Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1895-08-29
SAMPLES q tRAMP S,EEG
which, Though They Would shock Web
ster. Arc Decidedly Exnrcssixc.

which. Though They Would shock Web
stor, Are Decidedly Expressive.
Much has been written recently
upon the technicalities of various
classes of life and upon the peculiar
provincialisms and terms of speech
made use of among tho different
business worlds. said an aged COS.
mopolitan to reporter recently,
but do you know that there is no
GLASS of pcople on the globe whose
gibberish is as apt and natural as
that of the tramps? 1t is true, and
there are many cases in which it has
secured the coveted meal. The tramp
who pretended such abjcct starva.
ton that he ate grass at the front
door of tho lady who opened the
gate, and who pityingly invited him
to go into tho garden where the
grass was so much higher, at first
feared the innovation had failed, but
was soon rewarded for his ingenuity
by the presentation of a we'll filled
dish of food. The fact that the
tramp has visited almost all that is
of interest in his country gives him
at least such an ease of manner that
not infrequently he braces up and
becomes trusted factor in some
smaller town where society is run
with an easier roin than in cities.
Now, to give you an idea of tho yer.
satility with which they converse in
their own peculiar manner, l will
call your attention to what another
tramp just asked mo as l walked
into the hotel. Perhaps you heard
him. He said:
Say. DO, did you 500 anything
OF DO dinging along the path with a
lamp out and n wheel OFF,
we'll, to me that was palmer
than had he addressed me in the
purest English, which would have
been, Did you SEQ anything of a
fellow walking up the railroad with
a leg out off and an eye out?' And
thus it is through the various parts
of speech they have n simile, if that
is tho word, that fits tho class prop
erly. Let me tell you few just as
happen to recall them.
In the first place, leg is wheel
an eye n lamp; walking, dinging
railroad, path; money is dough; q
person Is a guy; to rob is to swipe
hat is skypiece; an umbrella, q
shower stick; shirt, skin; suit,
seams; shoes gre kicks; fingers are
fins; coffee is Java; beef is slaughter
bread is punk; pie is pith, and the
biscuits we usually are rendered on
our journey we call No. SIS because
they are usually the size of shot OF
that number.
while you would express an in.
cident in straightforward English
that would be comprehended by the
most ignorant person present We
could daze the most learned Judge
with n single sentence perfectly ap
propriate to tho occasion. Imagine
the stupefaction of the distinguished
judge in recent case in Mississippi
when, having arrested a vagrant fol-
drinking with n crowd upon the
street, in reply to his usual injunc
ton to tell it in your own way he
received the following straightfor
ward statements:
We'll, me and de push was W
In dc mainstem sloppin up and der
took mope to de jungles to kip
and de bulls cum down and glome6
de whole push
ION being ordered to explain hi
declared:
81 and the crowd (push) were W
Main street taxing few drinks, aft
or which we walked leisurely dowr
to the woods to sleep awhile, wher
the policeman came down and ar
rested US
Another and better word for ar
rest has recently crept into the
Migrants vocabulary-the word
pinch. taking its origin from the
idea of handouts. And thus / might
run through the whole list and give
you a thousand such instances; but,
declare, must add a simolion tc
my barrel, or will not be flush
with dough for the tomorrow festi
val, and bidding our correspond
emit adieu the Noah Webster of va
grancy stalked from the La Glide
with the air of q man who had the
destiny of all literature at his finge,
tips.
An hour later he was seen following
a policeman to the lookup, and dis
tant look upon his face showed thai
he. too, had seen better days. At
lanta Journal.