Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1866-07-25
From the La Crosse Cwis) Democrat
SoilOquy of a Poor Mechanic.
How nv back aches

SolIoquy OF Foor Mechanic.
How my back aches
And I want a little more sleep, but
unless 1 am there when the seven o'clock
bell speaks I am not wanted.
But I'll rest-nap-snooze here as 1
rest, and waken for few moments.
That noise IN the kitchen
That is my wife preparing the break
fast. Good woman-she did not go to
bed till au hour or more after did, and
she is always up an hour before me- Her
work is never done. 1 hear her step in
another room. I hear the dishes as. they
are placed on the table. This pillow is
not as large as some pillows, so I'll double
itup and rest my head on it. And this
bed is not such as rich people have, but
it is good enough for a poor mani The
feather bed is thin-the clothes are none
too nice, but then we are better off than
thousands I know.
Why not hare better ones
Simply because I can not afford it.
Do you see these hands? Doyou see
the calloused palms-the little labor
cracks-the half-stifened blunt fingers ?
Well, sir, they are marks of industry
I go to the shop early and work late. I
take my dinner in that little tin pail. l
work till my back aches, save my money.
My wife helps me at home-she is pru-
dent, saving, industrious and hopeful
My children are not dressed as my neigh
boris children, but they wear the best 1
can get for them.
1 have no money for luxuries; my
family must live even if my bed be hard,
my pillow snall-the feathers few and
the bedclothes worn-tbe doors unoarpt-
ed.
Hard worE2
Of course 1 have work, and have pay
for it. But money does not go so far
now as it used to. Two dollars to-day
are not as good as one dollar six years
ago. My wages 60 for -four, meat, pota-
toes, butter, when we can afford it eggs,
tea, coffee, sugar, cloth, medicines and
taxes.
Whypurc6ase tea, coffee, butter de-
Why live? Lam tired at night and
want something I can relish, and cup
of tea gives me strength and new life
And bread is dry without butter. And
in the morning, with the labors of the
day staring me in the face as they lead
me along to the grave have but little
appetite; a cup of coffee with sugar in
it, and perhaps an egg on my plate, tempt
the worn-oqt appetite, and I thus gain
strength for my toll.
Be more SasiRg
1 am saving. My wife is saving. [
have hardly decent suit of clothes. My
wife does not have more than two dresses
a year, She mends and turns, and
patches and saves, and pieces; and she
uses our vorn-out garments to make
clothes for the children. And we have
no luxuries in the pantry or cellar
simply plain food. A dollars does not
60 far in market now. l do notcomplain,
but 1 do get discouraged at times, and
wonder why poor man was born-what
use there is in living? Everything costs
so much. Cotton costs five times as
much now as it did six years ago. Woolen
goods ditto Tea, coffee, -four, sugar,
meat, rice, butter, eggs, tobacco, spices,
medicines, &C., &C., cost from three to
five times as much as they once did. And !
my wages are not increased in proportion. |
And then the war. All 1 had saved for
years went for war expenses. It was
fifty dollars here, fifty dollars there, fifty |
dollars then, twenty dollars more for the
last call, fifty dollars more for the next
last call, and 50 on. had to sell my
COW and silver watch to raise bounty
money.
Wby didn't I enlist
Why didn't you? My son, my brother
and my cousin enlisted, and they died or
came home crippled. l was drafted-I
mortgaged my house and lot to raise
money to send a man in my place.
What made me
To save the Union. They told me the
South wanted to get out of the Union,
and that we must whip them back. l
did not quite understand the matter. I
wanted the Union restored, and l Joined
the Republican party. But all this was
for nothing. We went to war, lost half
a million Of men, and ruined the South
so it is worth nothing to the Union
They submitted, we disbanded our armies,
the South laid down her arms, and has
gone to work, and now these same Re
Dublicans say the South is out of the
Union, and they are going to keep her
out for fear she will vote against them
[ can't see what we gained by war. And
[ find that the Democrats were right,
and that Democrats were right, and that
times were best for poor peo-
pie. And the taxes why, I am now
.axed, aud taxed, and taxed. I must
support myself, my family, my poorer ,
my crippled relatives who came
pack from the war I pay ten times the
,ity, State, town and county taxes 1 did
1efore 1 am taxed TO support free ne
yroes who once worked, as Ihave to, and
Imported themselves and, worse than $