Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1891-08-19
The MAN WITH THE eIMLEr.
In His Hands 1t Became q Terrible Instrus
| Vnanf of ERavanUa

In His Hands 1t Became q Terrible Instru'
ment of Revenge.
was sitting on a bench in Battery
park the other day, when rough-look-
ing, shabbily dressed man who occupied
the other end of it pulled an old hand
kerchief out of his coat-tail pocket.
With it came something which fell un-
der the bench unnoticed by him. saw
1t was a gimlet-a plain, cheap gimlet,
without the least attempt at style or
ornament. | can take you down in
Fulton street and show you gimlets at
dollar silver-plated, full-jew
eled and good enough for the use of the
| emperor of Russia, when he wants to
bore the holes for the hinges on a screen
| door. can also take you over in Bar
| clay street and show you gimlets at two
| or three cents each-plain, unvarnished
and dejected-looking gimlets, which
will nevertheless serve the purpose for
which all gimIets are created.
Excuse me, but you dropped your
gimlet," l said, after making sure that
its loss was unknown.
$50 did-thank YOU" he replied.
It takes very little to bring tive
strangers together, unless both are
mighty mean men. A gimlet will do it
as well as Fourth of July celebration.
/ hitched a little towards him and he
hitched little towards me, and / OBJ
served:
81 often carry a pair of gas-pincers,
milestone, a doOr-spring, trunk
lock or a jack-plane around with me,
but can't say have any use for gim-
let
mo? Well, we are in different lines
of business you see," he replied You
travel around the town, while travel
about the country. A month ago was
in Ohio"
"a tourist, eh?"
Yes by the name of tramp. came
here with pard, who is sick. When
he gets well 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 a year or more"
81 can see where you might make use
of a crow-bar, wagon-jack, bear-trap
or ox-yoke, but where does the gimlet
come IMP"
laugh, "some men have to fight against
being too wicked. 1 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
The average tramp is not bad fellow"
mo"
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 a great
deal of good"
"Well?"
about one man ont of twenty sizes
tramp up correctly. The first and last
Idea with the others is to give him the
boot When l am out on the road get
kicked almost daily. 1t would be foolish
to kick back, for l am in the minority.
|, therefore, take another way of
getting even. l will tell you how it
works. l enter grocery in small
town and politely ask for a bite, of
crackers and cheese. Grocer is one of
the props of the church, and weeps 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 penniless, but he takes me to the
door and gives me the boot and adds
that ought to be in jail
"Well?"
'Well, / walk around until night.
He has five 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 am at
work with this gimlet. bore hole in
the head of each barrel, low down, and
when morning comes they are empty
and the account is square See?"
II do. 1 read of a grocer in this
state having seven barrels tapped that
way"
81 go according to circumstances, {"
he continued. ''If kicked once I tap
two; if kicked twice l tap three: if
kicked and sworn at and threatened.
away goes the whole lot
whats your best nights work ?'
"Well, depot agent in town in In
diana kicked me four times, hit me in
neck, and then threw me off the plat
form. had no precedent to go by, but
there were fifty-six barrels of cider on
fat cars in the yard, and 1 tapped
every one of 'them. l was ten miles
away when daylight came, but /
thought could hear him as he jumped
up and down and swore blue blazes. -
NJ 011ad in NJ " Wo-l5