Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 65, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 March 1914 — Demented Tramp Visited Rensselaer—They’re Dangerous. [ARTICLE]

Demented Tramp Visited Rensselaer—They’re Dangerous.

An aged tramp visited Rensselaer Monday. He was about as crazy as a loon and it is probable he is not apt to become dangerous. The man came into The Republican office and asked for exchanges. As we handed him a couple of papers he said: “I have been looking for the Savior, but 'he is not at any of the hardware stores.” We remarked that he should look for him at the printing offices instead of the hardware stores. He lurched forward as he hissed: ‘The knife, the knife, it is the savior.” “Let me tell you, mister, that the knife is the real savior. If an apple has rotten spots we cut them out and you must use a knife to cut out the bad from the people.” He was very serious and his eyes gleamed with eagerness and he reached into his pockets as if he were about a draw a knife. We told him that the knife was dangerous and that people might ba killed if it was used. “What matter,” he said, “they had better be dead. Don’t the surgeons use the knife to cure physical ailments? That is the only remedy and we must have the knife, the knife.” He was anxious to explain, saying that several great women had told him to talk to the people about it and that if tramps were threatened by the use of the knife for sterilization they would quit bumming and go to work. He was informed that we could not longer listen to him and he went away, saying that he was going to lopk for the savior. He is said to have visited a number of houses and to have frightened a number of women.