Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-02-06
rANorHER LIE Mailed"

"ANOTHER LIE NAlLED."
An Industrious Man Accused of Being
Lazy Boldly and Emphatically Rcfutes
the Charge.
1t is slyly whispered around the globe
that 1 am lazy. Bless your soul, l
haven't got a lazy bone inmy umbrella.
I have no distaste for work;-it is one OF
my delights to sit and read about all
kinds of work, and you have no idea
how much exercise it is and what an
appetite it gives me for dinner; and if
you would see me eat you would not
think there was any laziness about me.
My landlady says l work harder at the
table Than any of the rest of the board
ers There is not a minute in the twen-
ty-four hours that | am not doing m
thing, breathing or something else.
You never catch me sitting down and
quitting breathing for an hour or two
like some people want to. / am too
Industrious for that.
| maintain that work is the most en-
noblng of all avocations. and always
keep telling them so. When l have a
man working for me it new makes me
tired, no matter how hard he works; he
might work himself to death and you
never hear me complaining. Why,
when [ was young and followed a trade
for exercise, my boss used to say that l
could put off more work than any other
hand he had; he said l was always put
ting it off, and yet it never seemed to
- 5000 -o,,oI> NJ &,,++o,, 1Oxry hat
it is, / can roll up my sleeves and pitch
in and rest harder than almost anybody
else, and you don't hear me grunting,
like some.
Talk about me doing no work! Look
at a single instance. Is it not the very
hardest work in this world for me to
Jay my bills? Don't it make me
sweat? You have no idea how much l
weigh when | gets set down. in achair, and
I rather like those avocations which re-
quire sitting down to do. I have sat
half the night working at whist, and l
have always thought that, above all
other trades, 1 would like to be a shoe
maker or a tailor, especially in dull
times. Icould accomplish the sitting
part and not half try. If l had to work
every week from Saturday night till
Sunday morning, 1 would not run
around making a fuss about it and act
ing ridiculous.
was never tired to death in all my
life, and I have witnesses to prove it.
Ever since l started out for myself 1
have been most industriously engaged
in growing, and very few men have
made a better job of it. I always get
up when the sun is up and 80 to bed
when it is down, and am dreadfully
opposed to sleeping all the time. I
never run away from work. You ought
to see me sitting around where the car
penters are putting up a new building;
and they say l seem to know more
about the work than they do them
selves, and they are good workmen. |
firmly believe everybody ought ito do
something, or see that it is done; and
toll is honest and honorable for some
people.
My father never had any trouble
about getting me to work, like some
fathers have, because whenever he
wanted me to do anything right quick
he always asked my brother John to do
it, and l saw that it was done. Some
boys would go bowling around about
it, but l never did; and especially when
there was wood to saw l always was
there with a bacon rind to. grease
Johns saw, and my father used to say
that he saw a boy who could
swing a scythe farther away than [
could. 1 was raised on a farm, and
certainly that is a place where laziness
can W thrive. l left home without
a cent in my pocket, and made my own
way, though [ was born without an ed
ucatlon. Ny teacher always said that
l worked hard over my studies; if 1
would only get down to the studies;
and no scholars ever got ahead Of me
without they got above me.
Work! why, l like even to labor UNI
der a mistake Or hullucination. / love
the very money that a workingman
gets. have not hesitated to seize the
plebeian handles of a wheelbarrow and
go along the streets with Simpson in it,
just after election. l even work like
smoke to get out Of work. My mother
used to think | was of such prominence
in the household that she used to point
to me and say: 'Thcre is the rest of the
family" OF couse she meant that I
was the balance of it.
neveS-Tnn after a railroad train or
a street car. There are lots of things
l don't do. My neighbors say too
many. But 1 love to be quiet. If 1
intend to do any vtsIA 1 thoroughly
consider it in Ill. Its bearings to be sure
of it. This only takes a few days. L
would make = good plumber if itwasn't
for the plumbing. ] take no part in
walking matches, and avoid o%verheat-
ing myself at anything, as it is not
healthy. Some people think that work
is a terrible thing, but, Ia me, l don't
think anything OF it. The intervals be-
tween work | always did enjoy, and [
don't care how hard l am expected to
rest l can always accomplish it salts
factorily.
However, I never did quite get it
down so fine as to look on labor as q
recreation, but as a necessity when all
things else fail us. and the man who
won't work like a Turk will get no
sympathy or job Of me.
l can not see how the report got out
that | was lazy. 1t astonishes me.
Why, [ have been lately thinking of
coming out next year as a working.
mans candidate for Governor. This