Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-10-29

/ house, or nome, or Ifleuus THESE are
things that soctty wisely refuses to
pardon. And yet society is not unchai-
liable. By no means. There is not a
single crime in the decalcguc it will
not condone. But here it wisely draws
! the line. To he without money Is to
lave committed the unpardouable sin,
the only sin at least over which
churches refuse to draw the mantle OF
their heavenly charity.
1t is n sin of such IA griev0us nature.
that AS events have just proved, even
the fainiest suspicion of it places u man
Immediately in deadly peril. To be
suspectei of it, even if total innocent,
even if mere harmless eccentricity u
whim that having lots Of money and
friends, you think you msy safely in
dulge in--is enough to bring down upon
you Immediately I'll the women and
dogs and laborers Of an entire country
side.
And in poor Mr.. Bryson's case mat
tiers we're still further complicated. He
was not only suspected of being a
tramp, but more terrible still, he had
committed an overt act against proper
". He had lifted wicked hands and
helped himself to a bunch of grapes.
that somewhat too temptingly overhuag
the highway. The grapes were doubt.
less valueless. They belonged not to
Roederer," but to Rhoder, and were
presumably not of costly species
What then? Though the amount in
volved was little, the principal at stake
was great. Mrs. Rhoder believed that
the sacred rights of property had been
assailed in her august person. And
dazzled with visions of the glory that
awaited her, she rushed with fury upon
the meek.looking tramp. The tramp
fled incontinently at the first assault,
and the woman, reinforced by dog and
boy, bravely pursued.
In despair at this nest of hornets
which he had innocently aroused, Bry-
son seems to have fed to the river.
But the pursuers, with stones and dog,
we're close behind. To escape them he
took to the water. But even here he
was not safe. Mrs. Rhoder's rage was
not yet appeased. Raising the wild
cry of TRAMP tramp she rushed
off for achievements. The dog,
thinking that the sacredness of prop
erty had been sufficiently vindicated,
now retired from the pursuit. But
Mrs. Rhoder's crios speedily brought
to her aid dogs of war of more say.
age breed. And these she succeeded in
inspiring with her deadly rage, and let
slip at the poor tramp, still in the
water. Cries for mercy fell upon I'M
needing ears. Was he not tramp?
With the deepening of this conviction
all perceptions of common humanity
seemed to have vanished from these
ruthless men, and still more ruthless
woman. The terrible fusilade was
continued remorselessly, and ceased
not until its unhappy object had sunk
beneath the friendly waters.
Unfortunate, wasn't it, that this we'll
directed crusade against tramps should
have turned out after all an unhappy
illustration of misdirected zeal, likely
to bring the participants, not tho glory
they expected, but an unpleasantly
near view of the gallows. But at least
the intention was good, the moral at
titude heroic. Still this zeal, without
knowledge on the part of our rural
friends, is likely to add new terrors to
a soiourn in the country. 1t will be
necessary M EATER "a rrtsS ,s ~ ~. .....
needlessly endanger his life, to def
those shabby clothes heretofore con-
sidered good enough for country wear,
and never appear-except in such
places as one has friends, who will
kindly vonch for his respectability-in
anything but dress coat and patent
leather boots.
Society will of course raise its hands
in horror at the terrible crime which
has been com mit.ed. For the unhappy
victim of this mistake proves to have
been one to whom the doors of the best
society were ever open, one closely
allied not only to immense wealth, but
to immense power. But who, after all,
is to blame? Surely not those ignorant
laborers, the victims of Mrs. Rhoder's
hysterical excitement, and who, forget
full of the sacred feeling of a common
poverty, rushed after the poor tramp
as, under similar circumstances, they
would after fox. And, as for Mrs.
Rhoder, was she not under the impress
sion that in pursuing Bryson with
stones she was acting the heroine I?
Had she not heard again and again
that tramps were utterly beyond the
pale of mercy-bsings, like mad dogs,
to be shot down by respectable prop
erty loving people at sight? Will not
the slightest scratching beneath the
surface show that this mans death lies
at the door of society which, through.
out every channel of opinion in the
land. religious newspapers not ex-
cepted, has for years breathed nothing
but "threatenings and slaughter y
against tramps?
Tramps are not, to be sure, paragous
OF virtue. Amidst the thousands whom
the great panic turned loose upon the
world, there were doubtless many who
were unable to starve with appropriate
weakness. Men suddenly turned out
of house and home are not in every
case able to entertain toward society
that passionate devotion to which its
herculean exertions in their behalf so
clearly entitle it. But what would you
have? To burn like an early martyr in
full view of an admiring multitude is
a height more easily attainable than
hn onsk kD OBJ