“The
members of the tramp fraternity should give Rathfriland a wide berth for the
future as the Constabulary Force, under the command of Sergeant Johnston is
determined to leave nothing undone in order to exterminate this class of
offender in Rathfriland.”
Yes, the
term ‘exterminate’ was used.And how, I
wonder, is a person classed as an offender simply by being a “tramp”?
The verb
following the name Johnston
above was originally “are” but my spellcheck disallowed this grammatical
violation.Was the reporter seized and
punished by the Language Protection Police, I wonder?
Did the
bare-footed ragamuffins involved simply transpose themselves to Newry’s Hill Street – as
suggested by the accompanying photograph?
Did
shopkeepers cower in fear of these ‘light-fingered’ felons?
Were
members of the said community used to buying and reading the local papers and
taking such warnings to heart?
Perhaps a
little sympathy or empathy would not go amiss!
Reminiscence 
