Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1860-11-22
NUMBER
Apprentices,

t@"yo q AFe"aiN payer, arc tnYIttu u Feau
this littse way eide story, which is but one of
thousands like it that margin the highway of
life all along to its close On Friday last as
- our every. day hasit, we dropped in at tho
station-house to see what items might be
gathered from the criminal docket of the
obliging telIstale slate Of the attentive Chief.
and having gathered all that was of interest
to US, was about passing out when we met in
the door way one of the most loathsome hu--
inan beings it has ever been our lot to en-
counter. We stepped aside, quite wi ling to
give tue ragmuffled man for be had been
man once-the largest privilege in passing,
and was astonished indeed when catching q
glance at US he advanced, presented bis hand
and called us by name. Of course we took
his tremblnd hand, though at first we could
discover nothing in his baggard features that
at all reminded us Of any former acquaint-
ance, but when he mentioned his name and
the name Of the papor on which we learned
the first beginnings of the " Art preseryatiye
of all arts" the veritable Bill Philips" an
old fellow apprentice stood before us. We
had toied side by side as embryo compost
tors in a newspaper Office (the Lyconliny Ga.
Sette). bearing the name Of the county in
which it was located In the nothern part Of
Pennsylvania, and VIC had known him then
as an uncommonly bright boy, natural wit,
a pet among his fellows, and witha TIE
quickest and most correct compositor in the
effice. Leaving the Office and business our
selves on account of i'll health before we bad
half completed our profession, we heard lii,
tie of Bill except that for some trivial cause
he had run away from bis employer, who
was likewise his benefactor, aud but once
heard of him, as leading rather dssipated
life in the city Of Philadelphia. sat down
by the side OF Bill on one Of the station house
benches aGd listened as be recounted his ad.
ventures from the unlucky day on which be
threw his wardrobe" over his shoulder and
turned his back upon one of the kindest OF
employers, down to the time of our acciden-
tai meeting in the station-house door, where
be had come to procure lodging for the night
Ii was the old story, the result had followed
his first step in wrong-doing, and here be
was after twenty years of wandering, poor,
miserable, friendless, dissipated creature,
whom to deprive of his glass was to remove
the only prop which now alone served to sus-
tain life. We took the poor fellow to better
quarters, and turning homewards began
thoughtiully to contrast the career of the fell
low apprentice we had just left with that of
others, who in the same Office served ous
their full apprenticeship, and afterwards ill'
ed some ofthe highest positions in their ma
tive States. There was Hon. e. Lewis, un-
til lately. Chief Justice Of the Supreme Court
of Pennsylvania. who not only served his APP
premiership there, but afterwards owned
and edited the GaSelie, leaving it only to fill
still higher and more responsible positions
then there was another, around faced smart
boy, with nothing like the mother wit that
Bill Philips possessed, but he was seadv in
his habits, served his employer faithfully,
and to-day William F. Packer, the able and
honored Governor of Pennsylvania. now re-
ours to that as the period when he was, by
honestly and steadily serving out his time,
laying the foundation for that success in life
which has since SO abundantly crowed his
efforts. Look at it, boys There are but
two methods Of accomplishing the journey Of
life among the close-growing years tha. i'm
teryene between the beginning and the end
the one leads you through career of honor
and usefulness, the other terminates where
poor Bill Phillips will soon lay his weary
benes-in Potter's Field.-Ne,cark Mercury.
u.
The UB1QuIrY OF PArENTs.-Tbe Scientific
american, is noticing new patent bier for
lowering cofins into graves, INDUCES in the
following strain in reference to patents -
"The life Of this stage most assuredly moves
on patent inventions. The infant is wrap
ped in linen which has been woven on pa
ent frame, and he draws his first drop of
nourishment from bis mothers breast through
patent nipple soield. The girl fondles a
doll, the boy whirls q patent top, or plays
with ball which is made under one Of the
most valuable patents of the age. In later
life we put on French yoke shirt, which
with the rest of our clothes, is seyed on a
patent machine, whith patent thread, with
patent needle, which comes inveloped in a
patent wrapper and our very boots is made
Of patent leather. We rise in the morning
frem patent elliptic spring bed, undo ths
patent fastenings of our windows, roll up our
patent curtains, opea the patent locks Of our
doors, which were constructed by patent
machinery, and 60 down to cur coffee, which
is made il patent Old Dominion" coffee
pot. We write with one Of Morton's rens,
which we dip into our patent inkstand. -
Thus surrounded by patents. we pass cur
life, which is filled with gorgeous dreama of
making a splendid fortune by SO ae patent
invention Of our own, till we are placed in
patent burial case. and lowered from pat
ent bier into our final place of rest"
EGF All noble natures are hopeful. 1t is
a remarkable fact that the people are the
most charitable people.
n&s@ A nunctual man can alwava find