tell him a new one to add to his list. Here is one of his stories that he liked to tell.

An old man went to buy a horse from an old woman. When he entered the stable, he found that she had two horses available for sale. After some consideration, the man selected the one that he thought was best. The woman was quick to say, “Him no look so good”. The man said, “He looks good to me” and bought the horse. When the man arrived home with the horse he tried to hitch him up, but discoVered that the horse was blind. The man returned to the woman and said, “You never informed me that the horse was blind”. “Yes I did”, replied the woman, I said, “He no look so good”.

Meal time was often a problem, as Alex would be coming in to dinner somebody would be in the forge waiting for their horse to be shod. Alex often took the customer into the house for a meal. It meant that the children had to share their food, because at times there was not enough cooked. The meal was complimentary, and there was no tip either.

Alex was happy working in his own shop, and socializing with people. With time, tractors and other larger industrial equipment replaced the horse and horse-drawn machinery. As a result, the forge became obsolete, so the

era of the blacksmith came to an end.

Blacksmith Alex Mooney 30