Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1884-05-01
The Tramp Finds n Friend and De.
fender.

Come in, come in." said the gro
ceryman to the bad boy, as he stopped
on the doorstep outside the grocery to
60 down in his pistol pocket for little
change for a 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.
whats the matter with you?" said
the bad boy, as he watched the tramp
go into bakery and come out with a
loaf of bread, and 60 off chewing the
end of it as though it was the sweetest
morsel white man ever put a 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 ails
you?"
'Oh. the tramps, and beggars, and
subscriptions and games to beat an
honest man out of his hard-earned
money" said the groceryman. as he
threw Ratchet on the floor with which
he had been splitting up box, and
kicked market basket across the
room. There is not day but some
one comes in here after money. Why
don't these tramps go 10 work? Why
don't people that haven't got any mon
ey 60 to the poor house? Why don't
sick people 60 to the hospitalp Con-
denim it, 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 1 may
never see another person asking for
help as long rs l live."
''And you never would see another
person asking for hep. or coming to
BUY any OF your old decayed groceries,
if they knew what kind of hard
hearted old pirate you was. You
haven't got II heart bigger than mus
tard seed" said the boy. as he picked
up the hatchet for fear the gro
ceryman would split him for kindling
wood.
Yes, 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 l gave tramp five cents to
buy bread, and he went off and bought
a 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 90 out on the sidewalk and
gnaw dinner off loaf of dry bread?
The tramp knew his business. He
could go TO saloon with that nickel
and buy glass OF beer as though he
had a bushel 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,
and cold ham, all for nothing. If YOU
had on y Il nickel left, and had full
sized ST. mach, perfectly empty, which
would you do, stand out on cold
corner and chew bread, with no water
nearer than the lake, or would you 90
into nice warm saloon, buy glass of
beer and have big warm dinner
thrown in for chromop BY gosh, you
would 60 to the saloon, and you would
make the lunch counter look sick. No
body else keeps Il warm place for
tramps to eat free lunches by buying
five cents worth of goods, and tramp
would be a fool if he didn't take adj
vantage OF such q chance, when. the
Thermometer is thirty degrees below
zero. "-IecG's Sun.