The Red Cloud chief., 1883-10-26
THE STORY or A SHOEMAKER


THE STORY or A SHOEMAKER
wa born in the Luxembourg Just
about fifty years ago. Goodness! How
] used To work at the bench when was
Il lad. sewing and bammering. ham
mcring and sewing on boot, and shoes.
There was that lear old father Of mine.
with his big stccl-rimmcd spectacles
pcrchcd on his nose. who set me an eS-
ample of thrift and honesty. above
all" lac used Ia say To Va. for a brother
then worked with me. abe a good shoe
maker. Never scamp anything. DO
the best Won can, and do il all the
time" We would work from sunrise
10 far into the night. The pay we got
was Little enough, so small that we
used 10 watch the candle that f,uttcrcd
in the wind and worry over its cost.
If we worked very, very hard, and Gus
tom was good, we might u on a
gain Of ten sons each, but sometimes We
would all stop pegging away because
the poor people in our village had no
money 10 pay for shoes. Oh. how diff
cult il was To buy a sack Of coarse ilour
or Il little scrap Of meat. We lived
frsn hand To month. Poor old father.
do what we could 90 help him, he got
into debt, and owed IT one time rs
much as thirty francs. What a huge
sum that seemed 90 mc to be! what a
whole mountain Of embarrassment!
! starved myself in order tn put n
little money aside. One day l said to
father: This thing don't work. ] am
going 10 clear out. l can't stand it,"
.Nnr mill Leave m mn Snn3 Nnn-
poor old father is an incumbrancc To
youg" mo. not at all. But | must 20
away 10 work for him." 1T is WELL"
replied my father. ''You are a good
shoemaker. Your stitches are strong
and even. You shape well. go see
the world and Gods blessings accom-
pany YOU"
went To Paris and led n miserable
life fora time. hardly gained my bread
nj first. The habits of the Partisan
shoemaker horrilicd me. for | had been
brought up by a pious father. ] was a
good workman, however, and after
:: while found steady employment. but |
could help poor father out but very little.
%, IL used to make my heart sore TO
think of him crampcd up i'm his little,
.lingy room. working away for dear life.
with the mea@er reward of a crust of
dried bread. The habits of
hc had taught me helped me then. |
Scrapcd together sou by sou, and ut last
sent him ten RANGES. lie wrote me
that the sum had saved him from being
TUNED out of his poor old chamber.
This will never do" | said. " must
go somewhere else. am a good shoe
maker. and experience in Paris has
given me the finishing touch. | must
go somewhere else. where the art of
Crispcn will lie appreciated. One fine
day in 1850 | took a place as landSman
ON an English bark. from Havre To BoS-
ton. | Landed in The United States with
just forty cents 1.-TWO farthingS) in my
pocket. | sought work at once i SAW
In a little shocmakcr's shop up a nar-
row street Il sign written on paner and
stuck on the glass with waters. 1 could
not read il. | did not know a single
word of English then, but over the
door there WAS a German name. L
made bold 10 enter. and talked Ger
man Ia the proprietor. "Sit down.
he said. Ion that bench. and sew me on
that sole" Il am a fair shoemaker.
As YOU will sec," l replied. 1t was a
pleasure 10 take hold of the tools once
more; they seemed 10 know me. How
/ blessed NV father then. NY boss was
satisfied. and | got n job right of at one
dollar a day and my food. That WAS a
- fortune TO me then. L worked for six
months steadily. and. saw for a second
hand pair of trousers bought by me nj n
bargain, | boarded every penny. l sent
the dear old father fifty dollars, and
back came his blessing. He wrote he
had never seen so much money at one
time i'm his life. But | was ambitious.
Just then the California fever was
raging. Something told me to 60 10
the fPaciiic coast. L took ship and
crossed the Is,hmus. just before arriv-
inc al San Francisco there was a heavy
gale; we came near being shipwrcckcd,
and | lost NV hat. l remember that
quite well. landed i'm San Francisco
with one dollar exactly. On board
there was a carousing shoemaker, who
had been sent for from the East by .
Z man who kept a shop in San Francisco.
l heard him saw that he had come be-
fore his time, and that. anyhow, II he
could do better he was not going TO
work at cobbling. He mentioned the
name of the man who was TO hire him.
and | had his consent to apply for the
place.
went to the shoe-shop at c and
asked for the position. 1T is given 70
another man. who ought to be here
soon. and | can't make use OF YOU. be
sides. YOU have no hat THAT makes
no difference" / replied. Il see shoe
makers wages are six dollars a day
If was tbe flush times of California,
tben~rive me three dollars and feed
me-. and only let me stay until inc mar
YOU hired turns up. for 1 am inaec9 !
shoemaker" The boss gave q KIM =
grudcing consent. Then Iset 10 worN
and slept that night in the shop wne.
the master came to the place III ~,
morning he found everything IN eicsan
order. and / had made five dollars De
fore breakfast by mending boot
suited him exactly--for 1 am asooe
- Shoemaker. 1 lived with that man 10
Ayear. and saved all my money. sen
/the dear old father at home one nun
. dred dollars. If you could only .
seen the letter that came BACK: In
MeSSed old daddy wanted to know II
tbonoht he was a spendthrift? That on
hnndred dollars he IA going to max
do for the next three years! lnere wa
chance I heard of in Sacramento
went there. nv master giving me som
~ he snop-worn stock. did q spicn
ia h-nsfness. In six months l MAD
Cor my share three thousand doiiars
~ fcrtune was before mt. foor OIL
4 was not forgotten. Igota rios
Letter from him this time Inc Pee
simple soul wanted to know wne'ns s.;
i4h 10 u-aS n0inr 70 the DOGS. "