New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1916-08-02
A Plebeian
Son
His High Bred Wife
Made Him Over
By F. A. mitchell

years. He was going to the city to
make his fortune. And he was likely
to succeed In doing so, for he had in
MIN the principle Of bringing every.
thing to his own advantage. he was
a natural trader, and In every trade he
made there was margin Of profit for
MIN. One Of his boyish transactions
was this: He traded. jackknife he
owned for more elaborate one which
was rusty and dull Taking of the
rust. sharpening the blades and polish
Ing up the handle, he traded 1t for
better one with one of its blades bro
ken. The broken blade he fled into
nall cleaner and traded the knife for
another. receiving Is cents to boot.
The knife he now owned he put up at
q rattle. charging 10 cents a chance
The result was that the original knife,
which was worth little or nothing. had
been metamorphosed into 1926. The
boy who won 1t paid very nearly what
1t was worth. and the boys who did
not win It contributed to the traders
juvenile fortune.
When Schenk reached the city he bad
500 that had grown out of>jdckknives.
tops, marbles. children's wagons that
he had manufactured himself and other
articles in which he had dealt He hired
himself to junk dealer. and. sel,ggs.si.ng
different articles that he found in
stock. he repaired them and sold them
for more than they were worth. turn.
ing in to his employer the price they
/ VU0yY11 3ro
Schenk grew rich. No sooner had
he climbed the dollar ladder than
he wished to climb the social ladder.
he sat by day. Immediately dressed.
In beautifully furnished Office at
rosewood desk. with clerks and Office
boys at his call. He put men who were
members Of different clubs under OBJ
legations to him. then asked them to
propose him for membership. Unfor-
tunately he had done business in q
small way in his own name and was
remembered by some as Schenk the
1unkman. This kept him out Of sew.
eral Of the best clubs. but he was ad.
mitted to the rest and in time became
member Of those that had turned him
down. pa
By similar process he worked his
way into dancing club called the Car.
pet Beaters. He had never beaten car
pets, but he had done work equally
mental Consequently he disliked the
name Of the club and wondered how
the managers could have selected 1t,
forgetting that they were so far re-
moved from the class who really beat
carpets that they were not at all sensi-
tive in the matter.
By this time. like one Of the Jack
knives that had been the beginning Of
his fortune. Schenk had been so fur.
bished as to have value in the matri.
mon1al market Mothers urged their
daughters to set their caps for him
But the daughters demurred If the
odor Of the junk shop did not still
hang about him there was a certain
cheapness that, like certain rust spots
on his juvenile jackknives. could not be
rubbed out But he was capable of
enduring no end Of snubbing from
certain ladies' who were to the man.
ner born and contented himself with
being endured by others who were not
first water" or whose mothers had an
eye on his fortune.
He finally succeeded in the matri.
monial market, as he had succeeded in
the commercial markets-that is. by
giving an inferior for superior arti-
Gle. Miss Celia Evans, the daughter Of
refined parents, consented to marry
him because he had helped her father
out of commercial hole. It was sup
posed at the time that he had done
what he did from a kindness Of heart.
but he made fair profit out Of the
transaction.
Celia was told Of Schenk's mag
nanimity and after that accepted at
tentions from him which she had pre-
viously denied him with fairly good
grace. He wanted her. and the as
sistance he had rendered her father
had been part of plan he had laid
to win her. That pecunfary profit
had stuck to his magnetic fingers was
simply owing to their attraction for
the precious metals. He stuck to the
girl till. urged by her parents, she con.
scented to marry him.
| And now that Mr.. Schenk was about
to make another round in the social
ladder matter came up of an embar
RAISING nature. Matrimony is a juno
ton Of families. This junction may be
put aside in all ways but one. Every
child born to the married pair derives
its being from each and both families
It Is natural, therefore, that when two
persons are about to be married there
should be introductions between their
respective near blood relations.
The embarrassing feature in Schenk's
case was that his father and mother
had continued to live IN the shack
where he had left them. and there had
been no more change in them than In
the shack, the only change in each be
ing that the shack had become dilapi-
dated and the couple had grown old
Their son Edward while laying the
/ ~. o,n<9 ~ "a 49,