Hattie E. Macomber

“ He says he can work best when the rest of the world sleeps.
But he likes fun, too.
One day he said to his old friend, of whom he learned telegraphing,
"Look here—I am able to send a message from New York to Boston without any wire at all."
"That is impossible," said his friend.
"Oh, no, it's a new invention."
"Well, how is it done?" said Mr. McKensie.
"By sealing it up and sending by mail," was the comical answer.
He has two children.
One, a girl, Mary, is nicknamed "Dot."
The other, a son, Thomas, is called "Dash."
Mr. Edison doesn't like to have great dinners given in his honor. ”

“ All sorts of messages were sent over the new telegraph line.
Mr. Morse loved his country.
And through his whole life worked for its interests.
He rejoiced in having his invention called an American invention.
He was at one time in Europe.
His friend, Mr. F.O.J. Smith, was embarking on his voyage for home.
Mr. Morse said to him:—
"When you arrive in sight of dear America, bless it for me.
[115] "And when you land, kiss the very ground for me.
"Land of lands! Oh, that all our country-men would but know their blessings!
"God hath not dealt so with any nation. ”

“ But the long line of black smoke which they saw was only the breath of the dear old giant, Steam.
At last he had something to do.
This boat was called the Clermont.
It passed the city of New York.
It passed the beautiful Highlands of the Hudson.
It puffed patiently on until it reached Albany.
All along the shores people watched it breathlessly.
Everybody stopped sneering and cheered.
The Clermont had gone one hundred and fifty miles in thirty-two hours.
Except that the ocean steamships are larger, [36] handsomer, and more finely finished, they are much like Mr. Fulton's Clermont. ”

“ Would you like a picture of Mr. Edison?
Close your eyes then and think of him like this.
He is five feet ten inches high.
His face is boyish, but earnest.
[165] He has light gray eyes.
His hair is dark, slightly gray, and falls over his forehead.
He is a pleasant man to see.
He loves his work.
For ten years he has averaged eighteen hour's work a day.
You have seen that he is not a man to give up easily.
Once an invention of his—a printing press—failed.
He took five men into the upper part of his factory. ”

“ You have heard of the giant, Steam.
There is yet another giant which God has placed in the world for man's use.
This is Electricity.
Is it not strange that this great power should have been so long unused in the world?
Boys and girls can understand how useful this power now is.
So you will be interested in knowing something of the man who helped to introduce to the world this great giant, electricity.
The baby who was given this long name, Samuel Finley Breese Morse, was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts. ”

“ The man who was in charge of the United States Patent Office called him "the young man who keeps the pathway to the Patent Office hot with his footsteps."
Mr. Edison believed that two messages could be sent over the same wire at the same time.
Of course the world laughed at the idea.
But soon our inventor managed to send four messages over the same wire at the same time.
Then the world stopped laughing.
People said, "This young man is the greatest [160] inventor of his age, and a discoverer as well." ”

“ The great object that I desire to accomplish by the erection of this Institution is to open the avenues of scientific knowledge to the youth of our city and country, and so unfold the volume of Nature that the young may see the beauties of creation, enjoy its blessings, and learn to love the Author from whom cometh every good and perfect gift. ”

“ Soon, however, the manufacturers found that the Whitney cotton gin did not injure the cotton.
The first lawsuit was decided against Miller and Whitney.
They asked for another trial.
But this was refused them.
Everywhere through the South they were cheated and robbed.
Yet all the time the South was growing richer because of the cotton gin.
Slaves grew more and more valuable.
For negroes can endure the heat of the cotton fields.
But white men can not.
[71] The planters of the South bought more and more slaves.
So slavery grew stronger because of the cotton gin. ”

“ She was eager that people should know about this wonderful invention.
She could not wait until a patent was secured.
A patent is given by the government.
It is given to prevent others from claiming an invention.
Often it keeps people from manufacturing the article without the permission of the owner.
So Mrs. Green invited a party of gentlemen from all parts of the state to visit her.
These gentlemen were taken to see the machine do its work.
They were greatly astonished.
[64] For what did they see?
This curious little machine cleaned the cotton of its seed. ”

“ He thought canals would help America.
But it was ten years before he could get people to think much about it.
Then Mr. Fulton helped in planning the Erie Canal.
This was very successful.
You can see this canal now.
It is in the State of New York and is still used.
Mr. Fulton planned a cast-iron aqueduct which was built in Scotland.
An aqueduct is often made to carry water to cities.
He invented a mill for sawing marble, a [25] machine for spinning flax, another for scooping out earth, called a dredging machine, and several kinds of canal boats. ”

“ Whitney, "You are saving your country seventy-five thousand dollars a year."
This was by his improvements in fire-arms.
Mr. Whitney tried to get the government to extend the time of the patent upon the cotton-gin.
But this was refused.
That did not seem very grateful, did it?
Robert Fulton, the inventor of the first steamboat, was his friend.
[75] They had many troubles in common.
Mr. Whitney's last days were his happiest days.
Such patience, perseverance, and skill must count in the long run.
His factory made him quite a rich man. ”

“ When he was seventeen, he bade his anxious mother good-bye, and started for New York to make his fortune.
Do you know what a lottery is?
It is a way dishonest people have of making money.
Tickets are sold for prizes, and of course only one person can get the prize, while all the rest must lose their money.
[127] Soon after Peter Cooper reached New York he saw an advertisement of a lottery.
He might draw a prize by buying a ticket.
Each ticket cost ten dollars. ”

“ Mr. Morse had always been fond of inventions.
He himself invented a pump at one time.
At another, he tried his hand at making a machine for cutting marble.
He was always experimenting with colors, and other things used by artists.
The year 1832 had arrived.
You will see, by and by, that it is a good date to remember.
People knew almost nothing about speed in traveling.
In that year the longest railroad was in the southern part of the United States. ”

“ Is it any wonder that when Peter Cooper died thirty-five hundred came up from the Institution to lay roses upon his coffin.
His last words to his son and daughter were not to forget Cooper Union.
They have just given one hundred thousand dollars to it.
Mr. Cooper had many friends among the great and good of the land.
He died as unselfishly as he had lived, and who can measure the good he did in the world?
[146]
EDISON.
[147]
A Great Inventor.ToC
Thomas A. Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, February 11, 1847.
There was nothing in Milan to make a boy wish to do great deeds. ”

“ Whitney sick at heart.
He said that he had tried hard to do right by every one.
And it stung him to the very soul to be treated like a swindler or a villain.
The people of Georgia tried to prove that somebody in Switzerland had invented the cotton gin.
Tennessee broke its contract.
[72] There were high-minded men who tried to help Mr. Whitney. ”

“ The cotton pickers sat upon the ground in a circle.
From the midst of the cotton they took the black seeds.
These seeds were very troublesome.
They are covered with hairs.
They cling fast to the cotton.
These naughty children of the plant love their mother.
So fast do they cling to her, that a person [48] could clean but one pound of cotton in a whole day.
So you may understand why so little was raised.
In 1784, eight bags of cotton were taken from the United States to England. ”

“ Then he went to New York.
There he walked the streets three weeks, looking for work.
Nobody wanted a man who experimented.
By chance, he one day went into an office where the telegraph instrument was out of repair.
He offered to fix it.
They laughed at him, but let him try.
He succeeded in fixing it.
They gave him a good position.
[159] From this time on there were better times for him.
After this the world soon sang his praises; and, in the next ten years, Fortune poured into his lap half a million dollars. ”

“ Much land in the South could be used for cotton.
This could be sent to England for manufacture.
The South could become a rich country in this way.
But there was one great difficulty.
It cost so much to clean the cotton.
Mrs. Greene said, "I know who can help you.
"Apply to my young friend, Mr. Whitney. He can make anything."
She then showed the gentlemen her frame and other things which Mr. Whitney had made.
Mr. Whitney said he had never seen cotton or its seed.
None was raised near the home of the Greene's.
[62] Mr. Whitney did not make any promises. ”

“ We may now call Peter Cooper a mechanic.
A mechanic is one who has skill in using tools in shaping wood, metals, etc.
Peter now found a situation in a woolen mill at Hempstead, Long Island.
[131] Here he received nine dollars a week.
Still he kept trying to find better ways of doing things.
He invented a machine for shearing cloth, and from that earned five hundred dollars in two years. ”

“ They stole the cotton-gin.
You can well imagine how dreadful this was.
Mr. Whitney had no money.
So Mr. Miller agreed to be his partner.
Mr. Miller had come to Georgia from the North.
[65] He, too, was a graduate of Yale College.
He afterward married Mrs. Greene.
He became Mr. Whitney's partner in May, 1773.
Perhaps you wonder why the machine was called a gin. It was a short way of saying engine.
A gin is a machine that aids the work of a person.
The cotton-gin was made to work much the same as the hand of a person. ”

“ Cooper was honorable in all his business.
[140] Once he said to a friend who had an interest in the Trenton works:
"I do not feel quite easy about the amount we are making. We are making too much money. It is not right." ”

“ Mr. Whitney was then left to fight his battles alone.
Things grew a little brighter as time went on.
Mr. Whitney received some money on his invention.
But the greater part of it had to be spent in lawsuits.
A suit was begun in the United States Court.
But the time of his patent was almost out.
He had made six journeys to Georgia.
One gentleman said that he never knew another man so persevering.
In 1798, Mr. Whitney made a contract with the government of the United States.
[73] By this contract he was to manufacture fire-arms.
He established his factory near New Haven. ”

“ Finley, when a boy, was always fond of drawing.
When but fifteen, he painted a fairly good picture in water colors.
This represented a room in his father's house.
[85] His father, his two brothers and himself stood by a table.
His mother sat in a chair.
On the table was a globe, at which they were all looking.
His room at college was covered with pictures of his own making.
One of these was called, "Freshmen Climbing the Hill of Science."
The poor fellows were scrambling to the top of a hill on their hands and knees.
Finley had taken no lessons in art, yet he drew many portraits. ”

“ This cotton likes the salt which it finds in the soil.
The herb cotton grows to a height of from eighteen to twenty-four inches.
The land is made ready for the seed during the winter.
As soon as the frost is gone Mother Earth is given her baby seeds to care for. ”

“ The great city of New York was in mourning.
He was buried in the Livingston vault in Trinity Churchyard, New York.
No monument has ever been raised over this great man.
But the boats which every year ply back and forth upon lake, river, and ocean, are constant reminders of his great work for the world.
[40]
ELI WHITNEY.
[41]
Eli Whitney.ToC
The war, called the Revolution, was ended.
The treaty of peace had been signed.
America had won her freedom. ”