The Tupelo journal., 1916-09-01

BILL Ny TELLS SOW liz SAVED
Hl5 GOOD name

As al Homes, uns aticafa Youth.
~Fiaaorist Yves SIC victin os
Heartless Tr Praetioea by
His pl9yer.
Boys should never be afraid or
ashamed To do little odd Jobs BY which
to acquire money. Too many boys
are afraid, or at least seem to be en-
barrassed whom asked to do chores,
aud thus earn small sums Of money.
III order to appreciate wealth we must
earn it ourselves. That is the reason
] labor. / do not need to labor. MY
parents are still living, and they GER
siuly would not sec rae sunar for the
necessities OF lie. But life IN that
Nay would net AaYe the keen RELISH
t IL would il / earned the money
IDS elf.
Saving wood used to be a f~avorite
paatIme with boys twenty years ago.
i remember the irst mo1ey 1 ever
earned was by saving wood. My
brother and myself were to received
SIS for saving five cords Of wood. We
allowed the Job to stand, however, n
til the weather got quite warm, and
then we decided to hire a foreigner
who came along that way n glorious
summer day when all nature seemed
would be apt to bite. So we hired the
foreigner, ard while he sawed, we
would bet with him on various dead
sure things until he got the wood
sawed, when he went away owing US
SO cents.
We had a neighbor who was very
wealthy. He noticed that we boys
earned our W spending money, and
he yearned to have his son try to dit
to. So he told the boy that he was
going away for a few weeks and that
he would give him 81 a cord, or dou-
BILE price, to say the wood. He wanted
to teach the boy to earn and appre-
ciate his money. So, when the old
mar went away, the boy secured a
colored mar to do the job at 81 per
cord, by which process the youth
made $40. This he judiciously invest
ed in clothes, meeting his father at
the train in a new summer suit and
a speckled cane. The old man said he
could see by the sparkle in the boys
clear, honest eyes that healthful exer-
else was what boys needed.
When I was a boy / frequently ac-
quired large sums of money by carry
ifg coal up two fights of stairs for
wealthy people who were too fat to do
it themselves. This money | invested
from time to time in side shows and.
other geological attractions.
One day / saw a coal cart back up
and unload itself on the walk IN such
a way as to Indicate that the coal
would have to be manually elevated
inside the building. I waited till I
nearly froze to death for the owner to
ONE along and solicit my aid. Final
ly he came. He smelled strong of car
bolic acid, and | afterwerd learned
that he vas a physician and surgeon.
We haggled over the price for some
time, as l had to carry the coal up
two flights in an old waste-paper
basket and it was quite a task. Final
ly we agreed. I proceeded with the
work. About dusk l went up the last
flight of stairs with the last load. My
feet seemed to weigh about 10 pounds
apiece and my face was very somber.
In the cleaning / saw my employer.
He was writing a prescription by the
dim, uncertain light. He told me to
put the last basketful in the little clos
ct Off the hall and then come and get
my pay. 1 took the coal into the closet,
but | do not know what did with it.
AS I opened the door and stepped in,
a tall skeleton got down off the nail
and embraced me like a ~prodigal son.
1t fell on my neck and draped itself
all over me. It's ~glittering ~phalangss
entered the bosom of my bingham
shirt and rested lightly Oh the pit of
my stomach. I could feel the pelvis
bone in the small of my back. The
room was dark, but I did not light
the gas. Whether it was the skeleton
of a lady or gentleman | knew;
but l thought, for the sake of my good
name, I would not remain. My good
name and a strong yearning for home
were all that I had at that time.
So / went home. Afterward, /
learned that this physician got all his
coal carried upstairs for nothing this
way. and he had tried to get rooms
two flights further up In. the building,
SO that the boys would have further
to fall when they made their egress.
From "Bill Nye's Red Book"
Bell the Cat, Save Birds.