Green Giraffes, 4-Tailed Elephants, Haunt the Victim of Wood Alcohol

1920

BY DR. BEN L. REITMAN

Wood alcohol is one of the most dangerous poisons known to science. Because it is one of the best known poisons in the world, people are losing their fear of it.

Thousands of persons in the United States probably have drunk it in the last three months. But the main reason that we are having so many cases of wood alcohol poisoning lately is that prohibition has only become a reality in the last thirty days. Previous to that time it was possible to buy a drink almost anywhere for 25, 35 or 50 cents. Today it costs 75 cents or a dollar, a prohibitive price for the poorer workers. They have sought a substitute.

Fatal Dose Is Eight Ounces

They have tried what we call "wood alcohol." The fatal dose of pure wood alcohol is eight ounces. The denatured alcohol which they are purchasing in drug stores, etc., that is, the great part of it, is grain alcohol diluted with 10 per cent of wood alcohol. Thus a man would have to drink a fairly large quantity of this denatured alcohol to obtain a fatal result.

The bum, the hobo, the man who just must have a drink, gets a bottle of denatured alcohol and goes into a saloon. He orders a glass of near beer. When he gets it he pours in an ounce of the alcohol — and gets a kick.

A few doses of this and he begins to get drunk. Then he gradually increases the dose. of alcohol until he is drinking it virtually straight.

Sees Four-tailed Elephants

A man doesn't necessarily have to drink a fatal dose to suffer ill effects. He suffers from strange hallucinations after but a short bout. But the major part of the cases we have heard about recently have been those where drinking the poison has been persisted in for two or three days.

There is a peculiar psychology in the effects of the poison. The victim sees four-tailed elephants and green giraffes and all the other different animals so long associated with delirium tremens. And then there is a peculiar half-blindness. The victim looks at you, but he can see only half of you — the other half, say the upper half, simply dissolves into space.

Regulations for sale? It would be a hard matter. Wood and denatured alcohol now is a commercial commodity widely used in industries the nation over. The people are able to buy it in department stores, in drug stores, in paint stores, and stories have been told of chauffeurs getting it out of the radiators of their automobiles.

A man might be able to drink a small dose of wood alcohol daily for some considerable time — but he shouldn't forget that it will get him in the end — and its after effects don't wear off easily and sometimes are incurable.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 1.


Lightning Plays Queer Prank

1920

MARIETTA, Pa., Jan. 1. — During a heavy electrical storm a bolt of lightning struck the residence of Charles Spanger and knocked out a beam in the middle of his garret without tearing a hole in the roof. The outside was considerably damaged. Fire ensued, but the downpour of rain extinguished it.

A Pair of Hobos – Interfering with Switchman, Found Guilty

Ohio, 1894

A Pair of Hobos

On Trial for Interfering with a Switchman in the Lake Shore Yards

Two men named James Johnson and Thomas McLaughlin were on trial in the Common Pleas court nearly the whole of Thursday on an indictment charging them with interfering with a switchman in the manipulation of switches and signals.

Johnson is a middle aged man who hails from Buffalo and says he is employed in erecting telegraph poles. He also claims to be something of a pugilist, and his looks support his claim. McLaughlin is a younger fellow of 21, who says he is a waiter on board lake steamers, is an innocent looking fellow whose own statements that he has been arrested for vagrancy and drunkenness would astonish any ordinary person not accustomed to criminal court scenes.

The evidence showed that on the night of September 13 a young man named Kimball, who is employed as night switchman in the Lake Shore yards, went to turn the switches and also the target signals which are used to let the trains of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad company enter the Lake Shore depot, when he was confronted by the prisoners who told him they were running things. There were three other hobos in company with the accused. The switchman knocked down one of the men with his lamp and brushed the other aside, thus being enabled to make the switches. There was some delay, however, and a west bound train was detained temporarily. The men were arrested late at night, one while asleep on the target platform and the other while in a drunken sleep in a lot adjoining the railroad right of way.

Mr. W. W. Bowen assisted Prosecutor Mackey for the State and Judge Colver defended the accused. The case went to the jury at 5:30 and an hour later a verdict of guilty was returned.

—The Sandusky Register, Sandusky, Ohio, Dec. 21, 1894, p. 5.

England's Hoboes Are Super-Tramps

1913

ENGLAND'S HOBOES ARE SWELLS

SUPER-TRAMP NO COMMON BO

LONDON, March 1. -- England has discovered that among the 60,000 tramps that adorn her countryside are some sure-enough aristocrats who, patriots believe, would take a lot of beating.

England, in fact, claims to have evolved the super-tramp; a hobo who is shared and manicured as carefully as a west end "nut," and whose dandyism lacks nothing but spats and a crease down his trousers. One such Beau Brummel of the turnpike -- whose cash capital considered on one cent -- leaned against the dock rail of a London police court in an attitude of Piccadilly grace, the other day, and smiled languidly while a police sergeant recited from his note book as follows:

"I found upon the prisoner, your worship, the following articles:

"Razor in case, leather back shaving mirror, shaving brush (badger hair), tablet of Windsor soap, bone nailbrush, case of needles, spool of cotton, thimble, table knife, dessert spoon."

Referring to this case, a Scotland Yard inspector with whom the writer talked, declared that searching an English tramp was "like dipping into a lucky back," and instanced a woman named Willis, who was arrested for vagrancy a short time ago. To the outward eye, she simply was a homeless woman, without money, food or property, but closer examination revealed a leather belt under her waist to which were attached, with a neat row of hooks, an equipment of knives and forks, a collapsible frying pan, changes of clothing, needlework, a purse containing $6.80 and a bag of food.

This outfit, moreover, said the Scotland Yard man, was not luxurious but primitive compared with the portables carried by many British "wearies." One connoisseur is known who brews exquisite China tea under Surrey hedges, while there is another known to the brotherhood as "the doctor," whose luggage include a beautiful little medicine chest which he hides in thick grass or under a heap of stones before he knocks for admission to the nearest "casual ward."

Some British hoboes are ardent collectors. They collect everything except work. The police at Kingston-on-Thames discovered a tramp a while ago, who was traveling about with a handsome kit-bag. They found in it, among other things, 61 lead pencils, four pairs of spectacles, two table knives, three linen collars, three boxes of matches, a looking glass, a tooth brush, two pairs of laces, a handsome magnifying glass, and a silver-mounted pipe.

The owner of this collection proudly denied that he was a peddler, declaring indignantly that he had "never fallen so low." Money he had none, but every now and then a tramp is discovered in possession of a sum that none of us would be sorry to have to his credit in the bank.

One such Monte Cristo among hoboes was Patrick Halloran, who, after touring the beauty spots of Ireland for 35 years, was discovered at Midleton, in County Cork, with $575 in his possession, all in golden half-sovereigns. This money was neatly piled up in two tin canisters on a wheelbarrow which Halloran had been pushing before him for many years. He had a collapsible kitchen and a collapsible bed on his wheelbarrow, too!

Then there was a queer character, known as the "eccentric duchess," who sought the aid of the police at Kettering to find shelter for the night. This "duchess" was as tattered and torn as the man in "The House That Jack Built," and her personal baggage consisted of only two brown paper parcels. When these were opened however, 344 bright sovereigns worth $5 each flowed out on the inspector's desk among the pens and ink and memoranda.

--Nevada State Journal, Reno, Nevada, March 3, 1913, page 3.

Herds of Hobos, Tramps, Bums, Idlers Cleared From Town

Huron, South Dakota, 1909--

City Briefs:
Herd of Hobos Driven Out, Big Hail Proves Useful

Wednesday morning the police made a big cleaning up around the yards of the Chicago & Northwestern, where a herd of hobos have been taking their ease among the freight cars. The Chief of Police stated that about 40 bums were gathered into the fold and afterward were shipped bag and baggage from the city. This is the time of the year when this class flocks into the farming states of the northwest under the pretense of being farm hands and harvesters, and the summary disposal of this large number of these most undesirable citizens is a good thing for the town, and for their energy the police are deserving of commendation.

E. T. Gorsuch went to his farm near Hitchcock Friday. At the time of the storm of one week ago he and his wife were at their farm. The hail at that point fell so fast that one could not see through it. The hail stones were not large, but nearly every chicken was killed in that neighborhood. A grove of cottonwood trees were entirely stripped of leaves, and all crops were destroyed. Worse than in many places, the corn stalks were cut off about a foot and a half above the ground. The wind moved Mr. Gorsuch's large barn, which is very heavily built, eight inches on its foundation at one end, and put it out of plumb. The amount of the hail may be judged from the fact that twenty four hours after it fell he gathered sufficient hail in a protected corner near the barn and froze ice cream. Several of his neighbors' barns were blown to the ground.

--Weekly State Spirit and Dakota Huronite, Huron, South Dakota, August 19, 1909, page 2.


Another herd, maybe some of the same hobos...

DRIVING OUT THE TRAMPS.

Authorities at Aberdeen Roused to Action by the Assault on W. J. Brown of Brookings

Aberdeen, S. D., Aug. 9.—Roused to retaliatory action by the petty crimes, which have been committed by tramps for a week or more, culminating in the slugging and robbery of W. J. Brown of Brookings on Wednesday night, orders have been issued to the police department by Chief Zirbes to rid the city of the tramps and to keep them out. Men seeking legitimate work are welcome. All others must stay away.

The first action in this campaign to drive out the men without visible means of support or inclination to exertion, was taken Thursday night about 4 o'clock, when Officers Daly, Culhane and Pierson and Special Officer Savage made a raid of the box cars and cattle pens in the Northwestern railroad yards.

The officers rounded up 153 hobos in the early dawn, routing them from their slumbers in holes and corners in the open air. They were herded together and driven in a body from the city. Down the Northwestern track as far as the Lockington packing house the band of idlers was sent on its way.

--Weekly State Spirit and Dakota Huronite, Huron, South Dakota, August 19, 1909, page 7.

Runaway Girl Arrested, Doesn't Want To Be A Hobo

Indianapolis, 1912
----------
RUNAWAY GIRL CAUGHT

Police Arrest Her as a Hobo in the City of Indianapolis

Indianapolis, Aug. 24. - Oro Storts, 17 years old, a dark-haired girl, was found with Thomas White, 19 years old, in a box car in the Norwood railroad yards by Bicycle Policemen Hartsell and Chitwood. Oro had just changed men's clothes for her own clothing and, she said, had decided not to be a hobo.

Her home is at Chillicothe, O., where she ran away several weeks ago. She reached Indianapolis two days ago and met White on the circle. Both were arrested on loitering charges.

Hartsell and Chitwood were sent to the yards on a report from Norwood residents that a woman and a man were living in a box car, and it was feared the woman was being forcibly detained there. The girl denied this, however, after being taken to Central police station.

She said she had tried to obtain work and she broke down and sobbed when she told her reason for running away from home. She asserted she had been brutally mistreated by her father.

--The Evening Observer, Dunkirk, New York, August 24, 1912, page 1.

Breaking a Hobo's Heart

Manager Gus Hartz was standing near the opera house box office when one of two panhandlers who had entered the lobby approached him, and, holding out an addressed and sealed envelope, begged for the price of a postage stamp.

"It's for me mudder, boss," he sniveled.

"You'se wouldn't turn down er guy fer de price er de stamp, would youse?"

"Never," said the manager, deftly grasping the envelope and throwing it through the box office window. "Here, Fred," addressing himself to Treasurer Fred Coan, "stamp this and have it mailed."

The velocity of the proceeding fairly took the panhandler's breath away. Then, backing away to where his partner awaited him, he whispered, "Nothin' doing, bo -- the guy's wise." -- Cleveland Leader.

--The Indiana Democrat, Indiana, Pennsylvania, May 10, 1911, page 7.

Comment: This is a story that was probably the 1911 equivalent of a much forwarded email. The panhandler is trying to get some money without working, playing on the sympathy of a stranger for his dear mudder. Instead, he's shown up, thwarted, exposed. The word "sniveled" is interesting. We definitely know he's up to no good.