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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...
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