"The West is the only part o' this country worth much, I guess," he said, "'n' I'm goin' out there to look around. Here in the East ev'rything is in the hands o' the rich. There's no chance for a young fellow here in Ohio any more." I asked him whether he was not able to make a good living when he remained at work. "Oh, I can live all right," he replied, "but this country's got to give me somethin' more'n a livin', before I'll work hard month in and month out. I ain't goin' to slave for anybody. I got as good a right's the next man to enjoy myself, 'n' when I want to go off on a trip I'm goin'." I suggested that this was hardly the philosophy of men who made and saved a great deal of money. "Well, I ain't goin' to work hard all my life 'n' have nothin' but money at the end of it. I want to live as I go along, 'n' I like hittin' the road ev'ry now and then." "How long do you generally keep a job?" "If I get a good one in the fall I generally keep it till spring, but the year round I guess I change places ev'ry two or three months." "How much of a loaf do you have between jobs?" "It depends. Last year I was nearly four months on the hog once,--couldn't get anything. As a general thing, though, I don't have to wait over six weeks if I look hard." "Are you going to look hard out West?" "Well, I'm goin' to size up the country, 'n' if I like it, why, I guess I'll take a job for awhile. I got enough money to keep me in tobacco 'n' booze for a few weeks, 'n' it don't cost me anything to ride or eat." "How do you manage?" "I hustle for my grub the way hoboes do,--it's easy enough." "I should think a workingman like yourself would hate to do that." "I used to a little, but I got over it. You got to help yourself in this world, 'n' I'm learnin' how to do it, too." The nationality of the "gay-cats" is mainly American. A large number have parents who were born in Europe, but they themselves were born in this country, and there are thousands whose families have been settled here for several generations.