The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1875-08-21

| OR, WHAT CAMa OF MENDiNG A SEWING MA
| CHINE.
| A curious trade to take to, but then IL
has grown to be Profitable. Things were
at low eLb with me when l took it up,
while now
| There, won't boast, only say that am
thankful for it. Poverty comes in at the
door and love flies out of the window, 20
| they say; but that's all nonsense, or else
your poor people would be always misera-
i BILE, while according to my experience your
/ poor man is often more light-hearted than
the man with thousands.
| was at my wits end for something to
do, and sat nibbling my nails one day, and
1 grumblng horribly.
Don't go on like that, Tom," said my
wife; "things might be worse"
"How?" said.
| "Why, we might have Luke at home.
and he is doing WE'LL"
Luke's our boy, you know, and we had
| got him into merchants office, where he
bling fit then, and there was clickety-
click noise going on in the next room that
fidgeted me terribly.
"Things can't be worse" said, angrily;
and was going to prove myself in the
wong by making my wife cry, when there
was a knock at the door.
"Come in," | said, and fellow-lodger
| put in his head.
"Are yeu good at works, Mr.. Smith ?"
he said.
"What works ?" l said; "frcworks-gas-
works?"
mo, no; l mean works of things as goes
with wheels and springs"
"Middling," l SAID, for l was fond of
pulling clocks to pieces and trying to in
vent.
II wish you'd come and look at this
sewing machine Of mine, for can't get it
to CO."
Sewing machines were newish in those
days, and got up TO have a look at it, and
after about an hours fiddlng about be-
gan to see bit the reason why-the pur-
pose, YOU know, of all the screws and
cranks and wheels found out, too, why
our nelghbors wife--who was dressmaker
and had just started one-could not get ii
to go; and before night, by thinking, and
putting this and that together, had got her
in the way of working 1t pretty steadily,
though with my clumsy fingers | couldn't
have done it myself.
l had my bit of dinner and tea with
those people, and they forced halt a crown
upon me as well, and went back feeling
like new man, so refreshing had been that
bit Of work.
"There," said my wife, 81 told you
something would come"
swell, so you did," ! said, "but the
something is rather small"
But the very next day-as we were living
in the midst of people who were fast taking
to sewing machines-if the folks at the next
house didn't want me to look at theirs !
and then the news spreading, as news will
spread, that there was somebody who could
cobble and tinker machinery without
putting people to the expense that makers
would, II the jobs didn't come In fast, so
that was obliged to get files and drills and
vice-regular set of tools by degrees; and
at last was busy as bee from morning to
night, and whistling over my work, as
happy as king.
or course every now and then got a
breakage, but could generally get over
that by buying new wheel, or spindle, or
what not Next we got to supplying shut
ties, and needles, and machine cotton.
Soon after bought a machine OF man
who was tired of 1t. Next week sold 1t
at a good profit; bought another, and an
other, and sold them; then got to taking
them and money in exchange for new ones;
and one way and the other became resu-
lar big dealer, as you see.
Hundredp Why, new, secondhand, and
with those being repaired up stairs by the
men. I've got at least three hundred on the
premises, while if anybody had told me
fifteen years ago that should be doing this
should have laughed at him.
That pretty girl showing and explaining
the machine TO a customer? That's Ruth,
that is. No, not my daughter yet, but she