The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-17
tcs,v,,.h, 1905 by National Pres. Agency,

tC0pyrtght iSvo oy s"''""'
 The first signs of Christmas in John. | street are not to be looked for in John- | street itself. but rather on the high | roads leading to London. All the tranps that can do IL pour into the great cities for the winter festival. They like the warmth. and the com nanionshjp, and the chance of old pleasure. It Is the joliy.beggar spir- it: and when the beggar wants to be
 jolly. he is just like his betters. and more or less naturally turns to some great gathering of his fellow men. You win find the tramp. not always solitary. but sometimes in groups.
 plodding along the roads with Lon-
 don on his mind. have had strange
 talks with him. and have found out all sorts of things connected with his
 ancient. if not very honorable, mystery.
 One told me that he could always find
 his way to town without looking st
 the sign posts. The telegraph poles
 were enough for him. don't profess
 to understand it, but it seems there is
 shows whether they run to London. as
 terminus. or not. Perhaps he was
 only telling me q Christmas story. but
 he kept d serious face. lie sat by the roadslGc. shortening up an old cap that he had begged. borrowed. or oth-
 
 must be remembered that the tramps carry everything they have. If not ex- actiy on their backs. at any rate with them. Somewhere or other in their bundle. or concealed about their per sons. is all that they own in the wide world. This is most wofully apparent when they are preparing themselves for bed, in the shelters. They cling to the idea Of property. as we all do; and, sometimes carry with them alto gethers foolish things-little knick. knucks that came to them in earlier and happier days. futilo book marker or d paper knife. Anything will do for "a memorial. There is, usually a fat Yule of them on the roadside. London is more or less of certainty in occasional good cheer at that time. Peoples hearts and hands are open: and. if there Is nothing better, there Is still the very smell of the town. But characters of this sort are not. as a rule. found in my typical house. There you see every variety of the poor. or. at least. you did see It. The thing going on now Is sort of segre' gation4 of the decent poor from the others. The model dwellings have large ly done that. You want certii- cate of character for a model. and you | have to live up to it. The ne 'er-do- | wells generally herd by themselves | good movement; and. at any rate. 1t Is quite an inevitable, one. The bad lots are harder to deal with when they are mixed with the others. Still. you do | find them mixed. in neighborhoods with vast acreage of small houses I But the better ones more or less keep | to them selves in their miniature homes The others enjoy the same indepen-
 dence in the homes next door. and move. for they know how to make themselves extremely disagreeable to | those who happen to be too ostenta- | tious in their desire to keep them- selves select. The rough hates above all things one of his own class, who is over solicitous about the purity of the hem of his garment. He takes the scorn and the contempt Of the bet ter-to-dO as d matter of course: but any show of aversion by people of his own social standing is bitterly re-
 scented. If you were privileged to peep into two or three of row of houses in mixed street. you might see the Christmas of the poor in all it's beauty, end in all its horrors. The horrors come when the bad lots have fairly
 laid in their stock of Christmas cheer The drinking at the bars at this sea son Is by no means the greatest evil The worst part of 1t Is the drinking | indoors. by those who cannot afford to | waste a moment by having to wait | for the opening of the houses. This ! is often managed by means of impro- vised drinking clubs. number of cronies putting down so much. and laying in a gallon of gin. or two or ! three gallons of beer. and never stop | ping till they come to the last drop At all holiday times. Sunday includ- l ed. they store their tripple in advance You may see them bringing it home
 in bottles the last thing on Saturday night. Some few of the workers look forward deliberately to a days drink | ing and day in bed. as the ordinary incident of the weekly holiday. They | rest in that way. They go to bed and
 soak. and have the drunkard's dreams, pulling themselves together in the | morning. and putting their heads un- | der the tap. to resume the long weeks l work-if they don't make Monday of it as well. There is quate a class that
 use drink precisely as the Chinese use | their opium--as a something that fos- | ters pleasant. hazy sort of introduc- | tion to dreamland. It works on some | in that way. not as a stimulant, but as | a sedative. and while they are under | It's influence they have visions of al | toper's heaven. For others, who are ! most in evidence at Christmas time | 1t is stfmulant to fiendish revel. that lasts more or less. day and night. un- | til the money and the season together | come to an end. In the next house. or
 on the next floor. according to the