The Johnson family became so numerous that a convention must be held. In any well-ordered convention all persons of suspicious or doubtful intentions are thrown out at the start. When a bums’ convention is to be held, the jungle is first cleared of all outsiders such as “gay cats,” “dingbats,” “whangs,” “bindle stiffs,” “jungle buzzards,” and “scissors bills.” Conventions are not so popular in these droughty days. Formerly kegs of beer were rolled into the jungle and the “punks,” young bums, were sent for “mickies,” bottles of alcohol. “Mulligans” of chicken or beef were put to cooking on big fires. There was a general boiling up of clothes and there was shaving and sometimes haircutting.

The yeggs threshed out their “soup” and prepared for the road. The brass peddlers compared notes and devised new stunts for dropping their wares. Traveling beggars, crippled in every conceivable manner, discussed the best spots for profitable begging. Beggars of this type are always welcomed at a convention or any other place where thieves or bums congregate.