Richmond Press, Inc.                          Richmond, VA                          1938

The Hobo Gang Again

An echo came of our account of the Hobo gang, set out above.

(By the way and before we go any further, the name Hobo, as applied to that old Richmond gang, has no connection whatever with the modern word, hobo, applied to tramps.  Nobody in Richmond at that time had ever heard the word; and it is thought that the boys applied it to themselves for want of a better title.)

Tom Walsh, who was for many years the keeper of Gamble's Hill Park, told us that he was well acquainted with those boys and remembered them with a great deal of kindness.  They were mischievous, it is true, but not vicious.  They would play all sorts of pranks around the Park and he would sometimes have to chase them (to their great delight); but again, if they saw him laboring at the grass-cutter-he had no assistants those days-they would cry: "Mr. Walsh, let us cut it for you." and take a turn each at the grass-cutter.

Or, if he should say: "Now, boys, I've got to go down town.  For goodness sake, don't do anything while I'm away," they'd answer: "All right, Mr. Walsh, we'll wait till you get back." And they always kept the truce, showing the finest sense of honor.

Once they captured a wagon.  They hitched themselves up to it, like horses, some eighteen or twenty, while a driver sat on the seat with driver's reins, improvised, in his hands, and crying: "Gee! Wo-hah!" et cetera.  Some six of seven rode in the wagon, as passengers.  After running it around the hill for a time, shouting and hurrahing, they unhitched themselves and pushed the old wagon down the hill, on the Fourth Street side.