Litchfield enquirer., 1875-06-17
TRAM PS.

OAA oAA0 O1S1C O1 bu0 WdGCI,CO monly known as the tramp" is creature without excuse for his being. Amid busy men and women he has pleasure in idle ness, and, breathing the very atmosphere of industry, lives by the sweat of his neigh bor's brow. One of his obnoxious pecu- iarities is his self-obtrusiveness. If you are rich, he thrusts his fingers into your purse with scarcely so much as "By your leave!'' If you are poor, he shares your few dainties, making the division himself; and he does either with that calm security with which a wren will pick crumbs from the chops of dozing bear He knows that he is the weaker party, and that your magnanimity will grant him hb- critics which your sense of justice would refuse to an equal. Having once obtained hold upon you, he is like the Ieech, which cannot be shaken off till it is filled.
 It IS in the summer that the tramp makes himself most nuisance. He has passed an easy winter in the city, where his offensive traits were held to some ex- tent in check through fear of the police, and the budding season invites him to set out upon his rural wanderings. The coun- try offers wonderful attractions in warm weather. The beauties of nature are spread for his contemplation while he takes his noon-tide rest under the trees the men he meets are apt to be less world ly-wise and finty- hearted than their city cousins; the women in the houses are left alone for the greater part of the day, and can be frightened into acquiescence to his demands by fierce scowl or two and all the doors stand wide open, giving him fine chance at the mantel ornaments, and such trifles as thimbles, scissors or spec tacles, which may be carelessly left lying in the window-seat.
 Most persons regard the tramp as ne- cessary evil. In calculating the items of expense which will enter into a summers sojourn in her hired cottage in the coun- try, the young housewife includes a cer- tain sum for charitable purposes" and in looking back over the season she is likely to find that no small part of this sum has been doled out in aims at the door. She does not think the money thrown away, because her petitioners were the neediest of men-in appearance. They took possession, it may be, of her door step, or penetrated into her kitchen, and accepted with some show of thanks the hot lunch she proffered them. Had she little money with which to help them on to place where they had been promised work? Yes, she had shilling for this man who was barefooted, and quarter of dollar for that one who was in rags. Per haps some of her charity fund, too, went into the pocket of burly, heavy-browed, black-bearded man. who wore q slouch hat and shirt hanging open at the throat, and carried an ugly looking bludgeon for a staff. He visited her one morning short ly after her husbands departure for the city, while she was experimenting the clearing away of the breakfast things; seat ed himself at the table without ceremony; poured out his coffee and carved his steak with the air of man who was used to good things and plenty of them ordered the waitress about, but took good care that neither she nor her mistress should be out of his sight for minute and fi- nally demanded the loan of a dollar and halt to pay for railway ticket to a town whose name is not familiar and cannot be found on the map. It hurt her conscience little to put that twelve shillings down in her cash account as ga loan to a poor man" but she reflects that appearances are often deceitful, and her enforced ben efaction may have been not unworthily bestowed.
 Despite the popular belief that the tramp's existence must be endured be- cause it cannot be done away with, it has been found possible, in some parts of the country, greatly to mitigate the annoyance In Massachusetts, for example, law re- gently passed directs that persons apply ing to county officers for food or shelter shall be made to pay for their accommo- datiOns in manual labor on some of the public works. The effect of this enact ment has proved its wisdom. The average number of such applicants in the city of Lawrence alone has fallen off from three hundred month to forty. There is bond of fellowship uniting these lazy stroll lers which causes all news of general 1n- terest to be spread abroad with marvellous rap1dity. It does not take long, therefore, to fill the whole fraternity with a distaste for any given neighborhood. A failure of private resources, they reason, would in- volve call upon the public institutions and the bare possibility of an hours hard work IS enough to turn back an army of tramps. Sdch law as that in force in Massachusetts, if put into operation in every part of the United States, would do much toward ridding the country of pest. It IS gratifying to learn that the Connecticut legislature have taken hold of the subject, and appointed a special committee to report upon it, and that the services of so eminent a citizen as Dr. Leonard Bacon, of New Haven have been enlisted in the movement. We commend this matter earnestly to the attention of lawmakers everywhere. And if, added to legal enactments, private individuals could be brought to an enlightened view of the economic principle that whoever lends en- couragement to on-producers helps to T(nrY0fnatn o YN1|1lI0 on0th0r int would be galned. A grievous danger turks behind the custom of indiscriminate giving. We have often warned our read CTS against it. That 1t is impolitic no one will deny that 1t is morally wrong any one will admit who gives the subject a serious and honest examination. Those who would be benevolent ought to inves- tigate the genuineness of appeals made upon their bounty and in cases where personal investigation Is impracticable, there are responsible associations whose sole business 1t is to oversee the disburse- ment of aims. The soc1al millennium will be far advanced when private caution shall supplement public ordinances in compelling the man who would eat 10 work; for in that day the tramp will cease to annoy us-he will either be driven from our borders or transformed into an honest cltlzen.-N. y. EUening Post.
 A FORTUNATE REcovERY.-Last Monday evening, William M. Smith, of Milford Point, went to the island in the Housaton- ic River, between the dam and the railroad bridge, to see the fishermen catch shad. He had roll of bills amounting to be- tween $80 and $10O in his inside vest pock- ct, and after he had been some time on the island he discovered that the bills were gone. He hardly expected to see any of his money again, as he supposed it had gone into the river, but he thought he would look for it. Yesterday morning he visited the island, which is very small and almost on a level with the water. Soon he found small bill clinging to stone on the shore where the tide had left it. Continuing his search he picked up here and there clinging to the stones the sum of 80. which IS probably all that he lost. The tide had risen during the night some ten feet above tho places where he found the bills, and it is wonder that any