Hobo's life Mystery Cache

The name "Hobo" first started appearing in the early 1800's. Before the Civil War many hobos had taken to the rails as a way of life. Around the time of the Civil War, railroads were being built an astonishing rate and in the early 1870's there were between 50,000 and 60,000 miles of track interwoven throughout the United States. During the early days late 1880's a depressed economy was certainly prevalent, times were hard and hoboes took to the rails in great numbers, hitchhikers were also increasing, nobody had any money to go anywhere and pay the ticket to get there.

By the 1930's this had grown to about 241,000 miles of track and the trains were running to all the bustling markets, Chicago, Michigan and from all points south to move raw goods to the industrial northern areas, hauling cattle grain and everything else imaginable. Some during the early days would say that the hobo was one into doing a lot of bad things, stealing and you name it., that they would derail trains and take over the entire train. But in the rural communities people would help them and give them jobs during the harvest time.

Every hobo had a thing that he do real well, repair shoes, make wire fruit bowls and he sure could hoe a garden for a little something to eat. Many could play good music with a guitar or harmonica, or some other musical instruments. It was not uncommon to see a hobo standing in the rear of a house drinking a cup of coffee and eating a sandwich, standing up, then doing a little chore for the donor of the coffee and food.

To cope with the difficulty of hobo life, hobos developed a system of symbols, or a code. Hobos would write this code with chalk or coal to provide directions, information, and warnings to other hobos. Some signs included "turn right here", "beware of hostile railroad police", "dangerous dog", "food available here", and so on. For instance:

• A cross signifies "angel food", that is, food served to the hobos after a sermon.
• A triangle with hands signifies that the homeowner has a gun.
• A horizontal zigzag signifies a barking dog.
• A square missing its top line signifies it is safe to camp in that location.
• A top hat and a triangle signify wealth.
• A spearhead signifies a warning to defend oneself.
• A circle with two parallel arrows means to get out fast, as hobos are not welcome in the area.
• Two interlocked circles signify handcuffs. (i.e. hobos are hauled off to jail).
• A Caduceus symbol signifies the house has a doctor living in it.
• A cross with a smiley face in one of the corners means the doctor at this office will treat hobos for free.
• A cat signifies that a kind lady lives here.
• A wavy line (signifying water) above an X means fresh water and a campsite.
• Three diagonal lines mean it's not a safe place.
• A square with a slanted roof (signifying a house) with an X through it means that the house has already been "burned" or "tricked" by another hobo and is not a trusting house.
• Two shovels, signifying work was available (shovels, because most hobos performed manual labor).
• Another version of the Hobo Code exists as a display in the Steamtown National Historic Site at Scranton, Pennsylvania, operated by the National Park Service.
• A QR Hobo Code, with a QR stenciler, was released by the Free Art and Technology Lab in July 2011.[12]

An ethical code was created by Tourist Union #63 during its 1889 National Hobo Convention in St. Louis Missouri. This code was voted upon as a concrete set of laws to govern the Nation-wide Hobo Body; it reads this way:

1. Decide your own life, don't let another person run or rule you.
2. When in town, always respect the local law and officials, and try to be a gentleman at all times.
3. Don't take advantage of someone who is in a vulnerable situation, locals or other hobos.
4. Always try to find work, even if temporary, and always seek out jobs nobody wants. By doing so you not only help a business along, but ensure employment should you return to that town again.
5. When no employment is available, make your own work by using your added talents at crafts.
6. Do not allow yourself to become a stupid drunk and set a bad example for locals' treatment of other hobos.
7. When jungling in town, respect handouts, do not wear them out, another hobo will be coming along who will need them as bad, if not worse than you.
8. Always respect nature, do not leave garbage where you are jungling.
9. If in a community jungle, always pitch in and help.
10. Try to stay clean, and boil up wherever possible.
11. When traveling, ride your train respectfully, take no personal chances, cause no problems with the operating crew or host railroad, act like an extra crew member.
12. Do not cause problems in a train yard, another hobo will be coming along who will need passage through that yard.
13. Do not allow other hobos to molest children, expose all molesters to authorities, they are the worst garbage to infest any society.
14. Help all runaway children, and try to induce them to return home.
15. Help your fellow hobos whenever and wherever needed, you may need their help someday.

Just like in the 1930’s we are going through a great depression that had been going on for almost 5 years now, believe me I had been personally affected by it as many of you can relay as well.

In modern times we do not have the “HOBOS” like those back in the day anymore, so I decided to honor these brave and skillful men and women of that Era with a cache, as they are not bums as many could think, they were smart, skillful and honest workers trying to survive a very sad period in US history.

They were very clever at concealing their communication system in order not to be found by the law or people who would want to do harm to them, in the case of this cache I used a more modern technique for hiding their message. Have fun and enjoy the search…