Wisconsin herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1846-1849, 1846-03-21
Ripton ROyydie.
Extract Of one Of Neale's Charcoal Sketches.

lin the vernacuiar, is called boss
hut the whole matter was SO indefinite
and intangible, that the aforesaid Boss
could not for long time make it out
clearly which of the two was the au-
thoratatlve and superior person. II was
plain enough, every Saturday night
proved the fact-that Ripton Rowdie
received salary-but what it was for
whether it was to be productive of
advantage to him that paid it, or solely
conducive to the benefit and the COM
fort Of him that received it, this adj
mitted Of question in the mind of Mr..
Stubs.
s. 1t is true" thought Stubs, as he
reflected on the subject, "that for the
consideration paid, l cell Ripton Row
die my mani can blow Ripton
Rowdie up, whenever ! feel cross, and
may call him hard names when he is
in pretty good humor, and does not
want to fght-but that is hardly a sat-
isfaction for the money. | can also
tell him TO do things, which he does or
leaves it alone, just as he chooses (; and
can send him of errands, too, if like,
which l don't do very often, because
he stays away all the rest Of the day
and am sure that this IS not salts
faction'for the money. He boards with
me, besides, for the sake of convenience
and economy but really. as he eats
more than all the rest together, to say
nothing of his boiling in and out, at all
hours Of the night, | don't think ! am
a gamer by the bargain"
eSee here, Ripton Rowdie," ex-
claimed Stubs aloud to his man, who
sat at once warmly, with his heels on
the stove, and coolly, with an interim
nabIe cigar in his mouth, without the
least regard to the shop, allowing
Stubs to do the business, while he
pulled dull care away in clouds of
smoke, as if dull care had been mos
quito -" look here, Ripton Rowdie,
/ am not going to stand your cuttings
up any longer, and that's the short of
it."
"The short of it, and the long of
it," replied Ripton Rowdie, amiably,
" make the whole of it, don't they ?"
Ripton, I've bailed you out too
often"
"Never get tired Of bailing, Mr..
Stubs, or you'll sink" advised Rip
ton.
"And / wouldn't mind that so much.
if it wasn't chat you always hear an
alarm Of fire whenever there's any
thing to do, and leave me to do it." f
"And who, I'd like to know, has a
better right to do it than you have
when its your business more than
mine ? And then, as to fires, its not
my fault that they come at the wrong
time-did you ever know fires to have
manners, and to wait until they're want
ed /? | never know'd a Philadelphia
fire to do that, unless somebody wanted
to make a spree out of the Insurance
Offices, by hayin' an accident a. pur-
pose. Why do ! go to fires ? It's
spirit that takes me-public spirit,
How are things to get along at all, II
nobody's got no spirit -
"But you never ask me-you 60 out
to fires Of yourself"
"That's because fires wants manners,
as told you afore. and won't 60 out OF
themselves, so we have to 60 out to the
fires. Why, Old Stubs, if there was
many more like you, Millerism would
come true in less than a week."
But whenever you do go to fire,
YOU are sure to get yourself into fight !;
and then you come about the shop with
black eye, or a thumbstall on your
nose, or your arm in a sling"
"That's the ornamental part--put-
ting out the fires is the useful, and the
rumpus is the beautiful. It's spirit too.
If the fire don't want all our spirit,
then we make Christmas box OF 1t
to somebody that does. But it's no use
talkin to those that's not dedicated up
to the same notch that you're eddIca-
ted up to-people that hain't.no spirit,
how can they understand them that's
full of spirit !''
" But you never'd stop for me, if /
was to sing out ever SOL"
"Stubbs, this is a land Of liberty,
where we stand no sort Of nonsense,
and every man does just as be likes
in when he Iikes-out when be likes.
nnn,t he,n Won when Pm in the hu-