The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-01-24
WHAT A CENT WILL BUY.
Tramps Object to 1t and the Poor Find 1t an
Aggrayation.
PHILADELPHIA Press.


las take it, said the tramp, "a cent is just
the amount of money the street-car people swim
die 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
all. Now, as | don't ride in cars, and / don't
care much about the new police regulations
which read in the paper, | always wait until
get another cent, because with two cents | can
get dip of rum It's bad liquor, but don't it
tickle your throat, and the wandering gentle
man chewed for awhile on his tongue
"A cent is the meanest coin on earth, he con-
tlnued with vehemence. sold ladies would al
ways give you a nickel, and so would benevolent
old gentlemen, only the cents comes handiest;
of course you say thank you, sir, and God bless
you, mum, but you feel inclined to chuck it back,
anyhow. What can you get for it! Nothing;
not even enough bread to kill hunger for while
thank you sir, and the tramp clouched away
with an eleemosynary dime, down Seventh
street. slumwards and disappeared through the
portals of the Blazing Rag"
Close to that unsavory hostelrie there are sew
eral 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 stores
behind the counter, was soon in discussion on the
cent and what can be obtained for that coin.
Il guess good many of my customers are cent
ones, said the storekeeper, a brawny Irishman,
'but its precious little that they get. You can
buy this roll" showing very diminutive loaf
'DuG there amt more than four OlteS
in it; or you take your choice
of crackers, two of them, or four of those, or
one of them, but they'd be no use to a hungry
man You can buy head of cabbage for a cent
but cabbage amt no use without a fire to cook
it, unless you're goat or rabbit. Then you
can get bit of soap, brown coarse stuff, which
makes everything smell what it washes, or a
cents worth of snuff or tobacco, or a skein of
thread, or two needless or one pickle, or one
onion, or apple, or five sticks of wood-enough
to start fre-or a short talow candle, or a
paper OF pins, or two ounces of -four, 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, a box Of matches, six gum drops,
monkey on stick shoelace, small pack
age of pepper, starch, or a good lump of salt, or
large handful of soda, and that's about the list.
Its the five cent piece that is the of the
poor In this country not the cent In England
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, you can buy large
piece of fried fish or bag of fried potatoes, or
half pint of beer porter, or half pound or
more OF bread, or a rasher of bacon, a sleeps
tongue, or big plate of Irish stew, made of po-
tatoes and Australian mutton, or thick slice of
plum pudding or a plateful of pease pudding
You can quite satisfy your hunger for penny
In London, just as you can for a five-cent piece
here, but you can't do it for cent and I hope
you will never have to try"