The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-12-03
A FOUR DOLLAR A DAY MANI
December American Magazine. <

December American Magazine.
 When Ju1ius Woods Christie of Nichols, Connecticut, was twenty three years old he asked a girl to mar ry him. He had a little money, somewhere around two hundred and fifty dollars. which he had saved since he left high school. with the two to buy a lot and build a house him. self
 The lot he wanted he secured by paying one hundred dollars down. It was out in the country, six miles from Bridgeport, where he worked, and there were twelve acres of land with it. Two thousand dollars was the price, and the young man signed an agreement to pay twenty dollars a month until the debt was wiped out. He was then earning about four dollars a day at a too1-naakers bench and he figured he could buy his lum Der @ little at @ time as he earned it.
 This was five years ago, and he was working ten hours each day. It was early spring when he dug his cellar, spading away after supper and before breakfast. The stones for the foun- dation he picked up on the place, This gfrr' helping him. Then came the great supporting beams, that he drag ged on poles and placed upon his stone-wal1ed enclosure. By this time the neighbors visited him frequently; freely criticizing and prophesying failure. Nobody believed that this ambitious youngster could build res- pectabIe house himself unaided. He might perhaps get up some kind of a shack, but a "hip-roofed" house built on the plan he had drawn. was ridic-s u1ous. His rafters tipped the scales at two hundred pounds, and. Christie himself only weighed one hundred, and fifty. ~
 s'It sort of sicked me on-those' old grouches saying couldn't do it!', MT. Christie reminisces.e And made up my mind not a. living soul would lift a. timber on that house. And no-5 body did. either. | rolled some them on g. barrel. and some them dragged Indian fashion"
 Every morning and every night all summer long he worked, covering the; six miles to and from the city on 8. trusty bicycle. The frame went up and by fall was boarded and protect ed by tarred paper. During the win. ter he worked inside by lantern HgI1t but every day he was there, hammer ing and saving and boring, no matter what kind of weather it was.
 He managed to buy lumber as he. needed it, aking no credit. Along in, the wintar-times were dull--he was s1aid off'' at the factory, and was placed in the trying position of hav- ing plenty of time to work on his house but no lumber to work withss The enforced fd1eness did not last long, and with his first payment he bought more timber and tackled his, building again. ..
 The second spring came. By June two rooms were finished. and Christie married the girl. Ethel Booth. Living in 9 simple care-free fashion, he kept on building around his bride after his day's work was done and before 1t began When 1t came to p1astering. he had to practice on several ceilings before he could make the mixture stick. But he finally learned how, and he also became a pretty fair plumber. He dug wells. laid drains. and put g big stove in the cellar with sheet metal around it so that the heat was sent upward. As soon as he, could afford it he bought and insta1l-