The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1895-09-28
HOW THE TRAMP LIVES.


Brsahfass His Principal Neal Clothes
Are No object.
Az rule the .'poke.out" begsar has
but one meal day. and it In usually
breakfast. This 10 the main meal
with all vagabonds. and even the lazy
tramp makes frantic efforts to find 1t.
Its quantity as well rs its quantity de-
pend largely ON the kind Of house he
vista His usual breakfast, il 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, is
what every man Of his kind wants
early in the morning.
The clothes Of the ''poke-out" beg
gar are not much, il any better than
his food. In summer he seldom has
more than shirt, pair Of trousers.
q coat, some old shoes, and q battered
hat. Even in winter he wears little
more, especially il he goes South.
While lived with him wore these
same "togs." shall never forget my
first tramp suit Of clothes The coat
was patched in 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
me fom tripping; the hat was An old
Derby with the crown denied in sew.
sral places; and the only decent thing
l had on was flannel shirt. l pur.
chased this rig of AN old Jew. and
thought that it would b. just the thing
for the road. and so it was, but only
for the "poke-out" tramp's road. The
hoboes laughed at me and called me
"hoodoo," and l never got in with
them in any such garb. Nevertheless.
| wore it for nearly two months, and
50 long as l associated with lazy beg
gars only, it was all right.
1t Is by no means uncommon to see a
poke out" vagabond wearing some
sort OF a garment which belongs to
woman's wardrobe. He is 50 indifYer-
ent that he will wear anything that
will shield his nakedness, and l have
known him to be 80 lazy that he did
not even do that. One old fellow 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 his
own class, told him that he ought to
find another one, and the more he de.
layed it the more they labored with
him. One night they were all gather
ed together at "hang.out" not far
from Lima, Ohio, and the old fellow
was told that unless he found 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 the
following day he was actually so lazy
and stubborn that he would not yield,
and probably would be there still, in
some form or other. had his pals not
relented and returned him the coat.
As said, he went for nearly week
without finding a shirt, and not once
did he show the least shame or embar-
rassment. Just at present | under
stand that he is in limbo, wearing the
famous zebra" - the penitentiary
dress. 1t is not popular among tramps.
and they seldom wear it, but feel
that that old rascal. in spite Of the dis
grace and Inconvenience that his con-
hnement brings upon him, is tickled
indeed that he is not bound to find his
own clothes. Harper Weekly.
Lee Great In Defeat.
lady living at Warm Springs.
Va. furnishes a very pleasing anecdore
Of General Robert E. Lee, which will
find ready belief North and South.
Shortly after the war, Northern Gen.
eral and his daughters were quartered
at this summer resort and naturally, as
the tide Of sectional bitterness, in.
creased by overwhelming failure, had
not begun to ebb, the Northern family
were not only having a very dull time,
but were being made to feel as if they
were Stunned like the plague stricken.
When this fact was mentioned acct
dentally to General Lee, 1.-THE Great
Sdptdlu dt OuCc tAClAlUQtu.
II am very glad to learn Of this. |
shall see to 1t instantly that they find
this place more pleasant. He called,
not once, but often, on the Northern
general and his daughters and sought
opportunity to bestow upon them Law
ish attentions, with all that open grace
and peculiar charm which were his by
nature. OF course, as he set the fash
ion. the young ladies became very
popular at the hotel, and the two gen.
erals from courteous acquaintance,
grew into cordial friends The South
can be we'll pardoned. or rather, it
could not be so well pardoned il it did
not cherish with warm affection the
memory Of Lee. Like some other great
men, he met the supreme test Of great
Dess-he was great in defeat-H. A.
in the illustrated American.
IAN Nonsense"
A famous minister had a negro servant
in his family. One Sunday while the
clergyman was preaching. he happen
ed to look toward the pew where the
negro sat, and could hardly contain
himself as he saw the fellow, who could
not read or write word, scribbling
away most industriously.
After the service, he said to the man:
Tom. what were you doing in
church,
"Takin' notes, massa. All de gem.
men takes notes"
Bring your notes here and let me
see them"
Tom brought his notes, which looked
more like Chinese than English.
why, Tom, this is all nonsenser'