Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1893-04-07

MlDDLEBURY RE(
sponded Jay with a suppressed twinkle
In his eye, "you may take my word for
its beng cracker" The hayseed
paused minute, gazed down thought
fully at the floor, and then said, Its
trade" To his intense chagrin and to
the utmost merriment of the bystanders
he received stale soda cracker tied to
the end of leather string, In return for
"a good silver watch. 1t WAS useless for
him to appeal to the honor of his clever
swnder who had thrown before him u
line baitcd with alluring truth by which
his tlmepiece was successfully captured.
The victim of this romance was there
after known by the appellation of "Stale
Cracker Dick"
HE WAS AN INVENTOR.
One of Mr.. Gould's earliest feats was
the invention of a mouse trap. He went
to New York to sell it, and he had put
it into nice little mahogany case. lie
expected to turn 1t into cash, and his
dlsmay may well be imagined when, in
riding on a street car in the city, it was
seized by thief, who at once fled
Gould gave immediate and hot chase,
and captured the fellow, who turned out
to be notorious burglar. The lads
chasing the thief resulted, first, in the
fellows disgust upon discovering, the
snowy box being opened and the mouse
trap seen, that he had risked his liberty
for thing of so little value, and, SCI
ond. in his being dealt with under a
requisition from the governor of a neigh
boring State.
HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
Mr.. Gould once related how he got his
first start in life. 81 heard of a man in
Ulster county," said he, "who was look
ing for an assistant. He was making a
map of that county and wrote to him.
He engaged me at $40 month. When
l left my father offered me money, but
concluded to burn my ships behind
me and took only enough for my fare.
This man started me out to make the
surveys, to see where the roads were
and to locate the residences. The map
was to be useful as record, and when
| started he said to me:
"'Now, while you go along you get
trusted for your bills, what you eat
ETC., and | will come after and pay
Them
IL think two or three days out had
to stay over night in place where they
charged a shilling for supper, shilling
for lodging and sixpence for breakfast
l explained the arrangement for paying
and took my book out to enter the
amount of the bill, but the man who
kept the house declared with an oatf
that he would not have anything of the
kind.
"'You don't know this man, said he
He has failed three times. You have
got the money, know you have, anC
| want my BILL
81 had not a cent, and Ipulled my
pockets out to show him that had not
and said:
, "'You must trust me- He answer
ed:
well, will trust you, but won
: trust him.
This had such an effect upon me-
continued Mr.. Gould, THAT it seemed t
! me as if the world had come to an en-,
that day. did not know where | wa
to get dinner and did not try till lon;
after o'clock after this rebuff. ] wa
| naturally a timid boy and it had
great effect on me. then debated abou
: throwing up the whole engagement, bu
went out and had a good cry wher
nobody could see me. Then got dow
: and prayed and | felt better afterward
, So made up my mind to go ahead
! made up my mind to die in the las
= ditch. | was hungry and decided t
-; go into the first house | came to and &C
! something to eat. and | did so. III
t woman treated me kindly, gave me som
e bread and milk and when | went ava
| told her to enter it down. In tn
, meantime her husband came in, and
D had got about four rods away from tn
D house when heard him hallooing afte
i me. With the mornings scare in m
a mind | thought that he was going t
e finish me, but he said: Il want you t
! come back and make me noon mark
! l don't know whether you know whi
+ that is.
o sit is line north and SOUTH" sal
= Mr.. Gould, "by which the farmers ca
o regulate their clocks, the sun bearin
a due south at noon. | went back wit
It my compass and made him noon mari
a and when | got through he asked n
u what was to pay. | said nothing.
Il $50 yes said he, Il want to pay yoJ
e our surveyor always charges ST.
- tE'rha food | had eaten was one shi