The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-10-18


matte Punch Company. The
manufacturing plant OF the
,,,,,,,ay was at Bridgeport. but in the
60 York Offices there were working
,,,.r.., If all The punches. from the
uur nickel plated hand punch with
nt..r conductors squeezed holes in rail-
,,,d tickets to the big punch that could
trs into an iron plate as easily az into
,..r, ~ pie. David's duty was to ex-
,lltr fgc-, different punches, and ac-
ror.lr.Iy when Burdett senior or one OF
Nh. sons turned "a customer over to
D,y.f n, spoke Of him a. a salesman.
nm David called himself a "demonstra-
tor
For a short time he even succeeded
BIZ, pcrsudd!ng the other statesmen to
sneak Of themselves as demonstrates
t.i. fine shipping clerks and bookkeepers
.u,hci them out of IL. They could not
iau.l David out Of II. This was so
u,r,Iy because he had no sense of hui
NOR and partly because he had a great
rr,l'-grludflther. Among the sales
m,r on over Broadway to possess a
sr,a.- great grandfatheri Is unusual; even
a sr,ai-graudfather is n rarity, and
either IS considered superfluous But to
Dtv.I fnr possession Of n great-great-
grandfather was a precious and open
delight
II had possessed him only for short
time Undoubtedly he always had ex-
Is'-i but 10 was not until David's sis
ter Anne married "A doctor in Borden
town y j.. and became socially am
ht.uus that David emerged as a Son of
Washington.
+ WIS sister Anne, anxious To get
m as Daughter" and wear a dstaff
pn ON her shrtwaist, who discovered
The Revolutionary ancestor. She I'M
earth.d him or rather ran him to earth,
IN m graveyard Of the Presbyterian
Church az Bordentown. He was no less
a person than Gen. Hiram Greene. and
he had fought with Washington at
Trenton and a. Princeton. OF this there
wi- 200 doubt
That later on moving to New York
his descendants became peace loving
sa' ,mou did not affect his record. To
enter a society founded on heredity
the ing. rt1nt thing is first to catch
your ancestor, and having made sure of
Inn David entered the Society Of the
Son, " Washington with flying colors
H. was not unlike the man who had
been speaking prose for forty years
without knowing Il. He was not unlike
the other man who woke TO find himself
famous
He had gone to bed a tlmid, near
sighted, underpaid salesman without a
relative In the world except a married
sister In Bordentown, and he awoke &c
find he was direct descendant o,
Neck or Nothing" Greene. revolu-
tonary hero, friend of Washington
man whose portrait hung in the
State House at Trenton. David's life
had lacked color. The day he carried
his certificate of membership to the bis
jewelry store uptown and purchased
two rosettes, one for each of his two
coats, was the proudest Of his life.
The other men in the Broadway Office
took a different view. As Wyckof
one NJ Burdetts flying squadron OF
travelling statesmen. said. IAN grand.
fathers look alike to me. whether
they're great, or archaeological
Each one is as dead as the other. II
rather have n live cousin who coulC
loan me a five. or slip me a drink. VIVA
did your great-great dad ever do fo
you?'
We'll for one thing" said Davit
stlTly, "he fought in the War OF thu
Revolution. lie saved us from tn
shackles Of monarchical England: n
made II possible for me and you to en-
Joy 'h' liberties OF free republic"
Don't try to tell me your grand
father did all that" protested Wyck
m because know better. There wer
lot Of others helped. | read abou
Il In book"
~ am not grudging glory 10 others,
returned David; "I am only saying
an proud that am a descendant of
revolutiunist"
Wyckoff Owed into his inner poke
and produced leather photograp
frame that folded like a concertina.
"f don't want to he descendant,
he said; "Td rather be an ancesto,
Look at those" Proudly he eXh bite
photographs Of Mrs. Wyckoff with tn
baby and Of three other little Wyck
0rrs
David looked with envy at the chill
drer
when I'm married" he stammeret
and at the words he blushed, II hope t
he an ancestor"
III you're thinking Of getting mar
RED" said Wyckoff, you'd better hop
for raise In salary"
The other clerks were as unsympa
thetic as Wyckoff. At first when Davi