The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1905-03-19

year round, but as long as he is wear
ing any sort OF an OVercOat he appears
TO be stationary. Once the evercoat is
laid aside, he is free, as if with if he
stripped the conventions of life and
threw away the last tie that connected
MIN with his fellow man, and is free to
amnesty roam the earth until he finds
his final resting place in a pauper's
grave or the alcohol jars of some med
ical school.
The tramp has become a problem,
and as such has been written about
from the viewpoint of the sociologist
and the economist until it would seem
that his whole life to the minutest
nerve must necessarily be laid bare
but there is still a mystery about the
class that no one has been able to solve
How the tramp manages to live
through the northern winters is a cues
ton that each individual has to settle
for himself.
Many Remain North
I Contrary to the general opinion, the
tramp does not head for the south
when the mercury begins to drop.
Many of them do. but the south, with
its cheap laboring negroes offers little
but climate for the shiftless, and, as a
consequence, the greater number re-
main in the north and brave the VIM
ter. 1t is astonishing what suffering
these men are able to undergo lily
clad and hungry they refuse steady
and comfortable positions insuring
warmth and plenty to eat. A days
work here and there to get a dollar a
bite Of free lunch when the bartender
is not looking, a debauch when luck
throws moneyed improvident across
their path, and one way or the other
they manage to live until spring.
At the first glance, laziness would be
put down as their besetting sin, but in
the sense of the word which implies a
repugDance for the discomfort occa-
stoned by action, this does not fit the
case. Wandering about the frozen
streets for hours is certainly as great
drain on the physique as saving
wooo for that length of time, and the
misery that tramp undergoes in the
course of day is greater than that
caused by the severest kind of labor.
Rather, he is one lacking in the pride
of achievement, lacking in the desire
Tor those things that are life to others,
careless of the future and insensible TO
the idea of reputation. Satisfied TO
exist according to his own ideal OF life,
he is an economic outlaw, a relic of a
former age when the predatory instinct
ran strong, and is entirely out OF tune
with the times.
His spirit is crushed more or less dur
ing the winter and whisky takes the
place OF travel but once the ewes begin
to drip he takes on new life, and the
cid feeling Of confidence and ability to
contend with any circumstance courses
through his veins. His surroundings
appear cid and worn, and the life he
has been leading is intensely monoton-
GUS. His mind runs to other places
and each takes on n particularly allur-
ing hue Memories Of old journeys fit
panorama like through his mind, with
the discomforts and missives far IN the
background, while the pleasure Of II
all Is painted boldly in glaring colors.
He may be comfortable and fuliy-sde-
termfned to live up to his vow to settle
down and live life as others do. but-in
spite of 1t all he sinks into day dreams
Of far off places. gilded by distance A
moonlight night ON the road, with hun
ger satisfied and all the world bathed
In the sheen Of scft silvery light, a hot
day under some railroad bridge where
some lucky vagabond appeared with