I can remember when bums threw rocks through jewelery store
windows, just to ensure a warm winter in what was then called Bridgewater State Farm. O.Henry is describing such a
derelict.
"For years the hospitable Blackwell's had been his winter quarters. Just as his more fortunate fellow New Yorkers had bought their tickets to Palm Beach and the Riviera each winter, so Soapy had made his humble arrangements for his annual hegira to the Island. "

hegira
He`gi´ra
Noun 1. Hegira - the flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 which marked the beginning of the Muslim era; the Muslim calendar begins in that year
Hejira
escape, flight - the act of escaping physically; "he made his escape from the mental hospital"; "the canary escaped from its cage"; "his flight was an indication of his guilt"
2. hegira - a journey by a large group to escape from a hostile environment
exodus, hejira
escape, flight - the act of escaping physically; "he made his escape from the mental hospital"; "the canary escaped from its cage"; "his flight was an indication of his guilt"

What on earth would throwing a rock through a store window have to do with insuring a warm winter? I've missed something here, wwh....

What on earth would throwing a rock through a store window have to do with insuring a warm winter?

it would earn you a fine, and if you couldn't pay the fine, it would earn you three to six months in a city jail for acting drunk and disorderly.

free meals and warm bedding for the winter..(you'd get time off for good behavior, and end up doing four months if you worked it right.

Oh, I see! Thanks, of troy, for helping me see into the mind of a person about to freeze.

Tangent:

There was an NPR report the other day about the gathering up of street people because such severe cold was expected. Several of the well-known street people did not want to be picked up, cold or no cold, because they (loners) did not like the accommodations at the shelters--the life for the night there. No breaking of windows for them either, I suppose; a loner's a loner. No hegira either, come to think of it.

re:For years the hospitable Blackwell's had been his winter quarters. Just as his more fortunate fellow New Yorkers had bought their tickets to Palm Beach and the Riviera each winter, so Soapy had made his humble arrangements for his annual hegira to the Island

i realised i for got to tell you the secret.. blackwell's island (now know as roosevelt island) was at one time home to a NYC jail.

(in US, in most stated, prision terms under 1 year are served in Jail, over 1 year are served in state penatentuaries)

i recognized blackwell's immediately..
Typhoid Mary was a guest at Blackwell's (the island also was home to a hospital for contagiously ill indigent people) for years.

As i have mentioned, NYC is an archipeligo, and its current jail (as any one who watches any one of versions of Law & Order can tell you) is Rikers (also a island)-anyone who flys into NY via LAG has most likely seen Rikers just before the plane has lands.. technically its part of the bronx, but its physically closer to queens, (and connected via a causeway to queens)

of its many island, about 40 are inhabited...(Hart's island is only inhabited by the dead, its home to NYC's potters field)

many of the island have changed names over the years, the names were usually the name of the 'last major land owner of the island'

Muslim dates are given as, e.g., 1424 AH (anno hegirae). 2004 AD = 1425 AH. (For the most part. The Muslim New Year's Day falls on the Gregorian 22 February this year).

Bingley

AH!!!!!!!

And then, too, there is the Joni Mitchell album Hejira
http://www.jonimitchell.com/Hejira76LyricsHome.html