The Brookhaven leader., 1883-10-11
THE STORY OF A SHOEMAKER

THE STORY OF A SHOEMAKER
was born in the Luxembourg Just
about fifty years ago. Goodness! How
| used to work at the bench when | was
"A lad sewing and hammering, ham,
mcring and sewing on boots and shoes.
There was that dear old father of mine,
with his big steel-rimmed spectacles
pCrchcd on his nose, who set me an eX-
ample of thrift and honesty. "Above
all, he used to say to us, for n brother
then worked with me, ''be good shoe
maker. Never scamp anything. Do
the best YOU can, and do it all the
time We would work from sunrise
to far into the night. The pay we got
was little enough, so small that we
used to watch the candle that fluttered
in the wind and worry over its cost.
If we worked very, very hard, and Gus
tom was good, we might count on
gain of ten sons each, but sometimes we
would all stop pegging away because
the poor people i'll our village had no
money to pay for shoes. Oh. how diff
cult it was to buy sack of coarse flour
or little scrap of meat. We lived
from hand TO mouth. Poor old father.
do what we could to help him, he got
into debt, and owed at one time as
much as thirty francs. What huge
sum that seemed to me to be! what a
whole mountain of embarrassment!
| starved myself in order to put
little money aside. One day l said to
father: This thing don't work. am
going to clear out. / can't stand it."
You will leave me, my son" fuur
poor old father is an incumbrance to
you%' mo, not at all. But | must 90
away to work for him." ut 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 miserable
life for a time. / hardly gained my bread
at first. The habits of the Partisan
shoemaker Mortified me, for | had been
brought up by a pious father. l was a
good workman, however, and after
a while found steady employment. but
could help poor father out but very little
O! 1t used to make my heart sore to
think of him cramped up in his little,
dingy room, working away for dear life,
with the meager reward of crust of
dried bread. The habits of economy
he had taught me helped me then. l
scraped together sou by sou, and at last
sent him ten frances. He wrote me
that the sum had saved him from being
turned out of his poor old chamber
This will never do, | said. :" | must
go somewhere else. | am good shoe
maker and experience in Paris has
given me the finishing touch. | must
90 somewhere else, where the art of
Crispen will be 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 two farthings) in my
pocket. l sought work at once. | saw
in little shoemaker's shop up a mar
row street sign written on paper and
stuck on the glass with waters. 1 could
not read it. | did not know a single
word Of English then, but over the
door there was a German name. |
made bold to enter, and talked Ger
man to the proprietor. "Sit down."
he said, ION that bench, and sew me on
that sole" Il am a fair shoemaker,
as you will sce," l replied. 1t was a
pleasure to take hold of the tools once
more; they seemed to know me. How
| blessed my father then. My boss was
satisfied, and | got a job right off at one
dollar day and my food. That was
fortune to me then. / worked for six
months steadily, and, save for a second
hand pair of trousers bought by me at a
bargain, l 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 in his life. But | was ambitious.
Just then the California fever was
raging. Something told me to 90 to
the Pacific coast. l took ship and
crossed the Isthmus. just before arriv-
ing at San Francisco there was a heavy
gale; we came near beingsshipwrecked,
and | lost my hat l remember that
quite well. l landed in San Francisco
with one dollar exactly. - On board
there was carousing shoemaker, who
had been sent for from the East by a
man who kept shop in San Francisco.
/ heard him say that. he had come be-
fore his time, and that, anyhow, if 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 once and
asked for the position. 1T is given to
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. II see shoe
makers wages are six dollars a day
it was the flush times of California.
them give me three dollars and feed
me, and only let me stay until the man
you hired turns up, for am indeed a
shoemaker" The boss gave kind of
grudging consent. Then 1 set to work,
and slept that night in the shop. When
the master came to the place in the
morning he found everything in elegant
order, and had made five dollars be-
fore breakfast by mending a boot.
suited him exactly--for I am a good
shoemaker. / lived with that man for
Q year, and saved all my money. sent