The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-03-26

some Workmen who had been making
repairs. 1t 50 happened that portion
OF 1t went to a carpenter who had
sick child, and who was thus enabled to
purchase some needed delicacies, there
by, perhaps, saving the child's life A
dollar and a half of it went to a hod-
carrier, who Immediately took it and
bought of SkettIe sundry small pack
ages of sugar, coffee, -four, etc. Sket-
tie took this same dollar and a half and
gave it to his wife, who wished to pay 8
woman for doing some little Jobs of
cleaning aud scrubbing. Now, this wo-
man was the hod-carrier's wife; and so
I this dollar and half of Luke's green
back went first to Skettle, and then to
the hod-carrier, then back to Skettle
again, then to his wife, and then to the
hod-carrier's wife. It is not presum-
able that it lay long idle in her hands.
Curious, wasn't it?
| And the two dollars and ten cents
that went to the butcher? Why, this
was paid to the boy who tended shop,
who handed it to his mother, who in
turn paid it to Carpenter Bailey for
some repairs done on her little cottage.
Bailey settled up his coal bill, the coal
merchant paid one of his teamsters, the
teamster walked straight to the butcher
| shop and paid for his weeks meat, and
| the butcher put the money with another
! pile and paid it to farmer for a good,
fat cow Aud what did the farmer do?
| Why, he went and bought a wagon at
| the factory that had paid the ten-dollar
| bill to Luke Preston over its black
walnut desk.
And the dollar that went TO old Gar
/ land ? He did as he had told Luke he
should-paid it to John Brady as part
of the borrowed sum. John Brady said
| he had need of the whole amount, but
would get along the best he could. OF
| the dollar, fifty cents went for pro-
visions, and the other fifty to a poor old
cObbler for mending Johnny's shoes.
| This had to be expended at the hard
ware store to replace broken awl, and
| the hardware dealer paid it to boy for
shoveling the snow off his sidewalk.
The boy ran home in exultation to his
rheumatic mother to inform her of his
good luck.
And the dollar that went to Editor
Quill? He paid it to his " devil, " from
whose hands it went to a poor woman
who had been making him a coat, and
who held body and soul together by
the earnings of her needle. The beg
gar girl to whom Luke had given ten
cents bought a loaf of bread, and thus
allayed the pangs of hunger that were
torturing half a dozen brothers and
sisters.
And the thirty-odd cents expended at
the newsroom went into box of small
change which was subsequently counted
over and pinned in neat packages of one
dollar each and sent to the news COM
pany where the supplies of papers and
magazines came from. These small
sums from five to forty cents enabled
the dealer to maintain his little stand,
greatly to the convenience of those who |
depended on it for their periodical sup |
plies of reading matter.
The two dollars remaining Luke de- |
posted, as has been mentioned before, |
in the savings bank.
"Ab, ha I" exclaims some surly, |
short-sighted reader, who begins to see |
the point of this sketch, $50 Luke |
Preston boards up money too. Isn't it |
just as bad, in proportion, for him to !
consign his two dollars to idleness as |
for The 'fat old fraud to keep his |
money so close"
But pause and consider for moment. |
The savings bank pays Luke five per |
cent. interest on his deposits, and how |
could it do that if the money lay idle |
in its vaults? No, such is not the case.
The savings bank took Luke's money, |
put it with that of few other depOsi-
tors, aud lent it to q well-to-do farmer /
who wished to make some improvements /
in the way of building fences and barns |
and purchasing choice breeds of stock. /
The farmer laid out the money to good
advantage and paid the bank seven Per /
cent. interest, the extra two per cent. |
going to defray the running expenses of
the institution and affording its stock
holders a small dividend.
II
ready to begin his improvements bust
ness was slack in the establishment |
where Luke worked, and there was a
prospect of his being thrown out OF /
employment for a month or more. But |
he chanCied to learn that the farmer re-
quired some labor that was in his line,
and stralghtway entered into an engage
ment with him. And so the money that |
he had put in the savings bank was /
loaned to the farmer and by him paid |
into Luke's own hands again, and Luke |
still receiving interest on 1t all the
time.
And now we must leave Luke Pres
toms greenback to its fate. We have |
of course related only a tithe of its en-
tire history, but we have seen it fairly
launched on the tide of life. and
the prospect is that its career viii
continue a busy one.
Now let us take a look at the idle
grreenback that lay in the desk of the
's fat old fraud" The individual was
none other than the same Squire Clinoh
that had refused to pay old Garland for
saving his wood. II he had paid this
debt promptly, Farland could have
paid Brady in full and on time, and
bought the boots he so much needed.
AS It was, he had to GO without the
H. foa /
severely frost-bitt n while on a bitter
cold day he was engaged in saving
wood. This was a great misfortune,
for he was disabled, except to limited
extent, from following his usual avooa-
ton, and forced idleness brought with
it a winter Of hardship and dependence
on charity.
But the ten-dollar greenback, along
with lis fellows, lay In Squire Clinch's
desk for some time. The squire had in
tow a grand stroke of business. He
held mortgage on a certain piece of
valuable property, whose owner was
embarrassed in his financial matters.
TIE mortgage would soon become due,
and then he meant to offer to buy the
property at a price far below its real
value, and in the event of his victims
refusing to come to his terms to threat
en- instant foreclosure. With this trans
action in view (and he almost always had
some similar scheme ahead) he kept his
cash In readiness in his own private
desk, preferring not to deposit it In
bank, as the times were rather pan
icky," and the tighter and scarceT'' money
was the more the squire thrived. He
was a cautious, safe man-this Squire
Clinch-and yet bold and successful
one, too. His wealth increased year by
year, for he was ever on the lookout to
turn the misfortunes of others to his
gain. Still the money lay in his desk,
waiting for the accomplishment of its
selfish purpose, while it ought to have
been in circulation, and portion of it,
at least, paying honest debts.
But few there are who are without an
hour of disaster at some time in their
careers, and Squire Clinch was no ex-
ception to the general rule. There was
a burglary one night The 'suuiFe's /