It used to be that the hoboes had a sort of informal national organization, and they (or at least many of them) would meet in convention somewhere in New York, as I recall.   And during the meeting they would elect (or re-elect) a "King of the Hoboes".

Lest you get the wrong impression, the above is the plain truth, not a fictional workup to a joke.

Many years ago I read some newspaper's interview with the King of the Hoboes. The reporter asked, "What's the difference between a hobo and a tramp and a bum?"

The King replied, in almost these verbatim words:

"A Hobo will work, and move on. A tramp will bum, and move on. A bum will just bum."

Dave Oesterreich