Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1890-06-30
TIVE raA,ap.s PARADISE.

a w.,.> q Rsss Provided fer The 1ses
Agents by jersey Farmer
I'm Camden county. not far from ~
lair n Norrisville. lives a PLAIN ola
German farmer. blessed with big farm
md abundance Of this worids s'sMs
His hospitality to the heuseiess anu
homeless wanderers the world cails
trs,nrs is known from Maine " New
Orleans and from ocean 10 ocean. eni
IN. Beckenbach place is n big barn. Ia
This harm. in winter and in summer and
ON any day in the year. whether It ne
CHRISTMAS. New Year or the Fourth OF
Ju,v can be found women with chill
lren in their arms, a shiftless fisherman
with a ragged suit on him and shil-
lelsh in his hand. or some stnriy anu
homeless German outc'sst. perhaps. witn
= trunk on his shoulder. truaginS over
fro,n the railway station to the becken-
bach harm, which by some fine free-
masonry among the trainps OF Anacri.A
Is known AS a saints Rest for the
homeless wanderer thousand mics
away seeking rest or idleness, or, 1t may
be. a days work with Pilgrim schoon
and scallop she'll !.
II the stranger sits on the porch OF
any one of the farm houses on the mann
road leading to Morrisville he Will Do
greeted at any hour Of the day with the
inquiry:
is this the way to Beckenbach's
barn.
And YOU can tell with your eyes shut
that the inquirer, be he man or wo
man. is seeking temporary refuge I'M
der the caves Of Beckenbach's barn.
Now it will he frowsy looking wom-
an, with draggled skirts. half bonnet
and an old shawl. in one corner OF which
is wrapped baby not old enough TO
walk or talk. II it is warm day she
may sit down on the grass, after getting
her bearings and distances to the barn.
with her back up against tree, and she
may pause long enough to take nap,
with her head hanging over one shout
der while her prattling babe. unconscious
of its shabby surroundings, crawls
through the high grass and plucks with
tinv fingers, the daify -downdillies which
Dot the greensward like day stars.
Next it may be great hulkirlg Ger
nan, with a military air, rs if The had
fought with Won Moltke, or i'll better
DAYS taken schooner" with Bismarck.
This man wears high topped boots, with
a great box like sailors chest, which Is
strapped on his shoulders. and the Teu-
tonic traveller with big pipe in his
mouth pauses long enough to say. We're
yos dot Bcckenbach's barn" There Will
be a score or more along today, looking
like Falstaff-s ragged regiment, all kings
and queens in shreds. tatters and patches.
And it is a substantive fact that "a tramp
in Texas made an engagement IN md
winter with fellow nomad at FL Paso,
saving: Yah, Jacob. meets you AGAIN
when dose peas all must he pick't down
by dot Beckenbach barn in Jersey" And
when the voice Of the turtle dove was
heard in the land the two tramps met
at Beckenbach's barn after an honest
DAYS toll in the generous Germans pea
patch at Morrisville.
Most of these picturesque tramps nj
lcge that they are seeking work. Some
OF them are, ana none VI tufih E''o"""
empty handed from the honest German
plantation who is willing to do u faii
days work for good wages.
They begin by picking peas. Becken
bach's barn is sort of agricultural ex
change, where the Delair farmers come Il
get field hands. male and female, for thu
busy season. After the pea season II
over they struggle through the straw
berry furry only to tackle the tomato
vines, which yield the nomad workers 1
financial harvest Of no mean measure
Then come the red raspberry, the cult
waited blackberry, cherries and currant'
down to peach season. citrons, cante
loupes and watcrmelons, and when Jacl
Frost comes the colony of tramps THU
out and seek softer climate and mildc
skies.
There ia n boss even among tramps
Spanish Dick is boss of the Bcckenbacl
barn. DR.. Dunbar Hylton says tina
Spanish Dick is descended from Spanish
hitlalgo with bar sinister. He speak
six languages. and was once an impress
sario in Jenny Lind's time at Castle Gar
den, but has now descended to be n hos
among the pea pickers on the old Ger
mans farm. There are traces Of dignit,
and erudition in the way Hidalgo Dicl
issues his orders in a strawberry patch
Cor. Philadelphia Times.