a. The precious right to work sixteen hours a day b. A self-sharpening plow c. Rolling away to the horizon d. The magnificent possibilities of his invention 7. How did the McCormick reaper conquer America ? 1. Report on SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS a. The life of Cyrus McCormick b. The Chicago fire of 1871 c. The panic of 1837 d. Brief life of William H. Seward 54 2. How did the invention of the reaper "push the American frontier westward at the rate of thirty miles a year"? 3. How is a patent secured? 4. How is a patented machine usually put on the market? 5. Why was it necessary for McCormick to send his first machines to Cincinnati in such a roundabout way? 6. Describe the primitive methods of harvesting grain a. In Egypt b. In the Balkan states 7. Report on c. In New England d. In Indiana a. Howe's invention of the sewing-machine 8. Name the inventor of a. The mowing-machine b. The header c. The thresher d. The traction plow e. The horse hoe 9. Make a list of ten other important American inventions. 10. Describe the cotton gin. COLLATERAL READING DOUBLEDAY, Stories of Inventions; DYER and MARTIN, Edison: his Life and Inventions; MAHAN, From Sail to Steam; MEADOWCROFT, Boy's Life of Edison; PERRY, Four American Inventors; FORMAN, Stories of Useful Inventions; BAKER, The Boy's Book of Inventions; BAKER, A Second Boy's Book of Inventions; CLARKE, The Boy's Book of Modern Marvels; CORBIN, The Romance of Submarine Engineering; Life of Alexander Graham Bell, of Elias Howe, of George Westinghouse, of Guglielmo Marconi, of Nicola Tesla, of James Hargreaves, of Orville Wright. S. S. MCCLURE When I reached Utica I went to the station master and asked him how soon there would be another train out. "Half an hour," he replied. I asked him where it went. He answered, "To Boston." So I asked him to give me a ticket to Boston. I had never in my life thought of going 5 to Boston before, and I had no reason for going there now. I was merely going wherever the next train went, and as far as it went. Then I looked about for my valise, which contained all the clothing I had brought, as well as my stock of peddler's supplies. It was nowhere to be found, IC so I boarded the Boston train and went on without it. I reached Boston late that night and got out at the South Station, in the midst of a terrible thunderstorm. I knew no one in Boston except Miss Malvina Bennett (now professor of elocution at Wellesley), who had taught elo- 15 cution at Knox. She lived in Somerville, and I immediately set out for Somerville. If I had had my wits about me I should not, of course, have started for anybody's house at that hour of the night. The trip to Somerville took more than an hour, and I had to change cars several times 20 on the way. When I got to Miss Bennett's house I found it open, and the members of the household, at least, were up and dressed, on account of the serious illness of Miss Bennett's mother. I was taken in and made welcome, and for several days Miss Bennett and her family did all they 25 1 From "My Autobiography." could to make me comfortable and to help me to get myself established in some way. I remained with the Bennetts Saturday and Sunday. I had only six dollars, and this hospitality was of the utmost importance 5 to me. My first application for a job in Boston was made in accordance with an idea of my own. Every boy in the West knew the Pope Manufacturing Company and the Columbia bicycle-the high, oldIO fashioned wheel which was then the only kind in general use. When I published my "History of Western College Journalism" the Pope Company had given me an advertisement, and that seemed to be a kind of "connection." I had always noticed the Pope advertisements everywhere. 15 Everything about that company seemed to me progressive. As I learned afterwards, it was a maxim of Colonel Pope's that "some advertising was better than others, but all advertising was good." Monday, the third of July, was one of those clear, fresh 20 days very common in Boston, where even in summer the air often has a peculiar flavor of the sea. I took the street car in from Somerville and got off at Scollay Square. From there I walked a considerable distance up Washington Street to the offices of the Pope Manufacturing Com25 pany at 597, near where Washington crosses Boylston. I walked into the general office and said I wanted to see the president of the company. 30 "Colonel Pope?" inquired the clerk. I answered, "Yes, Colonel Pope." I was taken to Colonel A. A. Pope, who was then an alert, progressive man of thirty-nine. He had been an officer in the Civil War when a very young man, and after he entered business had, within a few years, made a very considerable fortune in manufacturing leather findings. Some years before this a Frenchman named Pierre Lallement had taken out a patent for wheels driven by pedals attached to the axle-the basic patent of the bicycle. Colonel Pope saw the possibilities of this patent and 5 bought it. Though his patent right was continually being contested, and he had constantly to employ several patent lawyers to protect it, he held it until it expired, and all other bicycle manufacturers had to pay Colonel Pope a tax of ten dollars on every wheel they manu- 10 factured. I told Colonel Pope, by way of introduction, that he had once given me an "ad" for a little book I had published. He said that he was sorry, but they were not giving out any more advertising that season. I replied 15 respectfully that I didn't want any more advertising; that I had been a college editor, and now was out of college and out of a job. What I wanted was work, and I wanted it very badly. He again said he was sorry, but they were laying off 20 hands. I still hung on. It seemed to me that everything would be all up with me if I had to go out of that room without a job. I had to have a job. I asked him if there wasn't anything at all that I could do. My earnestness made him look at me sharply. "Willing to wash windows and scrub floors?" he asked. I told him that I was, and he turned to one of his clerks. "Has Wilmot got anybody yet to help him in the downtown rink?" he asked. "You can go to the The clerk said he thought not. "Very well," said Colonel Pope. rink and help Wilmot out for tomorrow." 25 30 |