IV 



THE AMERICANIZING OF PETER 

 SCHMIDT 



October 28. Tim promises to furnish an "effee- 

 cient mon" for me, but holds out no hope that it 

 will be by to-morrow, asking at the same time if 

 I prefer a foreigner, an American born, or natural- 

 ized. I replied that it is immaterial which, if the 

 man is capable in addition to being honest and 

 temperate. Chris had the two latter qualifications, 

 but they seemed rather to sap his vitality than to 

 be of any special advantage. Peter Schmidt, dear 

 old fellow, was honest, sober, and capable as 

 well ; but the methods his wife took to transform 

 and coerce his plodding, peasant mind and body 

 into what she considered an American, were the 

 cause of his downfall. 



As to securing the services of a good native for 

 manual labour, it is quite out of the question in a 

 part of the country where the social centre is a 

 combination of factory and market town. There 

 are men who will " accommodate " for a few days 

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