The Polynesian. [volume] (Honolulu (Oahu), Hawaii) 1840-1841, 1841-01-23
From Pcnlcy's MscclI NJ for Ma, cii. 1859.
TIE LDNKSNIrIi OF p!liI.ADNipliit,

pilla tncfc uNtlt' SCIlc years ago, an IN
gcnious and clever mechanic named Amos
Sparks, by trade Il locksmith. Nature
had blessed him with Il peculiar turn for
the branch OF business to which he had
been bred. Not Only was he skilled in
the manufacture and repair of the various
articles that in America are usually re-
gardcd as ''in the loCksnith line" but,
prompted by desire to master the more
abstruse ntricacics of the business, he had
studied it so attcntivclv. and with such
distinguished success. that his proficiency
was the theme of admiration, no: OIL,
with his customers and the ncig,ibOrhood
but all who took an interest in mcchan-
ical contrlvanccs in the adjoining towns.
Ills counter was generally sircwcd with
various kinds of lastcnngs for doors.
trunks, and desks, which nobody bat him
self could open: and no lock was ever
presented to Amos that he could not pick
in Il very short time. Like many men of
talent in other departments, Amos Sparks
as poor. Though very industrious
and prudent man, with a small and frugal
family, he merely ckcd out comfortable
existence, but never seemed to acclmu-
late property. Whether it was that he
! was not of the race Of moncy-yrubs.
whose instructive desire of accumulation
forces them to earn and hoard without a
thought beyond the mere means of aco,,i-
siton, or whether the time occupied by
the prosecution of new inquiries into still
undiscovered reg ions of his favoritc pur-
suit, and iii conversation with those who
came to inspect and admire the fruits of
his ingenuity, were the cause of his pov-
crty, we cannot undertake to determine
but, perhaps, various causes combined to
keep his finances low, and it was quite
as notorious in the city that Amos Sparks
was poor man, as that he was an ingcn-
ious and decent mechanic. Bat his bulsi-
ness was sufficient for the supply of his
wants, and those of his family, so ne stud
led and worked on, and was content.
1t happened that in the autumn of Ia,
a merchant in the city, whose business
was rather extensive, and who had been
busting about the Quay and ON board
''o 'CSo''o di tic IiipiiiIA5, returned 10
his contingencies to lodge several tIous-
and dollars in the Philadelphia Bank, to
retrieve some paper falling due that day,
when, to his surprise, he found that he
had either lost or mislaid the key of his
iron chest After diligcnt search, with
no success, he was led to conclude that.
in drawing out his handkerchief, he had
dropped the key in the street, or perhaps
into the dock What was to be done -
1t was one o'clock-thc bank closed at
three, and there was no time to advertise
the key, or to muster SO large sum as
that required. In his pcrplexity the mcr-
chant though of the poor locksmith he
had often heard of Amos Sparks: the
case seemed one peculiarly adapted to a
trial of his powers, and being a desperate
one, if he could not furnish remedy.
where else was there reasonable eypccta-
ton of succor? A clerk was hurried off
for Amos, and having explained the diff
Guilty, speedily re-appeared, followed by
the locksmith, with his implements in his
hand. A few minutes suliced to open
the chest, and the astonished mcrchan,
glanced from the rolls of bank notes and
-. TO-, ~ nn;n vtr,wnI .,lnn,, 4 l,ntt,,, to