News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1921-04-13

mo, and don't propose to work In
this rain for anybody If ! did ia fly
my own roof. To tell you the truth, J
don't have to work at all ] calculate
that I've got all the money need SO,
when ii rains, / intend to rest and get
acquainted with my family"
He was firm but in no way disagree y
able about 1t.
Some Of the half-doEen men who, E,
! like trouble, called on him for he ;
that day were inclined to resent h !
declaration Of independence and his
devotion to leisure, but really Mr..
Snodgrass was well within his rights.
1t was a more serious matter when
Judge Crookers plumbing leaked and
flooded his Kitchen and cellar. Israel
Sneed was in Millerton every day and
working overtime more or less. He
refused to put hand on the judges
pipes. He was sorry but he couldn't
make horse of himself and even IL
he could the time was past when hi
had to do 1t. Judge Crooker brought
a plumber from Hazelmead, sixty
miles in a motOrcar, and had to pay
seventy dollars for time. labor and
materials. This mechanic declared
that there was too much pressure on
the pipes, a judgment of whose ac-
curacy we have abundant proof in the
history Of the next week or So Moor
had there been such a burs'!n'. OF
pipes and flooding Of cellars. That
little lake up in tie hills which sup
piled the water Of Bingville seemed to
have got the common notion Of NOR 2
into the village. A dozen cellars were
turned into swimming pools Modern
Improvements were going out of COM
mission A committee went to Hazel
mead and after weeks pleading got
a pair of young and inexperienced
plumbers to come to Bingville.
''They must "a plugged EN- with
gold" said Deacon Hosley, when the
bill arrived.
New leaks were forthcoming, but
Hiram Blenkinsop conceived the no.
ton of stopping them with poultices
of white lead and bandages of canvas
bound with fine wire. They dripped
and many of the pipes of Bingville
looked as If they were suffering from
sprained ankles and sore Threats, but
Hiram had prevented another deluge.
The price of coal had driven the
people Of Bingyile back to the woods
for fuel. Tie old wood stoves had
been cleaned and set up in the sitting
rooms and Kitchens. The saving had
been considerable Now, so many men
were putting in their time on the
house and grounds of J. Patterson
Bing and the new factory at Millerton
that the local wood dealer found. 1t
impossible to get the help he needed.
Not twenty-five per cent of the orders
on his books could be filled.
Mr.. Ring's louise was finished in Oc-
tOber. Then Snodgrass announced
that he was going to take it
easy as became a man of his opu-
lence. lie had bought a farm and
would only work three days week at
his trade. Sneed had also bought a
farm and acquired feeling of opu-
lence. He was going to work when
he felt like it. Before he tackled any
leaking pipes he proposed to make
few leaks in the deer up in the Adiron-
dacks. SO the roofs and the plumbing
had to wait.
Meanwhile Bingville was in sore
trouble. The ancient roof of its re-
spectabiity had begun to leak. The
beams and rafters in the house of it's
spirit were rotting away. Many Of
the inhabitants OF lhe latter regarded
the great J. Patterson Bing with
kind of awe-like that of the Shop
nerd of the Birds. He was the leading
citizen. He had done things. When
J. Patterson Bing decided that rest or
fresh air was better for him than bad
music and dull prayers and sermons,
md that God was really not much con-
,erned as to whether a man sat in
pew. or q rocking chair or a motOrcar
IN Sunday, he was probably, quite
light. Really, it was a matter much
more important to Mr.. Bing and his
leighborS than to God Indeed it is
lot at all likely that the ruler of the
Universe was worrying much about
hem. But when J. Patterson Bing de-
ided in favor of fun and fresh air, r.
dy-druggist-made a like deci-
ion, and r. Purdy was a man of COM
handing influence in his own home.
lis daughters, Mabel and Gladys, and
is son, Richard, Jr., would not have
cen surprised to see him elected
resident of the United States, some
ay, believing that the honor was only
or the truly great. Soon Mrs Purdy
TODD alone-a hopeless minority of
ne-in the household. BY much
leading and nagging, she kept the
hidren in the fold of the church for
time but, by and by, grew weary of
he effort. She was converted by nerv-
us exhaustion to the picnic Sunday.
Ter conscience worried her. She real
: felt sorry for God and made sundry
emarks calculated to appease and
Dmfort Him.
CTo Be Continued