Connecticut western news., 1889-01-09
MIR. WASTE PAPER. "


 little street, call it street simply out of compliment-it being in reality only an alley that had started out to be a street aud finding itself too narrow ly half had stopped at tho end of two blocks and never gono any further lived a shabby old man, called by his ncighbors 'Mr. Waste Paper" and by rude boys and girls of the nciyhborhood "Old Miser' and "Queor Eyes"
 He bought and sold waste papor, and all the four rooms ia his housc-he was the only one in the street that occupied a whole house and was looked upon with great respect on that accouat-in fact, think if he had only rented room or two like the rest of the inhabitants h, would have been "Waste Paper John," instead of "NIr. Wasto Paper" almost filled with it.
 Oae, indeed, the largest, was filled to the very ceiling, only Q narrow path way being left in the ccntro like a small valley between two stoep noun . taina
 A deep drift liko snow lay upon the floors of two of the other rooms, and ! hu-dreds of books from which the cov- CTS had departed forever, old maga- zines, used-up led,ers, torn hand bills and circulars. were stacked along the walls and in the fourth room, where the old man ate and slept, all tho furniture, with the exception of 9 tiny stove, a gridiron, saucepan and tea-kettle; i; was made of paper. Ottomans formed out of newspapers laid neatly one upon tho other, bod built of some twenty large bundles of coarse brown paper with m old "Webstcr's Unabridged , for pillow; table made by placing six big account books on tho floor, six moro on the top of them, and so or until enough had beon used. All leg less, of course, but serving MT. Waste Paper as we'll as though they had any number of logs.
 You never saw such queer placo in your life, and never heard such con- tinual rustling and cracking as the furniture kept up, and v,ry likely you never met such very odd old man.
 One shoulder was littlo higher and one leg littlo shorter than the othe5 and he had ono black eye and one blue one. And whom he was good, natured he looked at you with the blue one, and when he was cross he looked at you with the black one, and don thiak there could ever havo been two more expressive eyes in tho wholo world -one could look so cross and tho othe, so kind.
 We'll, nobody in Sam strcet-that is what they called the ambitious alley, a.ter old Sam Junkman, who built the first house thers fifty years ago-kneN anything about MT. Waste Paper, ex cept that he hal lived in that four roomed house for tho last ten years, and that tho only person that he was at friendly with was Mrs. Dolf, tho kid glovo eleanor, who lived next door and who boiled tho water for hi: tea on summer evenings, when ho had no fro at homo.
 Mrs. Dolls children, Amos ant Cherry, liked tho old man very well, for he used often to givo thom pretty pictures which he cut from the picture papers which fell ia hi, possession and, moro rarely. a penny or two; bu the other Sum street children calico him "old miser," because he savo then nothing, and because they hcarl thci fathers and mothers say: "Waste Pap ! has good sum of money in somc banl or other, you may bet, for he's bee, buying and selling for ten years, ant never had days sickness, and wear ing the same old clothes, summer aa' winter, and not chick or child, or dog, or cat to look after, and ncve asking anybody to havo drop of bee or pipc of baccy. Hv's reg'lar ol miser, that's what he is.'
 But the old man paid no attention t the rudo boys and girls, excert to tur his black eJc on thom once in whil when they became. too annoying, lu passed his tima when at homo readin something from his stock in trado, c, with eyes half closed ia deep though about what no ono but himself eve knew, whom ono bright, warm May day he camo slowly into his living-rool from tho street, carrying heavy ba on his shoulder.
 He placed the bag upon paper ottt man, sat down on tho paper bed b,si l the paper table, wiped his faco with
 handkerchief, and thon opened the ba and tumblcd tho contents out upon th paper carpet
 Hc had bought thom that morning ( aschool teacher who livod at tho oths end of tho town, four miles aw y, an i they consisted of soilel copy books, ol g.anmars ssogrsphies. arithmstic'