The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-09-21
A Plebeian
Son
His High Bred Wife
Made Him Over
By F. A. mitchell

DeeQ DOr0 ana mad lived Tor seventeen
years. He was going to. the city to
make his fortune. And he was likely
to succeed IN doing 30, for he had In
him 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
him. One Of his boyish transactions
was this: He traded a jackknife be
owned for a more elaborate one which
was rusty and dull Taking OF the
rust, sharpening the blades and polish
ing up the handle. he traded it for
better one with one of.its blades bro
ken. The broken blade he fled into
nail cleaner and traded the knife for
another, receiving % cents to boot.
The knife he now owned he put up at
a rattle, charging 10 cents a chance
The result was that the original knife.
which was worth little or nothing, had
been metamorphosed into 1925. The
boy who won 1t paid very nearly what
1t was worth. and the boys who did
not win 1t contributed to the traders
juvenile fortune.
When Schenk reached the city he had
500 that had grown out Of jackknives.
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. selecting
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
would ordinarily have brought.
Schenk grew rich. No sooner had
he climbed the dollar ladder than
be wished to climb the social ladder.
He sat BY day, Immediately dressed,
in a beautifully furnished Office at a
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 a
small way in his own name and was
remembered by some as Schenk the
junkman. 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.
By similar process he worked his
way into a 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 It.
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-
monial 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
bang about him there was q 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
eve on his fortune.
He finally succeeded in the matri.
monial market, as he had succeeded In
the commercial markets-that Is. by
j 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. 1t 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 a fairly good
grace. He wanted her. and the as
sistance he had rendered her father
had been a part Of q plan he had laid
to win her. That q pecuniary prof
nou otuSA W hsa6ucllS uh8Cts Wos
simply owing to their attraction To-
the precious metals. He stuck to ths
girl till. urged by her parents, she con
scented to marry him.
And now that Mr.. Schenk was abou
to make another round In the socia
ladder a matter came up Of IN embar
RAISING nature. Matrimony is juno
ton of families. This junction may b
put aside in all ways but one. Ever.
child born to the married pair derive
its being from each and both families
1t is natural, therefore that when tw
persons are about to be married Their
should be introductions between thei
respective near blood relations.
The embarrassing feature in Schenk'
case was that his father and mothe
had continued to live In the shac
where he had left them. and there ha
been no more change In them than |
the shack, the only change In each bt
ing that the shack had become dilap
dated and the couple had grown ole
Their son Edward while laying th
foundation Of bis fortune had left ther
to shift for themselves, and by the tim
he bad money TO spare their necessitie