LIFE ON THE ROAD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2320, 18 August 1898, Page 49

LIFE ON THE ROAD.

TRAMPS AND THEIR. WAYS,

As I cycled along towards Farnham, in Kent, It was easy to see that I was in a land of hops, and that picking-time was near. Shabby individuals, chins unshaven and hair unkempt, trudged along, each with a mysterious, nobbly -looking sack slung over his shoulder. Whatever else the sack contains, you may rest assured that it holds a kettle or a saucepan, or a publican's 'tin can, for boiling water at the roadside. These tramps, however fond they may be of beer, dearly love a cup of tea, or they would not carry the means of making it for the number of miles that they do. I have often been astonished at their deftness in preparing afternoon tea, which they seem to take at all hours of the day.

Any one of them, duly washed and combed, would be a great acquisition at a picnic If you have ever tried to prepare and light a fire on such an occasion you will readily appreciate the skill of these gentleman of the road, who get a bundle of twigs blazing in the proverbial no time. The tea and sugar are kept, each in its separate screw of paper, in the trousers' pocket. Milk is dispensed with as a rule, but I have occasionally seen them scraping out a tin of condensed mills,

These men always seem to be in a state o anxiety about the time of day : if they con; descend to speak to the traveller, they a_'i ways w .mt to know the time ; they also want another penny to add to the threepence they, have in hand to obtain a night's lodging. You may, however, relieve yourself from any anxiety on this point, their knowledge of dry bains, outhouses, and casual wards being ol a most extensive and peculiar character.

We should probably be greatly astouidied if we knew the number of j^eople who live on the load during the summer months. On a certain little peninsula formed by the winding of the river Wey, threo of these gei.tlemen met every evening at "about six o'clock during last summer— two middle-aged men and one old man with white hair I had frequent opportunities for watching the spot, and regularly, within five minutes of each other, they would make their appearance shortly after the church 'clock in the distant village struck 6. Sturdy and strong they looked, and the old man was decidedly fat ; they were -always in excellent spirits, and cracked jokes together while the saucepan was boiling for their tea. One of them always sang the same song, while he examined the contents of his bag : — Dearest Mablo, now I'm ablo To buy you a happy home; Since they've raised my screw, lovo, I've enough for two, love. Will you marry? Do not tarry. He never went beyond this point in the song, but whether it was because he remembered no more, or because the arrangements for the meal distracted his attention, I could not succeed in finding out.

A notable thing about the party was that they always had a newspaper, which one of them, seated comfortably among the ferns, h's back supported against the trunk of a fir twe, read aloud to the others as they sipped the- a' tea from tin cans.

And what do you think was the first item of news the reader always started with? It was invariably the cricket intelligence. To witness their excitement over the latest scores from Lord's or the Oval was an experience not easily forgotten.

How these men picked up a living I could never discover; but they were obviously quite happy and well fed, notwithstanding their rags, and they never seemed to be short of tobacco. — Macmillan's Magazine.