Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1895-09-19
FARE OF THE TRAMP.
What the aRoks-O Out vaEabond Eats ana
What HesWears.

What the "R0ks.Out'' vagabond Eats ana
What He Wears.
As "a rule the poke OUT beggar has
but one meal a day, and it is usually
breakfast This Is the main meal OF
all vagabonds, and even the lazy tramp
makes ifrantici efforts to find it Its
quantity as. well as its quality depends
largely on the kind of house he visits.
! His usual breakfast, II he is fairly
lucky, consists Of coffee, little meat,
some potatoes, and punk an plaster"
as he calls bread and butter. Coffee,
more than anything else, iswhat every
man Of his kind wants early in the
morning. i. f.,a b .sE l,s,E;33 l.. 4
The clothes Of the "poke.out"' beg
gar are not much, il any, better than
his food. In summer he seldom hasi
moro than shirt, a pair OF trousers, .
coat, some old shoes and q battered
hat Even in winter he wears little
more, especially it no goes south.
While i lived with him I wore these
same s'togs." I shall never forget my
first tramp suit of clothes. The coat
was patched in q dozen places, and
was nearly three sizes too large for
me; the vest was torn in the back, and
had but two buttons; the trousers were.
out at the knees, and had to be turned
up in London fashion At the bottom, to
keep ma from tripping; the hat was an
old derby with the. crown dented in
numerous places; and the only decent
thing 1had was flannel shirt. I'pur.
chased this rig of an old Jew, and
thought that it would be just the thing
for the road, and so it was, but only
for tho ''poke-out" tramp's road. The
hoboes laughed at me, and called me
.'hoodoo,' = and never got in with them
in any such garb. Nevertheless, wore
it for nearly two months, and, so long
as associated with lazy beggars only,
it was all right, ks,3 s,64ta
Il It Is BY no means uncommon to SEQ
''poke-out" vagabond wearing some
sort Of garment which belongs to q
woman's wardrobe. He ia SO indiffer.
emit that he will wear anything that
will shield his nnkedness, and have
known him to be SO lazy that he did
not even do that. One old fellow I re-
member particularly. He had lost his
shirt, somehow, and for almost week
went about with only coat between
his body and the world at large. Some
Of his pals, although they were Of hir
own class, told him that he; ought to
find another one, and the more he de.
layed it the more they labored with
him.. Ono night they wore all gathered
together at q ''hang-out'' not far from
Lima, O., and the old fellow was told
that unless he found q shirt that
night they would take away his coat
also he begged and begged, but they
were determined, and, as he did not
show any intention of doing as he was
hidden, they relieved him Of his
jacket. And all that night and tho
| following day he was actually SO lazy
and stubborn that he would not yield,
and would probably be there still in
some form or other had his pals not re-
Tented and returned him the coat. As
Isaid, he went for nearly week with
out dndinga shirt, and not once did
he show the least shame or embarrass-
mont just at present I understand
that he is in limbo, wearing the IA
nous .zebra"-the penitentiary dress.
II is not popular among .tramps. and
they seldom wear it; but I feel that
the; old rascal, in spite of the disgrace
and inconvenience that his confne-
| ment brings upon him, is tickled in.
deed that he is not bound to find his
own clothes.-Harper's Weekly.