American telegraph. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1851-1851, 1851-07-05
AMERICAN TELEGRAPH
YOUR MASTER AND MY EMPLOYER;
on, SERVING OUT MY TIME.


4 YOUR MASTER AND MY EMPLOYER;
OR, SERVING OUT MY TIME.
WRITTEN BY ROSWELL ALLYN FOR NEW YORK Sun.
I Continued)
Time passed on. Bill felt that now he was
MS own master, but unfortunately although
master of himself he wa not master of his trade.
He could not do fine work, and his % boss took
no trouble to teach him, as he 'was not going
TO teach fellow his business to whom he paid
the value of his services" If he would be an
apprentice he would teach him--3not otherwise.
The : two-thirder" accordingly having little OPP
Portunity to learn n trade Mt the expense of his
."bosS. and refusing to turn in as an appren-
uce, soon became disgusted with his mongrel
position, and yentured to try something else.
Alter being out Of business short time, and
thinking what he could do, and asking his ac-
quaintances, he hit upon the best thing in the
| world. Among the young men with whom Bill
kept company, Gus Turner, ms they called him.
was one Of the foremost. Gus was printer
He had been office boy, and did the chores in
down town printing office, and had OCCASION
ally looked at the cOmpositors while they were
setting their types, and thought he could do it
too. He learned the places for the letters, and
he asked one another of the workmen about
| the leases - and as he sometimes took up n
! good share of his noon -spell by setting type
| lor them while they were gone to dinner, they
concluded the gain was worth the instruction,
and after few months Gus himself turned
into the ranks as two-thirder" Bill took
advantage of the introduction of his friend and
soon found himself picking up the types along
side of his more proficient companion.
1t would be curious and laughable enough to
see Bill setting type; but that was nothing to
| the 'proofs" he made. What he did one day
took him half the next day to correct, so nume-
rous were his blunders and, in short, few
months found Bill entirely disgusted with the
printing business, as he was not fit for 9 fancy
work, as he called it, while his errors often
perplexed the proof-reader, and actually him
dered the work of the other hands.
Bill is his own master again. The idea of
serving out his time at one business, and learn
ing 1t thoroughly, was not suited to ''his
genius. He would not have master; AMI to
be bound to serve one man for six or seven
years was making another man master over
him, which he would not put up with--that
9 wouldn't be judgment" So once more he
found himself has own master, while he had not
sense enough to see that he was all the time
creating greater master, which would one day
rule him with rod of iron--Necessity.
In the building adjoining that in which the
printing office was kept, there was book bind
cry. The boys and young men usually lounget
arOunu tne uOOr at nOOn-ume, ana Dill got &C
quainted with some of the binders Ii mad,
up his mind to get job in the bindery, and h
was successful He was now well on his teens
Too old and too large to do the chores of tn
shop, and to do many of those little thing
2 which a learner must properly know in order t
become a good workman IN any business, h
was put to part of the work which be coul,
manage by good deal of care. He tried hare
TO learn, but months passed away before ht
could understand his work, and when he did
ue found that he had only commenced learning
business which requires patience, skill and
attention. His employers, Muslin & Board.
proposed that he should remain his full time
cut, and they would teach him the trade; but
as he was so old, and could stay but half the
usual time, they would not agree to advance his
wages a great deal until he should become
ourneyman
1t is an old saying that Experience teaches
| ools," and although we are bound to believe
hat the whole world has said 50 long, we have
n independent private opinion, which we do
not hesitate to make public-that there is some
| Inference, if not more, between teaching fools
md curing them Of their folly. Besides, we
nave surmise of our own, that experience
has had 50 many fools to teach, that by this
| time she ought to stand in the front rank of
educators, having had such long practice. BE
| chat as it may, there are some fools who learn
| al that experience has to teach them, and then
| try to set up school of their own, on the other
side Of the way. Their motto is, ''Go it while
! you're young for when you're old you can't"
And because the fools who learn in their school
10 actually get this lesson by heart and ego it
while they're young" only few Of them live
| tong enough to see whether they can 20 it when
Jhey are old-or not
Bill had learned this maxim till he had it so
thoroughly, that when he ate he was /" bound"
70 !" 60 it while you're young" When he tipped
his beaver sideway on his head and turned his
Spanish" between his teeth at a clean angle
| Of forty-fve degrees, neither more nor less, and
saw n full inch of ashes balancing on the con
sumed end of his cigar, he slapped Gus on the
knees and said "Go it while you're young
ooys!" And when he was questioned by " the
old wornn" why he stayed out SO late at night,
ne only said, go 1t while you're young"
Arthur and Bin occasionally met in the street.
The former always stopped and had a talk with
his old shopmate. Arthur saw the error Bill
had committed, and as he heard from time to
ime of his changes, he remarked that he would
nave done far better to have served ont his
time" The latter would never admit 1t. He
generally managed to have some spare change
in his pocket, (thc amount made no difference,
Us Arthur never saw il, and he took care to
rattle it in Arthurs hearing, with the remark
hat he was doing pretty well, and was his own
master beside Arthur had been steadily pur-
suing the "eyen tenor of his way" and had
spent his leisure time in reading valuable and
instructive works; and although he had no
money in his pocket, he could always tell his
ormer companion Of the amount he had in the
savings Bank, which though not large was
,lowly growing Arthur's twenty, over which
e felt so much satisfaction as the savings of
ris own earnings, had grown to be nearly two
undred-a fact which Bill learned from him
he first time they met after couple of years,
Turing which he had been to Philadelphia, Bal
timore, Boston, and other places. This was