The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1904-12-10
HID GOLD DUST .
81. .==>..s :. ' ..=,- ~ !. IN HIS HAIR:

|. DAu YOU ever give tnOu8ne 70 tns
rarity of dishonesty among jewelry
artisans? Did you ever realize the in.
frequency Of reports Of theft by them -
Quoried an aged manufacturing jewel
re.
1T really seems that the habitua]
care for his filings, clippings and the
like Is the experienced artisans only
conscientiousness Of value: otherwise
the gold to him is but a commodity to
be modelled into thing of beauty. not
an object TOR his covetousness or
greed.
The older the artisan the more
firmly fixed is this habit AS a rule,
1T Is only the younger aspirants, and
but few OF these who succumb to tenn
ptat1on; once started on downward
course. however, their own self-cOn-
seriousness is frequently their own ac-
cuser to shopmate or foreman.
Many years ago in Newark shop
where mostly solid filed work was
made, a seasoned workman observed a
quaint habit in a journeyman but re-
Gently out of his time who was seat
ed oR an adjoining bench. The latter
had very dark hair, wore it long, and
ut was in the days of bears grease
and hair oils) kept it we'll oiled. He
had habit of pushing his fingers up
through Lis long hair, as If to keep it
from falling over his eyes, II was fur
their noticed that prior to each said
action he dabbed his fingers in the
benchpan. wherein had fallen the FIJI
ings from his work. The habit was not
INDUCED when away from his work.
The foreman. on an occasion when
at his back, examined a piece Of his
work, noticed the sparkle of gold in
his hair; mentioning it casually to an
older bench fellow when the latter
came to the foreman for stock, the
quaint habit was detailed by the older
man, and set the foreman thinking. He
called at the boarding house where the
young artisan resided. and. being &C.
quainted with the proprietor, learned
that the young man, upon coming to
midday dinner and to his evening meal
invariably sought his room first.
by reason of his freshly bathed face
and hands and his we'll groomed, city
hair when he appeared at table he was
accounted a dandy; but one popularity
was that of his instruction to the maid
who made up his room that she must
not dispose of his wash water, as. he
would attend to that himself.
1T was discovered that he thorough
ly washed his hair before each neal,
dried 1t and oiled 1t, and that with. each
operation he5 deposited in his wash
bowl from one to two pennyweight Of
18-karat gold filings. which had from
five to twelve hours in which to settle
before his wash water was decanted
therefrom. It was a clear steal of
three pennyweights or at least $3.50
for each of his six working days.
1T Is needless to say that after this
discovery his silent partnership, with
part of the profits, forthwith ceased
Another one of the rare cases was
that Of youth whose bench talk
about his previous evenings amuse-
ments indicated an expenditure beyond
his productive capacity as a journey
man. His visits during shop hours, to
the retiring room were so method
ical as to arouse curiosity. 1t
was found that with a pair of
pocket scales he balanced against a
paper cornucopia of gold filings an
equal weight of brass filings, which
he deposited in another paper cornu-
copia; after his return to his seat he
scattered the brass filings in his
bench pan, this being mixed with the
pan, was finally passed to the foreman
as all gold filings, so that his weights
tailed with what would be expected
from him. But the cornucopia. Of gold
filings was filched by him from his
employers. ,s +Ss
This would be Il shrewd one 81 horn
of plenty, also was efrectually crushed
out Of existence.
after all, these two instances being
exceptional, is why I mention them,
and the aged jeweler concluded with q
twinkle of his eye, II have faith in my
men, likewise in the adage that 1T does
no harm to watch an honest man, anl
a thief should be ever watched"