Evansville Journal, Volume 17, Evansville, Vanderburgh County, 26 April 1866 — Page 2

2

THE EVAXSVIL.L.E DAILY JOURXAL, THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 1866.

'i.'

THE MINNOWS WITI! SILVER TAILS.

A Story Totl to a ilcl. BY JEAN IXCJELOW. There was a cookoo clock hanging in Tom Turner's cottage. AVhen it struck one,. Tom's wife laid the baby on the cradle and took a sauce pan off the fire, from which came avery savory smell. Tier two little children, who had been playing in the open doorway, ran to the table, and began softly to drum upon it with their puter spoons, looking earnestly at their mother, as she turned a nice little piece of pork into a dish, and set greens and potatoes around it. They fetched the salt; then they set a chair for their father, brought their own stools, and pulled their mother's rocking-chair close to the table. '"Run to the door, Billy," said the mother, "and see if father's coming." Billy ran to the door, and, after the fashion of little children, looked first the right way, and then the wrong way; but no father was to be seen. ' Presently the mother, followed him, and shaded her eves with her hand. for the sun was hot. "If fatherdoesn't come soon," she observed,, "the apple-dumpling will be too much done, by a deal "There he is," cried the little boy; he is coming around by the bridge. Oh, father, make haste, - and have some apple-dumpling." " Tom," said nis wife, as he came near, "art tired to-day?" ', i "Uncommon tired' said Tom; and he threw himself, on the bench" in the shadow of the thatch." ' ' U " Has anything gone wrong? " asked , his wife. "What's the matter?" V ' Matter?" repeated Tom, " is anything the matter? ' The matter is this, ', mother: that I'm" a miserable, hardworked slave j" and he clapped , his hands upon his knees and muttered, in a deep voice, which frightened , the f children "a miserable sJave!" ; c "Bless us 1" said the wife; who could not make out what hexneant. ... j,i ," A miserable, ill-used slave, continued Tom, "and always have been." '. " Always have been,, said his wife, "why, father, I thought; thou used to .say, at the election time, that thou wast a free-born Briton." y " Womenj have no business with politics," said Tom, getting tip rather ; sulkily. And whether it was the force of habit, or the smell of. the dinner, that made him do it has not been ascertained, but it is certain he walked into the house, ate plenty of pork and .beans, and then took a tolerable share in demolishing the apple-dumpling. When the little children were gone out to play, his wife said to him, " Tom, ihope thou and master haven't had words to-day?" "Master," said Tom, "yes, a pretty master he has been ; and a pretty slave era. but he's been a good master to you, fourteen shillings a week, regular wages that's not a thing to make a sneer at; and think how warm the children are lapped up o' winter nights, and you with as good shoes on your feet as ever kept them out of the mud." - , , -What of that?" said Tom. "isn't my labor worth the money? I'm not beholden fo my employer. He gets as w, Auui. -t um. tiicu ills will' good from me as he eives ' "Very like, Tom. There's not a man for miles around that can match you at a graft; and as to early peas but if master can't do without you. a m sure you can i ao witoout him. Oh, i dear, to think that you and he . would have words." ;.". "We've had no words," said iToin, 1 impatiently; "but I'm sick ofbeing at another man's beck and call. It's 4 Tom, do this,' and 'Tom, do that.' and nothing but work, work, work from Monday morning till Saturday . night; and I was thinking, as I walkf cd over to 'Squire Morton s to ask for the turnip seed for master, I was thinking, Sally, that I am nothing but a poor working man after all. In . short, I am a slave, and my spirit won't stand it." So saying, Tom flung himself out at the cottage door, and his wife thought he was going back to his work as ; usual. But she was mistaken ; he walked to the wood, and there, when he came to the border of the little 5 linkling stream, he sat down, and began to brood over his grievances'. It was a very hot day. "Now,' I'll tell you what," said (Tom to himself, "it's a great deal pleasanter sitting here in the shade than broiling, over celery trenches; and then thimringoff wall fruit with 1 a baking sun at one's back, and a hot . : wall before one's eyes. But I'm a miserable slave. I must either work : or gee 'em starve; a very hard lot to be a working man. But it is not on- . ly the work that I complain of, but being obliged to work just as he "p77e.-'"! It's -enough to . spoil any man's, Itcfeper; to be told to dig up those asparagus" beds just when they were getting to be the very pride of the parish. And what tor Why to vlmake room for Madam's, new gravel walk, that she may not wet her feet going over the grass. Now I ask you, continued Tom, still speaking to himself, "whether that isn't enough i , to spoil any man s temper .' " Aheml" said a voice close to him , Tom started, and tc his great sur prise saw a small man, about the size 1 of his own baby, sitting composedly at

his elbow. He was dressed in green

-green hat, green coat, and ereen shoes. He had very bright black eyes, and they twinkled very much as he looked at Tom and smiled. "Servant, sir 1" said Tom, edging himself a little further off. , " Miserable slave " said the small man, " art thou so lost to the noble sense of freedom that thy very salutation acknowledges a mere stranger as thy master?" "'" Who are you," said Tom, "and how dare you call me a slave?" " Tom,' said the small man, with ,a knowing look, " don't speak roughly. Keep your rough words for your wife, mv man, she is bound to bear them what else is she tor in tact r i .) " I'll thank you to let my affairs alone," interrupted Tom." " Tom, I'm your friend ; I think I can help you out of your difficulty. I admire your spirit Would demean myself to work for a master, and attend to all his whims?" As he said this the small man stopped and looked Very earnestly into the stream. Drip, drip, drip went the water over a little fall in the stones and wetted the water -cresses till they shone in the light, while the leaves fluttered overhead and checkered the moss with glittering spots of sunshine. Tom. watched the small man with earnest attention as he turned-over the leaves of the cresses. - At last he saw 1 him snatch something" which looked, like a fish eput ";of, the water, and put it in his pockeL i i '" " It 's my belief Tom," he" said, resuming the conversation, " that you have been puzzling your head with what people call Political Economy." " Never heard, of; such , a thing," said Tom; " but I've been thinking that I , don't see why I am . to work any more ; than.' those who ; employ me." . . : . (." Why,, you see, Tom, you" must have money.-Now it seems- to me there are ' but 'four ways of getting mony. There s s'tealing . "Which don't suit me," interrupted Tom. ; " Very good. Then there's borrowing " ', . Which' f ddn't wanfto 3LoT "' " And there's begging " " J " No, thank vou,";said Tom, stoutly. "And there s giving money's worth for the money; thai is to say, work, labor." A te " Your words are a3 fine as a sermon," said Tom. "But look here, Tom," proceeded the man in green, drawing his hand out of his pocket, and showing a little dripping fish in his palm, " what do you call this?" "I call it a very small minnow," said Tom. "And do you see anything very particular about his tail? ' " It looks uncommon bright," answered Tom. stopping to look at it. " It does, said the man in green, 1esotveI loM' your friend. " Every minnow in this stream they are very scarce, mind you but every one of them has a silver tail." " You don't say so," exclaimed Tom, opening his eyes very wide, "fishing for minnows and being one's own master, would be a great deal pleasanter than the sort of life I've been leading this many a day." "Well, keep the secret'as to where you get them, and much good may it do you," said the man in green. "Farewell, I wish you joy of your freedom." So saying, he wa Iked away, leaving Tom on the bank of the stream full of joy and pride. He went to his master and tola him that he had an opportunity for bettering himself,'and rose with the dawn, and went to work searching fort minnows.. But of all theminnows in the world uever were any so nimble as those with the silver taiis. ; They; were "very shy, too, and had as many turns and doubles as :a hare ; what a life they led him! They made him stroll up the stream for miles-: then, just as" he thought his chase was at an end, and he was sure of them, they would leap quite out of the water, and dart down thes stream, again like little silver, arrows. Miles and miles he went, tired and wetland hungry. He came home late in the evening, completely wearied and footsore, with only three 'minnows in his pocket, each with a silver tail. "But, at any rate," he said to himself as he lay, .down in his bed, " though they lead me a pretty hard life, and I have to work harder than ever, yet I certainly am free ; and no man can order me about now." ..This went on for a whole week; he worked -very hard; but -on Saturday afternoon he had caught only fourteen minnows." " If it wasnt for the pride of the thing," he said to himself," I'd have no more to do with fishing for minnows. . This is the hardest work I ever did. I am quite a slave to them. I rush up and down, I dodge in and out, I splash myself and f fret myself, and broil myself in the sun, and all for,. the sake of a dumb thing, that gets the better of me with a wag of his fins. But it's no use standing here talking; I must set off to the town and sell them,' or Sally will wonder why I don't bring her the week's money."- So he walked to the town, and offered his fish for sale as great curiosities. 'i ? " :' -.(-;. . ' Very pretty," . said the first people he showed them to; but "they never. bought anything that was not useful." F " Were they good to eat?" asked the woman at the next house.

Then they would not have them. "Much too dear," said a third. " And not so very curious," said a fourth ; " but they hoped he had come by them honestly." -At the fifth house they said, "O! pooh," when he exhibited them. " No, no, they were not quite so silly as to believe there were fish in the world with silver tails; if there had been, they should often have heard of them before." . . . ' ' At the sixth house they were such a very long time turning over his fish, oluckinff their tails, bargaining and

discussing them, that he ventured to remonstrate, and reouest that they i TirsMiM onmo Tiobto TViprAnnon

they said, if he did not choose to wait . fact that the price of real estate, high their pleasure, they would not pur- j it is, bears no ratio to the rent. Adchase at all. So they shut the door j vertisements may be seen in the daily upon him, and as this roused his I papers of houses for sale at $5,000 and temper, he spoke rather roughly at j $6,000, which rent for $700 and $800,

the next two houses, and was dismiss ed at once as a very rude, uncivil person! But after all, his fish were great curiosities ; and when he had exhibited them all over town, set them out in all rights, praised their perfections, and taken immense pains to conceal his impatience and ill-temper, he at length contrived to sell them all, and got exactly fourteen shillings for them, and no more. " Now, I'll tell you what, Tom Turner," he said, to himself,, "in my opinion you've been making a great will not find it out iYou were tired 1UU1 Ul J- "VJ'V I ... r i . . . -my i . , ! in ereen has cheated you into ' doing J the hardest week's work you ever did in vour life,, by makin you believe it was more free-like and easier. Well, you said you didn't mind it, because you had no . master but I've found out this afternoon, Tom, and: Ii don't mind your knowing it, that every one of those customers of yours was your master just the same. Why! you were at the beck of every man, woman and child that came rfear you obliged to be in good temper, too, which was very aggravating." , ; .; : "Look, Tom," said the man in freen, starting up in his path : " I new you were a man of sense; look you, you're all working men, and you must all please your customers, Yovi master was your customer; what he bought of you was your work. Well, you must let the work be such as will please the customer." - i, "All working men? bow do you make thatput?' said Tom, chinking the 'fourteen shillings in his hand. Is my master a working man? and has he got a master of his own? Nonsense! " . "No. nonsense at all he works with his head; keeps his books, and manages his great works. He has many masters, else why was he nearly ruined'last year? " " He was nearly ruined because he made some new-fangled kind pf pat-wa-a ,-a.pi people would not buy them," said Tom. "Well, in a way of speaking, then, he works to please his masters, poor fellow! He is, as one may say, a fellow-servant, and plagued with very awkward masters. So I should not mind his being my master, and I think I'li go- and tell him so." ' "I would, Tom," said the man in green. " Tell him you have not been able to better yourself you have.? no objection now to dig up the asparagus h'ed." i So Tom trudged home to his wife, gave her the money he had reamed, got his old master to take him back, and kept a.profound secret his adventures with the man in green, and the fish with the silver tails. " Rents and Real" Estate in New York;- . j A Decline in Prices Houses for All. Froia the N. Y. Commercial Advertiser, r But a few weeks aeo Landlords and lie that there were not enough tene- ! nients inthis great city to, accommodate its population and that consequently rents must go up and continue I to go up. By dint of such , reports," many tenants were frightened into: paying exorbitant rents, while others decided to take the matter coolly and wait the turn of affairs. ' That the latter were right is evident from the fact that landlords have, in numerous instances, receded from their first demands,' and are content to take very much less than they asked on the 1st of February. j In many of our principal streets the old familiar placard 'To'Rent" appears once more, while the columns of our newspapers contain numerous notices of houses to let in all parts of the city and suburbs. One daily newspaper contains a list of 400 houses in this city and -Brooklyn, ranging from $6,000 to $300 per annum, and the number is daily increasing. Several instances might be cited where landlords have receded - from their . first demands. One -jhouse hunter; who was just on the point of paying $2,000 per annum for . a furnished house, withdrew his applicationand "obtained a house precisely similar for-$1,200. Meanwhile the $2,000 house was let for $1,600. That Tents must decline still further before the l6t of May is well known : id the landlords and their agents, who in the meantime bolster up their courage by spreading the most extravagant reports of the scarcity of dwellings. .Of stores and offices there is certainly no lack. Some of the most de-

sirable locations in Broadway are placarded " To Let." On one block in Pearl street, notices of stores and parts of stores to let appear on every building, with one or two exceptions. A large building near the Stevens House, in Broadway, is being turned into offices, the owner, probably, being unable to relet it as a store. There is, in fact, every indication that more stores will be empty on the 1st of May than there are occupants for. In some of the principal business streets of Brooklyn already several stores are vacant, the occn-

pants being driven out by the high rents. I hat rents have been put out . "1 rt , -i nf all "nroDOrtion is evident from the or about 15 per cent, on the value It was generally supposed that a very great demand for ouC of town houses would hayesprungup as spring advanced, but this does not appear to be the case. Advertisements of houses in Jersey, on Long Island and Staten Islands, and on the Connecticut shore at very moderate rentals may be found in the papers. The fact appears to be that thousands of families', determined not to submit to "the extortions of the landlords,4 have determined to give up their houses and go to boarding after the first of May, a ! .1 i - ' wiure tjiose wno occupy houses are ( quite anxious to let a portion of them in order to reduce the rental. , Adver tisements of . partsi of houses - .and rooms:: single and in suits, were never J more plentiful than, now.In the meantime, a rumor is current, almost too good to be true, that our principal hotel and boarding house keepers are about to reduce their scale xf prices.' This would tend still furtherto lessen the demand for houses by inducing families to board..; .-'.' - Within the past two weeks real estate, in conjunction with many . other things has taken a downward turn. Two choice , lots in,, Broadway, for which $500,000 had been refused", were sold at auction for $300,000.: Property has lately been sold in respectable neighborhoods in Brooklyn ; for about the same, price that it brought before the War.! !? 1 , M . ' '; Building has "recommenced to - a limited extent, and a number of new houses will be ready for occupation on the first of May. Moving day has been anticipated by many t families, and the demand for house room i has in a great measure ceased. 1 MACHINISTS. WILLIAM HEILMAN, (Successor to Kratz & Heilman,) CITY FOUEflJEmf Manufacturer and Builder of PORTABLE And STATIONARY STELAJSI ENGDfES AND BOILERS, I-. r. SAW AND GRIST MILL MACHINERY, -S. f." . 5 Threshing Machines, Cotton and Tobacco Proses, CIRCULAR SAW MILLS, 4c, &c, EVANSVILLE, IND. Sheet Iros and Ccwpbk. Work made to order on short notice. , IRON AND BRASS CASTINGS of every description, J iii apr2S : JtEJPAIRINQ done at short notice COAL. . BIA3f COAI, MIXES. O'tSSSiffl' WATER' BJREET, BElyfilled" 8nPP'y, nd orders Prompt-

MILLERS.

Bros., MILLERS, Wholesale & Retail Dealers in W HEAT, 0 S3 S3 O FLOUR, C3 CORN, B2z5 M B H g SE ' h H it 3IEA1L,, j i : aiE E D ; ( ! S3 & E" 6 Corner Locust and gp!8 Canal Sts. BOOTS AND SHOES. H M ' e ' M ' a K ss o x 9 s ts B 09 S & s p o o P s B O e o ts o B Ct B & to o o & o oa o a o a 3 o a. o a B O V a c S. o V K o c s p. e a tP 3 to no o . o & 4 o v o E E? 9 a1 - Jw4 c ; i 85 .3 tf P ; a j c te : B P. a. c B re p ' s V re re & B ts B . S re . i to a t $ o a re 5" ST . re S s. o 4 O 3 a CO o &: 9 5 c re 2 S B a. K 3 ' a ' 2 3 - O 3 c a B re P s 3 . a. & ' tP . B B re CQ ff.: CD : ' CD ' r re re a. a or ss 5" j? ' -! .... re tc H V oc to 4 5 o -5 0: ,Q.: 0 s M -3 :tf-. 0: - w o U1 is M u X : . w o H : m tf X C ;W x .3 a n 0 0 s: X " . m mm c a tf: o a -8C ' - X 0 ' 55 O o W a o -3

DRY GOODS.

Schapker, Bussing & Co., IIY GOOD8 Millinery & Fancy Goods, -ATW II OLES ALE, 47 A 49 MAIN .STUEET. .. - ' i :l.:i..i-..l j.f,.,:...;. .' j !f ' ...i, ! EVAKSVIIXE....' i.t.......UIXDIA-SA. Schapker, Bussing & Co., Large Retail Dealers In Millinery & Fancy Goods, 47 & 49 MAIN STREET, t .Indifin. Evnnftville. 'New-York J4toi"o WHOLESALE AND RETAIL. .Opening ' ,( ' ' ... - ;.;';., " T ; f 7- : f! f: Of . . New Styles Spring and Summer DRESS GOODS, RICH MOTRE ANTIQUE SILKS, : RICH PLAIN SILKS, s : RICH REP SILKS, ' . . . w. RICH MANTILLA SI LKS New Spring Sacks, ' 5 Black Silk Bnsquim, ' Light Cloth Talmaa, ' (' Iaee Points and Circles, Fancy Cnssimeresi and Cloa kings, French Twilled Broadcloth, Cloak and Dress Trimmings, Fancy toh1. Buttons, drc, &c, all at greatly rvtuiced prices. 11 and 10 First Street. Three doors west or Sherwood Houe.