Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-06-07
THE STORY OF A SHOEMAKER

THE STORY OF A SHOEMAKER.
was born in the Luxembourg just
about fifty years age. Goodness How
ls.sed TO work at the bench when l was a
lad. sewing and hammering, hammering
and sewing on boots and boots There
was that dear old father of mine with his
big steel-rimmed spectacles perched on his
nose, who set me an example of thrift and
honesty. Above all, he used to say 10
Us. for brother then worked with me
q ne a good shoemaker. Never scamp any
thing. Do the best You can, and do it all
the time" We would work from sunrise
to far in the night. The pay we got was
little enough, SO small that we used to
watch the candle that tluttered in the wind
and WORRY over its cost. If we worked
very, very hard, and custom was good, We
might count on gain Of ten sous each, but
sometimes we would all stop pegging away
because the poor people in our village had
nO money to pay for shoes. Oh how dltl-
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 a huge sum that seemed to me to
be What whole mountain of eIhbarrasS-
ment
starved myself in order to put little
money aside. One day | said to father,
g This thing don't work. l am going to
clear out | can't stand it." You will
laaua mo NV CON Nnnr moor old fat IN or
Is an incumbrance to your No, not at
all But l must go away to work for
him" 1t is well, replied my father.
You are 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
there for a time. | hardly gained my bread
at first. The habits of the Partisan shoe
maker Mortified me, for | had been brought
up by pious father was good work
man, however, and after a while found
steady employment, but | could help poor
father but very little Oh it 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. scraped to-
gether sou by sou, and AT last sent him ten
francs He wrote that the sum had saved
him from being turned out of his poor old
chamber. This will never do | said.
g | must 90 somewhere else. am a good
shoemaker, and my experience III Paris
has given me the finishing touch. | must
go somewhere else, where the ART Of CriSpin
will be appreciated. One fine day in 1880
/ took place as landsman on an English
bark, from Havre to Boston. ! landed in
,g.,IS -.
francS) in my pocket | sought work at
once. | saw in a little shocmakers shop
~ a narrow street a sign written on paper
a1d stuck on the glass with waters. |
could not read it. did not know single
word of English then, but over the door
there was German name. | made bold
10 enter, and talked German to the propri-
eoor Sit down. he said, on that
bench and sew some on that sole . ! am
q sair shoemaker as you will see re-
pied. II was 4 pleasure to take hold of
the tools once more; they seemed TO know
ma How | blessed my father then. Ny
boss was satisfied, and got a job right off
Al s. day and my food. That was a for
tune to me then | worked for six months
steadily, and, save for secondhand pair
Of trousers bought by me at a bargain,
boarded every penny. | sent the dear old
father $50, and back came his blessing. He
wrote he had never seen so much money
al one time in his life But was ambiti-
ous. Just then the California fever was
raging Something told me to go to the
Pacific coast. | took ship and crossed the
I5thmus. Just before arriving at San Fran
cisco there was a heavy gale; we came
near being shipwrecked, and lost my hat
l remember that quite well. landed in
San Francisco with 81 exactly. On board
oh.
been sent for from the East by man who
Kept shop in San Francisco. l heard
han say that he had come before 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. had his consent to apply for
toe place.
went to the shoe-shop at once and
asked for the position. II is given TO
another man who ought to be here soon,
and ! can't make use of you. Besides, you
have no hat" That makes no difference,
I replied. 81 see shoernakers' wages are
s. day Ut was the flush times of Califor-
MAJ give me s. and feed me, and only let
me stay until the man who hired turns up,
for am indeed shoemaker" The boss
gave kind of grudging consent. Then l
set TO work, and slept that night in the
shop When the master came to the place
il the morning he found everything i'll ele
CANT order and | had made s. before break
fast by mending boot. / suited him ex-
actly-tor am a good shoemaker. / lived
with that man for a year, and saved all of
my money | sent the dear old fellow at
home SIo0. II you could only have seen
the letter that came back The blessed old
daddy wanted to know if thought he was
- spcndthrift? That 800 he was going To
l.. l.. Il,
was chance ] heard of in Sacramento. |
went there my master giving me some of
his shop-worn stock. | did q splendid
business In six months | had made for
my share $1,000. Ny fortune was before
me. Poor old daddy was not forgotten. ]
got n creSs letter from him this time The
poor, simple soul wanted to know whether
thought he was going to the dogs Did |
want 10 make him a drunkard, a gour-
Iuand, and put all kinds of temptation in
his way -? Too much money was the source
of all evil. / was robbing myselfto pamper
him--but for all that there was a lot of
sweetness in the letter
well | thought that fortune was now
mine. But one night bad fire broke out
and was burned out. Fires occurred in
Sacramento every night, and were the work
of thieves. / gathered together the few
pair of boots | could put my hand on and
placed them with my money, all in gold, in
a trunk, and carried it out of the wooden
shanty Just Us the roof fell in. For better
security sat on my trunk and gazed be-
wildered-like at the flames l'have some
thing left, Z" said, after all, TO begin the
world with" Just then | was struck a
heavy blow over the head with club and
lost all consciousness When came to l
found myself on the ground and my trunk
M -. J. r.,,ta no k,1Gf
for me. Ali then gave myself up, just
for moment, TO despair. am ruined
ruined forever. Poor old daddy
thought But I was not ruined, for that
crack on the head was the means of max
ing my fortune.
didn't cry over things much, for am