Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1888-01-14
PLEASE PUBLISH.
TRAMPS BY A TRAMP.

EDITOR HERALD.-In my trampings of
thirty years have never seen newspaper
wealth and independence open its col
umns to a discussion for the benefit of
Tramps, and feel more pride IN my COM
pulsory profession as peruse the articles
in THE HERALD on Tramps, from my coy
quarters in the Martinsburg Round house.
Railroad men and editors have kind
hearts for Tramps. and seldom refuse us
exchanges or shelter. Once in awhile
some of them = have no use for either. J"
s. Railroad Man" is not much of philos-
opher, and his logic and humanities have
been sadly neglected. To have been de-
ceived by an insurance agent! He says
our stock in trade is whiskey and pro-
family he should have added newspa-
pers-Sunddy newspapers He is good
man, but he has never experienced
Tramp life. He may not have been born
rich : we infer that the tide of good for
tune has always been in his favor, and
that his children are not among the coal
pickers along the railroad, at whom even
: railroad men" hurl profanity and
blackguardism. 1t is the organic and
inorganic law of all bodies.-matter,-
to cast off their refuse.-the stronger
rising; the weaker falling the good
remaining, the worthless wasting and
decaying. Humanity is no exception !;
Tramps are the lowest stratum in the
order of civilization : yet they bear some
resemblance to the highest. as in geology,
the pure mineral often lies the lowest
the finest gems beneath the deepest mud.
Tramps satisfied with their condition !
Contentment is their greatest delight. and
the Wise Man says it is better than lands
and riches. Tramps know on which" side
their bread is buttered ~ (which states
are favorable to them so does a dog
whose bread and whose kicks come from
the same hand. Tramps drink Who
don 't--and why shouldn t they 1t sticks
closer than brother. Some of your great
men were tramps in that. The Bard of
Avon s shame lives by the side of his
fame; Burns missed the heath of Dunn
fries though it was a mile wide =" Only
that and nothing more" persisted as the
myth of his raven the author of LIE Genie
an Christidnisme slept in the cutters of
Paris ;-even kings, generals, and divines
have abused the cup why then curse
the Tramp because he succumbs to the
curse of humanity you make the laws.
-tramps dun t. Tramps were not born
of themselves. though half of them know
no better. Fifty per cent of the Tramps
are heirs to some weakness of mind or
body that threw them in the streets. Of
the three Tramps observed by " Railroad
Man. " taCo acere cripples, one strong and
hearty. Tramps are all made to order in
the cities and industrial centres,-a
strike, shut down. panic, breaks the
last straw that kept fathers and brothers
together. and without friends or money
they +" take to the road That kills them
forever as dead as the convict's brand
kills the prisoner. Who employs thief
Who wants a Tramp. when there are
hundreds of better equipped men ahead
of him in the rush for employment.
Many of the Tramps have respectable,
hard working wives and parents some
where. but = Tramp" in the way would
make them all tramps in day. Some
great men have been Tramps, whose turn
ing point in life was friendly lift, where
cruel kick would have sent them down
ward forever. A kind word or a dis
couraging rebuff often turn the balance.
Greed, selfishness. ill-fortune, bad COM
pany, are some of the principal sources
of Tramps. and in this country the Tramp
mills are only beginning to grind their
human grist you see the beginning !;
your children S children will see the ripe
fruit of social revolution. AS for myself
l never use whiskey, tobacco or profani-
ty had poor education,-my parents
had none Everything l ever did was
wrong and a failure, though there are
many people like myself among the re-
spectacle Tramps of high-life who keep
up their appearances on less than might
have.
Tramps gentlemen! save the mark.
They don't come from Boston but if
you lose nothing by being kind to ami
mails, refuse not the application of the
same principle to Tramps. They are the
embodiment of misfortune, but are more
sinned against than SHINING. Their backs
bear the burden of all the rascals' crimes
in the country, from murder to petty
theft, from barn-burning to train
wrecki1g-" Tramps done it, if there
wasn't one about.
But my special train (of coal hoppers)
is starting; my business calls me on.
Adieu, and many thanks for exchanges
and space for these Trampish cogitations.
A TRAMP.
P. S.-Compositor always spell Tramp
with a g capt. Yours. fraternally.