"A mechanic is known by the toots he uses.'* 



CHAPTER II 



O other mechanic will try to turn out j-uch a 

 variety of work with so few tools as the 

 blacksmith, even when the smith iias all 

 the tools to be had, he has fev/ in propor- 

 tion to the work. There are a class of smiths 

 who will be content with almost nothing-. These men 

 can tell all about the different kinds of tobacco; they 

 can tell one kind of beer from another in the first sip, 

 and the smell of the whisky bottle is enough for them 

 to decide the character of the contents, but when it 

 comes to tools which belorig- to their trade, they are 

 not in it. It ought to be a practice with every smith 

 to add some new tool every year. But if they are 

 approached on the subject they will generally say, 

 "Oh, I can get along without that." With them it is 

 not a question of what they need, but what they can 

 get along without. 



Some smiths have the Chinaman's nature (stubborn 

 conservatism) to the extent that they will have nothing 

 new, no matter how superior to their old and inferior 

 tools; what they have been used to is the best. 



When the hoof shears were a new thing I ordered a 

 pair and handed them to my horse-shoer, he tried them 

 for a few minutes and then threw them on the floor 

 and said, "Yankee humbug." I picked them up and 



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