Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-02-08
WHAT A CENT WILL BUY.
The Meagrs Expenditure Possible with
Solitary COpper-rramps and Beg
rrara Ahincf tn

Is Il
The Meagre Expenditure Possible with
Solitary COpper-Tramps and Beg
gars Object To 1t.
The man who has only a cent. says the
Philadelphia Press, is very little better
OF than the man who is without cent.
Hardly anything of value to life can be
purchased for a cent, and indeed the IA
miliar copper coin was not inaptly de-
scribed by Washington square tramp as
"a coin of exceptional aggravatingness."
The wandering gentleman had seen better
days, and, although there are doubtless
times when his mouth can equal his nose
In disreputable demeanOr, the polite over
lures and the cigar of the newspaper man
were received with sentences of appre-
citation betraying a past which included
education.
GAS take It," said he, ga cent is Just
the amount of money the street-car peO-
pie sWindle out of every passenger-and
cents in piles are not to be despised-Or
else you can buy an evening paper with a
murder in it, that's about ali. Now, as l
don't ride in cars, and don't care much
about the new police regulations which /
read in the paper, | always wait until 1
get another cent, because with two cents
can get dip of rum. It's bad liquor,
but don't it tickle your throatT and the
wandering gentleman chewed for while
on his tongue.
"a cent is the meanest coin ON earth"
he continued with Yehemence. cold la
dies would always give you nickel, and
so would benevolent old gentlemen, only
the cents comes handiest-of course YOU
say thank you, SIR and 'Gawd bless You,
num- but you feel inclined to chuck it
back, anyhow. What can you get for it?
Nothing; not even enough bread to kill
hunger for a while-thank you, sir" and
the tramp slOuched away with an elee-
mOsynary dime, down Seventh street,
slumwards, and disappeared through the
portals of the Blazing Rag"
Close to that unsaYOry h0stelrie there
are several little stores called general
Shops" where the very poor buy nearly
all their necessities. The newspaper man
entered one of the stores and, finding an
old acquaintance of former stories behind
the counter, was soon in discussion on
the cent end what can be obtained for
that coin.
II guess a good many of my customers
are cent ones" said the storekeeper, a
brawny Irishman, "but it's precious little
that they get. You can buy this roll"
showing a very diminutiYe loaf, ''but there
amt more than four bites in it, or you can
take your choice of crackers, two of them,
or four of those, or one Of them, but they'd
be no use to hungry man. You can buy
head of cabbage for a cent, but cabbage
amt no use without a fire to cook it, I'M
less you're goat or a rabbit. Then you
can get bit OF soap, brown, coarse stuff,
which makes everything smell what it
washes, or cents worth Of snuff, or to-
bacco, or a skein of thread, or two nee
dies, or one pickle, or one onion, or apple,
ffrrO Afolre ,frr
fire, or short tallow candle, or a paper
of pins, or two ounces of flour, or a little
vinegar, or some coal oil. The oil is about !
the best thing you can get, as it is enough !
to keep lamp burning all night. Then |
you can buy two envelopes or two sheets |
of writing paper, box of matches. six |
gum drops, monkey on stick, a shoe |
lace, small package Of pepper, starch, |
or good lump OF salt, or a large handful |
of soda, and that's about the list.
"lt's the five-cent piece that is The coin |
Of the poor in this country, not the cent. |
In England a penny can buy good meal. |
There are soup kitchens all over London |
where you can get bowl Of thick pea |
broth or stewed cells for one copper, OF you |
can buy large piece Of fried fish or bag |
of fried potatoes. OF half pint of beer or !
porter, or half a pound or more of bread, |
or a rasher of bacon, or a sleeps tongue, !
or big plate Of Irish stew, made Of pota- |
toes and Australian mutton, or 2 thick |
slice of plum pudding, or plateful Of |
pease pudding. You can quite satisfy !
your hunger for penny in London, just |
as you can for tive-cent piece here, but |
you can't do it for cent, and hope you
will never have to try"
A young woman entered the store, dirty
and uukempt but goOd-lOokin9, and pur-
chased a cents worth of snuff. "Fhat's
the foFmer wife of the old blind beggar,"
SAID the stOrekeeper. THE Press wrote
all about the marriage three years ago.
She's lett him now, got divorced, she says,
and now she's taken to snuff and young
man as meEds umbrellas. 1t was all on
account OF the yellow dog
Chow do you meanV
'Why, when the baby of the blind man
was christened last winter, as yOG re-
member, cause you was present, Mrs.
Flanagan, the mOther-in-law, threw
flat-irOn at the yellow dog and broke its
skull, Just because the poor animal felt
deserted that evening and took to howl
ing. The blind beggar valued that dog
an awful lot, loved it, so TO speak, and
wouldn't believe but what mis- wife had
egged her mother on to a killing OF 1t and
they never were friends again. The baby
died and he didn't 90 to the funeral, but
the fuss he made over the body of that
yellow dog was trying. You see he and
that dog had tramped lots of miles to-
gether and quite understood each other.
He took the dogs carcass with him to
vacant lot somewhere near Manayunk,
and there he got friend to dig hole and
drop the dead animal in it. He tramps
up, they say, to the place, now and then,
where the dog lies, and l heard as how
more than once last summer he gathered
big punches Of pansies in the park just to
place on the spot. They are building over
the lot now, and should not be surprised
if the old blind beggar has the remains
dug up and put somewhere else. 1 guess
heTegrets he hasn't no family vault. Still,
human nature goes out to a dog some
times-even a yellow dog. Mop to
wOuld-be customer), "we don't make no
oopt;c worth Of ham''