Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a street beggar.

1918

‘A-No. 1’ Mother of the Hoboes 72: ‘That’s where we got hold of this chow,’ Wabash Dan asserted with spirit, confirming the statement of the gandy stiff.

2. a tramp who occas. takes a short-term job.

1918

‘A-No. 1’ Mother of the Hoboes 44: Gink or Gandy Stiff: occasionally labored, a day or two at the most.