The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-31
YANKEE EMcHAATMEAT.
Af1INADAB SKELcH AND HIS
FREE LIBRARY.
Tho Story of = Really Good Boy With q
Defective Moral Sense.
ropyyioh. 1899. b, cAa,,., Rap,H Loomi,

but you must not blame him Tor II too harshly.
What could any one expect Of q boy who, having
such dreadful name as Skelch, had tccn sad
died with Aminadab when he was too young
to protest OF courac the boys called him Dab
or Dabby for short or else Amen which was just
as bad and he is certainly entitled TO son.c CEN
sideration on that account II lie had teen
called Gaudensius Stewart or Alcibiadcs Mont
rose he might have boon very noble little ici.
low: but the name OF Aminadab prepared people
for the worst. And yet he not tic worst
by any means. He he'd love for the beautiful
and he liked To do little kindncsses for people
and he was generous TO a fault His chief fail
ing was that he did not know the difference be-
tween mine and thine and II wns this that leo
him into the trouble that am about to describe.
One day he went TO Philadelphia and while
he was there he saw many Gnc buildings Now
the little town where he lived. Up among the
mountains near Panfleld, y. j.. did not boast
Of a building more prctcntious than a WOODEN
house and 30 these great stone buildings socmod
TO him like fairy palaces and he determined when
he returned to Mulinsyille to build handsome
library ard Present II to his fellow townsmon.
II proper at this point to say that while Ami
nadab did not boast any aequaintnnceship
with the fairies, he did have strength that was
li,,lc sol; Of supernatural He was so strong
that lie could pull young saplings from the earth
with one hand and could raise a six-hundred-
pound bag OF meal as easily as you could
handle fvepound bag Of salt Besides
this he was remarkable handy. He was own
cousin on his mothers SIDE TO the boy who
made a trolley car with a knife his only tool.
Now II Aminadab had possessed a good moral
sense he would have gone TO the proprietor OF some
stone yard and would have said: Il want enough
stone 10 build very handsome library. have
Il n
have IL, but IL you will trust me and my health
docs not give out, will pay you before die"
Most any stone seller would have given him ct
lcas, enough for a basement Then he would
have said practically the same thing at the PIANO
O. glass factory and the store where they sell
planks Of wood and the nail bazaar and the paint
depot But he did none OF these things He
said 10 himself Here, am going 10 give my
fellow townsmen fnc library. ] am going to
make it all myself and l don't see why can't
help myself 10 material wherever can hnd It"
Now. as you and know, this was very wrong.
bu; I'm not telling you what ought TO have hap
rened. but what die happen to a little New Jersey
boy who didn't know any better
FIRST he selected plot OF ground on which
TO build the library. This was next door 10 the
| summer residence Of man who had COMO TO New
York for the winter and il was part OF his land.
=
dations they did not stop him for IL was none OF
their business and besides. for all they knew.
he had received permission from Mr. Hamcrton.
the owner As ! neglected TO say, Aminadab Yves
al orphan ead not answcrable 10 any one
OF course, 20 such a strong and handy boy
the work o! digging cellar thirty by City feet
was not O thing 10 keep him busy long, and by
nightfal o. the day he had started il, il was all
ready for the mason work
II would not be very interesting 10 tell you
how he mixed his mortar and did all the other
prosy things that so 10 the making Of a house
The remarkable thing is that he got every stone
that went into the building Of that library from
the stone walls OF the adjacent country. a
stone here and stone there will never be missed
said he. and he was right. but although they
weren't missed Il was wrong in him TO take them
without asking. I'm not standing up for Dabby
by any means
There was a very thick evergreen hedge run
ming along the front OF the. Hamerton place and
no one noticed what was going on behind II, so
Dabby was abe 20 give his whole strength To his
task without interruption. And It took great
deal Of strength, and the boy ate his meals with
workmars appetite. II is no slight task TO
carry of two or three ftty-pound stones for q
mile or two and set them up in place, but he was
a cheerful worker and he knew that he was build
!.'E HlcH'orioI 70 AimseIi anu '!at uiaoe INC
task an easy ore
An armiul OF planks at q planning mill here
ana There taken az the noon hour when the men
were OIL eating their luncheon and few kegs
OF nails which he shouldered two al o time and
some quick, deit work and the floors were laid.
And he hac only been at work two or three days
link he must have had strong natural taste
In architecture, for when the building was com
pletcd several New York architects said that
It was worthy oil Richardson at his best You
ought TO know II you don't that Richardson was
| one oil the greatest OF American architects and
| IL is Pity that he IS not living to-day.
Inc panes oi glass we're harder TO get and
think that the way in which Aminadab got them
was thoroughly reprehensible, for instead O!
buying them, or even taking them without leave
| from glazicr, he stole glaciers diamond and
cut the psnes out OF various houses In town, thus
letting in the cold air and putting people 10 a
| lot of trouble. You may say that in the end IL
| gave the glazier plenty OF work that he would
not otherwise have had, but tell you that right