Times were hard and tough in our town of Dickson City, PA in the
depression year of 1933. I was living with my half-sister Pearl,
who already had five children, and my brother-in-law Latzo; they
raised a family of ten. Latzo was a "character" with a charisma
and he was well-liked by most anyone he came into contact with.
One early June summer day, he talked and charmed me into riding
a freight train to Pocono Summit, PA to pick blueberries in the
wild woods, and later to sell them to a local market.  Our town
had two railroads running through it: 1. The Delaware and Hudson
and 2. The New York-Ontario & Western. As young boys we would
hop on a slow moving train for a short ride. It was dangerous to
grab the rung of a steel ladder that was attached to each
railroad car; but we gave little thought to this as we caught a
ride.  So now to begin my two day hobo life with Latzo. We
"hopped" a coal train from Dickson to Scranton about five miles
away. We then "jumped off" and walked cross-town to the
outskirts of the