New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-11-09
AFooT IN NEw-ENGLAND.


cOIIcCGOn6
only have agents Of these dealers pretty thorough
~ canvasscd the country, but which is still moro
to the purpose, the village storekeepers and tho
tin pedlers have bought them up and shipped
them to the city dealers in quantities. What few
remain are nearly all either not for sale or held 81
a too high price. This is true also, to certain
extent. OF other relics of the past such as spin
ning-wheels. old furniture. and 80 forth, but
nothing seems to have suffered 50 much az tho
clocks. One day rode several miles with an sx-
tin-pedler who In his time had bought many oad
clocks and gave me much valuable informaten
on the subject He tried, too, to tell me funny
story about a clock he once bought OF mAo
named Chase, who lived in Whittingham. ne
laughed long time before he began, and really
became anxious to hear the story, but unfo1u-
nately it was very long story, and he had hS'c
pig tied up in bag in the bottom OF his wagon.
box, and about every five minutes this pig wou'o
get out Of the bag, jump from the wagon ana ."
scampering away, and it took 50 much unne
catch the pig that we got TO where had 70 s"P
before he had finished half the story.
left the former tin-pedler, in fact, to 90 ana
see q man who he thought had a CLOCK tnas NO
would SELL The last saw Of the ex-dealer IN an
ware he was sprinting across potato neid ai'er
tho little pig with the point Of his humorous
Whittineham anecdote still locked In his BOSOM
Tn. man with the supposed clock Yves named Dag
oett. found him contempatively chewing
straw and leaning on hay-rake ropust-'eoA-
inc woman was sitting on the porch knitans
the thumb on red mitten. l asked M"
~ he had an old clock, ana no
admitted that there was one In the mouse.
asked il it was for sale and he repled' wen,
YOU see, the clock amt mine 1t belongs 10 Auns
Nancy.n and he indicated the robust woman Dy
nontinp over his shoulder with his thumb us
her clock. and she don't want to sell 1t. but-aho
he lowered his voice to a whisper you JuSs
wait ri, she dies and I'll sell it to you"
thanked the man and fingered about for ten
or fifteen minutes, keeping close watch ON
Aunt Nancy. but as / could see nothing encouf'
og;no at the end of that time, went on
But ought to return to where left Dr. HOLDS.
,,ho treated carious teeth with ni-ko-li-um ana
,cansitive ones with 0s-s-cu-ra. From his mouse
won't down the road a quarter Of a mile TO Uncie
Nathan" Wheeler's Hobbs said that Uncle Ma
than had house full Of old clocks found un-
Gle Nathan out in the yard raking up httle nay
which he had cut. explained to him my desires
concerning q clock He looked at me edgeways
and then asked me as to my name place. Vi ie''-
dence object of being in that Vicinity dires'io"
I was travelling, place had stayed the nignt Do
fore Mace l intended to stay the coming mghSs
date left home. date would probably start back:
place of birth, age, occupation, prospects In ii'o
and SO forth, My answers seemed to be saus.
factory and he told me to come into the house ana
asked me to sit down. l again mentioned CLOCKS
10 him, but he parried my advance gracefully WIN
n comment on the weather. Then he sald .hao
no did have one old article Of interest. asKeo
him what it was, and he said 1t was gun.
asked to see it, and he went in cioset anu gov
IT, II was certainly an odd old gun. 1t stood
about ak feet hich-so high that it must have
been an extremely difficult matter to blow down
the barrel to see il it was loaded. 1t had very
clumsy fiint-lock and other marks Of great agei
He assured me that it was considerably oyer zoV
wears old. He asked me If knew what 1t was
worth. and told him that did not. Then ne
lowered his voice confidentialy and told me that
man who boarded at Deacon Prestley's last sum.
mer said that it would bring $500 in New-forkl
He was not anxious to sell it, he said, but would
dispose of it at that figure for cash. told him
that did not want it, and again spoke OF clocks.
but he managed once more to avoid the ISSUE thiS
time by showing me q quaint article OF iurhiture
which seemed to partake of the nature OF cness
of drawers. sideboard and bookcase. 1t was
made of cherry and inlaid with some lighter col
ored wood. This, he said, was not for sale. UNI
less. of course person wanted to give good deal
for it. He well remembered the day he bought
tit was in AZ. He trembled in his boots all
the way home because he felt sure that his wife
would object to it, He wouldn't have got 1t, only
he had to take it of Ezra Doty on bad debt.
Ezra made 1t himself. lie was always making
strange things. Finally he made flying machine
and broke his neck So Uncle Nathan trembled
all the way home about his new article Of fur
niture, but what was his surprise when his wife
said that it was just what she wanetd. 1t was
accordingly stood in the front room and the chill
dren kent their caps in one door, while he himself
stored his smoking tobacco In one plgeon-nole
and his scythe-stone and husking-peg IN anether'
while his wife kept doughnuts in one drawer
pies in another, cookies in another. yarn IN an,
other dishes in another and dried catnip in stui
another 1t was the handiest article Of furnisure
about it being that they never knew what to
call it.
He had nothing else to show, and reluctantly led
me to them. He had two each, he thought, about
a hundred years DID, One of them had no case
the face was fastened to shelf by screws through
the lower part of it, and the pendulum
and weights hung through holes In the shelf
When it was almost run down the weights rested
on the floor. Uncle Nathan SAID that they onoe
used to stand under This clock and let the pendu
lum rub his back at each beat The clock always
gained anyhow, and this used to tend to re .Sad
lD.
had that dog than it ever had before
or since. This clock was not for
sale, but he took me, upstairs and showed me
another that was on the market. This was not
going, but we took lot of dried boneset and
tansy out Of the bottom of it, wound it by pulling
started the pendulum. 1t Began with n slow and
digniAed tick Uncle Nathan took off the top
and revealed the works. They were Of wood and
were gone, but Unolo Nathan thought he could
get Cicero Barker, the blacksmith to make soms
who could shoe an OK like Cicero and he guessed
that he probably woqldn't back down at any light
job like clock repairing. clock, couldn't kick!
but an OK when he was being shod, had do.
stroying kick like the stroke of pi!e-driver-
those were not his exact words, but this Is the
idea he conveyed. Besides telling the time Of
day. this cloOk had originally undertaken the
conveying OF some sort OF information about the
moon, but the moon department seemed TO b
badly out of order, and Uncle Nathan doubted
seemed 10 be in good repair, and Uncle Nathan