Nevada County picayune., 1890-03-05
TWO MISERS.


 am what some folks would call q miser. That is to say, have always lived on very little money, and turn ed over and over, always increasing great deal. My wife died when we were 'young people, and thought hundred hundred dollars an mex haustible fund of wealth and, really, you did get more comfort out of a hundred dollars siXty-five years ago than you can now get with five times as much. Well, after Selina died and took her baby with her-poor soul didn't seem to take much stock in life myself.
 had small farm then, just on the outskirt of town-never mind where-and 1 dug, and planted, and sent garden truck to market, and now and then a basket of very fine fruit or vegetables to Sarah.
 Sarah was my sister, and married to city clerk who wasn't uncom- monly rich.
 bought up good bit of land in those days-a few acres here for a new kind of beans, and patch here for an orchard-till l held quite q lot of what you call real estate now adays.
 By and by the town was made q city, and, bless youl the great folks took a notion to make the part where l lived the fashionable locality.
 To make long story short, my land was mine of wealth. Some of it sold for hundred times what it cost me, and with the money built some grand houses, and with rents and good investments the money grew and grew till was more than a rich man.
 But kept one little patch of land, upon which was the house was born in, where my parents lived and died, where Sarah and l played hide-and seek in the crooked entries, and fed pigeons on the sloping roof over the kitchen.
 was all alone, except my servant woman, Jane, and 1 liked simple food and plain clothes, and so folks called me a miser. Perhaps Sarah could nave told them better, or some of the poor people about; but as l never put my name to big charities, and never gave away money without Investigating the purpose for which it was demanded, l got the name of being stingy.
 Years rolled along, and Sarah died :; her husband died, too, years later, and the only relative had in the world was Sarah's son, named for me, Ralph Wardour, with his father $ name, of course, added--Ralph War dour Meyers.
 They say--those folks who define everything regarding the people of this world-that Ralph takes after me. His uncle all over,' have heard as description, and submitted in silence. And the similarity lies in this:
 let my money grow, because l have no use for it about my own house or person. l follow Scripture in keeping my left hand from know ing what my right hand doeth, What give, l give quietly. What l plan to do, after l leave thls world, with the money l cannot take with me, l tell no one. Ralph Wardour Meyers scrapes and hoards, because the love of money is the strongest passion of his mean, sordd soul. He is osten- tatious where it will be to his advan- tage to he so, and grinds down the expenses of his household to the last farthing He drove his wife to her grave by tyranny and petty eXac- tions, and he drove pretty Sadie But that is going too fast. Let me get to that part of the story in better style. Sadie Meyers, my sisters grandchld and namesake, was the prettiest blued-eyed baby that ever gladdened mothers heart. She was left motherless when she was on lv ten years old, and was the most timid, shy little maiden in the world Heaven knows l would have loved