Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1875-09-15
Ruth's Step-Father.

A curious trade TO take to, but then il
has grown TO be profitable. Things
were at a low ebb with me when took
il up, while now
There, | won't boast, only say that
I'm thankful for it. Poverty comes in
at the door, and love flies out of the
window, so they say; but that's all
nonsense, or else your poor people
would be always miserable, while ac-
cordiag 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 grumbling horribly.
Don't go ON like that, Tom," says
my wife; things might be worse"
.'IIow?'' / 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 a merchants Office,
where he seemed likely to stay; but L
was in grumbling fit then, and there
was clickety-click noise going on i'm
the next room that fidgeted me terribly.
"Things can't be WORSE" i said an
grily; and / was going on to prove my
self in tire wrong by making my wife
cry, when there was Il knock at the
door.
'Come in" | said, and a fellow
lodger put in his head.
''Are you good at works, Mr.. Smith p
he said.
"what works. p" | said; ''fireworks-
gasworks?"
''No, no; / mean works of things as
goes with wheels and springs"
"Middling." | said, for | was fond of
pulling clocks to pieces and trying to
invent.
81 wish you'd come and look at this
sewing-machine of mine, for can't get
it TO 60"
Sewing machines were newish in
those days, and | got up to have look
at il, and after about an hours fiddling
about, | began to see a bit the reason
why-the purpose, you know, OF all the
screws and cranks and wheels; | found
out, too, why our neighbor's wife, who
was a dressmaker and had just started
one, could not get it to go; and before
night, by thinking and putting this and
that together, had got her i'm the way
of working it pretty steadily, though
with my clumsy fingers | couldn't have
done il myself.
| had my Bit of dinner and tea with
those people, and they forced half-a-
crown upon me as well, and L went
back feeling like a new man, so refresh
ing had been that bit of work.
There said my wife, 81 told you
something would come"
"Well, 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 g-machines-if the
folks from the next house didn't want
me to look at theirs; and then the news
spreading, rs news will spread, that
there was somebody who could cobble
and tinker machinery without putting
people to the expense that makers
wonld, if the jobs didn't come i'm fast,
80 that l was obliged to get files and
drills and yice-a regular set of tools by
degrees; and at last | was as busy as a
bee from morning TO night, and whis-
tling over my work as happy as king.
or course every now and then got a
breakage, hut could generally get
that BY buying a new wheel or spindle,
or what not. Next we got to supplying
shutties and needles and machine-cot-
ton. Soon after l bought a machine of
a man who was tired of il. Next week
1 sold it ut a good profit. Bought an
other and another, and sold them; then
got to taking them and money in eX-
change for new ones, and one way and
the other became a regular big dealer,
as you see.
Hundred? Why, new, secondhand,
and with those being repaired upstairs
by the men, Eve got at least three hum
dred on the premises, while If anybody
had told me fifteen years ago that
should be doing this l should have
laughed at him.
That pretty girl showing and explain
ing the machine to a customer? That's
Ruth, that is. No, not my daughter
vet, but she soon will be. Poor girl, /
ALWAYS think of her and of the bread
thrown upon the waters at the same
time.
Curious idea that, you will say, but
I'll tell you why.
In our trade we have strange people
to deal with. Most of 'em are poor,
and can't buy machine right off, but
are ready and willing to pay so much a
week. That suits them and il suits me,
if they will only keep the payments up
To the end.
You won't believe me, perhaps, but
some of them don't do that. Some of
them leave their lodgings, and 1 never
see them again: and the most curious
part is that the sewing-machine disap-
pears with them and / never see that
again. Many a one, too, that has dis
appeared like that | do see again-per-
haps have it brought here by some one
to be repaired, or exchanged for a big
ger, or for one by a different maker; !;
for if You look round here you'll see
I've got all kinds-new and old, little
domestics and big trades-there, you
name any maker and see If L don't
bring you out one of his works.
Well, when L ask these people where
they got the maehine-for L always
know them by the number-it turns
out that they've bought it through an
advertisement or at salesroom, or
maybe out of pawnbroker's shop.
But I've had plenty of honest people
TO deal with too-them as have come
Straightforward and told me they
couldn't keep up their payments, and
asked me to take their machine back,
when I'd allow them as much as L
thought fair, and 'twould be an end of
a pleasant transaction.
The way I've been bitten though by