Thank you for visiting SNEWPapers!
Sign up free
Story
September 24, 1882
The Daily Astorian
Astoria, Clatsop County, Oregon
What is this article about?
A New Yorker, wary of giving cash to a begging tramp, provides a dinner voucher; the tramp indulges in a massive feast costing $4.20, which the donor pays, amusingly outwitted. (148 characters)
Clipping
OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
STRETCHING IT.
It has been a popular delusion that the ordinary capacity of the human stomach is one pint. If so the elastic membrane must be as elastic as the membrane of a congressman. A New Yorker was accosted, a day or two ago, by a seedy looking tramp who begged for a dime to get a bit to eat to keep him from starving. The gentleman chose to be sure that his charity took the form of food and not of whisky, so, instead of giving him money, he wrote him an order to a restaurant to "give the poor fellow a dinner and charge it to me." Armed with this note the tramp canvassed the situation, studied the bill of fare and settled down to business. Beginning with a mutton stew, he followed it with roast veal, corn beef and cabbage, roast lamb with mint sauce, two plates of salmon, lobster salad, boiled eggs, vegetables of all kinds, pie, pudding, cheese, three bottles of Scotch ale and a cigar. There was nothing mean about him. His benefactor paid the bill of $4.20 when it was presented, and invested the rest of the five dollar bill in a stout cane, with which he walks abroad, looking for that hungry tramp.
It has been a popular delusion that the ordinary capacity of the human stomach is one pint. If so the elastic membrane must be as elastic as the membrane of a congressman. A New Yorker was accosted, a day or two ago, by a seedy looking tramp who begged for a dime to get a bit to eat to keep him from starving. The gentleman chose to be sure that his charity took the form of food and not of whisky, so, instead of giving him money, he wrote him an order to a restaurant to "give the poor fellow a dinner and charge it to me." Armed with this note the tramp canvassed the situation, studied the bill of fare and settled down to business. Beginning with a mutton stew, he followed it with roast veal, corn beef and cabbage, roast lamb with mint sauce, two plates of salmon, lobster salad, boiled eggs, vegetables of all kinds, pie, pudding, cheese, three bottles of Scotch ale and a cigar. There was nothing mean about him. His benefactor paid the bill of $4.20 when it was presented, and invested the rest of the five dollar bill in a stout cane, with which he walks abroad, looking for that hungry tramp.
What sub-type of article is it?
Deception Fraud
Curiosity
What themes does it cover?
Deception
Fortune Reversal
What keywords are associated?
Tramp Deception
Charity Abuse
Overeating
Restaurant Bill
What entities or persons were involved?
New Yorker
Tramp
Where did it happen?
New York
Story Details
Key Persons
New Yorker
Tramp
Location
New York
Event Date
A Day Or Two Ago
Story Details
A charitable New Yorker gives a starving tramp a restaurant order for dinner instead of money; the tramp orders and eats an extravagant meal costing $4.20, which the benefactor pays upon presentation of the bill.