Montana news. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1904-191?, 1905-04-19
Sermon On
The Tramp.

upon him-I think l detect the odor
of Jail about him. But how soon
without repair one of us will run
down. You know how you think
you look after long journey-you
know how you think you feel. The
outward man has relation to the
inner. The SLOUGH and shuttle and
unmanly front of the tramp is not
necessarily because of a lack of
heart. The lack of shirt will ac-
count for it. George Washington,
in continental coat, cuffs, waistcoat,
knee breeches, silver buckles, and
frills and powdered hair, fronts the
world with dignity. But let him
exchange raiment with the tramp,
and the father of his country will
not be recognized by his child. Oh,
no; he will begin to shirk and shuttle,
and get behind himself. He will
stand uneasily, and rub the top of
one foot, with heel of the other.
Array yourself in stylish garments
and visit a fashionable watering
place, and mark your reception by
the hotel clerk. Then 90 into the
woods for a few weeks. and some
fine morning clad in old blue shirt,
torn corduroys and moccasins, un-
shaved and uncombed, appear upon
the scene. The temptation to seek
an entrance by the back door and
sneak upstairs and get to your
trunk is tremendous. / remember
an awful day in Detroit. My trunk
had gone on and / had on the uni
form of the pinery. The citizens
looked at me as if was off the res
ervation and / felt lonesome.
With dirt and rags and cold vict-
uals, come rudeness of manner,
coarseness of speech. Let hunger
in and how long will civility and ur-
banity last1
Consider the tramp; he is alone.
Consider what you do and refrain
from doing for the sake of wife and
children, father and mother, friend
and acquaintance; for the sake. of
society. Now for the time abolish
these, let these braces all be taken
away, be alone, out of money, in a
strange city, perhaps you will do
strange things. Men in tents, SOL
diers and miners are not precisely
what they were at home. The tramp
is always away from home. Now,
when you give him dime and watch
him, and see him point for saloon,
need YOU be shocked at his coursep ?
This climate of ours, fine as it is,
draws on life heavily. Unless the
furnace is fed, frost comes in. Be-
fore the fire with plenty of porter
house steak and accompaniments
and variations, one can keep warm
and behave we'll. But the tramp,
walking about during the day, fed
irregularly on cold messes. and
sleeping in the tramp's bed, feels
below par. Food is force. alcohol
is force. For fifteen minutes it will
lift him out of the depths, out of
cold, out of hunger, and besides
this the tramp is a social being, and
likes company. Perhaps the only
kind word he gets during a day is
from a barkeeper. He usually is
not an inhuman man. You have
read De Quincy's story of his life.
He was a sick vagabond child in
London streets, with no friend ex-
cept a woman named Ann, and
she was a sinner" an abandoned
woman. but she did not abandon
him. But before she took him up.
he had learned to soothe the pains
of hunger by opium. A little opium
filed the lack of much bread. So
he formed a habit that held him till
he died. Let us get on the merci-
full side of the question. If you
wish men to be better you must
make them happier. There are
homes in this city that are not very