Nebraska advertiser. [volume] (Brownville, Nemaha County, N.T. [Neb.]) 1856-1882, 1859-12-08
PoIlteneSSPa


''Seems to me you treat that ragged lit
tie brat with more poIileness than
should" said a rough looking man TO a
young shop-keeper, who had just done up
three cents worth of sugar very neatly
in brown paper, and tied il very care
fully.
The boy in question had presented
marked physiognomy. From under his
rimless hat projected wide, full brow,
deep, sparkling eyes, and features full of
energy and resolution. His face and
hands were scrupulously clean, but his
clothes were poor and patched, though
not, as the man had insinuated, ragged.
His mother was woman possessing
much force of characters hard work.
ing woman-who had been reared in ap-
parently better circumstances than those
that now surrounded her, for she was the
wife of drunkard.
The grocer was busy, and be evident
ly had not heard what was said, so the
rough looking man remarked again:
81 say, Wyman, you are a queer
one"
"How queer, Gross 2" asked the gro
Ger, throwing a scoop Of tea into the
scales.
"Why you treat all the beggars about
here with as much consideration, when
they come with their pennies, as if they
bought by Wholesale
And why shouldn't ] 90 said the gro
Ger, looking up with his honest eyes wide
open and clear.
80, | don't know its queer, that's
all; you're the only man that does ii, /
reckon in these parts"
"Well, I'll tell you," said Wyman, de-
liberately unwinding the spool of cord
and twisting the string about package
in his hand: 1.-The fact is, if wasn't
naturally tender towards the children, /
should treat them as do from motives
of policy. You see I'm but a young man
ard these "brats," as you call them, are
growing fast. Many of them, of little
worth as they seem now, will become
men of business. Now, l want to retain
their custom, he said laughingly; "their
pennies, in the course of few years, will
turn into pounds; their three cents worth
of sugar will change into orders by the
barrel. shall have many good custo- |
mer among the brats,' besides, / have
always found that politeness pays"
Something in that CALCULATED this
coarse man, thrusting his hands into his
pockets, something in that, but / never
looked at it in that light"
"The boy that bought the sugar, con-
tinued the grocer, sis none of the ordina-
ry mind, if l am not mistaken. If his
father was dead, would take him with |
me in the store, AMI make a man out of
him-though reckon nature will do bet
ter for him than I could" and the far
seeing grocer handed cents worth of
pins to little timiG child whose top curl
Just reached to the counter.
Time verified the prediction of Wy
man, the grocer. There was not a shop
in the place where so much change was
spent as in his, for the children loved to i
90 where they were not afraid of rough /
actions or rude speechs. They felt them
selves safe while making their little pur-
chases and tits well known that on such
trifing sales much profit accrues In the
aggregate.
Time passed, and Wyman, the grocer,
was the most popular man in the town.
His pleasant face at forty years was gree
ted everywhere. Everybody patronized
Wyman. 1t was strange to see the trans
formation that took place so gradually /; |
the little dirty-faced juveniles shot up in
TO awkward youths learning trades, and |
then grew to be respectable business men. |
Wyman enlarged his shop, and built him |
a splendid house, "all the fruits of chill
dren's pennies" he often said, laughing
ly.
Yes, with him it paid to be polite: it |
always pays. 1t pays the merchant as
well as the mechanic, and the lawyer as
well as the physician. Urbane manners
have been the means of many fortune,
while the cross grained have wondered
why they did not get along. The rough
ness that speaks its mind at all times, and
in all places, boasting itself that it is on
ly honest, blunt, and straightforward, is
habit that demoralizes as well as insults.
Ask any man you chance to see, if he
remembers those who treated him politely
when child, and he will recall their
names with throb of pleasure. Per-
haps, too, he will couple some other per.
sons names with the epithet of "old ras-
cal'' and 81 never liked that mani can
not have any dealings with him."
1t paid the grocer TO be polite. The
ragged boy, the drunkard's sou, becameI
a great. as well as rich man. He es-
tablished his sad mother in a handsome
residence of her own, and sent in unllm-
tied orders to the grocer. Il was his In
Ruence that gave Wyman several posts
of honor in his native city--for the town
became thriving city--and when siver
hairs hung on the shoulders of the old