St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1891-09-05
THE MAN WITH the crMLer.


s"e WAN WIN I'VE OtW6s
} u His Hsnds Ie Became = rerrsha. r...,-
II neot of Reveage.
was sitting on . bench in Batter
park the other day, when . rough-look
ing. shabbily-dres;ed man who occupie'
the other end of it pulled an old hand
kerchicf out of his coat-tail pocket
With 1t came something which fell uu
der the bench unnoticed by him. l saw
was gimlet-a plain, cheap gimlet
without tho least attempt at style O
ornament I can take you down il
Fulton street and show you gimlets .
dollar apiece-silver-plated, full-jcw
elesi and good enough for the use of tn,
emperor OF Russia, when he wants Il
bore the holes for the hinges on screer
door. can also take you over in Bar
clay street and show you gimlets at two
or three cents each-plain. unvarnished
and dcjected-loOking Rimlets. which
will nevertheless serve the purpose fou
! which all gimlets are created.
Excuse me, but You dropped your
gimlet." said. after making sure tha,
its loss was unknown.
$50 l did-thank you," he replied.
1t takes very little to bring two
strangers together. unless both are
mighty mean men. A gimlct will do il
rs well rs Fourth of July celebration.
] hitched little towards him and he
hitched a little towards me. and OBJ
served:
II often carry a pair of gas-pincers,
whct-stOne. . door-spring. a trunk
lock or . jack-plane around with me,
but can't say have any use for gim-
let"
NO? Well. we are in different lines
OF business. you see, he replied. "You
travel around the town. while I travel
about the country. A month ago va.
in Ohio"
"A tourist. eh?'
"ies, by the name of tramp. came
here with a pard. who is sick. When
he gets we'll we are going to do the
watering places"
''But to return to the gimlet. DO you
happen to have it by accident?"
''Oh. no. It's . part Of my outfit.
I've had this same one year or more"
II can see where you might make use
OF crow-bar. wa9on-jack. bcar-trap
or ox-yoke, but where does the gimlet
come imp"
my dear, sir" he answered with q
laugh. ''sOme men have to fight against
being too wicked. have to struggle
against being too good. This gimlet
assists me to strike a happy medium.
You don't catch ON? Well. I'll explain.
Tho uv1>.~ ~, Hrn vr - Z. rx~A = ~ f~,1v
'No"
'Generally given to drink. and not
too ambitious, but all he asks of the
world is old clothes, cold victuals and =
bed in the hay-mow. He seldom does
any great wrong, and often does great
deal of good"
"Well?"
"About one man out Of twenty sizes
. tramp mp correctly. The first and last
idea with the others is to give him the
boot When am out on the road get
kicked almost daily. It would be foolish
to kick back, for am in the minority.
I, therefore, take another way Of
getting even. l will tell you how it
works. l enter \ grocery in q small
town and politely ask for . bite of
and cheese. Grocer is one of
the props of the church. and wecps over
the heathens. Reads of case Of starva-
ton in some big city and calls the peo-
pie savages- l am hungry and ragged |
and pennilcss. but he takes me to the
door and gives me the boot and adds
that I ought to be in Jail"
"We,l?"
''Well. I walk around until night. |
He has Eve or six barrels Of kerosene
and three or four of vinegar on the
platform. As he sleeps to dream of |
leaving fortune to the poor 1 am at
work with this gimlet bore hole in
he head Of each barrel, low down, and
when morning comes they are empty
Ind the account is square. See?"
II do. ! read Of . grocer in this
state having seven barrels tapped that
way"
II go according to circumstances"
,e continued. IF kicked once / tap
,wo; II kicked twice l tap three; IL
Kicked and sworn at and threatened,
way goes the whole lot.'
"What's your best nights work -
'Well. depot agent in town in In.
llama kicked me four times. hit me in
'ecls, and then threw me of the plat
orm. l had no precedent to 60 by, but
here were flfty-six barrels of cider on
lat cars in the yard. and I tapped
very one of them. 1 was ten miles
way when daylight came, but I
hought I could hear him as he jumped
- and down and swore blue blazes."-
4. Quad. in n. Y. World