VOL. XXX.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., NOV. 16, 1895.
NO. 46.
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Indiana FarmkrCo,
Written for the Indiana Farmer.
Only a Tramp.
BY C. A. ROBINSON.
I was sitting at my table writing, on the
morning of Oct. 29,1895, when I saw the
figure of a man flit by my window, I only
caught a momentary glance at his features, but that was enough to tell me that
he was a stranger to me. He passed on
toward the back door and I went on with
my work. Presently my wife came and
said: "There is a man out here that
wants a cup of coffee, shall I give it to
him?"
"Why certainly," I replied, following
her out, when she opened the door and I
invited him to take a seat at the table at
hand-
It only required a glance to show me
that he wasoiot a professional tramp, for
as lie looked at me his expression was an
intelligent and honest one, though very
meek. He had somehow kept his mustache and beard trimmed in that neat
manner that always mark the man of
t aste and personal pride.
Conceiving the thought that here might
be an opportunity  to  learn   something
concerning^the unparalleled   prosperity
hat we are told exists everywhere, I took
a seat opposite him and said:
"You find the weather pretty cold don't
you?"
"Yes indeet," he answered, betraying at
once his Teutonic extraction.
"You are a German, I think," said I.
"Yes sir."
"Where did you sleep last night?"
"In a strawstack," he answered in a low
voice, while his lowered head told, plainer
than words could, his shame at the confession.
"Did you try to get a bed?"
"No sir, people I belief think I am a
tramp anyhow, and I don't like to ask for
a bed ven I can help it."
"Where are you going?"
"To Indianapolis."
"Where did you come from?"
"From Cincinnati."
"And you have walked this far?"
"Yes sir."
"Why didn't you catch a ride on a
freight train?"
"I am no thief," he said, with some emphasis; but at once went on, "I beg your
pardon sir, I spoke too quickly."
I pretended to give no heed to his remark and asked:   "Are yououtof a job?"
"Yes sir."
"Well, you don't find many working-
men out of jobs do you?"
"Oh yes, a great many, a great many,"
and he looked at me as if surprised that I
should ask such a question.
"What is your trade?"
"I am a carpenter, I have lived in Louisiana for some time, and was a plantation
carpenter. I got sick and was advised to
change climates and I thought I could
easily rind work in the north, so 1 started
for Cincinnati."
"How long ago?"
"About three months?"
"You have not been so long on the
road."
"Yes sir, I had to walk most of the way,
and would have to stop and rest up where-
ever I could."
"How long did you live in Germany?"
"Twenty-five years."
"Is the condition of the workingman
there as good as it is here?"
"Well, I think at this time it is about a
standoff. This is a much bigger country
than Germany, and we hear much more
about the poverty of the people than we
do in Germany. The American people
can't put up with poverty like the poor
in the old countries. It makes them cross
and surly and desperate."
"Do you think that poverty will drive
men to crime?"
"I certainly do. And while I have not
been long on the road I have found men
who never committed a crime in their
lives talking mighty ugly."
"What do you think would be most
likely to drive these men to commit
crime?"
"Well," and he looked at me in deep
earnestness, "yon ask me more questions
as everybody from New Orleans to here,
you don't want to do me no harm I
hopes."
"Certainly not," I answered in a tone
that reassured him perfectly, and he went
on:
"If you want to know vat makes a little
black spot to grow in a man's heart it is
to get hungry and cold; and if you vant
to know vat makes dat little black spot
grow a big black spot it is ven his wife
and children get hungry and cold."
"Do you have much trouble getting
enough to eat along the road?"
"No sir, de people haf.Jieen good to
me."
"Don't you think you could get a living
if you would just go on the road all the
time?"
"I tink a man dat would do such a thing
would be a little wrong in his head, or a
mighty big rogue, and a gleam of manliness shot from his eye."
"You speak of working on a plantation.
How large are those plantations?"
"The one I worked on contained 1,000
acres. I have seen them have 4,000
acres."
"There are very large land holders in
Germany are there not?"
"In western Prussia it is so, but I never
saw a plantation in Germany of more
than 4,000 acres. In southern Prussia it
runs from 20 to 40 and 00 acres, and a man
is rich who owns 100 acres."
"Do you expect to get work at Indianapolis?"
"Dat's de trouble, I am a good cabinet
maker and I would like to get a job inside, I am not strong enough to work outside; but I have nobody to recommend
me and I don't know how I'll make it."
"What do you think is the reason men
cannot get work?"
"Well I don't hardly know, I see all
round me as I go through the country,
plenty to eat and the farmers complaining of low prices and no market, and I
know that there are thousands of people
that go hungry every day, I think I am a
good example, I could eat three times as
much every day as I get and not hurt me.
So could every other man in the country
who is out of a job; and I think if every
man could get work dat wants to work
they would soon eat up the surplus that
the farmers have produced. I think that
something ought to be done to set hungry
peoples' jaws again."
"Do the people where you were in the
south drink much liquor?"
"They have to."
"Why?"
"The country is so full of malaria that
they would die if they did not?"
"Don't they die anyhow?"
"Well, yes," he,repeated with a little
laugh, "but I suppose they think they live
longer by drinking liquor."
"How does it effect the malaria?"
"I don't know sir, but I suppose they
think it does them some good, for the
most of them drink it."
By this time he had finished a good
hearty meal, then rose to go;   and I ex
tended my hand as I said; "Well, my
good fellow, I hope you will get a good
job, you don't deserve to be tramping over
the country in this way."
He grasped my hand, and in great earnestness, mingled with an emotion he
could not conceal and replied, "Veil, I'm
very much obliged to you, you speak
such kind words to me. I vas purty
much discouraged, but I feel better now.
May God bless you," and he was gone.
The above is a true narrative and again
shows that "truth is stranger than fiction."
The actual value of stable manure as a
whole is greater than the value of its
constituents. The same, in a commercial
form, would not have the beneficial mechanical action that the manure has in
loosening the tough clay soils, and in compacting lighter sandy ones. Either green
manuring or stable deposits should sup"
plement the use of commercial fertilizers
always.
POSTAL CAKD C0EEESP0NDENCE.
Union Co., Oct. 28.—Since their inauguration in Union county the Farmers'
Institutes have steadily increased in interest and practical value. Last year a
three days meeting was attended at
sometime during the meeting by
nearly half the farmers of the county.
Since the first meetings a marked improvement in methods of farming can be
seen. Better methods of feeding and
sheltering stock has given better returns
for labor. Better cultivation is giving
larger crops. A very marked improvement is noticeable in comfort and appearance of farm homes. Prof. W. C. Latta is
largely responsible for the success of the
Institutes. Union county is arranging
for another three days' meeting and expecting nearly the whole population to
attend. Dec. 12, 13, 14. Corn and fruit
growing are to be the leading topics.
H. F. Mo M.
Union Co., Oct. 25.—No use in my saying we are having dry weather. It is
very discouraging to think of entering
the winter with the ground so dry and
and water so scarce. Wheat in Union
county is very late, some have just finished sowing. I never saw in my life before one farmer sowing wheat while another was cribbing corn, but such is the
fact this fall, in this Union Township,
Union county.
£>t;itc Ucws.
saw, and last week farmers discovered a
horse and buggy in its depths. The rig
was identified as one leased by Klmer Crist
a Big Four railway conductor, who left
Warsaw with the intention of driving to
Wabash. It is supposed that the animal
ran away and plunged into the lake. Mr.
Crist is still absent, and there is fear that
he is drowned.
The prairie fires assumed dangerous
proportions last week in Lake county in
the vicinity of the Sheffield race track
and in the Robertsdale district, and the
fire departments of Hammond and Whiting were called out. Nearly 2,000 acres
between the two cities were burned over.
Four head of cattle stolen from Samuel
Bussell, near Greenfield, were traced by
members of the Brandywine Horse Thief
Detective Association to Anderson, where
they were found in possession of a butcher, having been sold by Thomas Oustopp,
of Anderson, formerly a resident of Hancock county. Oustopp was taken back to
Greenfield for trial. He is said to be an
ex-convict, whose wife recently died in
the insane hospital.
(&z\xtxvtX Hears.
William Cook, of Kvansville, fatally
fractured his skull by falling from a haymow.
William Banks, of Kosciusko county,
had an arm torn off by a corn husking
machine.
L. Stunkard, of Clinton county, owns a
horse 38 years old, and he is driving two
of his colts, 14 and 22 years old, respectively.
J. L. Whitesel, of Knightstown, while
driving to his farm, was thrown out in a
runaway accident, and his skull was fractured in three places. Mr. Whitesel was
found unconscious in the roadway. His
recovery is doubtful.
The Misses Sadie and Lou Dalzell,
school teachers, of Cass county, while
driving to their daily duties, caught their
clothing on fire from hot bricks which
had been placed at their feet, and both
ladies were severely burned.
John S. Kriner, 85 years old, of Martinsville, during the night undertook to drink
a glass of wine, but by mistake he poured
out a potion from a bottle filled with carbolic acid, and swallowed it before discov-
ing his mistake. He lived but a few
hours.
Goose lake, a small body of water, but
very deep, lies three miles south of War-
Twenty-eight fish were found in a can
of milk in New York recently.
Bits of raw fresh beef buried among
the roots is the best food for the English
ivy.
For the first time in 50 years it is possible to wade across the Ohio river at New
Albanj-.
A perfectly white squirrel, with pink
eyes, was caught by a hunter near South
Windham, Conn., last week.
For the first time in history, cranberry
picking on Cape Cod had to be suspended
last week because of a snowstorm.
Herring were never so plentiful off the
Massachusetts coast as this year, and the
catch so far has been phenomenally large
Gray squirrels are scarce in Vermon'
this fall, though there is a plentiful crop
of nuts. Partridges and other game are
plentiful there.
Christmas trees by the hundreds are
being marked for harvest in Maine. In
a few weeks the crop will be started toward New York and other big cities.
A little son of Postmaster Walker, of
Navarre, O., was fatally burned Monday,
while playing about a bonfire. Four
years ago Mr. Walker's little daughter
was burned to death in a similar manner'
Russian scientific men have ascertained that out of 597 trees struck by
lightning in the forests near Moscow 302
were white poplar. They advise farmers
to plant poplars as natural lightning conductors.
William Bell, of Benton Harbor, Mich.,
literally starved to death. The extraction of a tooth paralyzed the nerves and
muscles of the throat and stomach and he
could take nourishment in no form whatever.
Two beet sugar plants in Nebraska expect to turn out 4,500,000 pounds of sugar
this season. The season lasts about three
months and began October 1, and is a
busy one for the factories and profitable
for the farmers while it lasts.
A little fellow in knickerbockers killed
an eagle measuring seven feet from tip to
tip of its wings, near Greenwood, Ky.,last
week. The eagle had killed a turkey hen
in the barn-yard when the boy saw it. He
got a gun and killed the bird at the first
shot.
"Brown's Bronchial Trochks" relieve Throat Irritations caused by Cold or
use of the voice. The genuine sold only
in boxes.