Julius Fisher

Norfolkan Late Once in 27 Years

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Julius Fisher Has Nice Bit Laid Up for Rainy Day Out of Wages Earned—Went on Retired List

Last Week—Will He Go Back?

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Julius Fisher, right hand man for the Eichelberger Lumber company, is on a vacation. In fact, he has retired from active work and this after some twenty-seven years employment in the one lumber yard and with scarcely a day.s absence.

A year ago Mr. Fisher, who is well along in years, decided he had worked long enough without a vacation and decided to rest up. He told Mr. Eichelberger he wanted a month off during the winter so as to escape the rigors of zero weather. His employer agreed he might absent himself during the month of February. “But February is the shortest month in the year”, demurred Fisher, “why shorten my vacation?” February arrived in due season. Mr. Fisher did not report for work. He did not show up on the second or the third, but the morning of the fourth he was on hand and announced: “If you don’t mind, I’ll go back to work. I find vacationing tiresome and besides my wife finds too many things for me to do.”

Now he’s retired. He resigned his position last Saturday and the boys are betting he will be back on the job by Monday if he manages to stick it out until then. Every morning, the year through, he opens the gate at the yard at quarter to seven. He has been known to be late only one morning in all these years. Mr. Eichelberger says he has every stick of timber in the yard named. He knows every shingle, every lath. He is as much a part of the yard as the lumber itself. Folks passing by have come to look for him to be locking up the gates at night, opening them in the morning, keeping things in apple pie order in the yard during the day. He is as much a habit to those in the neighborhood as the yard is to him. And out of the wages he has earned during the years he has saved a goodly portion, demonstrating that fancy salaries are not necessary if you really want to save. He owns a farm and could afford to go to winter resort and live happily away from work and worry; but, no, that is what he can’t do. He has worked so long he doesn’t know how to live without working and the boys are betting he’ll be back opening the gate on time next Monday morning.

Source: The Norfolk Press, Thursday, January 27, 1927, page 1 and 4.