The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1896-07-02
tanned THE PLUMBER
THE BOY HELPER WHO WAS TOO
STRONG FOR THE BUSINESS.

A Talented JOurneyman Who Had One
Fault, Which Has Been cUred Recently
By an Employers Novel Plan-On His
Guard Now Against 'sRinEers."
This is the story Of the tanning Of the
Iourneyman plumber. The journeyman
plumber Was the best of his kind in
town, and was much sought after by
boss plumbers. As one of them described
his talents, He can sling more ma
terlal into job in the greatest length
OF time than any man in the business -
But the journeyman plumber was, with
all his talents, hard man to keep en-
ployed on account of his irascibility.
His temper was shorter than a rabbits
tail, and he took out his indignation
and his headaches and rows with his
wife ON his helpers.
A helper to journeyman plumber is
a youth who lays out tools, holds pipe,
hands the journeyman his solder and
his soldering iron, and who carries back
and forth the journeyman's bag of tools
and his furnace. He is a journeyman in
embryo, and the first thing he learns is
implicit obedience TO his journeyman
and not to be too swift Plumbers call
him cub" and kid.
This particular journeyman abused
his helpers When things went wrong
he usually caught his helper by the ear
and swatted him. The result was that
the helpers returned to the shop and
told the boss they lacked the talent for
plumbing and quit As a result the
available helper timber was rapidly be-
coming exhausted.
The boss plumber did not wish to
lose his journeyman, but he was almost
at the end of his list of helpers. Conse-
quently he thought. After much labor
he produced an idea. He went down to
a resort kept by professor. F." 1t was
a dingy place, with a sloppy bar and fly
| specked mirror ON one side and a row
OF barrels on the other The walls were
covered with boxing gloves and highly
colored pictures of men in fighting atti-
tudes. As the result Of conference be.
tween the boss plumber and the pro
fessor, stunted youth, very broad
across the shoulders, was called up.
Il want boy to learn the plumbers
trade, said the boss plumber.
well, you'll have to guess again, "
said the stunted youth. There amt no
money in it. Maybe four or five a week,
Ell? can knock that out Of the punchin
bag in here, see?''
He meant that he could earn Is a
week teaching half baked sports to punch
the bag.
I'm give you ST. so a day to see how
you like the plumbers business" said
the plumber.
III go you, said the stunted youth
The next morning the stunted youth
appeared at the plumbers shop in over
alls and little round cap with peak.
He was told to go out with the journey
man plumber. Together they went to a
big vacant building to set up an iron
pipe. They were sent to the vacant
building that there might be no family
there to be shocked should anything &C.
cur. On the car the stunted youth en-
deavored to become acquainted with the
journeyman, but the journeyman was
sullen and the acquaintance stopped.
When the building was reached the
journeyman said, Scatter them TOOLS "
The tools were scattered about, so that
when one was needed some little time
was consumed in picking it out The
pipe was several inches in diameter
and the game was to pile one joint upon
another and solder it there, and so to
the top Of the building. The pipes were
heavy and four times as tall as the
stunted youth. As result, it was diff
cult for him to hold them up straight
At last the journeyman, who was on a
ladder soldering, looked down and said:
Col darn you. If you don't hold that
pipe up straight, I'll come down and
bend your FACET
At this the stunted youth dropped the
pipe and said: "All right Come down
and bend me face. I" The journeyman
had never been talked to like this be-
fore, and he "came down"
When it was all over, the Journey
man went homo in a carriage with a
man holding his head in his lap. The
stunted youth walked back to the shop
Say, he said to the boss, ''I'm too
strong for the plumbin business. Guess
I'll quit.
why, what's the matter?" asked
the boss.
"Oh, that guy you sent me out wild
started to bend me face. De docs took
him home in hack Say, his face is
hard, " and he rubbed his knuckles
"All right, " said the boss. "If you've
got to quit, here's your So. 90, but
think you'd make great plumber y
The next morning the journcyman
plumber walked into the shop. He was
sight.
"Wot kind of a murderer was that
you sent out with me yesterday" he
asked, out of the uncovered corner of
his mouth. Say, he beat me scandal
GUS with piece Of lead pipe. - And the
boss laughed loud, scornful laugh,
for he knew that the journeyman had
been tanned. And, sure enough, Tiers
after the journeyman treated his helpers
as tenderly as sons, for he never knew
when he might run against another
ringer. kansas City Star.
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