American citizen., 1875-05-08
VOL. XIV.


"Oh, that cost me nothing. l made i
myself during some of those rainy day
that we had just before harvesting.
got the timber out when hauled my
wood last winter, so the job came quit'
easy"
"Well, Neighbor Thompson" sale
Holmes, after some little time spent il
hard study, I" don't see how it is tha
you get along So Your farm don't pro
duce any more than mine does, and I'm
sure you don't work SO hard as l do
Your wife don't make better butter ol
cheese than mine does, your sheep dom
bear better wool, your bees don't make
| better honey. You raise more fruit thar
l do, to be sure"
But 1 have no more trees" said
Thompson.
| "No-but your fruit is of better quail
ity, aud finds more ready market"
| Certainly-because l have grated
the best spo cies. My trees were the
with regard to other matters, ! think if
| you will look about the two places you
| will find that in many respects mine is
| the most productive. My cows give
more milk than yours do through the
winter because they have better shed
room and a warmer barn. l raise more
pork than you do because my pens and
pig-houses are tight and comfortable;
and then am inclined to think that my
| bees make rather more honey than yours
do, for my hives are in better order.
may not raise more corn than you do,
but guess the rats and squirrels don't
have such an easy entrance to my grain
chambers as they do to yours"
Perhaps you are right" muttered
Holmes, with q crest-fallen look; land
suppose you are laying by money"
Certainly am-One or two hundred
dollars every year."
$50 much as that" uttered Holmes,
with look of surprise. "Why, can't
lay up a cent"
"Let me give you a bit of secret"
said Thompson, in kind, neighborly
tone, as he laid his plane upon the bench.
Last summer you bought four new
rakes and a pitchfork. Now how much
did they cost your"
Let's see: The rakes were twenty-five
cents apiece, and the fork came to dol
lar"
"Well, now my fork handle got broken
accidentally last winter, and so did some
of the rakes; but l Immediately took
such darts as were good and brought
them up here, and then at my first leis-
ure opportunity / fixed them up. There
are two dollars saved. Now you have
nothing to do to-day"
No, it rains too hard"
"And you see am at work. Now, how
are you going to get your apple boxes?"
"Marston is going to make them for
me, and | am to give him a barrel of
good apples.''
There are two dollars more. Now if
you hire q sled huade as good as mine it
will cost you twelve dollars That will
be sixteen dollars that l have laid up,
while you have been able to do nothing
Now let us see how that sixteen dollars
will multiply itself. You sold your wool
last spring as soon as you had sheared
your sheeps"
"Yes-f had to, for 1 needed the
money"
"And how much did you get:"
"Thirty cents pound"
"If you had had sixteen dollars by
you in ready cash you wouldn't have
been obliged to have sold them"
NO" returned Holmes, whose eyes
were beginning to open. "I could have
squeezed along with that sum-"
"Now," continued Thompson, az sold
my wool yesterday, and they sent to my
door and took it. 1 got forty-two cents
pound for it. had 175 pounds, and by
reckoning it over after l had sold it 1
found that ! had made just twenty-One
dollars; that is, l had obtained twelve
had been obliged to have sold when
you did. So you see how these little
things multiply themselves"
And all this comes of your having
tools to work wish," said Holmes, in a
sort of subdued tone.
Mostly" returned Thompson.
"Well, if had tools might save a
good many small sums in the course of
the year, but never have the money to
spare for them Why, the tools you
have here and IN the house, over and
above your farming utensils, must be
worth fifty dollars"
"Just about that sum-"
"Then fear shall have to scrape
along with borrowed tools. l can never
spare any such sum as that"
You don't understand the secret. Mr..
Holmes. Let me explain. l never
should have gone with q fifty-dollar bill
and bought tools, but l have collected
them gradually. l have bought every
tool l have on the premises with my
grOgmoney."
Grog-money!" reiterated Holmes. in
blank surprise.
"Yes," returned Thompson with
slight smile, with my grog-money. Now
! am not going to give you a temperance
lecture, for you are as well able to Judge
for yourself as l am; but am going to
give you little principle of economy, and
show you its consequent comfort, content
and happiness. The first year was ON
the farm used occasionally to take
little spirit, and whenever l would go to
the village, which was usually twice a
week, l would drink two or three times.
I know not that / experienced any bad
effects from it, but I am confident it did
me no good, and that it was q habit that
might grow to big evil. AS near as l
could calculate the spirit had used cost
me on an average twenty-five cents a
week. / suppose it costs you that now"
"Yes, every cent of it."
Well, commenced on the first day
of January to lay up my grog-money,
and with that disposition came peculiar
desire to commence saving in other
ways, and soon found the means of
stopping up more gaps in my financial
affairs. l saw how much might be saved
II l could only do some of the work that
l was then obliged to pay fer, and to this
end 1 commenced buying such tools as
thought would come most handy. AT
the end of the first year found mysel
the owner of thirteen dollars worth of
tools, and it had all come from the
money l might otherwise have drank up.
felt stronger and heartier than did the
year before, and l felt much happier, for
! knew that was laying the foundation
for future good. Time passed on, and
my twenty-five cents a week kept com
ing in. 1t was now a saw, then a ham
mer, then another plane. then a new
auger, then a bit-stOck and bits, until, in
eleven years, have not only collected
an excellent variety of tools, but l have
drawn directly from my grogfund near
ly hundred dollars in cash besides; but
the value of my tools cannot be esti-