The Autobiography of a Super-TrampDavies, W. H. (William Henry)
General
The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp
Davies, W. H. (William Henry)
Davies, W. H. (William Henry), 1871-1940; Poets, English -- 20th century -- Biography; Tramps -- Biography
We loafed all day in the different railway stations, in each of which
was kept a warm comfortable room for the convenience of passengers.
Although we were passengers of another sort, and stole rides on the
trains without a fraction of payment to the company, we boldly made
ourselves at home in these places, being mistaken for respectable
travellers, who were enjoying the comforts for which we paid.
Sometimes a station master would look hard on us, suspecting us for
what we were, but he was very diffident about risking a question,
however much he was displeased at seeing us in comfortable possession
of the seats nearest to the stoves. Towards evening we made
application for lodgings at the local jail, at which place we would be
accommodated until the following morning. I was now without money,
with the exception of that which was concealed and reserved for the
most hazardous part of the journey, which would be its western end.
Now, in all these jails we were searched and examined before being
admitted for a night's shelter, but often in a very indifferent
manner. One night we arrived at a small town where a double hanging
was to take place in the yard of the jail early the next morning. A
woman, it seems, had called on her lover to assist in the murder of
her husband, which had been brutally done with an axe, for which crime
both had been pronounced guilty and condemned to die. Thousands of
people had flocked in from the neighbouring country, which in this
province of Ontario was thickly settled, and a large number of plain
clothes detectives had been dispatched from the cities, there being
supposed some attempt might be made at rescue, owing to one of the
condemned being a woman. We arrived at this town early in the
afternoon, and were surprised at the unusual bustle and the many
groups of people assembled in the main thoroughfares. Thinking the
town contained, or expected, some attraction in the way of a circus or
menagerie, we expressed little curiosity, but returned at once to the
railway station, intending to possess its most comfortable seats
against all comers, until the approach of darkness, when we would then
make application at the jail for our night's accommodation. When this
time came, we marched straight to the jail, and boldly hammered its
door for admittance. It was at once answered by a police officer, to
whom we explained our wants, and he, without much ado, invited us
indoors. Expecting the usual questions, and being prepared with the
usual answers--expecting the usual indifferent search, and having
pipe, tobacco and matches artfully concealed in our stockings--we were
somewhat taken by surprise to find a large number of officers, who all
seemed to show an uncommon interest in our appearance. The officer,
who was examining us previous to making us comfortable for the night,
had finished this part of the business to his own satisfaction, when
one of these detectives stepped forward, and said--"We cannot admit
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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