New Britain herald., 1926-06-19

Among the disappearing species Of ! American life is the picturesque 1 tramp printer. whose name once was
 legion and who circulated from city 1 to rity living on the doles handed
 out to him by moro prosperous fcl-
 low craftsmen. He is almost extinct --only few of him remain.
 1 Like the little old red shawl which mother used 10 wear, the tramp
 printer was usually tattered and i torn. But in spite of his rags, he could and did smile. He preferred to be recognized as travelling jour newman, but this euphonious de- scription was seldom used. He was tramp printer and no one ever called him anything else.
 His home was wherever he hap pened to hang his hat. He frequent 1 ed cheap lodging houses and hlS principal article of diet was beet i stew or any other food which was
 served in large quantities at low
 prices. It must be confessed that the greater part Of his cash was spent , for strong liquor which made hlm ! forget that he was a piece or clay | in rags and exalted him to the es- tate of a knight in purple.
 Few days passed in newspaper ol- fees without visits from these roNers. They visited among the boys and sought aims to get them 10 the nc%L city. In their quest for funds they were seldom disa ppointed. Occasloh- ally one of them could be persuaded to go to work. but the duration ol i his spasmodic visits to the type case was usually one or two days linen
 he would collect whatever pay was due him and pass out ot slSht III Inc dust of the horizon with q stom- i acb warmed with whiskey and few dimes jingling in his pockets In snite of his poverty he was not 4lS- ! coDraeed. He knew that he could al ways count on the printers Tn Nhe next town to contribute enough TOT ! him 10 maintain the affinity between i body and soul.
 Several mem bers Of the tribe be- l came well known in newspaper oi i fees from coast to coast TOT lllc'' literary culture. It was surprlsh8 'o noyices to hear bunch oi rags o'9 i crss the literary masters Of all ages
 with a familiarity born of long ac- l ruaintance with their lives ana works. This seemed to be the espe- cial nride of the itinerarts anu they .nnnt hours declaiming on me merits or demerits of thls or lh"t
 noet or prose writer. several ol thsm also became well known
 tbrongh their ability to write the,r own poetry. These became hu!- sance because the average man S
 idea of a good time is not 10 s'ahh ! in q corner listening to a tramp
 nrinter recite his own odes.
 The printing trade today IS muc" different than it was 20 years ago
 lis requirements are more stflct ",''
 t,n standard of its personnel IS 1nen-
 or With the Introduction Of type ! setting machines and other l'h-
 movements the craft has pecoIn'
 one of the most important in 1he 1 economic life of the nation and me
 character of the men unsurpasseu'
 pn+ old timers will never tofg't
 inc tramp printer, the mehdlcah'
 who slovenly shuftled acrH~ lho floor with his hand ready to be eX- tended for largesse. It is a pity that
 no great painter has immortaIlzed ! him on canvas so that future gener- ations might visualize what ne looked like.
 Is Romance dead? No, not even
 sleeping. Romance still lives for
 those in whose veins the blood o1
 adventure stirs.
 I Within the past week two news
 stories from widely separated points
 of inc compass told of deeds or
 daring do on the throbbing seas' Man has so ovcrrun the land Of the earth that adventure on terra tirma is interrupted by the tooting or a
 locomotive whistle or the muttered
 maledictions Of autoists changing
 fires. The sea alone remains. There
 is the capital of Romance.
 Some time ago tiny expedition
 sci out from New London in boat
 as big as peanut she'll Sails were
 run up and away danced the little i shin bound for distant shores Tn i search of specimens for a museum.
 Spirits ran nigh among the crew all
 though the leader was totally un- , skilled and untutored in the art Of
 seamanship, Then came discoursg-
 ing reports of disagreement re-
 sulting in the decision by some mem
 bers of the crew to abandon their