Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-10-24
4 Common Case,

Your home is In America, then,
sir?' said the Englisman, with the
rather wistful air Of an English artisan
of whose creed the first article is that
he must not step outside his own place.
But Max answered with cordially
which showed the other that he might
ask any questions he chose. Max had
10 idea of going outside his place either.
But as he did not know yet what that.
place was, and as he knew that he was
himself gentleman, he had no hesita
ton in talking, as an equal, whether
with prince, priest, or peasant. So John
Myrick was almost Immediately at ease
with him, and was pushing inquiries as
to the new home before him, which Max
answered gladly and intelligently.
1t was the old story Here was a
good weaver, who had ever prospered
so far as to be at the head of the room
in the flannel mill in which he worked
nay, the man was proud of his skill in
his craft. But, for all that, he had
abandoned it, and abandoned it, as he
said, forever He had withdrawn from
a cooperative store, at heavy loss, all
he had invested there; he had sold, at
worse loss, every stick of his modest
furniture; he had drawn from the saw
ings-bank all his earnings and his wife's;
and now, with the shy, honest wife her
self, whom Max saw yonder nursing her
baby, with the shy, pretty daughter
yonder, leaning against the rail and
looked at the gulls, and with these
children he was going to a new land, to
be a farmer, and meant to leave forever
his old home What was more strange,
he was leaving it with exultation, with
out tear
Max was greatly interested in Myrick
He told him at once of his own expe
rience as a working hand in making
flannel. They compared notes eagerly
as to English and American customs.
He found that Myrick was soured-per-
haps with reason He had, indeed,
more than the average ofthat jealousy
which a man who has worked hard till
forty, with a wife who has worked hard,
and children who have worked hard,
is apt to have, when he looks upon the
owner Of the factories in which they
have worked and upon his wife and
children. To see the owner, his wife and
children, better dressed every day than
he and his ever were on Sunday; to see
them drive into the village in their car
riage of a forenoon, and gaping as if
they had nothing to do, when he had
only stepped for an instant out of his
room, made Myrick angry But his
anger was not SO much with them. My
rick had been an enthusiast in one and
another plan for cooperation" in
which united workmen, in their union,
were to take the place of the rich capt.
talist. And of each of these plans the
upshot had always been the same. If it
were cooperative shop for buying and
selling, it had ended in their training
some smart fellow to be the shop-keeper
and as soon as he had learned how, at
the cost of the co-operators, why, they
were nowhere, and he had stepped into
the class of shop-keepers, and made his
profits out of the Workmen as. well as
the Oldest screw in the town. Once
they thought they had mades some head
way in a little mill for spinning yarns,
which was on this same cooperative
principle. But, Lord Mr. Rising, it
just lasted while our money lasted. The
market fiattened, and we needed to
hold our yarns a little, you know; and
then, who was going to discount bill
for US? We had no credit Credit is
luxury for another guess sort Of folk
than we"
So the poor fellow was leaving York
shire with two or there very bitter tastes
in his mouth. He had earned o hate
the business to which he was bred, he