The Hobo: The Sociology of the Homeless ManAnderson, Nels
General
The Hobo: The Sociology of the Homeless Man
Anderson, Nels
Chicago (Ill.) -- Social conditions; Tramps
Dragstedt is a man of wide and varied experience, but he seldom can
be persuaded to talk about himself. He did his bit in the late war
and went as far as France. Most hobos who have been across like
to tell about it, but not he. But Dragstedt talks. He has ideas
and he talks about them. He has a great many ideas, some of them
consistent and others not, but they keep him occupied and he is
generally keeping someone else interested. He is a type of the hobo
intellectual.
As a high brow, Dragstedt is a poet of no mean ability. His poems
either protest against the “system” or idealize tramp life. He is
also an artist. The walls of the “Hobo College” are adorned with
samples of his workmanship such as cartoons and decorated placards.
He has an ambition to become a cartoonist, but he is a hobo, and
hobos are men who will not apply themselves. He has two or three
scenarios that might be developed into fair picture plays, but he
will not go back to them to polish them up. This calls for more
application than he cares to give. In this, again, he is a hobo,
but he does not grieve about that.
CHARLES W. LANGSMAN, EXPONENT OF LOVE
Recently, Superintendent Langsman celebrated his twentieth
spiritual birthday. For twenty years he has been connected with the
Bible Rescue Mission. Before he became converted, to use his words,
he was an “ordinary bad man of the street.” He has lived the life
of the tramp. He knows hobos from the human side. He knows their
weaknesses, their temptations, and their trials. For twenty years
he has worked with them to aid them. Hundreds of men have been
lifted out of the quicksands of a transient and aimless life by
him, while he has inspired thousands to make an effort.
In his official capacity he is the superintendent of the Bible
Rescue Mission. He is also vice-president of the midwest district
of the International Mission Union. To the men on the street he is
known as “Charley.” No mission man in Chicago is better known.
The Bible Rescue Mission is the only one that feeds men the year
around. Mr. Langsman feels that hungry men need food just as much
in summer as in winter. To him feeding is an evidence of the spirit
of Christianity. Because of this policy of feeding, he has been
severely criticized by the homeless men themselves and by missions.
Many of the “bos” say that “Charley” has a “doughnut philosophy.”
They maintain that religion is not worth much if it can only get
into a man’s heart through his stomach. These criticisms come back
to Superintendent Langsman, but they have not changed his policy.
One of Langsman’s hobbies is a homeless man’s picnic each year.
When “Charley” stages a picnic it is a gala day for West Madison
Street. All the “boys” come out for a ride to the country in trucks
furnished by various firms and to eat sandwiches provided by the
churches.
JOHN VAN DE WATER, THE FRIEND OF THE DESERVING
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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