New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1884-03-05
A sHQEMAKER's STORY.

| SEWING anu u8mIueEluS, u8mmeTluS 6uu
sewing on boots and shoes. There was
that dear old father of mine, with his
steel-rimmed spectacles perched on his
nose who set me for an example of
thrift and honesty. 'Above ALL" he
used to say to US, for brother then
worked with me, ''be good shoemak-
er. 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 was little enough,
so small that we used to watch the can
die that futtered in the wind, and wor-
nv 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 peg
ging away because the poor people in
our village had no money to spend for
shoes Oh, how difficult it was to buy
a sack of coarse Aour or q iit.le =eEsR
OF meat! We lived from hand to mouth.
Poor old father, do what we could to
help him, he got in debt, and owed at
one time as much as thirty francs.
What huge sum that seemed to me to
| be! what whole mountain of embar-
rassment!
l starved myself in order to put lit
tie money aside, One day l said to
father, ''This thing don't work I'm
going to clear out. I can't stand it. -
you will leave me, my son? Your
poor old father is an membranes to
you?' mo, not at all. But must 90
away to work for him. 1T is we'll, !"
replied my father. ''You are q good
shoemaker. Your stitches are strong
and even. You shape we'll. Go see
the world, and Gods blessing accom-
pany you.'
went to Paris and led miserable
life there for time. I hardly gained
my bread at first. The habits of the
Partisan shoemaker Mortified me, for I
had been brought up by pious father.
l was good workman, however, and
after awhile 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 a meagre reward of a
crust of dry bread. The habits of econ
omv be had taught me helped me then.
[ scraped together sou by sou, and at
last sent him ten francs. He W rote me
| CHdI I1o ouu ustu oiVou HlIu AIOIu UcluS
turned out of his poor old cham Der.
'This will never do,'' I said. II must
60 somewhere else. am 4 good shoe
maker, and my experience in Paris has
given me the finishing touch. must
go somewhere else, where tho art OF
Crispin will be appreciated. One fine
day in 1850 took place as landsman
on an Eng ish bark. from Havre to Bos-
ton. l landed in the United States with
just forty cents 1.-TWO francs) in my
pocket. [ sought work at once. saw
q little shoemaker's shop up a narrow
street sign written on paper and stuck
on the glass with wafer. l could not
read it. l did not know single word
of English then, but over the door there
was German name. made bold to
enter, and talked German to the propri-
etor. ''Sit down. he said, ION that
bench, and sew me on that sole." II am
a fair shoemaker, as YOU will see,"
replied. 1t was pleasure to take hold
OF the tools once more; they seemed to
know me. How blessed nv father
then! My boss was satisfied. and got
a job right off at 81 a day and my food.
this was fortune to me then. work
ed for six months steadily, and, save
for a 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 me that he had never seen so
much money at one time in his life.
But was ambitious. just then the
California fever was raging. Some
thing told me to 60 to the Pacific coast
l took ship and crossed the Isthmus
just before arriving at San Francisco
there was heavy gale; we came near
being shipwrecked, and lost my hat.
l remember that quite we'll. l landed
in San Francisco with 81 exactly. On
board there was a carousing shoemaker,
who had been sent for from the east Dy
a man who kept shop in San Francis
co: l heard him say that he had come
before his time, and that, anyhow, if he
could do no better, he was 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. lit 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 Sc day Git was the
flush times OF California them, give me
$50 and feed me, and only let me stay
until the man you hired turns up, for I
am indeed shoemaker" The boss
gave kind of grudging consent. Then
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 l had
made SIS before breakfast by mending a
boot. suited him exactly -for am a
good shoemaker. lived with thatm man
for a year, and saved all my money. l
sent the dear old fellow at home 800.
If you could only have seen the letter
that came back! The blessed old dad
dy wanted to know If thought he was
spendthrift? That 800 he was going
to make do for the next three wears?
There was a chance heard of in Sacra-
menlo. / went there, my master giving
me some of his shop-worn stock. I did
a splendid business. In six months I
had made for my share $4,000. Nv
fortune was before me. Poor old daddy
was not forgotten. l got cross letter
from him this time. The poor simple
soul wanted to know whether thought
he was going to the dogs. Did I want
to make him drunkard, gourmand.
aud put all kinds of temptation in his
way? Too much money was the source
of all evil. l was robbing myself to
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 pairs of boots I could put my
hands on, and placed them with nv
money, all in gold, in trunk. and I