Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1896-12-06

the residents of the towns adjacent to tbe river ignore the local mender of shoes, and patronize the odd establish ment on the river shop.
 4 pleasant feature of it all is that this molder of leather has managed to gain a comfortable competence by his labors ahoat. His life is very pleasant Withal. for though He travels entirely by himself, he has many visitors, and does not lack for good company.
 Ii is not saying too much to assert that Mr. CottIe has made an entirely new departure.
 Mr. Cottle represents an industry all by himself. There is not another float ing cobbIer on any of the waters of this broad laHEt-ezeept, perhaps, the sherry cobbler
 All summer long this shoeghop trav- els up and down the KeEnebec. The captains and crews CT the boats that sail up and down that river are always watching out for their quaint fellow, who is of them and yet so different. hey all like his work, for nothing is eyer sighted.
 Another odd fact is that 8Ir. Cottle has in no way incurred the enmity of the local shoemakers already referred to. They do not grudge him the custom that he takes from them, and in fact are inclined to aid him in every way pos sible. It may readily be seen that 2 man cannot be considered very danger ous rival when he cobbles in a dozen or more towns successively. MT. Cottle never employs an assistant. He only wants just enough work to keep his own hands busy, because, he says. Satan always finds mischief for idle hands to do.
 When the summer is over and the placid surface of the Kennebec is cov- yered with ice. the floating shoe shop floats no longer. It becomes a house on runners, for seow and all are hauled bodily from the river and placed upon as fine pair of bobs as ever travelled Maine road. Then Mr. CottIe lays out his route and decides what towns he will visit and at what time. He only gees to small places, where the annual advent of the shoemaker and his queer habitation is ranked in im- Portanee with the county fair. Really, If you live on Shoemaker Cottle's route and fail to have him mend your shoes, you are considered quite out of fash ion.
 All winter long Mir Cottle merrily plies that busy hammer of his, almost from sunrise to sunset, and by the time the snow begins to disappear and the cakes of ice start chasing one an other down the Kennebee, the shoes of everyone in the towns which the Gottle shop has visited are in good con dition, and the cobbler and his home are ready to begin life afoat again.
 With all his other admirable quail ties, Mir. Cottle is very clever judge of character, and he claims that he can read the temperament of his customers by the shoes they give him to mend. NO amount of argument would ever convince him that the man who allows hls heels to run down until the counter IS reached, is otherwise than shiftless. II 1t is the tip of the sole that is worn then It IS plain, according to his way of thinking, that the wearer is of that tip toelng, spying nature sometimes de- scribed as ''snooping" The shoe or boot that is worn out like the celebrated one-horse shay, Mir. Cottle considers proof positive that the owner is very upright individual.
 ne fact that a shoe is broken at the : side indicates earelessness and shows