The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1889-07-02
RUBBER HANDS.

In a town in New Jersey lives a boy
who used to work in a rubber factory.
One day, while feeding a grinding ma
chine, which was part of his everyday
employment, he became careless, as men
and boys are apt to do who work about
dangerous machinery, and forgetting the
terrible mischief the whirling wheels
could do, put his hands too near. It was
all done in a moment. The men heard
his piercing scream, and ran to his assist
ance; but when they pulled him away
his hands were gone, and poor Walter,
with bleeding and mangled wrists, was
sent to the hospital.
Weary days passed, and the wounds
healed slowly. Many kind people heard
of the boys misfortune, visited the hos
pital, and were pleased with his patient
face, polite manner and bright remarks.
They heard from the nurses that he was
the only child of a widowed mother, who
had been looking to him to support her;
for she was getting old and feeble. This
decided them to do what they thought
before they would try to do, get Walter
a pair of those wonderfully ingenious,
but expensive, rubber hands, that are
made now to serve when those of flesh
and blood have been lost.
In the meantime Walter had left the
hospital and, while waiting for his new
hands, had some queer experiences. He
had a fashion of putting his wrists in his
pockets to hide the unsightly stumpsfrom
those he met on the streets. Going along
IN this way one day, a rude boy called
out:
whats the matter, smarty? Are
your hands cold? ,"
Walter quietly took his wrists from his
pockets and held them up, saying:
eyes, I guess they must be-"
The loud-voiced boy looked at them
with horror, and skunk out of sight
quickly, evidently very much ashamed of
himself.
AS Walter told me this, l could not
help saying, "That was too bad"
ooh, no." said Walter, quickly. "You
see he didn't know I hadn't any hands ];
and no one who knew it was ever I'M
kind to me. Why, even old Mrs. Slocum
you know she lives alone up on the hill
-and she is so ugly that every n is
afraid of her"
nodded; for Mrs. Slocum's reputation
as a terror to evil-doers-and not evil
doors alone, either-was well established.
DWELL, the other day I walked up by
there, and just as I got by the gate she
came out. The boys do torment her
awfully, and some of them had broken
her gate down. She saw the gate and
me the same minute, and / never heard
any one say so much in so short a time
as she did. She knew I had broken that
gate, and was going to put me in State
prison, and do I don't know how many
more things to ne. All the time she
talked she waved a broom, and I thought
every moment that she would hit me
with it. But just as o as I could get
a chance | held up my wrists, and said,
does that look as if I were going around
breaking gates?' She dropped her broom
and started at NE a minute, then said,
you poor childI and just made me go
in the house with her. It seemed like
the fairy stories I used to read, where the
ugly old women always turned out to be
lovely young princesses or something"
"Why, Walter" said ], laughing, d
she turn young and handsome?"
"No, not young, but she did look al
most nice looking; and she got dinner
for me, and made me tell her all about
the accident, and she would feed me.
And I laughed so that she laughed, too
but she kept wiping her eyes on her apron
every once in a while. You can't think
how kind she was"
I couldn't help thinking, as Walter told
his strange experience with a queer, cross,
disappointed old woman, that there is a
way to every heart, however, hard, if we
could but find it; and I was glad to know
that "Mother Slocum," like other folks,
has her " angel-side."
Finally, the rubber hands were bought;
and in a short time Walter could not only
assist himself in all ordinary ways, but
could write distinctly, and is now work
ing in the Office of the rubber factory, do
ing type-writing.
A story like this makes us feel like
saying Blessings OF the kndhearts who
were prompted to help the poor boy, and
blessings on the wonderful science that
can make new hands and feet for the
naimed!"- Christian Advocate.