Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1884-05-15
The Tramp Finds n Friend and De-
fender

'4Comc in, come in. said the gro
ceryman to the bad boy, as he stopped
on the doorstep outside the grocery to
20 down in his pistol pocket for little
change for tramp that had come out
of the grocery just ahead of the gro
ceryman's boot. Come right in, and
don't stand there talking with such
cattle, and the groceryman looked as
mad as though he had left the spigot of
the molasses barrel running.
what the matter with you?n said
the bad boy, as he watched the tramp
90 into q bakery and come out with n
loaf of bread, and go off chewing the
end of it as though it was the sweetest
morsel a white man ever put tooth
into, and the smile the tramp showed
on one side of the bread as he saluted
the bad boy through the window was
worth dollar TO the boy. ''You seem
to have got out of the wrong end of
the bed this morning. What ais
you?"
"Oh, the tramps, and beggars, and
subscriptions and games to boat an
honest man out of his hard-earned
money!" said the groceryman. as he
threw n Ratchet on the floor with which
he had been splitting up q box, and
kicked a market basket across the
ROOM There is not day but some
one comes in here after money. Why
don't these tramps go TO work? Why
don't people that haven't got any mon
ey go to the poor house? Why don't
sick people go to the hospital? Con-
denim it, l have had people come in
here for help for the old ladies home,
and the old mems home, and to sell
ball tickets to help people that have
been sand-bagged, till l hope l may
never see another person asking for
help as long Us live"
"And you never would see another
person asking for help. or coming to
buy any of your old decayed groceries,
if they knew what kind of a hard
hearted old pirate you was. You
haven't got heart bigger than mus
tard Seed" said the boy. as he picked
up the Ratchet for fear the gro
ceryman would split him for kindling
wood.
Eyes, l have" said the groceryman,
and he appeared little ashamed of
what he had said my heart is all
right, but they play it on me. The
other day gave tramp five cents TO
buy bread, and he went off and bought
glass of beer at free lunch place.
That made me mad"
"Well, bread, plain dry bread is
pretty hard eating. How would you
like to go out on the sidewalk and
gnaw a dinner off loaf OF dry bread?
The tramp knew his bus ness. He
could go to a saloon with that nickel
ana buy a glass of beer rs though he
had bushe OF money, and while he
was drinking it he could go to the
lunch counter and get sausage, and
rye bread, and head cheese, and liver,
AM cold ham, all for nothing. If you
had on Y 4 nickel left, and had a full
siz,'d 81 mach, perfectly empty, which
would YOU do, stand out on a cold
corner and chew bread with no water
nearer than the lake, or would YOU 90
into a nice warm saloon, buy glass of
beer and have q big warm dinner
thrown in for u chrome? BY gosh, you
won d 20 10 the saloon, and you would
make the lunch counter look sick. No
body else Keeps warm place for
tramps 20 eat free lunches by buying
five cents worth of goods, and tramp
would re tool if he didn't take adj
vantage of such q chance, when the
thermometer is thirty degrees below
zero. n-PccSs Sun.