The Louisiana cotton-boll. [volume] (Vermilionville [i.e. Lafayette], Attakapas, La.) 1872-1883, 1874-04-01

over two dollars, which lie had left he
laid aside two dollars to deposit in the
s1Yings bank, where there was already
,s quite q respectable sum to his credit.
Meanwhile the various divisions Of
his ten dollar greenback, now scattered
about in different hands, began to
chucklP. They said, with one voice
" This is what l like. I'll see something
OF the world, and in all probability dc
some good"
Let US see how it was. The three
dollars and forty cents which he had
left at Skettle's grocery went to help
make up the quarterly rent which Sket-
tie owed, and which was due that very
night. He paid it to Mr.. BaIcolm, who,
in turn, promptly handed it over to
some wOrkmen who had been making
repairs. It so happened that portion
Of it went to a carpenter who had a
sick child, and who was thus enabled to
purchase some needed delicacies, there
by, perhaps, saving the child's life. A
dollar and half of it went to a hod-
carrier, who Immediately took it and
bought of Skettle sundry small pack
ages of sugar, coffee, -four, etc. Sket-
tie took this sHme dollar anti It half and
gave it to his wife, who wished to pay a
woman for doing some little jobs of
cleaning and scrubbing. Now, this Wo-
man was the hod-carriers wife; and so
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
vas 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 good, |
fat COW. And what did the farmer do?
Why, he went and bought q 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 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, y from
whose hands it went to poor woman
who had been making him coat, and
who bald~~h 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.
=' Alb, haI' exclaims some surly,
sIlort-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 id1eness as
for the 'fat old fraud to keep his
money so close ?"
But pause and consider for a 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, and lent it to we'll -to-do farmer
in the way of building fences and barns I
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.
Now about the time the farmer was
ready to begin his Improvements bust i
ness was slack in the establishment ,
where Luke worked, and there was a :
of his being thrown out OF s
employment for a month or more. But :
he chancel to learn that the farmer re- !
quired some labor that was in his line, {
and straightway 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 E
into Luke's own hands again, and Luke |
still receiving interest on it all the E
time. s
And now we must leave Luke Pres {
toms greenback to its fate. We have {
Of course related only tithe of its en- 9
tire history, but we have seen it fairly t
launched on the tide of life, and [
the prospect is that its career will
continue busy one.
Now let us take q look at the idle
grreenback that lay in the desk of the
q fat old fraud" The individual was '
none other than the same Squire CIinch q
that had refused to pay old Garland for !
saving his wood II he had paid this |
debt promptly, Farland could have I
paid Brady in full and on time, and q
bought the boots he SO much needed. f
As it was, he had to go without the c
boots and, in consequence, his feet were /
severely frost-bitt n while on bitter /
cold day he was engaged in saving /
wood. This was great misfortune. |
for he was disabled, except to limited i
extent, from following his usual avaea- s
tion, and forced idleness brought with /
it winter of hardship and dependence /
on charity. s
But the ten-dollar greenback, along /
with its fellows, lay in Squire Clinch's |
desk for some time. The squire had in ]
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