St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1904-07-27

which have stained and twisted al d
| weathered it's tough old sides! For the
tramp not only gets near to the heart of
nature as the bicyclist with his eyes on
the road, the automobil1st with his
behind goggles, or even the driver with
his mind on his horse never cam He sees
more, feels more, tumbles into more
predicaments, needs the belpo his fellow
man oftener, comprehends the huge,
warm heart of the human race, under
stands how the Almighty Father looks
after his children even in the incidentals
of life, better than any other man. He is
an optimist. Ii the spring of the earth
beneath his feet, the shine of the skies
above, the burst of vision from the
hilltop, doesn't drive the demon of pes
simism out, the real CHEEKY heartiness of
his human welcome must.
Take one such incident, snatched from
a full bundle of anecdotes. The days
march had ended at Culmington, in
Shropshire, Eng; the days stint was
done; tired legs refused further service.
The inn at Culmington proved poetry in
carnate. Its bright bricks were fresh
scrubbed by rain, it's roses fairly rioted
along the roof-tree; the latest of fat
landlords stood smiling, white-aproned
at the door. He thought we'd come for
beer, at the mention OF beds his face went
all awry. mo, he was full b. up"
Establishments were in vain. The next
inn was at Ludlow and the towers of her
great church beckoned US across the
wide sweep OF Covedale, five miles away.
How could we get there? He didn't
know. The baker cart had just gone in
the butcher cart still fingered in the vast
beyond, perhaps that might stop-he
didn't know. But there had been a funeral
at Culmingron that afternoon. am
afraid at the time, | should have said
luckily there had'O the hearse ratified
into the courtyard, the men stopped to
Liquor up" Hired mutes at an English
burial service never showed faces more
woe-begone than ours while we stood
and gazed upon them. do ye want to
go to, Ludlow" We did. "Well hits
kind of queer conveyance, but hits hall
we've got" So up we climbed, Madame
to sit between the undertaken and the
driver on the seat, / to recline on the top
with the gravedigger. AS we ratified off.
the undertaken, winking true under
takers wink, remarked consolingly,
"Well, hits cap better riding bout
side than h'inside, h'anyway!"
All along our routes people have asked
for practical advice, SO here it is. 1t
isn't necessary to make yourself as un-
comfortable as did Hilaire Belloc in his
illarranged and headlong march on Rome;
Or to POLITICALLY and YEARLY bear your
bed and your kitchen on our back as
does the man in the Atlantic. Have your
knapsack light, it can be of canvas paint
ed on he inside. An umbrella will do for
a "stout stick" but what vigorous
man wishes of stick l cannot conceive;
a woman NAV desire an umbrella. Make
up your mind that three good meals
a day cooked by some body else and
comfortable bed made up by somebody
else are absolute requ:sites-then get
them. The American maps are none of
them so good as the foreign, so here you
must depend on guide-posts for distances;
but Phillips cyclists maps of Great Brit
ian have never failed me except in Somer-
set, and Taride's sectional maps of
France have the distances marked on
them so that he who runs may read
Don't try to go too far. \ dozen or hf.
teen miles day is enough at the start,
make the longer half Oft in the morning.
Abroad the majority Of the cheaper
hotels are very good. in New England the
drummers' hotels have the best bed and
board and one is less stared at. Ia the
Adirondacks or New Hampshire reckon
the cost OF living as two dollars a day
apiece La little over in the White Mount
ains), in Vermont dollar and half.
In England FIVE shillings ought to include
fees and tips If you cling to the cyclists
temperance hotels, on the continent it is
often much less.
Experience has taught me list of
"don'ts" applying to the gener ality OF
tramping advice. Don't wear flannel,
you can have cotton washed up every
five days; or put on very heavy shoes,
they martyrize the feet; or take lunches
to eat under the trees, they become
crumb-y and mush-y; or stay at hotels
recommended by Baedeker for there you
are over-charged and see only Americans.
Above all, put your pride in your pocket,
forget you ever wore black clothes or
long trousers. ever lived any distance
away from The coasts of Bohemia. Thus
taking life at its sweetest, simplest, fresh
est, you shall know JOY as he alone who
tramps can know its meaning.