The Washington times., 1926-09-11

'repairs and finally he got the
pieces all out and the case opened
i'm and / wish / could make list Of
the things he found inside Of Mr..
Rubensteir. =
Plano Was Full 81 Junk
There were yards Of string and
bits 81 wrapping-paper, jacks,
marbles. ssteeIies' that the boys
shoot marbles witIi), pencils. IN old
ink bottle, scissors, shOe-horns, >
couple of table napkins, and about
3 dozen appIe-cOres we Kids nad
thrown III. Everything Mother had
missed for weeks seemed to BE- in
that pOF piano.
When we children saw what was
inside, we beat 1t out the back
way and in the lot. for we knew
what Mother would do to I1s.
Father actually got il together
again, all cleaned out. and i
ple once more. Only . few OF
the keys were queer. Il But tilas
terrible old mo was one Of my
best friends. really lived Il.
when I was strumming on Y.
nothing could drag me away. La
sometimes get up from the taDle z
the midst OF q meal and bang on
"Mr. Rubenstein. can hear
Mother now calling from the kitchen:
'Muggs-ie-don't you want some
more chop2 Some more potatoes9
.sNope" I'd say. and so on bang
ing.
''Nor'
WANT some cherry pie"
That would get me. Not even
"Mr. Rubenstein'' could hold me
when one Of Mothers cherry pies
was waiting. It catches me In the
throat to tl1iltS Of 1t al' now.
Not . PianO-A House
we kept the old piano a while
after Mothers death, but I found
I couldn't play on it any more or
try to sing her songs or see her
books around it; it made me too mis-
cradle.
A relative wanted piano for the
kids to practice on and we decided
| to give Mr.. Rubenstein" away
I shall never forget the ridiculous
ness and the sadness Of his de-
parture. Father arranged with 2
truckman to cart "Mr. Rubenstein"
off for certain amount. When
the man saw the size Of him, he
| nearly had a fit.
That's not q piano." he said;
''that's a house."
you said it would be so-and-so
much for piano. said father,
land that's the piano"
"But it would take IL strong men
to move that thing" the poor truck
man yelled, "and I don't know how
many hours time taking 1t apart to
get it out of here"
Father made them stick to the
bargain and I think they worked
and sweated hours over 1t. Dan
and ] couldn't help laughing to
see poor Mr.. Rubenstein's legs, lid
front, back and sides, being pried
off and the men struggling to get
him out in pieces. It was sad, too
/ knew / would miss him terribly
yet couldn't stand keeping him.
Left Her Very Lonely
The last thing the truckman
said. as he staggered off, was
well. If you ever want this-here
warehouse moved again. don't cal
it no piano-and hire some other
trucking company to do it!'
Poor Mr.. Rubensteinp' The PEG.
pie where he went almost had tC
move out of the house to give him
room.
When that old battered piano
went. was very lonely. Mother
had always tried to teach US little
German folk-songs. but gave UP in
despair over our pronunciation
There's no German in you," she'd
say. But there is. / love &c. man
things-their music. poetry, and
books. Their ways. too. like
their thrift and hospitality aad
holiness. would have taken Ger
man at high school, more for
Mothers sake than anything e.se
But during the war they stopped
teaching German and / couidns
Mother Loved to Laugh
After she died and l was sc
solitary and so pulled around b.
fore grand juries and hearings
used to get out her books SINE
times, and her old German Bible
that Mr.. Hall gave her, and try to
read 1t. / could almost hear hc:
laughing at my struggles,
Mother loved to laugh. She could