Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1889-01-10
3rIlltnl1t Gltrnitirlf.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 10. 1889.
TYPES OF DOLLAR GETTERS.

TYPES OF DOLLAR GETTERS.
HOW EASILY SOME MEN GET A LIVING
AND HOW HARD IT Is FOR OTHERS.
LewiStOwn Journal.
The Aroostook man, whom our witty
Presque Isle correspondent describes as
able to make living by swapping jack
knives with his wife on rainy days, is
but slight exaggeration of type well
known in New England class of men
who seem to thrive without any visible
bother about it, certainly with less eff
fort than their next door neighbor, who
works hard all his life, and dies without
roof of his own, while the typical citi-
zen of whom we are speaking becomes
a real estate holder and drives very
good team.
The writer has in mind an old friend
whose death he saw recorded the other
dav. We will call him Uncle Reuben.
He died full of years and honors and
good victuals, vet he never hustled. No
one would have accused him of being
a brilliant man. He was slow, unletter-
ed, welded to his old ways and his old
pipe; he worked very moderately when
he worked at all, was contented and
happy, raised large family. became an
alderman, and left his heirs handsome
property. There once lived next door
to him a man who was finely educated,
and pointed out as ''smart" and ''promis
ing" and always on the jump. He work
70 CbnnnnH oil UlRpC
was strong in character and earnest in
everything that was good; but he broke
down in middle life and died lnsolyent.
Now, this is not in the way of an ar
gument that laziness gets riches; it is
merely to bring into high relief that
type of Yankee who seems to be born
into the world with faculty of seizing
the main chance by the hair as it goes
by and compelling it to minister to him
A shrewd, calculating habit of mind,
united with moderate ambition, small
ideas of living and inexpensive habits,
enables him to become fOrehanded
without much perspiratiOn and with a
good deal of pipe.
Still another interesting type is the
man who gets his living in way that
nobody else but that particular fellow or
his double would have thought of. We
give considerable space to this interest
ing person to-day, as result of the in
vestigations of our Maine correspond
ents. Their report seems to show that
there is no way in which man can't
earn living if he tries, and that success
is possible in the most bizarre, unheard
of and incredible callings. Read about
the corn shelter genius, about the old
fellow who carries on baby farm,
about the man who buys old false teeth,
about the artist who paints out black
eyes, about ''Darby and Joan" about the
walking advertiser, about the fellow who
disposes of surplus cats and dogs, about
the farmer who runs "horse. heaven
about the man who buys old iron and
pares apples, about the Yankee who
knows the genealogy of all the fox
hounds, about the many queer dollar
mines which Maine enterprise has open
ed-and then consider whether getting
a living is such very hard thing after
all.
But this word diving" is vague and
indefinite substantive. One of our cor
respondents tells in this issue of citi-
zen who maintains his castle at an ex-
pense of 81 week or less. You and l
know families who live comfortably on
$500 year, and others who have $1,000
but are always short. There are as many
ways of living as there are of getting a
living, and happy is he who can meas
ure what he wants by what he has. The
man who can do that can always get a
living; the man who cannot always gets
a little less than living. As, for more
than that, no man thinks he has a
competency A wit has defined this
world as "a financial horizon that recedes
as we advance" We never reach it.
Jay Gould has not got there yet. Heis
breaking down his health in struggle
for afew more millions.
Oh, mysterious, elusive, paradOxical
dollarl Thou art so easy to be got-and
yet so hardl