Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 136, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 June 1910 — Billy Rice and a Pin. [ARTICLE]

Billy Rice and a Pin.

Billy Rice, the negro minstrel, used to tell the story of a man who picked up a pin as he was leaving the office of a great merchant after an unsuccessful quest for work. The merchant, seeing the man’s action from the window, called him back and gave him employment which kindness he repaid toy becoming owner of the entire business in an Incredibly short time. Billy used to end his story by saying, that he tried that scheme once when he was looking for work, dropping a pin carefully on the floor as he entered. He stated his wants to the proprietor, who not only had no employment to offer him, but remarked to his partner as Rice picked up the pin: "Say, if that fellow’s so small as to steal a pin off the floor, how much do you think he’d leave in my till?"