The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-05-24

BARE WHITE ARMS AROUND HIS NECK.
he stumbled and threw up his hand to save
himself. The pistol exploded and shot the
fleeing tramp in the back Of the neck, caus-
ing death in few minutes The following
letter was found on the dead man:
NEW YoRx Cry, October, 1885,
DEAR BRoTHER-It is with shame that Task your
pardon for not writing to you sooner 1t is negli
gence on my part. have been putting it of day
after day till my mind will not rest till hear Of
the old home and the loved ones so dear to me-.
intended TO show myself in person long before
now, but circumstances have altered my case;
but / presume that l shall be home before the
holidays set in.
The rest was torn off. Inquiries developed
proof that the dead man was u professional
burglar, with the tranps temporarily for
some purpose of his own; he was their leader,
and this probably accounts for their unusual
bravery. His assumed character was fur
Their shown by the fact that his underclothing
was unusually fine and quite clean-the tramp
dress above it was assumed The police re-
port describes him briefly as ''A well made
man, about 2S years old, with light hair and
gray eyes"
NO POETRY IN TRAPPING.
As the gypsy and Indian have been ideal
lied in romance, why not the tramp? A few
writer's, mainly of Socialistic tendencies,
have tried it, but it is a flat failure There
isn't redeeming feature about him. As far
as can be learned good musician has never
been found in the whole class in America,
nor pasSable actor, not even a good dancer.
There is not one of those pleasant though
vagabondish qualities usually summed up in
the word Bohemian" which redeem the
gypsy and glorify the troubadour; nor
trace of any of the traits which feebly ideal
ze the Indian. The tramp is simply an I'M
nitigated nuisance, made so by sheer indo-
lence and instructed charity. Occasionally,
however, he does little towards amusing
the public by aiding to show the absurd ele-
ments in some other people. In October,
1887 Miss Celida Slingerland, daughter of a
farmer near Scranton, Pa, found tramp
under her bed. and, contrary to all precedent
in such cases, grabbed him.
She testified at the trial that she had never
been in the habit of looking for man I'M
der the bed" (which, Of course, no one is re-
quired to believe, but that she "smelt him
because his clothes stunk so Of tobacco" He
got to the window, but she put her bare
white arms about his neck and hung on till
her father and two brothers came and Sc
cured him. When he was arraigned as a
burglar and the testimony had been given,
the justice asked the usual question if the
prisoner had anything to say, and thus he
spoke:
''Your honor, have given you my name
as David Kenyon, but you don't know
whether that is my name or not viii say
once for all that while have had several
names within the past ten years, have given
you my real one do not deny being in this
gentlemans house, but do solemnly swear
that was not there to do any harm to this
beautiful young lady. In all my travels l
have never yet injured woman in the least,
and sincerely hope l never shall injure one.
l was hungry when l saw that window open,
and l went in there expecting to find some
thing to eat after all the people bad zone to
sleep. 1t iSmany year since L felt the warm
breath Of a nice girl on my cheek, and pair
of soft arms around my neck, and l am will
ing to 90 to Jail for six months if necessary for
the pleasure this young lady gave me for only
minute or two. This is all have to say"
and he hung his head as if prepared to be
sent to Jail The young lady was on her feet
in an instant, and, addressing the grave JUS
tice, she said:
"Please, Mr.. Thompson, don't send the
ooor fellow to jail. am satisfied he did not
intend to injure me, and, so long as he did no
particular harm in the house, beg you not
to imprison him. | am sure he is not very
bad man, 50 please let him 60 won't YOUR
Miss Slingerland's father and brothers were
provoked at her for this, but she said she
would not appear against him if the Justice
committed him to Jail, because the man had
been punished enough already.
Il am going to do just as the girl wants me
to, and if she says again that she wants me to
discharge this fellow, I'm going to discharge
him. said the justice.
please do discharge him, Mr.. Thompson,
Miss Slingerland said and the justice did so.
Then the tramp thanked her over and over
again, and said that her kind heart and her
sweet smile would cheer him as long as he
| lived; and as romance is so very scarce in
connection with tramps the public is here
| with requested to make as much as possible
out Of this case.
THE BRITISH SUBJECTS FREEDOM.
It is an odd fact that the British tramp is
more tenderly dealt with than the American.
In England there is an almost sentimental at
! tention paid to the freedom Of the subject
and to the elderly of the streets" So long
as the tramp ''moves on, like "Poor Joe" he
is let alone. vagrancy is "winked" at by the
authorities. These do not wish any more
charges on the parish" than they are obliged
to incur or take notice of. In the daytime
they are entirely lost sight of in the swirl of
the human tides, and they are only to be well
studied at night time.
"Annie Wakeman," Of The San Francisco
Chronicle made an exhaustive study Of the
London tramp, and found him much more
intelligent than his American rival. 1t i
very rare that one Is unable to read, and
! many Of them arg quite Intelligent. Il RQg'