Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-04-06
YOUNG MAN, BE HONEST.
Un.le Jonas Catches His Brisk Young
 Nephew Initiating Him.

Nephew Initiating Him.
 II am on the turf now," said lashy, black eyed young man, still in his teens, to an acquaintance whom he met at the Guttenburg races. am out for money, and everything goes"
 When did you quit your uncle's hook shop?' asked the boys acquaintance.
 Has week We'n'sdy. He fired me out for trying to work one of his own games. One of the funniest rackets you ever heard of, and I'm just sore enough on the old man to give it dead away. The old man was going up Center street one day last summer, and he stopped in a second hand tool shop to see @ friend. While he was there he got monkeying with second hand signal box. It was little cast iron thing with the word police" on the front and brass button on the top. When he pressed the button it set lot of clockwork going in the box, and made as much noise as an alarm clock. He was stuck on the thing and bought it for half. 1 asked him what he was going to do with it and he said he would stick it up on the wall and ring it if any coughs tried to make trouble in the shop. Well, that's just what he did with it. He screwed 1t up in plain sight behind the counter and fastened wires to it to make it look as if they went somewhere. Then he took some bronze paint and touched up the letters so that nobody could make any mistake in reading them. l don't believe he thought of what up about week. Then he made it use full for the first time. 4 young fellow came in with q dress coat wrapped up in newspaper and wanted five cases on it. Uncle Jonas held the coat up and sized 1t up with the fellow that was trying to soak it. The coat was big enough for two like him and the old man says: Dots nice coat. Ees i'd your own?
 Fletcher life,' says the young feller.
 "'Vait till l call my bruder,' says the old man, and he turned and jammed the button down hard on the signal box. The young feller just gave one glance at left the coat behind. He ain't been seen around there since After that the old man give me to understand I was to come along kinder slow any time when he rung the box, SO that if people didn't scare, they would take it that the call was for me, and then he would consult me about the goods that were offered. He worked the call on a man with a gold watch next day, and tho man snatched the watch out of his hand and skipped. After that he was more care full, and when a crook came in with a ring day or two later, he laid the ring down out of reach and touched the but ton, saying that he would call his son and get his opinion about the stone. The crook looked at the call box and ran his eye along the wires which ran toward the front of the shop. Then he began to swear, and made @ jump for the side door. Next day nice looking fellow came in and described the ring, and said that it was stolen from him, and that he had cornered the man who stole it, and learned where it was.
 "'All right; will send for it. says the old man, and then he touched the button again.
 "I will come in again in half an hour,' says the nice looking young feller, and skips out the door. Did he come back? Nav. Well, the old man worked the new snap every chance he got, but sometimes he got fooled, and then had to come to the front and be consulted, always askin': Did you ring, sir? One day when the old man was out to dinner a feller come in with a stud. It was a real bug and wanted to win it. So I sprung the call box on him. He shot out of the side door and I dropped the ring in my pocket Two minutes later me uncle put his hand on my shoulder, and two big tears ran down his nose as he told mo that he was sorry that he had found out that I was not honest. He gave me calking old lecture on honesty being the best policy, and told me that he had been watching me from the back part of the shop and seen me git the 'chenuine tiamont.' I had to give it up to him, and he Is wearing it now while 1 am on my uppers. Oh, yes, he fired me 'yust as soon as he found I wasn't hon. est You go up there tomorrow and see if he don't ring the box on you and try to bluff you out of your watch Then asl him about ma ''--Nau Vor, S,,n