Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1881-08-13
Religious Tramps-Their Modes oil Ope-
rating.

"That man is religious tramp, y said
Manager Bunting of the Christian Home
for Incorporate Men. The man had
apparently just passed middle life. she
can sing finely, pray earnestly and ex-
hort eloquently. l wish could talk as
well as he can"
"Why do you call him religious
tramp"
81 will explain. There are religious
tramps just as well as there are tramps
who prey upon the general public and
who are honest enough to make no pre-
tense of religion. These religious
tramps are known to every evangelist,
clergyman and philanthropist. They
haunt gospel temperance meetings, make
religious professions in the meetings of
the Women's Christian Unions, are
present at the mission rooms, and when
one city fails to afford them further pc
cuniary relief they start out in the track
of temperance orator, or follow up
some revival movement, visiting all parts
of the country. God is not deceived.
We are not deceived. Many just such
men, however, have been saved, and
have led useful lives"
You do not mean to say that these
religious tramps are ever sincerely con-
vertedP'' .... r--
"It is a fact. Because it is so these
men are asked to come under Christian
influence. To be sure many of them will
not reform. They love their miserable
drunken life. / have taken men into
this Home, cast their ragged clothes into
the ash box, given them baths, new
suit af clothes, and sobered them up.
often they have secured good situations,
but, before giving two days. application
to their duties, they have deliberately
gone back to Chatham and Baxter. street
dens and imbibed poison to that extent
that my next knowledge of them is that
they are on Blackwell's Island shoveling
ashes. Men have been through all this
and reformed. 1t is a rare exception
however.
"What is the bright side of this re-
ligious tramp picture?"
"These men have one common place
of meeting. 1t is generally in the back
room of a groggery of the lowest de
scription. recall one particular place
in Chatham Street where hundreds o
them congregate, because / have ha(
occasion to snatch men from its influ
ence. In this place can be found mel
who were born tramps. The surround
ings of their lives have been such tina
they could not help following a viciou
course, almost from the cradle to tn,
present. Associated with them, linked
together by the common tie of misery
are young men whose parents are hon
orable, respectable and wealthy citi
zens. Drink has led them into errors
into the committal of crime. They hav
gone down step by step in the socia
scale, until to-day they subsist almos
entirely on liquid poisons, mere sem
blances of humanity. Some of then
have been cast off from parental recog
milton; in some instances they draw
specified amount of money from hom
at regular intervals. | have put jus
such men on their feet again, and TO
years past have been blessed in know
ing that they are enjoying the conf
dence of their families, filling good stu
tons, and leading Christian lives"
One of those men, who has been TO
some time leading an honest life, has
good situation in a business house, an
looks on his past career as a terribl
nightmare, was asked: .......
"What led you to put yourself unde
Christian influence"
"Religion was far from my thought
when took the first step to sober up
My sole object was to secure a new sui
Of clothes in place of the 'hand me
downs ] was then wearing"
, "What do you mean by hand-mC
downs?n
"Hand- me-downs are obtained in thi
way: A man in temporary intervaeC
soberness secures a new suit of clothe.
say worth about $50. AS he has n
money to purchase more whiskey, h
enters Baxter Street second,han
clothing shop. Possibly Re is in drug
ged cFpdition. He receives an old wor
! suit in place of his new one, and NJ