View source for Jack London

[[Image:3a51776u jack london decking.jpg|thumb|300px|Jack London, demonstrating "riding the decking".]]

The cooling New England nights were a reminder that he had to head west before winter set in. Grabbing a “virtuous coach in room 88,888 (blind baggage) first floor Hotel de la Boston and Maine,” as his Boston acqaintaince put it, he headed out of Boston. He passed through Lawrence, Massachusetts, and was especially watchful of “shacks and “bulls” (railroad brakemen and policemen) as his train moved toward Vermont. He had heard that many tramps were arrested on unfounded charges in the Granite State and were sentenced to hard labor in the Rutland Quarries. 

<blockquote>London wrote a Vermont correspondent: “’they have quarries in Rutland, haven’t they. About 13 years ago I tramped through to Vermont, coming up from Bsoton. The nearest I got to Rutland was White River Junction, and there I had a narrow escape from being ‘pulled in’. I understood at the time that tramps were getting 90 days in the quarries.’”</blockquote>

Jack London. ''The Road''.