Show 1 the Coun country itry store in small country villages the store is the prominent feature Itis it is usually in a corner built of wood and may be known by the dry goods boxes ostentatiously placed on oil the fiant step denoting 0 that the proprietor has heavy transact transactions eions with importers and jobbers those boxes are capital capita loafing places on oil pleasant summer evenin evenings 1 and many are the profound discussions on oil local and national topics politics religion 0 etc that have been callied on by the occupants of the box bos seats along alon 0 the side of the store are arc exhibited some plows a bariel banel of salt and a few bunches of abin shingles les A broad cellar door at the side affords in ingress r s to the collar cellar for bands of molasses sugar boik etc an operation which is facilitated by means of a ta tak kelI cl as the boys call it depending from a beam which protrudes from tho the roof the junior clerk and the village boys odiuse amuse themselves by swinging on the bakel when the proprietor has gone to 0 the city with a load of eggs to ship away it is called tile the corner store to distinguish it aiom the grocela store of inmei bior pretensions across tile the street when the proprietor by strict attention to business fru frugality 0 aliby and economy gets a little fore forehand hall d lie moves tile the wooden store back and builds a magnificent two stoby structure ofick of led buck brick I 1 has a new cw sign paint painted Sd and film that time tilde on oil the the store is known as tile the 14 1 I I 1 the old wooden store affords storage room for merchandise of vadious kinds including flour fish feathers fea feat theis licis paper lags lags 0 and old iron Dic dicker kor is extensively practised practiced at tile the country store parm farm wives bring in butter and es eggs e at s exchange them thein for calico and groceries frugal housewives preserve their feathers and paper papa lags i which serve tile purposes pui pul poses of money it at tit alie stoic the boys ale aie the principal suppliers of old iron 1 they confiscate all stove plate or retired andirons and irons they may fiord about the house and exchange 0 c them thein at the stoic for powder and shot time or powder without it the shot when tile the fourth of july is near at hand wicked little boys sell old iron it at the front door and after it has been convoyed conveyed info tile they slip ai around aund to the back door and steal it to sell it over again ali thereby giving a cheerful impetus to trade and commerce in every properly conducted conn coin 1 aly store there is a department devoted to tile the sale of candy raisins figs nuts etc to v aich is the great attraction for the little country boy whose mother permits him to accompany her to tile the 91 village tile the cunning storekeeper that is tile the title lie is known by knows that a little candy lavished on the boy will prove a t good investment as tile the healt of a mother is quickest reached through lier child and lie he tocoi chidingly sweetens up little johnny graduating his liberality couling ac to tic number of acres acrea of faiming 0 land which fat fath lial ci and tile the consequent v value of tile family CU custom we ave remember that tile tho of gratuitous candy which the storekeeper into our juvenile pockets were not only seldom but exceedingly abbreviated our paternal acre and a half seem soam to daz ale the storekeeper to td any an abal claiming I 1 min 0 extent the village chil childson dion believe that everything t in ill tile the way of com comforts folts or luxuries i is kept siept at the stoic and they accordingly look upon the crys ars chil then as the most favored moi atals on earth the latter may have candy and sweet meats just when they want them they wear stoic clothes every day the gill has the finest and most richly diessel doll in the and the storekeepers boy has the handsomest sled and the best pair of r skates kates of any boy formales for miles around how many a country tr Y boy lias has wished that his father was a I 1 storekeeper s t 0 re heeper 1 P frequently the proprietor of the country store is a person of considerable importance in ili his s neighbor neighborhood bood we have known cases where lie possessed the confidence of his neighbors to such an extent that they have elected him town bleik 11 if by honest industry and attention to business lie he has elevated himself biorn the bur humble ap blo position of bleik to the dignity and importance of sole proprietor of the bi brick ick store the old settlers still call him aithur if that is his given name the same as they did when as a boy lie weighed out sugar for thorn them and filled their molasses jugs with two and six A visit to the simple village in which one was 11 raised after an all absence of deais during which Vili ich tile the boy has be bc curno come a man dissipates many cai early 13 il the church looms not h icso grandly the village lago gicca im imagination le ic a boundless prairie prairie on which you and your schoolmates used to chase the imaginary buffalo has dwindled d le d to gotlie the propof eions of a ban bal tell en and scanty goose pas tuio and the brick stoic on oil the corner which once ap more magnificent 0 than stew aits does docs now looks dingy mid and old and the hand of time has ap patently hit it a sevein rap on the ridge board chuc chucking kino 0 it about half a story i uto into t the he ground |