Raymond Bice
Raymond Brice, as a child during the great depression, would hop fright and while doing so, would often run into hobos. The hobos had spots in the railyards where they would gather to avoid detectives and often come into town to work for food. The citizens had no fear of these men because they were jolly people with stories to tell.
Transcript
Location: Northside Railroad Yards, possibly near the modern location of 1736 Credit Union Ct
Raymond Bice: We had a great many experiences, ahh, in the railroad yard and, ah, hopping freight, as they called it. The hobos were every place on it. You would hardly get to hop a freight without, ahh, running into three or four of these men, and they had what they called a jungles, hobo jungles, and, eh, they had, ah, certain spots in the railroad yards to keep away from the dicks as they called it, the railroad detectives. And, ah, they had little cans of soup, you know, and, ah, that sort of thing. And, of course, they would, ah, come uptown begging for food. They would rap on the door asking for, and you would gently, ah, and sometimes your folks, ah oh, let them do a little chore around the house, and give them a sandwich or two to take with them. They never eat them on the premises. They always took them with them. Back to the railroad yards. But, ah, one thing about it, Howard that’s, ah, we never had any fear of these men. I mean, they were just, ahh, the jolly sort of people, ah. Some of them were rather gruff and rough and, ah, of course, eh, they all, ah, were unshaven and ill-clothed, illy-clothed, but they were, ah, friendly. And they always had a story to tell. And we never had any fear of them hitting us over the head or injuring us personally. And, ah, there were never any problems at all that way. Ah, everybody felt safe.