Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1893-01-13


the best OF everything she had IN addi-
ton The bearing Of the man was so
terrifying that Mrs Perry did not dare
To refuse. and. greatly agitated. she
brought the steak and pat il over the
glowing coalA The other work was
also continued. the man meantime
eursing her for being slow 50 eontinu-
ally that he did not hear the wheels of
a buck board that was driven up To the
rear of the house. nor did Mrs. Perry
hear them
Tho blackboard contained Mr.. Perry.
and he could hear the words of the
tramp very plainly. Dropping the
reins he walked silently toward the
kitchen door Just as Mrs Perry APP
preached the stove with quart shaker
full of powdered salt She poised the
shaker, and by accident shook the
cover OF SO that more than a pint OF
salt fell on the meat, glanced at the
door and saw her husband coming. and
then fell in dead faint beside the
stove
Without q word Perry entered the
room. and. walking 10 the table. picked
up the carving knife. while the tramp
fell on his knees and begged for life.
That was the only move that could
save his life. Perry could not kill =
man who begged for mercy. but he
could and dsd give him a frightful re-
turn for the misery Mrs Perry had en-
dured For moment he considered
how he could punish the fellow. and
ell ~.
The steak was bubbling on top and
scorching below over the redhot Goals
while the salt in browning heap lay
on the middle
Hold out your hands flas" said Per-
~. The tramp obeyed, and with the
knife and fork Perry placed the steak
upon them The man shricked with
pain. but dared NOT drop it.
"You ordered the steak quick and
you shall have it." said Perry. Now
eat it,"
With the ready knife before his eyes
the tramp choked it down, salt aud
all, and then disappeared in the night
The eastern reader may think that
after such an experience the tramp
died on the desert next day, but he
didn't, and the chances are that by ex-
hibiting his burned hands and telling
some pitiful story about them he OBJ
tanned more square meals during the
next week than he had had in three
months before. That Perry was justi-
fed in his treatment of the man no one
doubts who knows the desert and its
nomads.
Although rarely il ever done todeath
by the citizens on whom they prey,
more tramps die violent deaths in this
country than elsewhere. Because the
country is desert they must ride or
the cars in the hot months There Is q
curious rule among the railroads Of the
whole Rocky mountain region that
works to the advantage Of the tramps
The Indians of the region are allowed
to ride FREQ on the outside of and be-
tween the cars 1t is great graft" fol
the tramp who finds group of Piute:
! or Shoshones on q train. The train
| group, and the Indians are not unlike
| ly to share their food with the tramp
But Indians are not often found on the
railroads in this part of the desert
! while tramps are as plentiful as sand
storms A train never goes over the
road without carrying tramps or with
out fight between them and the train
men, The utter recklessness Of the
tramps in stealing rides is enough t.
unnerve the inexperienced spectator
IL is useless for them TO try to board ;
train that is standing at station il
the daytime. so they walk up the track
| and wait there till the train has started
and attained a speed at which it would
| be dangerous for an ordinary man {,
try TO climb on or even jump from tn,
platform. md then, grasping the rod
| that brace the floor timbers of a car
they swing. themselves under and lant
on the brake beams This is done t,
some extent by tramps in the cast
but railroad men say that the tramp
hero can board brake beam on
train going from twenty-five to thirt,
miles an hour. The tourist hears thi
/ told so often and so candidly that he i
obliged to believe it But sooner o.
later the nerve or the muscle of tn,
tramp fails, and he drops under tn
wheels So many tramps are killed b,
the trains that the local papers give n,
more attention to events of the kin,
than New York papers give to tn,
manning of children by recklessl,
driven trucks. The stories of railroa,
accidents on the desert are telegraphe,
TO the east only when the lives of pas
sengers have been lost, so eastern read
ers do not hear about the killed tramps
but a railroad man told the writer tina
out of seven collisions involving frcigh
trains, with the details OF which b.
was familiar. tramps had been kilIe'
I In four-N Y SIM