is this class of fellows who suffer on account of the actions of the disreputable and tricky vags. It should be a stone pile or workhouse for the dishonest crowd and kindness and help to the worthy -- but discrimination is hard work.

Although Judge Smieding sentences these unworthy tramps to the county jail for from three to five days' solitary confinement, they seem to come back every week or two and often flatly deny that they have ever been arrested before.

On Main and Sixth streets these fellows haunt the dark doorways; they linger close to some of the churches on Sunday morning and beg for nickels and dimes, and, if successful, nine out of ten of them get into a sample room as fast as possible and call for liquor. It is seldom that one of them spends the money for food.

Chicago, Milwaukee, and other cities have ruled against the imported tramp, that is, the tramp and vag who is placed on a train and shipped from other towns.

There is no doubt but that a good per cent of the human wrecks who come here are chased from other cities, in fact placed on trains and sent out of town in order to get rid of them.

More than one-half of the robberies in boarding houses and farm residences are committed by this class of men. They sneak in, steal a suit of clothing or any other article of value, get away, travel to another city and do the same thing.

--The Racine Journal-News, Racine, Wisconsin, February 2, 1915, page 1.