Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1902-07-10
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|. "USELESS
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BY William j. hampton

: BY William j. hampton :
Copyright, 1902, by the
S. S. Mcclure Company
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Jim Doty was the son of industrious
and thrifty parents, but he was no ex-
emplar of the doctrine of heredity. AS
boy he had gone to school because
| if he had not gone there the truant off
Ger would have made existence else
ssy--x xs5zsse i sr.s-s~~-t ~. asss-
| where uncomfortable for him, and Jim
| dearly loved to be comfortable. At
school it was easier to remain at the
foot of his class than higher up, so he
| philosophically chose the easy thing
and stuck to it. Jim was not mis-
chievous boy or bad one in any sense
because those attributes require effort
to maintain them. AS somebody hae
to be at the foot of the class, and there
We're those who were Disseminated
there, the teacher accepted Jim as
special providence and made the most
| Of him -sAs~----.zs-.-.-s-sts-ss-
"It's beyond me about Jimmie" his
mother was wont to say. He amt
bad boy nor up to no mischief, and
you'd think when he went to school
| he'd learn his lessons just because he
didn't want to learn nothin' else, but
he won't learn a single thing, good or
bad. He just seems to be everlasting
do-less = settin' around and settin'
around and settin' around. And I'm
sure he don't get it from the Anderson
| side of the house neither"
Mrs. Doty was an Anderson, and this
conclusion of hers was an unsupported
animadversion upon Mr.. Doty because
| that worthy man not only made very
comfortable living, but owned a small
| farm and had money laid away for a
rainy day.
When Jim was old enough to go to
work, his father secured a place for
him to learn the carpenter trade, which
was rather surprising selection, as
success in that depended upon a skill
which did not appear to be one of the
characteristics of the young apprentice.
Il put him at that" Mr.. Doty ex-
planned to an inquiring friend because
I've seen that boy set on soapbox in
the shade and whittle fer six hours
hand runnin'. OF course he never whit
ties nothing out of the wood he uses
up, but kind of thought maybe he
would learn to if put him at carpen-
| terin''
Time, and not very long time either,
proved the speciousness of Mr.. Dotys
logic, and Jim was no longer seen
about the shop where he had essayed
to handle the drawknife and the saw.
After this attempt to make skilled
laborer of his son Mr.. Doty thought
possibly there might be an undevelop-
ed instinct for agriculture in the youth,
and Jim was sent to farm not far
from the village. His usefulness in
that field was manifested within three
days by his return to the parental roof.
whats the matter now?" inquired
his father when Jim walked into the
house at supper time and calmly took
his accustomed place at the table as if
he had not missed meal
Dunno" replied Jim unconcernedly.
mortgage Oh the place was about all
the load it could carry at present, and
he told me could co.
;. Mr.. Doty smiled. He couldn't be very
harsh with his only son, because, while
, he did nothing to add to the glory and
! honor and wealth of the name of Doty,
! he did as little to bring shame or sor-
row upon it. Mr.. Doty recognized in
= jim negative blessing, and many ia
;. theirs would be only too glad if they
had such sons.
Ry the time Jim had reached his
twenty-fifth year he had tried his hand
at every kind of work the village and
vicinity had to offer, and he had ac
> quired nothing except the title of use
= less jim But Jim did not worry. He
= was philosopher, and his good nature
!. was imperturbable.
: "Why the dickens don't you go tc
! work, Jim?'', said Hanks, the grocery
: man, one day as Jim sat on salt bar
rel in the shade chipping away at the
!. chine with his knife.
Got job you'd like to give meY' re
: sponded Jim in a willing tone, and the
groceryman disappeared. He might bt
|, anxious enough to see Jim have job
but he did not care to assume the rela
tiOnship of employer.
AS nothing else of a permanent char
acter offered itself, Jim concluded, en-
tirely on his own volition, to fall il
love. They say an idle brain is tn,
DEVILS workshop, and surely he fount
q fine place for his business in Jim
Why Jim ever fell in love nobody coult
say, and he did not know himself, no
did he think it worth the effort to dis
cover. 1t was enough for him that h,
was in love, and he was serious abou
1t, too-so serious, indeed, that h
wanted to marry the object Of hi
. . choice forthwith, thereby displaying
: wholly unsupported energy.
:. This object was Mary Candy, tn,
, blacksmith's daughter and also the vii
lage schoolteacher. She was pretty