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# 2021-01-03 - The Adventures of a Hobo Woman by Ethyl Lynn | |
This title happened to catch my eye on gutenberg.org and i could not | |
pass it up. It describes the bike touring and train hopping | |
adventures of a woman doctor in 1908. My favorite parts of this book | |
were the detailed descriptions of the gear and that the journey | |
renewed Doctor Lynn's faith in human kindness. | |
# Chapter 1 | |
Doctor Lynn lives in Chicago and she is diagnosed with tuberculosis. | |
> To live in a hovel; to drag my weary body for miles in search of | |
> work; to cough my lungs out like the man next door; to be submerged | |
> like a drowning rat in a sewer; this will be my life in Chicago. | |
> My eyes ache from gazing at confined spaces..." | |
# Chapter 2 | |
Doctor Lynn decides to go on a tandem bike tour from Chicago to | |
California. This chapter describes their camping gear in delightful | |
detail. | |
> ... an intense longing for the open road leading into the west | |
> surged over me... Then I said to myself, "There is a way. You must | |
> find it," and resolutely set my subconscious mind to the task. | |
> When I consider sleeping on the ground with a combination | |
> oilcloth and woolen blanket below, and the two blankets above, my | |
> teeth fairly chatter with anticipation. But even a frozen death | |
> would be preferable to our present hopeless existence. | |
# Chapter 3 | |
Doctor Lynn and her husband Dan depart Chicago. The tandem bike | |
loaded with gear and riders weighs 500 pounds! | |
> Our friends think us insane, as well they may, but crazy or no, | |
> we will see this thing through. | |
# Chapter 4 | |
Dan finds work. A farmer gives them food and temporary shelter. | |
# Chapter 5 | |
They are taken in by Irish settlers who tragically lost all ten of | |
their children to poor health. One of their sons was brilliant and | |
he went to school to become a lawyer. After he died, his father | |
brought home his son's library and read each volume alone. | |
# Chapter 6 | |
The roads are slushy and they make poor time. Woodcutters warn them | |
that the constable plans to arrest them for vagrancy. They end up | |
pushing the tandem along a railroad, which is faster than the slushy | |
roads but extremely uncomfortable. | |
> We have been out eight full days and have covered but sixty-five | |
> miles. The appetite that I have developed is truly amazing. | |
# Chapter 7 | |
In Iowa, the couple and their bike are taken aboard a passenger train | |
by its crew. They were put in an empty box car. The next day, | |
several tramps entered and shared the same box car. | |
Doctor Lynn finds housework at a doctor's office. His unwelcome | |
sexual advances were interrupted by a new patient. Doctor Lynn fled | |
his office. She persuaded a freight train engineer to go against | |
company policy and take them in a box car. Unfortunately, there is a | |
train wreck and she gets internal injuries. Then they are caught by | |
train spotters and taken in near Des Moines. | |
> I was amazed at the mentality displayed by the smallest fellow, a | |
> member of the I.W.W. He seemed conversant with all the questions | |
> of the day, and expressed in excellent language clear cut opinions | |
> on industrial subjects that were both novel and startling. | |
> "Our good business men are not so finicky," broke in the I.W.W. | |
> "A big profit looks good to them. If it comes from the coined | |
> sweat and blood of women and children, so much the better. Yes, | |
> women are cheaper than men, and kids are cheaper than women. After | |
> a bit they'll get machines that are cheaper than kids, and then the | |
> brats can rot in the slums for all they care." | |
# Chapter 8 | |
They are hosted by a series of characters. At some point they | |
befriend a child, who puts them in touch with her mother. Mrs. | |
Patton turns out to be a trained nurse, and she treats Doctor Lynn | |
for her injuries sustained in the train wreck, followed up by a | |
massage. | |
> A good home. What is it? Food and shelter? Yes. But it is | |
> something more. Personal comfort, the exercise of individual taste | |
> in the choice of one's intimate surroundings, the joy of ownership, | |
> the privilege of entertaining one's friends, a sense of privacy, a | |
> certain liberty of habits--all these, added to that greatest of all | |
> great gifts, love, and the presence of the loved ones, make a true | |
> home. | |
> My opinion of "dirty hoboes" has undergone a radical change since | |
> I have seen for myself the difficulties that beset the [person] who | |
> has nothing, in [their] efforts toward cleanliness. | |
# Chapter 9 | |
In Wood River, Illinois they are arrested and thrown in jail. | |
> I settled down and strove to cultivate the non-resisting attitude | |
> of our cell mates, but my mind kept busy with the wonders of our | |
> boasted American civilization that permits such occurrences as | |
> this. | |
> I was a stranger and ye took me not in ... sick, and in prison | |
> and ye visited me not. | |
> At sunrise our jailers returned, unlocked the door and set us | |
> free. There was no charge against us and no legal formalities to | |
> go through apparently. Retrieving the wheel, we hastened out of | |
> town. | |
# Chapter 10 | |
In Nebraska, they are picked up by a tornado and tossed around, bike, | |
gear, and all. A drunk driver gives them a ride to Kearney while the | |
storm rages on. They take the bike to a repair shop in Kearney. The | |
driver, out of concern for the well being of the cyclists, gives them | |
four gold pieces! Later, they have an accident in steep terrain and | |
Doctor Lynn is knocked unconscious with a concussion. | |
> The days go by as in a dream. We seldom see a newspaper and seem | |
> out of touch with the world. | |
> Hailstones as large as pigeon's eggs now began to pelt us, and to | |
> add to our discomfort, we found that both chains and the steering | |
> gear had been broken in the crash. | |
# Chapter 11 | |
Dan sprained his ankle. The two are surrounded by an enormous herd | |
of cattle and trapped in the middle. Bulls make threatening | |
movements. They ride their bike on the roadless plain toward the | |
safety of a fence. Both tires are popped by sharp snags, but they | |
continue pedaling on with just the rims. At the last minute, they | |
are saved by a cowboy on horseback. | |
The next day they repair the bike and store it in a barn. Then, | |
while performing a task for the cowboy's wife, hogs go into the barn | |
and completely destroy the tandem bike. One of the hogs died from | |
eating something in their gear, possibly by a shaving razor. This | |
time they were not able to repair the bike. | |
They met Frank Adams, a homeless peddler and sign maker. He lived in | |
a covered wagon with a small chicken coop suspended under its bed. | |
The wagon was custom built to live in, and described in great detail. | |
The description reminds me of modern writings from people dwelling | |
in tiny homes and vans. Doctor Lynn and Frank Adams enjoy each | |
other's company and conversation. They decide to travel together to | |
California, Doctor Lynn, her husband, Frank Adams, and his wife. | |
> "I wouldn't move into a house again for anything," his wife | |
> exclaimed. "You have no idea what a pleasant life this is. | |
> Housework is reduced to almost nothing, we get a chance to see the | |
> country and are as free as air." | |
> If financial independence for women means breaking up the home, | |
> then let it be broken. | |
# Chapter 12 | |
Doctor Lynn has hard luck in Syndey, Nebraska. Turns out she made | |
the mistake of entering the rich side of town, and without exception | |
she was treated poorly. Later she met Mrs. Holiday, an interesting | |
character who steered her toward another part of town where more | |
human people lived. | |
# Chapter 13 | |
Mrs. Adams became jealous and began to provoke Doctor Lynn. About 30 | |
miles east of Cheyenne, Mrs. Adams ordered Doctor Lynn to go to a | |
house to buy eggs. When Doctor Lynn returned, she found that she has | |
been abandoned. She tried to catch up to the wagon, but Mrs. Adams | |
whipped the animals into a lively trot, and made an insulting gesture | |
toward Doctor Lynn. Doctor Lynn ends up traveling alone. | |
Doctor Lynn was then rescued by Mr. Adams. He took her to a secluded | |
spot to water the horses. Once there, he proposed to her. She | |
rejected his proposal. He did not accept her answer. | |
The next night, Mr. and Mrs. Adams abandon Doctor Lynn and Dan, | |
taking all of their possessions with them. All they had remaining | |
was blankets, food, and some silver in a concealed pocket. | |
They persuaded an engineer and brakeman to let them hop a train. The | |
agreement was that they would slow down and drop off the train before | |
reaching Cheyenne. However, the crew were not able to slow down the | |
train because they were surprised by their superintendent. Doctor | |
Lynn and Dan had to jump off the train at full speed. Doctor Lynn | |
was lucky enough to land on her feet, catch her stride, and run | |
clear. Dan was less fortunate and took a frightful tumble. | |
In Cheyenne, Dan found work and they obtained a two-piece A-frame | |
tent. | |
> See here, my friend. If you love me even half as much as you say | |
> you do, you will cease your insulting proposals, hitch up this team | |
> and take me back to civilization. You will make me hate you, if | |
> you keep on as you are doing. | |
# Chapter 14 | |
Dan's employer failed to pay wages after the work was completed. Due | |
to the harsh climate, Dan and Doctor Lynn decide to let it go and | |
move on. | |
# Chapter 17 | |
> Here comes a man with a truckload of magnificent Burbank plums. | |
> I once read of the little plum with the enormous pit, from which | |
> the California wizard evolved this beautiful fruit. He did not | |
> attempt to change the nature of the plum to that of some | |
> transcendental fruit. He simply modified the environment so that | |
> the inherent qualities of the plum might develop. Would that the | |
> environment of the little children of the slums and sweat shops, to | |
> whom the meanest cull that lies in yonder orchard would be a | |
> gracious treat, might be so modified as to give their essentially | |
> beautiful, natural qualities an opportunity for healthy, normal | |
> growth. | |
> For weeks I have been free from colds or cough; my digestion is | |
> superior to that of an ostrich; a ten-mile jaunt with twenty pounds | |
> of baggage on my back would be mere child's play. A more healthy | |
> human specimen than myself it would be hard to find... | |
> But physical benefit is not the greatest gain. A change has | |
> taken place in my psychology. My belief in the inherent kindliness | |
> and unselfishness of the human heart had been strengthened. In | |
> cases of cruelty I recognize an outside influence or pressure that | |
> warps natural instincts. ... I feel that I am learning the divine | |
> lesson of human unity... | |
See also: | |
author: Lynn, Ethel, 1881- | |
LOC: F595 .L98 | |
source: gopher://gopher.pglaf.org/1/6/2/9/7/62971/ | |
tags: biography,ebook,outdoor,travel,vagabond | |
title: The Adventures of a Hobo Woman | |
# Tags | |
biography | |
ebook | |
outdoor | |
travel | |
vagabond |