The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1886-07-24
BETTYS DRAINS.
How Tom Dillon Turned His Daily Drinks
to Good Account.

Whoop! Cheap enough! Goodsis 60
ing down; hope wages won't go after
them," Tom Dillon went on, hands in
his pockets. What connected in his
mind the brown calico gown with blue
and yellow roses with the. thin, wee,
fretful face of his Betty? Betty was
aillng that day, her mother said, and
she had thought fit to whine and hold
out wistfully her little hand when her
father went off to work. The fingers
in Toms pockets held ten cents, the
price of his regular morning drink.
BY some mental process it occurred to
him that ten cents would buy three
yards of the calico, and that would
make Betty gown; and when she sat
on his knee unfolding it at night, the
cross, sickly face would grow child
like and gay. "She'll be more glad
of the frock than | will Of my DRAM"
said Tom; and he turned back and
asked for three yards of the calico.
On the counter a basket held a narrow
white trimming marked 81 Ct"
"Does that mean a cent yard?" asked
OlH. Vii up III q y etlo anu VI G1C
dime even"
at will make very neat little dress.
and the edge will trim the neck and
Sleeves" said the shop-girl, pleas
antly.
"Just the price of a drink" said
Tom, uneasily.
.'If all men would use their drink
money so there would be less ragged
children and discouraged mothers"
Well, Betty was not ragged, but
she was shabby, and Nora, his wife,
was getting to look fistless and hope
less Was it his fault? He never was
drunk, never was drunk-cross. Ten
cents in the morning, the same at night,
now and then Sunday afternoon tip
pie, and Monday off when he felt dull
and cross-not much over two dollars
week, on the whole. year in and
year out; that was all. 1t was an ''all''
| that made the difference between COM
fort and safety, and narrowness and
anxiety at home. Tom did not realize
it. He picked up his parcel.
Suppose you buy the little girl a
doll; these are only five cents" said
the shop-woman, persuasively, holding
up a doll. 1t was ten inches long, had
staring black eyes, a tuft of tow with a
| gilt band atop for hair, short arms,
straight, wooden legs, but it had feat
ures and crimson complexion. Tom
was not wise in dolls, and this looked
fine to him; it would to Betty, who had
no doll. He paid the nickel. Half
of to-night's drink gone" he chuckled,
and off he went to his work.
The master was going about the shop
that morning. He finally called out
clearly:
'See here, my lads. I don't want to
interfere with your private lives, but
you are spending too much on drinks
Now, who has not had a dram this
morning? Speak up"
II never touches it." said an old fell
low.
Il haven't had one,' said Tom Dill
Ion.
"And what have you in the bank,
Abram?" asked the master
six hundred dollars," quoth Abram,
feeling rich.
well, | had no dram, because
spent the dime on gown for Betty"
said Tom. II usually has DRAM
ut would be well if Betty stood al
ways in the way of the dram; then
each little Betty would have clothes
and schooling, and books, and Il good
trade or dowry. Say You spend two
dollars a week on drains; if you put it
instead in box for Betty, and drew
out what she needed each year until
she was ten, she would have balance
| of one hundred and four dollars.
Twenty-Five dollars year would clothe
her when little, and seventy-fve would
be laid up. Betty would be an heiress."
AS Tom went home that night he
met shabby old man selling oranges.
'Halloon' said Tom. 1--WE nickel
due to Betty in my pocket"
1.-TWO for five cents. said old Tim.
| When Tom went home he bestowed
one orange on Betty aud one on Nora.
He felt as if he should excuse such gem
erosity and delicate attention to his
wife and child. "You see old Tim
worked in our shop once. But he got
! paralysis, and so he's took to selling
oranges to keep out of the poor-house. :"
"What did he earn in the shop?"
asked Nora.
"Say nine dollars a week, year in
and OUT
''How many years did he work
there"
Thirty, I've heard say" replied
Tom, innocently.
"And what did he spend on drams?"
"Well, he took little more than
do; but he was not n drunkard. after
all Let's say about three dollars a
week."
"Ds you know what he'd have had
if he had laid up that every week?'
asked Nora.
"No; I'm not so good at schoolin'
as you, my lass.
Nigh $1,000, without a mite of in
terest; but with interest he'd have gone
away to sixteen thousand or more.
He'd have been rich man now, not
an orange-peddler A snug little house,
\ servant, good furniture, warm
hearth, a tidy table. Now, what good
do his drains do him, and he round in
the cold and mud hobbling about sell
ing oranges?"
! Betty in beatilic state, the flavor of