The Springdale news., 1889-12-06
TWO EXPERIENCES.
4 St. Louis Police Captain Airs His Opin.
 ions About Tramps.

A St. Louis Police Captain Airs His Opfn.
 ions About Tramps.
 l have two experiences to relate in regard to tramps, which set me even on the question of discovering honesty and dishonesty among them. One morning I was sitting in the dining room at home when a poor fellow came up to the kitchen door and asked my wife for breakfast, stating that he was hungry, could get no work and was actually starving. l went out. however, to see what specimen of a beggar was there, and l found an in- telligent-appearing young fellow, dressed tolerably we'll in clean, though threadbare, clothes. He assured me that he had tried in vain to secure work until he was heartily discour- aged, and as & last resort was com pelled to wound his pride by begging
 s1f you'll prove your willingness to work by saving up that pile of stove wood, you can have breakfast, said I. Well, I'll york; eheerfully re- sponded the young man, as he threw of his coat and pushed a bucksaw with au alaerity born of hunger and desperation. 1 gave him good break fast-the best my table afforded. In conversation found him bright. He was book-keeper. he said. took an interest in him and secured him d position in the Missouri Pacific freight offices, after persuading a friend in charge to give him trial. The young man proved one of the finest penmen in the office, and after trial of three or four months at forty dol lars month he was given a fine position in an office with the same line in Arkansas The other experience with tramp was with young fellow who had got down in the world, but came to this city from Leavenworth, Kan. with letter of introduction he had formerly received from an acquaint- ance of mine there. He aecosted me one cold winters night and said he had been sleeping out for two nights and had not eaten any thing for two days. l gave him a meal ticket and paid his hotel bill for week. and took him down to see the same man at the Missouri Pacific offices, which. I was inclined to believe, was becoming an asylum for unfortunate fellows who were gaining my sympathies. The manager dfdn like the appearance of this young man, but he gave him d trial The wages were not to be paid for month. The young man braced up and worked steady. and 1 stood good for his board in the meantime One pay night he drew all his month $ salary, and that was the last ever heard of him. He skipped. I was t'in the soup to the depth of fifty dol lars for his bills. I wrote the man in l. Leavenworth, who had so highly rec commended him to me for honesty, that l thought he ought to reimburse me. He replied that it was my own look out; he wasn' [ paying tramps' billsn 1 happened to hear that lie was fish, ing after an important Government appointment at Washington. That was pie for me. I wrote him to pay that fifty dollars in thirty days, or would nail him to the cross by getting Il certain United States Senator, who was stanch friend of mine, to fight him. We'll, that fifty dollars came up smiling by the next mail. But the fact was l was not acquainted with the United States Senator allpded to, and wouldn't know him if I saw him. But the worth man wanted office, and l knew l could scare him into do- ing what was nothing more than right. St. Louis Globe-Democrat.