It is true that success of operation in all of this did depend in
a minor way on getting the component parts in proper order--a boy
had to be alert at all times, as was becoming a future teller and
money changer, but the real artistry and measure of
responsibility lay in getting the proper dampness in the cloth.
If too wet, the ink of the letter spread to hell and gone. If too
dry, the sturdy dependable Arnold's Ink made no impression on the
clean sheet.
You who read this may have become disgusted with all this old
time stuff long before now and said to yourselves, "Why all this
junk when the main idea is to get a new Certificate?" The answer
is I got a bit retrospective as I was writing. I got back to the
$2 a week days when father insisted I save at least 10 cents a
week out of that.
But bear with me just a little longer. The copy book cloth
technique I acquired at Russellville Bank was to become a boon
later, when, as the six children came along, seemingly with too
much regularity, I could slip an educated hand under the bottom
of a sleeping infant and measure the dampness thereof to a nicety
and judge to a fraction just when the cloth HAD to be changed.
Maybe those Russellville Bank experiences were later to save me
the possibility of facing the notoriety incident to an indictment
for infanticide by drowning.
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