Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1893-10-19

SIX 0ATS IN the week. ne used 10 Work
seven religiOusly-well, not exactly re-
~ligiouSly. because he necessarily ignored
the seventh day. set apart sabba:ically
for rest-but at all events. he worked
with faithful assiduity. When the six
day rule was passed over his vote, he
grew soured and discontented; full of
dismal prophecies about the trade go
ing to the dogs for the sake of a few
vargrant bum printers, and bitterly
retrospective about the good old times
when a man. il he chose, might put in
one hundred hours n week. IL he could
possibly accomplish such a miracle.
Jack Rule was not Of the drinking
order OF ~printers-at least not in pub
lic-and this popularity gave him an
excellent excuse for CURLY refusing to
give assistance to any wandering
printer whom circumstances had tenn
porarily embarrassed NO man." he
used 10 say. need To starve IL he is
sober and works as hard as | do" To
tell the truth. Jack was miserly-so
misery thai il almost seemed to be
music in his ears when it was broadly
limited by some poor fellow that he was
n hog" or when IL was suggested by
his fellow workmen that he would
make a frst-class .ShyIock' for the
composing-room of the famous Mari
gold Mirror.
But while Jack was severe on the
failings Of his fellows. he made up for
that b. his iiberality to himself lie
ate heartily and found n great delight
- saff,-~ ~ fs--l - L. III L-l
for dinner, how much he paid for it,
aud how he liked il. II was noted as a
singular fact that he took particular
pleasure in dilating upon the healthy
rapaeity of his appetite before people
who were either feeling too unwell to
enjoy any kind Of food or too poor to
buy any thing worth eating before
next pay day. This habit may have
arisen from gross selfshnesS, although
Jack used ~ boast Of his heartiness
and free outspokenuess and deluded
himself into the belief that he was
really a good. bluff, honest, all-round
kind of a fellow.
Jacks fellow workuen on the Mari
gold Mirror did not like him much
They therefore made him chairman of
the chapel II so happened that in the
first few months of his i~ncumbency Of
Office some important subjects demand
ed the attention of the chapel. There
were rumors hat the proprietors of the
Mirror intended to substitute type-set-
ting machines for men. and the que<-
ton. whether or not this action should
not be opposed a being distiuctively
destructive TO the trade of the compos-
itor. led tn many warm discussions in
which a minority who held that the in
PRODUCTION of machines could only in
Jure bad printers, whom the trade
could well afford to drop of the roll.
were bitterly opposed by a majority
who felt by no means sure OF their Do
sition il it ever happened hat their
brains and hands had to be pitted
against n senseless automatic type-set-
ting machine. This and 4 number of
other matters worried Jack Rule as
chairman of the Mirror chapel He
tried his best not to lose any time over
them, but, do what he might. he found
his mind distracted and his string
notably shortened week by week. IL
1t weren't that he possessed n sub
stratum of vanity in his composition he
would have thrown up the chairman
ship and all its vexatious worries and
botherations- But he hadn't strength
of mind enough TO do this. He feared
the sarcasm Ind laughter of his fellow
workers. and therefore kept the chair
manship.
Junee ended and July commenced with
Jack Rule in a bad state of mind and
body He was worried. first. because
his weekly bills had fallen of in spite
of his extra exertions to work better
than ever. Then he was worried. next,
because he had begun to notice a dis
tinct failure in his appetite. His gen
eral condition was by no NEAR i'm
proved when one after another of his
friends exclaimed: Holy Moses, Jack.
but you're looking i'll. What's the mat
teri You had better look out for your
self before it's too late" He was com