Industrial freedom. [volume] (Edison, Wash.) 1898-1???, 1898-07-02
Competitive Ddu.
BiGE EDDY.

parts: and almost Immediately his con-
federate, as l verify believe. raids nv
den with an instrument of unpro-
nOunceable name upon which he plays
the most ravishing and enhancing
music. He tries in vain. to convince
me by Il simple" system of charts and
figures. which are the Greekiest of
Greek to me, that anyone can learn it
in few hours. Becoming convinced
that | am only treating with him for
the sake Of his music, and that he is
furnishing pleasure with no prospect of
realizing gain, he Indignantly and
speedily departs.
Faltering steps upon the porch are
followed by timid ring at the front
door. and fling it open to confront
haggard-looking youth with his arm in
a sling who has sawed the said arm and
wants help to get home to mother" /
am suspicious of the sling and appre-
hensive that he will buy his ticket for
home at the saloon on the corner: but |
know our industrial system gives no
further heed to the man it saws than to
seek an unsawed man from the ever
growing reserves. So give him the
benefit of the doubt, also two bits, and
am rewarded by his look of gratitude,
and waste no time in bordering whether
that look will be washed out by the
fiery refreshments at the corner. or
deepened by a speedy return to mother.
His gratitude is real. whether his sawed
arm is q fake or not.
The next beggar comes to the back
door and is not crippled. In my tempo
rary absence the women folks. dear
souls. fill him up with what is left from
breakfast, which they have been dread
ing to warm over for dinner. The
little two-bit episode at the front door
has escaped their notice, and they don't
know they are treading upon dangerous
ground They decline his offer to split
wood with what seems to me, who have
the wood to split. unnecessary magma
nimity They think, which | don't,
that the exercise will do me good: that
it might develop in me some symptoms
of the appetite with which he cleaned
out the buttery and threatened to bring
famine on the entire neighborhood.
A man with sharpening compound
calls and puts an edge on my old razor
which threatens the bread and butter
of my barber. But as | dare not, only
under the most pressing necessity,
shave with duh razor let alone a
sharp one, we fail to deal.
y boy calls with Il dog which he
offers me at my own price. As that is
SO month for keeping something
which will be of no use to me and a
menace TO my neighbors, besides out
Macbething Macbeth by numbering
sleep in the adjacent ten blocks, he
very inconsistency goes back on his
own offer and back into the street
a man who is photographing the
homes of great men, and other objects
of interest. for some distant engraving
house. is the next filler of 'long-felt
want" | am not just onto his graft,
but as all he asks is for US TO group our
selves on the front porch while he takes
IL "snap shot at us, and his "house"
really seems to need my home in its
collection, we comply. Later in the
week he calls with some beautiful
proofs and expresses his entire willing
ness to furnish us any number of the
photos at % cents EACH
A newspaper canvasser offers to fur
nish his journal for trial month free,
but as / know he expects me to sub
scribe for the next month and pay
double it seems 10 me, with this pre-
vious knowledge on my part, would be
morally bound to do so, and as | need
everything worse than another daily
paper. am forced to decline his gener-
Gus offer.
am next exhorted TO "Remember
the Maine 10y investing in a hideous
memento of that Inflated ship to wear
upon the lapel of my coat. But not
even for patriotic purposes can | afford
to invite attention to my personal APP
pearance.
Two children on the sidewalk next
distract my attention, one, ragged and
barefooted, crying because it has moth
ing: the other over-clad, and weeping
because it has more than it knows what
to do with. Both are equally unhappy
and equally at a loss for any way out of
their difficulty. 1t is SO hard for child