The Tramp Who Tried to Outsmart the Law
A wandering man thought he had convinced a police captain to buy him a free meal, only to find the ‘restaurant’ was the city jail kitchen.
James Tracy, a professional hobo, arrested by Captain Read this morning, is a very smart man. He even admits, when pressed, that he has been in the business longer than most of them, and that when it comes to 'peddling hot air,' he has the rest of them beaten a city block. But this morning, Tracy was caught at his own game, and by a policeman. Captain Read found Tracy begging on the avenue. He talked kindly to the man, who said he had not had breakfast, and asked him if he wouldn't come to the 'restaurant around the corner.' Talking incessantly of his troubles, Tracy complied, and finally walked into the kitchen at the city jail. After the captain had left him, the man told Jimmy Shiel, the cook, that he wasn't hungry and that he had just 'handed it to the big guy so he wouldn't get dropped into jail.' Read happened to hear the man and gave the jailer whispered orders to place Thomas behind the bars as soon as he finished eating. Thomas admitted later that he had firmly believed his game was going to work.
“He even admits, when pressed, that he has been in the business longer than most of them, and that when it comes to 'peddling hot air,' he has the rest of them beaten a city block.”
The criminalization of vagrancy was a standard tool in early 20th-century civic governance, often used to clear streets of transient populations. This story highlights the adversarial relationship between the unhoused and local law enforcement in the Pacific Northwest.
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