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FA OWEN PUBLISHING
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Mrs. L R.
No. 260 Partridge Street
ALBANY, N. Y,
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WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
BY
CARROLL EVERETT
AND
CHARLES FRANCIS REED
ILLUSTRATED BY
CHARLES E. BRACKER
EDITED BY
HELEN MILDRED OWEN
MARY E. OWEN
END ORDERS TO
Mrs, L R, MILLS
No, 260 Partridge Street
ALBANY, N, Y,
F. A. OWEN PUBLISHING COMPANY
DANSVILLE, NEW YORK
• • .
PUBLIC L/BlW
ASTOR.
[T1LDENFOUN,
R 1983
COPYRIGHT, 1922
F. A. OWEN PUBLISHING COMPANY
.
PREFACE
This book contains twenty-four boyhood
stories of celebrated present-day Ameri-
cans. The characters have been selected
from many walks of life, our aim being to
choose representative men in various activ-
ities. All of these men have achieved suc-
cess and prominence, many of them rising
from humble beginnings.
Certain outstanding characteristics in the
boyhood of these men were responsible in a
great part for their future success. Such
characteristics are worthy of emulation by
the boys and girls of to-day.
Many of these men, in their boyhood,
overcame great obstacles: some of them
were very poor, some were unable to go to
school, and some lacked physical endurance.
But they were all able to rise above these
conditions and forge ahead toward their
goal.
It is our desire to place these stories be-
fore the boys and girls of to-day in order
that they may realize that it is possible to
surmount any obstacle in the path of suc-
cess.
CONTENTS
THOMAS A. EDISON
THE BOY WHO ALWAYS FINISHED WHATEVER
HE STARTED 15
ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL
WHO INVENTED THE TELEPHONE 23
GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE
THE BOY WHO DEVELOPED His MECHANICAL
IDEAS 30
WILBUR AND ORVILLE WRIGHT
THE BOYS WHO CONQUERED THE AIR 38
GEORGE EASTMAN
WHO SAW SUCCESS THROUGH A CAMERA LENS 45
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
THE BOY WHO DEVELOPED His BODY AS
WELL AS His MIND 53
WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT
WHOSE HEAD WAS NOT TURNED BY His
FATHER'S SUCCESS 60
WOODROW WILSON
THE SOUTHERN BOY WHO BECAME PRESIDENT 65
WARREN G. HARDING
THE BOY PRINTER WHO BECAME PRESIDENT 71
GEORGE WASHINGTON GOETHALS
THE BOY WHO SHAPED His OWN CAREER... 77
WILLIAM CRAWFORD GORGAS
WHOSE FIGHT FOR SANITATION MADE THE
PANAMA CANAL POSSIBLE 84
ROBERT DOLLAR
THE BOY WHO APPLIED ARITHMETIC TO His
NAME 91
JAMES J. HILL
WHO HELPED TO DEVELOP A CONTINENT. ... 98
JOHN WANAMAKER
THE BOY WHO BUILDED WITH His BRAINS
INSTEAD OF WITH BRICKS 104
BEN LINDSEY
WHO HAS NEVER FORGOTTEN WHAT IT
MEANT TO BE A BOY Ill
HERBERT HOOVER
THE BOY WHO WOULD NOT LET OTHER
PEOPLE MAKE UP His MIND 116
JOHN J. PERSHING
WHOSE PERSEVERANCE FITTED HIM FOR His
GREAT OPPORTUNITY 123
LUTHER BURBANK
THE BOY WHO LOVED FLOWERS .128
JOHN BURROUGHS
WHO FOUND His HAPPINESS OUT OF DOORS. 135
WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS
THE BOY PRINTER WHO BECAME A GREAT
EDITOR AND AUTHOR 143
HENRY WATTERSON
THE BOY WHC PERSEVERED 150
JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY
THE .COUNTRY Bo\ WHO BECAME A GREAT
4 POET 157
EDWARD 'A- MACDOWELL
WHO BECAME AMERICA'S GREATEST COMPOSER 163
h
AUGUSTUS SAINT-GAUDENS
J THE BOY WHO STUDIED AT NIGHT TO MAKE
A FAMOUS SCULPTOR. 170
FOREWORD
A wise man once remarked, "The boy is
father to the man." He meant that the traits
developed in boyhood make a man a success
or a failure in life.
In looking over the lives of the men who
have become famous because of their good
works, it is surprising to find that most of
these men showed similar qualities of char-
acter when they were boys.
To begin with, only the boys who have been
willing to work hard have finally succeeded.
Many of our famous men were poor boys, but
not all of them. Yet the men who have made
good really labored no matter if their fathers
were rich or poor.
Another quality that most great men have
shown in their youth was a love of the out-
of-doors. That kept them pure minded, made
them realize the beautiful things of life, and
also made their bodies clean and strong.
Nearly every man who has succeeded has
done so in spite of trials. Success has never
come to them in a minute. They have been
willing to work, — and wait. That does not
mean that they sat around waiting for some-
one else to make an effort for them ; it means
that they did not give up after the first
failure.
The great man always plays square; so
does the boy who aspires to be a success in
life. He never shirks his job, but does it per-
fectly. If he meets writh success then he is
ready for the next job; if he meets with fail-
ure then he tries again.
All of the boys who have succeeded have
worked hard with their studies, and really
learned — not merely to pass an examination,
but to gather knowledge.
The boy who succeeds is the boy who starts
to be a success when he is still a boy. He
trains himself to think right and to act right,
he builds his body and mind, and he works.
WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
Underwood & Underwood
THOMAS A. EDISON —
THE BOY WHO ALWAYS FINISHED
V
WHATEVER HE STARTED
ONE day during the critical period of
the Civil War, a newsboy in Detroit
went into the office where he daily
obtained his supply of papers.
"What is the news?" he questioned.
"Haven't you heard?" asked another
newsboy who stood near by. "There has just
been a big battle at Pittsburg Landing."
"Oh !" exclaimed the boy, and he extract-
ed a pencil from his pocket and began to
make some calculations.
16 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
"What are you trying to figure out, Tern?"
the other boy asked.
"How many papers I shall need to-day/' he
replied, as he turned and approached the cir-
culation manager's desk.
"I want one thousand newspapers," said
young Edison.
The circulation manager of the Detroit
Free Press looked in amazement at the
freckle-faced lad who made this astonishing
request.
"Have you the money?" he asked.
"No, sir," replied Edison.
"Then get out."
The boy went directly upstairs to the office
of the publisher.
"I want fifteen hundred papers, Mr.
Storey," said the boy. Then he explained
that the people along the line of the railroad
where he had a run as train newsboy would
be eager to get the news of the battle of Pitts-
burg Landing.
"Can you pay for them?" asked Mr.
Storey.
THOMAS A. EDISON 17
"As soon as I sell them," answered the boy.
Mr. Storey wrote something on a slip of
paper and the boy took it down to the circula-
tion manager.
"Fifteen hundred!" growled the man. "I
thought you only wanted a thousand !"
"Oh, I thought I might as well be refused
fifteen hundred papers as a thousand/'
grinned the boy. And that is the spirit that
helped Thomas Edison, the world's greatest
inventor, to success.
Tom knew that the people along the line
would be anxious to hear the news. He had
no money, but he had courage and, what is
better, the habit of thinking things out, that
is, of thinking ahead. Usually he sold about
sixty papers along this train route. How
could he sell fifteen hundred?
He had thought that all out in advance. He
went to a telegraph operator who was fond
of reading, and said to him, "If you will wire
ahead to every stop that there has been a big
battle and that I am coming with papers tell-
ing the story and giving a list of the dead and
18 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
wounded, I will send you a daily paper and
two magazines a month for six months."
Thus bargained young Edison.
"I will do it," agreed the operator.
When young Edison reached his first stop,
Utica, there was a large crowd of people
waiting at the station.
"At first I thought the crowd was going on
an excursion," said Mr. Edison in relating
the incident, "but I soon realized that they
were waiting for the papers. I sold more
than half of my papers there, and at Mount
Clemens and Port Huron I sold the remain-
der.
Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan,
Ohio, February 11, 1847. He lived there un-
til he was seven years old, at which time his
family moved to Port Huron, Michigan. He
was a very energetic and industrious boy.
Young Edison had frequently noticed
how eager the railroad men were for news.
They often sat and talked about railroad af-
fairs by the hour. So he bought an old hand
press and some type, set it up in one of the
"I WANT FIFTEEN HUNDRED PAPERS, MR.
STOREY/' SAID THE BOY. "CAN You PAY
FOR THEM?" ASKED MR. STOREY. "As
SOON As I SELL THEM," HE REPLIED.
20 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
baggage cars where he kept his papers, and
started the Gh*and Trunk Herald, the first
newspaper in the world printed on a train in
motion. It was not long before three boys
were helping him, and he was printing four
hundred copies a week. If Brakeman Jim
Jones was promoted, or locomotive No. 99928
blew out a cylinder, he put it in his paper;
and the men liked to read it.
One day when young Edison was experi-
menting with chemicals, he tipped over a
bottle of phosphorus which set the car afire.
He put the fire out, but the conductor, who
disliked him, threw off his printing press,
chemicals, and papers at the next stop and
boxed his ears so hard that he became deaf.
One day a few weeks later the little two-
year-old son of the telegraph operator at
Mount Clemens was sitting in the middle of
a track down which a string of cars was be-
ing shunted. Instead of shouting and fright-
ening the baby, young Edison jumped from
the baggage-car door where he was stand-
ing and threw the baby off the track.
THOMAS A. EDISON 21
"I am a poor man," said the telegraph
operator, "but you are welcome to the few
hundred dollars I have saved."
"I do not want your money, but I would
like to have you teach me how to send tele-
graph messages," replied young Edison. In
two months' time, Thomas Edison became a
capable telegraph operator.
With only a dollar in his pocket, he reach-
ed New York City, looking for work. Three
nights he slept on park benches. One day he
went without food. While he was in the of-
fice of a gold and stock indicator company
the stock ticker stopped and there was great
excitement.
He said, "I think I can fix it for you." He
opened the ticker, lifted a loose contact
spring that had fallen between the wheels,
and it started up again.
Just as he did this the man who had a big
interest in the ticker service saw him. "We
are having trouble with this service. If you
can keep it going for us I will give you three
hundred dollars a month," he said.
22 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
"I was amazed when I heard this," Mr.
Edison said later, "but I remained calm and
agreed to do it, demanding an advance in
'good faith/ I really did not want it for
'good faith' but for food, as I had not eaten
for nearly thirty hours."
Mr. Edison learned why the ticker would
not work well and improved it, securing a
patent. When the company asked him for
how much he would sell it, he thought of ask-
ing five thousand dollars. "I will let the com-
pany make the first offer," he said to himself.
They gave him forty thousand dollars ; so he
made exactly thirty-five thousand dollars by
using his judgment.
All the world knows of his rapid rise after
that. This money enabled him to build a lab-
oratory and carry on experiments. He has
invented the quadruplex telegraph, the in-
candescent light, the phonograph, moving
pictures, speaking parts of the telephone,
appliances for use on electric railways, stor-
age batteries, and scores of other great
things.
© Underwood & Underwood
ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL—
WHO INVENTED THE TELEPHONE
WHEN Alexander Graham Bell was a
young boy he often went out into
the country not far from his home
in Edinburgh, Scotland, to play near a grist-
mill with the son of the miller.
The miller said one day, "Boys, you should
never allow your hands to be idle all day. I
have been watching you at play, and now I
want you to help me remove the husks from
this wheat."
The boys were a little surprised at the
miller's request but as they were enterpris-
24 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
ing and not in the least afraid of work, they
did as the miller told them to do.
It was not an easy task. In a few minutes
young Bell began to think how hard it was to
husk wheat, how it hurt his fingers, which
were unused to such work, and how much
better it would be if he were to work with a
small hand brush instead of with his fingers.
That afternoon when he went home he
thought a great deal about husking wheat.
He took a small brush and went again to the
mill. Yes, the husks did come off quite eas-
ily with the aid of the brush, and he found
that now he could do two or three times as
much work.
When he had proved the value of his idea
to his own satisfaction, he began to wonder
if it would not be possible to put the wheat
into the large tank with a paddle wheel
which he had observed in the mill. Cer-
tainly, the motion of the paddle wheel would
brush off the husks. When young Bell pre-
sented his idea to the miller, the miller was
very much pleased and had the experiment
ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL 25
made. This was found to be a very success-
ful method.
Such was the first invention of Alexander
Graham Bell. He later became one of the
greatest inventors the world has ever
known. His wonderful invention, the tele-
phone, makes it possible for us to talk across
continents, and is one of the greatest aids
to our modern business and home life.
Alexander Graham Bell was the son of a
college professor, Alexander Melville Bell.
The young man was born in Edinburgh,
Scotland, on March 3, 1847, and went to
school in that city. The father was a teacher
of elocution. His great interest was in cor-
recting defective speech. He predicted that
by the use of the symbols which he had de-
vised for this purpose, persons who were
born deaf might be taught to speak.
The father's work had a great influence
upon the boy, who became interested in
teaching speech to the deaf. He spent much
time in working out experiments in this di-
rection. Wire and the wonders .of electric-
26 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
ity also interested him. He had a workshop
fitted up in his home where he carefully
studied this fascinating science.
When he was about twenty years of age
young Bell entered London University.
Three years later the family moved to Can-
ada. Alexander Bell lived there two years
and then came to the United States, settling
in Boston. He had been called there to in-
troduce his system of teaching deaf mutes.
He soon became a professor in Boston Uni-
versity.
He was still interested in the science of
electricity, and he began to puzzle over the
problem of inventing a multiple telegraph
wire, one over which several messages could
be sent at the same time. It was when he
was working on this idea that he first
thought of the telephone.
At this time he remarked to an authority
on electricity that he had an idea for send-
ing the voice over a wire, but that he could
not work it out as he had not sufficient elec-
trical knowledge to perfect it.
ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL 27
"Well, get the knowledge," the man told
him. This was good advice for young Bell,
or any other boy.
Alexander Graham Bell took the advice
that was offered him, and started to work.
He knew a great deal about sound and vi-
brations, but he needed some one to help
him construct the apparatus which was re-
quired for his experiments. This need was
supplied when he met a young man named
Thomas A. Watson, who was destined to be
Mr. Bell's associate in the discovery of the
telephone.
The two young men spent every minute of
their spare time in experimenting. They
had rooms in the same lodging house, and
fitted up a wire from one room to the other.
The first fruit of their labor came on the
evening of June 2, 1875, when the wires
actually carried a sound.
For a long time young Bell worked out
plans for a sound box. He put his plans on
paper and had Mr. Watson construct the box
accordingly. On March 7, 1876, what has
28 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
been called "the most valuable single patent
ever issued" in any country was granted to
Alexander Graham Bell, then but twenty-
nine years old, "for an instrument to be
called the telephone, and to be used to carry
the human voice from one place to another."
At first people thought that the telephone
was an interesting toy, never dreaming that
the day would come when it would be in
every home. They went to hear Mr. Bell
lecture about the telephone, and to listen to
Mr. Watson, stationed some miles distant,
demonstrate that the human voice could be
carried over the wire.
In a year or so, however, a company was
formed to put the telephone to commercial
use. Telephones were early installed in
Boston, New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis,
and in various parts of the states of Con-
necticut and Michigan.
In 1879, the first National Bell Telephone
Company was formed. A year later there
was a reorganization and the American Bell
Telephone Company was created.
ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL 29
That year the government of France
awarded Alexander Graham Bell the Volta
Prize of fifty thousand francs in honor of
his great invention.
Despite his success, Alexander Graham
Bell did not cease his labors. His invention
of the telephone is one of the greatest con-
tributions that has ever been made to the
world.
© Wide World Photos
GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE—-
THE BOY WHO DEVELOPED His
MECHANICAL IDEAS
C*A YOUTH named Westinghouse, still in
/ \ his teens, was traveling in a rail-
road train one afternoon when the
train came to a stop beside an open field.
After a few minutes of waiting, young
Westinghouse left the coach to see what had
happened. He discovered that there was a
wreck ahead, and as the conductor told him
that the train would be delayed for some
time, he decided that he would investigate
the wreck.
GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE 31
Two freight trains had collided, and both
were nearly demolished. The engineer of
each train had seen that a collision was in-
evitable and, slowing down the engines as
much as possible, had jumped.
"I saw the train coming toward me and
set the hand brakes, but there was not time
to stop the cars," said one of the engineers.
"The wreck would not have happened if
the engineers could have controlled the cars
from their engine cabs," another trainman
remarked.
Young Westinghouse was greatly inter-
ested. "What do you mean by controlling
the cars?" he asked.
The engineer explained that when he
wanted to stop a train he had to signal with
the engine whistle for brakes to be applied
by hand to the cars. There were no brakes
on the cars that could be worked from the
engine to bring the train to a sudden stop.
The young man listened intently.
When the line was clear again and he
could continue his journey, he sat thinking
32 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
about brakes for railroad trains, automatic
brakes that could be controlled from the cab
of the engine.
In the weeks that followed, young West-
inghouse did much thinking about brakes,
but none of his ideas were practical. He
tried a mechanical automatic brake, which
he rejected. Then, realizing that he needed
a great deal of power to put on his brakes,
he thought of steam. He tried this, but
without success.
He was only able to work on his idea dur-
ing his recreation hours, for he had a posi-
tion in his father's factory at Schenectady,
New York. He was so interested in his idea
for an automatic brake that he used to
hurry his luncheon, and spend part of the
noon hour working on his plans.
One noon while thus absorbed, there was
a voice at his elbow, and he turned and saw
a young girl standing beside him. She was
earning money for her next school year by
selling magazine subscriptions. Young
Westinghouse subscribed for the magazine.
GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE 33
•
Upon looking over the first copy that he
received, he suddenly noticed a headline.
It was about the building of a tunnel
through the Alps in Switzerland, and young
Westinghouse read the article. In it he came
across the statement that the drills used on
the rocks were run by compressed air.
Compressed air ! The young man dropped
the magazine, for as he read those words
George Westinghouse realized that he had
found the motive power for his brake. He
reached for his pencil and pad and started
to work at once. It was not long before he
had completed his plans.
While young Westinghouse had every
faith in his new invention he found that he
was practically the only person who thought
it worth while. Even his father, George
Westinghouse, Senior, who was an inventor
and manufacturer of machinery, could see
no reason to encourage his son.
George Westinghouse then decided to in-
terest the railroad men in his scheme, and
took his air brake to first one railroad office,
34 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
and then another, but no railroad man
would listen to him. He saw Commodore
Vanderbilt, the president of the New York
Central Railroad, who, like the rest, thought
it was ridiculous to think of stopping a train
by air.
"So you think that you can stop a New
York Central train going at full speed by
wind, do you?" Mr. Vanderbilt laughed.
"Well, young man, I have no time to waste
on fools. Good morning."
But young Westinghouse did not give up.
He went to Pittsburgh, and interested An-
drew Carnegie in his invention. Finally,
Mr. Carnegie and his associates decided to
spend the money necessary to equip one
train with a Westinghouse air brake.
In September, 1868, the test was made on
a train, consisting of an engine with four
cars, running between Pittsburgh and Steu-
benville, Ohio. As the train emerged from
a tunnel near the Union Station at Pitts-
burgh the engineer saw a farmer's wagon
on the track, and he applied the air brake,
GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE 35
stopping the train so suddenly that it threw
the people in the cars from the seats.
Other successful tests were made, and
within a few weeks George Westinghouse
was hailed as one of the greatest inventors
in the world. He was only twenty-two
years old.
George Westinghouse was born at Cen-
tral Bridge, New York, October 6, 1846.
When he was ten years old the family moved
to Schenectady, New York, where Mr. West-
inghouse organized the Schenectady Agri-
cultural Works.
The boy George was fond of machinery,
and when he was not in school he was sure
to be in his father's machine shop. When he
was fourteen years old he invented a rotary
engine.
George Westinghouse was only fifteen
years old when the Civil War began. He
wanted to go to war immediately, but his
father would not allow him to do so until
the next year. Then he enlisted in the in-
fantry and later served in the cavalry. Be-
36 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
fore the war closed he had become an en-
gineer officer in the navy.
All this time young Westinghouse was
studying. If he had an hour to spare he did
not waste it, but read books on machines
and machine making, or else drew the plans
for a machine that interested him.
The success of his air brake made George
Westinghouse a very rich and influential
young man, but like all great men he was
not at all contented to stop his work after
having attained success. He continued to
work upon the air brake for many years,
improving it in numerous ways.
The air brake is one of the greatest inven-
tions the world has yet known. This inven-
tion has made it possible for trains to be
run at a much greater speed than formerly.
As a result the industrial interests of the
country have been greatly promoted. It al-
so has made traveling on railroad trains
safe for the public.
The problems of electricity were of great
interest to Mr. Westinghouse. When he
GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE 37
learned that two young French inventors
had discovered the use of the alternating
electric current, he bought the patents for
the United States, which he applied to the
electric system in use throughout this coun-
try. One of his big contracts was the light-
ing of the World's Fair at Chicago in 1893.
Mr. Westinghouse was always interested
in the inventions of others, and would talk
with young mechanics regarding any plans
they had for new machines.
George Westinghouse was a boy with
ideas, and he was willing to study in order
to perfect those ideas. By so doing he be-
came one of the greatest men in the indus-
trial history of his country.
(c) Wide World Photos
WILBUR AND ORVILLE WRIGHT —
THE BOYS WHO CONQUERED THE Am
IN 1878, the Reverend Bishop Milton
Wright left his home in Dayton, Ohio,
to visit New York City on business.
When it was time for him to return he
looked in the shop windows for a gift that he
could take to his two sons, Wilbur and
Orville Wright. He saw books, handker-
chiefs, and neckties, and he also saw an odd
mechanical toy labeled "flying machine."
These two boys were very much inter-
ested in any type of mechanical instrument,
so the bishop went into the store to examine
WILBUR AND ORVILLE WRIGHT 39
the "flying machine." It had wings, and was
driven by a cardboard propeller that turned
by the untwisting of a heavy rubber band.
It was a fascinating toy, and the bishop car-
ried it home feeling that his sons would be
pleased.
Wilbur and Orville Wright were both de-
lighted and interested in their toy "flying
machine/' which they called the "bat." Long
after it was broken they remembered the
toy that would glide through the air.
One day, years later, they started to ex-
periment with a big model of a "flying ma-
chine," one large enough to carry a man.
Every boy knowTs, of course, how successful
these brothers were, and that to-day men
have flown in aeroplanes across the country
and even across the Atlantic Ocean.
"The Wright boys," as Wilbur and Orville
Wright were known in their home at Day-
ton, Ohio, were always the greatest of pals
and worked and played together. Wilbur
was four years older than his brother, hav-
ing been born near Millville, Indiana, on
40 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
April 16, 1867. Orville was born at Dayton,
Ohio, August 19, 1871.
Both of the Wright boys were educated in
the grammar school and high school of Day-
ton. They were clever boys, but more inter-
ested in mechanical experiments than in lit-
erature and history. Bicycles were just
then coming into great popularity. When
the boys left school they opened a bicycle
shop to sell and repair this speed vehicle of
the day
During this time their interest in flying
machines had not abated. They began to
build models of aeroplanes, and to test them
out. These models were very practical, and
the boys felt sure that in time they could
really build a machine that would fly. Bish-
op Wright was greatly interested in his
sons' ideas, and when he realized that they
could go no further without more funds, he
gave them money to continue their experi-
ments.
The two young men then started for the
coast of North Carolina, accompanied by a
WILBUR AND ORVILLE WRIGHT 41
machinist who had worked with them at
Dayton. They established a camp in the
sand hills near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Their first experiments were in the build-
ing of "gliders," or planes without engines.
The brothers thus learned the proper angle
at which their planes would have to be set,
and also the secret of balance.
When they had mastered these important
things, the Wright boys decided to use an
ordinary small engine attached to a propel-
ler. They found that this did not suit the
purpose so they began to build a special
aeroplane engine. After months of experi-
ment, this motor was completed, but the two
young men realized that they were facing
failure and success.
They were sure that their machine would
be a success if they had money to go on with
their experiments. But they seemed doomed
to failure, for all of the capital was spent.
However, they had not counted on their
young sister, Miss Katharine Wright. Miss
Wright was a teacher of Latin in the high
42 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
school at Dayton, Ohio. When she learned
that her brothers needed money, she sent
them all she had; and with the added cap-
ital they produced an aeroplane that flew!
It was on December 17, 1903, that the first
Wright aeroplane, carrying a gasoline en-
gine, went into the air against a twenty-
mile wind, stayed up fifty-nine seconds, and
covered eight hundred and fifty-two feet.
This was the first time in the history of the
world that a successful flight of this nature
had been made.
After a few more experimental flights the
brothers returned to Dayton, where they
worked over their machine for a year and a
half. They rebuilt it, tried it out in various
winds, and learned to turn corners and to
do all the daring stunts that were necessary
if they were actually to learn to fly.
They said very little about their work and
they did not at all mind when their friends
called them crazy. They had a mission on
earth, and they worked night and day until
they were satisfied with their machine.
WILBUR AND ORVILLE WRIGHT 43
Then, in the fall of 1905, they really began
to fly. On October fifth their aeroplane flew
twenty-four and one-quarter miles in thirty-
eight minutes and three seconds. In a few
years the brothers began to give public per-
formances of their plane.
Later they went to Europe, there to re-
ceive the homage of rulers and statesmen.
They insisted that their sister, Miss Kath-
arine Wright, accompany them. She had
given them the money to go on with their
work, so both brothers desired that she
should share with them any praise they
might receive.
The Wright brothers' success did not turn
their heads. When they came back to
America they were as quiet and self-con-
tained as when they left. They had yet
much work to do on their machine even
though they had conquered the art of fly-
ing, and they did not intend to cease their
labors until they had perfected their plane.
•
One of the greatest honors paid the two
young men was the presentation to them, by
44 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
President Taf t, of gold medals given by the
Aero Club of America. At this time Pres-
ident Taft also honored Miss Katharine
Wright for the aid and encouragement that
she had given her brothers.
The achievement of Wilbur and Orville
Wright is a great proof that success follows
perseverance and hard work.
© Paul Thompson
GEORGE EASTMAN —
WHO SAW SUCCESS
THROUGH A CAMERA LENS
IN the days when cameras were compli-
cated and very expensive, a young bank
clerk in Rochester, New York, sudden-
ly made up his mind that he would like to
take pictures. However, very few people
made use of cameras at that time, with the
exception of professional photographers.
One day the young bank clerk went to a
photographer.
"Why can I not take a camera and go out
and get some views?" he asked.
46 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
"You can, my boy," said the photogra-
pher. "All you need to do is to take along
some bottles of nitrate of silver, a few other
chemicals, some squares of glass, a camera,
a wet plate holder, a tripod, and a tent for a
dark room." The photographer laughed.
He thought it was a great joke on the boy.
Day after day young George Eastman
thought it all over. "Perhaps it can be done
easier than that," he concluded, but how was
he to know until he had learned something
about photography? Back to the photog-
rapher he went.
"Will you teach me to take photographs
if I pay you five dollars?'' he asked.
"Of course I will, gladly," answered this
Rochester photographer, but, being an hon-
est man, he added : "I will tell you right now,
my boy, it is a silly thing for you to do, for it
will be a waste of time. Do you think if I
had a job in a bank that I would spend any
time in this little business?"
The young Eastman boy used much of his
spare time learning about photography and
GEORGE EASTMAN 47
the old wet plate process. "If I could only
make these plates so that I could develop
them at home, it would be easy to take pic-
tures/' he said to himself; and then he be-
gan to study. He had to do all his experi-
menting in a small room at home at night.
Finally he worked out a process for mixing
the nitrate of silver with gelatine, which
dried on the plate.
George Eastman bought a camera with
his hard-earned money and set forth to take
pictures. He was one of the first amateur
photographers in this country.
About this time he invented a machine for
coating the sensitive preparation on the
glass plates. During his vacation, he went
over to Europe and sold his patent for a
sum that seemed to him a fortune — twelve
hundred dollars.
Returning to Rochester and taking from
the savings bank all the money he had been
able to put in it during the years he had been
working as a clerk, George Eastman fitted
up two small rooms and started to manufac-
48 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
ture dry plates for sale, but he did not give
up his job in the bank.
Night after night he worked until after
midnight. He hired a young man to help
him. Finally, in 1881, he had enough cap-
ital so that he and his partner put up a four-
story building on what is now Kodak Street.
Then he discovered that the dry plates
that the dealers had purchased and kept
through the winter were not good the fol-
lowing summer. There was only one thing
to do: that was to replace all the plates in
stock. This took all the money the concern
had made.
Mr. Eastman's partner was in Europe at
that time. When he came home, Mr. East-
man said to him, "We are all cleaned out/'
and then told him what he had done. The
partner, who was an older man and experi-
enced in other lines, said, "You are on the
right road. Go ahead. That is the way to
build up your reputation."
After many disappointments, his experi-
ments led to the making of dry plates that
"You ARE ON THE RIGHT ROAD. Go
AHEAD. THAT Is THE WAY To BUILD
UP YOUR REPUTATION."
50 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
would last through several seasons. His
trade was chiefly with professional photog-
raphers, for few people cared to go out
with a big case full of dry plate holders, a
big bellows camera, and a long, ungainly
tripod.
"I believe almost everyone would like to
take pictures if it could be made easier and
less expensive," declared Mr. Eastman, and
so he set to work to develop a self-contained
camera with a roll of fifty exposures on one
strip of paper instead of single sheets of
glass. This camera had to be loaded and
unloaded in the dark, but it was a great in-
vention ; and people began more and more to
take up amateur photography.
He gave his invention the name, "kodak,"
which is now one of the most valuable trade-
marks in the world, partly because it repre-
sents a big idea and partly because it has be-
come known everywhere as a guarantee of
reliability.
Last of all came the daylight-loading
films, and then the compact little metal ko-
GEORGE EASTMAN 51
daks covered with leather. To-day, because
of Mr. Eastman's invention, there is scarce-
ly a family of moderate means in the coun-
try that does not have a camera.
George Eastman was born in Waterville,
New York, July 12, 1854. When he was six
years old his family moved to Rochester,
New York, where he has resided ever since.
When George was seven years old his father
died. Though the family had very little
money, Mrs. Eastman kept her son in school
until he was fourteen years old, at which
time it was necessary for him to go to work.
Later, this boy, after overcoming many
obstacles, wrote the sentence, "You press
the button and we do the rest." To-day, be-
cause of his famous invention, the kodak, he
is worth a great many millions of dollars,
every cent of which he earned by using his
brain.
A few years ago, the president of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology an-
nounced that two million three hundred
thousand dollars had been given to the
52 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
school by some one who did not wish his
name to be known. He said the gift was
from "Mr. Smith." A year or so later, an-
other gift of several millions came from
"Mr. Smith." And at last, after a total of
eleven million dollars had been presented to
the school, it was discovered that George
Eastman was the man who had hidden his
identity under the name of "Mr. Smith."
Thus the Rochester boy who had such a
struggle to get technical knowledge of pho-
tography is helping to make it possible for
other boys to have technical training.
"Nowadays it is the boy who has real
technical training who is most able to com-
pete in the world," said Mr. Eastman. "I
wanted to give money where it would be
most useful to boys like myself who wished
to develop their talents in some particular
field. The colleges and universities of the
present day give boys this opportunity.
They are much better places to study in
than the back room where I began my ex-
periments with photography."
© Undenvood & Underwood
THEODORE ROOSEVELT—
THE BOY WHO DEVELOPED His BODY
AS WELL AS His MIND
D~!CAUSE he was pale and timid, and did
not run and play like other boys, a
certain lad who grew up in New York
City spent many unhappy hours. He real-
ized that he could not compete with his
young friends in games and sports, and he
knew that they did not care to take him into
their games on that account.
Later this boy became one of the most
famous, most rugged, brave, adventurous,
outdoor Americans in our history — cowboy,
54 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
ranchman, Rough Rider, fearless soldier,
big game hunter, explorer, United States
president.
Theodore Roosevelt, of course!
What live, wide-awake American boy has
not admired him, worshipped him as a hero,
and longed to emulate him in all the wonder-
ful adventures of his life?
Theodore Roosevelt was born in New
York City, October 27, 1858. At twelve
years of age — even at fifteen, he was in poor
health. When he was fourteen years old he
was taken to Egypt upon the advice of phy-
sicians, but he seemed no better when he
came back.
He had gained something, however, for he
had made a great decision — he would be-
come a famous naturalist. He would be a
professor in a college and would go all over
the world exploring and having adventures.
There was no doubt about this desire. He
recorded it himself. His family was well
aware of it, for his trunks while abroad and
his room at home were filled with a great as-
THEODORE ROOSEVELT 55
sortment of "specimens" — strange pressed
flowers, minerals, and shells.
The boy Theodore suddenly realized that
he could not go on scientific expeditions into
the Arctic and down into the tropics unless
he were strong and healthy, for the books
on such subjects that he had read had taught
him so. He knew that he was not so large or
so strong as boys of his age or as many boys
considerably younger than he.
To become a great naturalist he must be-
come a strong man. To become a strong
man he must exercise and live out of doors.
When he left home and entered Harvard
University he had an excellent opportunity
to be out of doors and to take strenuous ex-
ercise.
"I really preferred the warm corner by
the fireplace and a good book, such as a sea
story or Indian story or a book on nature,
to getting out of doors," he once said of him-
self. Yet he interested himself in sports.
He began to ride horseback and he took
up rowing. Because of wearing glasses he
56 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
could not play baseball, but with his glasses
removed he could see well enough to box.
This being a very strenuous form of exercise
and one that he still feared most of all, he
fairly forced himself into it. He stood up
and took the painful blows when his inner-
most desire was to duck and back away. It
has been said that Harvard University nev-
er turned out an amateur boxer equal to
Theodore Roosevelt.
At twenty-one years of age he was grad-
uated from Harvard. His scholarship had
been excellent as was manifested by his
election to Phi Beta Kappa. He had also
been very active in undergraduate life. He
entered college with a desire to do great
deeds. To attain this goal he worked hard,
building up his body and his mind.
Before he finished his college work he de-
cided that he would not care to be a natural
scientist. Such work, in those days, meant
too close confinement to the laboratory. He
felt that he must spend more time in the
open.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT 57
Upon leaving college his uncle persuaded
him to take up the study of law at Columbia
University. At the same time he worked
for a few hours every day in his uncle's law-
office.
At the age of twenty-three he was elected
to the New York state legislature. He was
reelected twice. After serving for three
years in the legislature he decided to follow
his boyhood plan to become strong by out-
door life.
The exercises he had made himself take
when a boy, the encounters with other boys
that he had forced himself to meet, had help-
ed him. Yet he needed more of the great
outdoors, not the outdoors of the city streets
but the real outdoors. He surprised his rel-
atives when he declared that he was going
"out West to be a cowboy."
"Surely, Theodore," they said to him, "you
are not serious. Only little boys dream such
dreams."
"I need more strength, more health. I am
going to set aside part of the money my
58 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
father left me and spend it in building up my
body by living in the open/' he replied.
That is exactly what Theodore Roosevelt
did.
"If I had stayed in the city," he once said,
"I would not have lived a very long life and
surely never a useful one. I wanted the cozy
library and warm fire, with books and speci-
mens to study; but I needed more rich red
blood and hard muscles, so I went West and
became a cowboy and ranchman."
For more than two years he lived in the
wilds of North Dakota and it was indeed
wild, back in 1884. He owned a string of
horses ; he slept out with the other herders ;
he rode in the round-ups; he hunted grizzly
bears and mountain sheep; he fished; and
when he left the ranch he was at last in good
health. He possessed muscles of steel, his
cheeks were ruddy, and he was able to go
back and live the strenuous life about which
he so constantly preached.
Boxing bouts ; bear hunting in the South-
ern canebrakes; bobcat hunting in Colo-
THEODORE ROOSEVELT 59
rado; fighting in the Spanish-American
War; daily exercise while president; ele-
phant, tiger, and lion hunting in Africa ; ex-
plorations in South America at an age when
most men feel that they should retire from
active pursuits — such were the exploits of
Theodore Roosevelt.
Here was a weakling, the sort of boy that
the average person pities deeply, yet laughs
at. The boy knew that he was a weakling,
but he studied his problem and discovered
that its solution lay in the great out-of-
doors.
(c) Underwood & Underwood
WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT—
WHOSE HEAD WAS NOT TURNED BY His
FATHER'S SUCCESS
\\M ILLIAM HOWARD TAFT was born
\\/ in Cincinnati, Ohio, September 15,
* ' 1857. His father was a very wealthy
and prominent man. Though the boy had
every advantage that money and position
could give him, he was no different from
other boys. He was always popular with his
boyhood companions. He had a sunny dis-
position, and hated any underhand action.
Because his father had graduated from
Yale, William Howard Taft looked forward
WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT 61
•.
to attending that university. He was going
to study, and he was also going to enter into
all forms of athletics. He reached Yale
when he was very young, being just seven-
teen years of age. He was a robust lad,
weighing two hundred and twenty-five
pounds. When, about three hours after his
arrival, he joined his classmates in the fresh-
man rush, he soon proved that he had plenty
of class spirit.
At Yale he won several special prizes for
his work, and was also one of the star ath-
letes. He was the champion wrestler of the
college, rowed stroke on his class crew, and
was "anchor" in the tug-of-war. He also
boxed. He was very popular with all the
boys, quickly becoming one of the leaders in
the university.
When he was graduated from college
William Howard Taft returned to his home
in Cincinnati. He studied in the Cincinnati
Law School from which he was graduated
two years later, in 1880. While he was study-
ing law he was working in his father's law
62 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
office and also was acting as a newspaper re-
porter.
Mr. Taf t followed his father's interests in
law and politics, and soon became an office
holder, the collector of internal revenue for
his district. He was an able lawyer, and so
well known for his legal work that in 1890
he was made solicitor-general of the United
States by President Harrison.
In 1898 the Philippine Islands came into
the possession of the United States as a re-
sult of our war with Spain. Now that these
islands belonged to us it was necessary that
they should be properly governed. Presi-
dent McKinley decided that Mr. Taft was
the right man to undertake such a task and
asked him to become chairman of the com-
mission appointed for this purpose.
Mr. Taft felt that we should not retain the
islands but he was willing to go and do what
he could to help the Filipinos. He helped
them to build schools and roads, to establish
post offices, to found banks, and to develop
proper sanitary conditions, but most impor-
WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT 63
tant of all, to learn self-government. His
work there was of tremendous importance.
After serving in the Philippines for four
years Mr. Taft accepted President Roose-
velt's invitation to become secretary of war.
One of his biggest tasks, while he held this
office, was the building of the Panama Canal.
After President Roosevelt's second term,
Mr. Taft was elected president of the United
States.
As in boyhood, William Howard Taft has
always been very popular with those who
know him. He likes to joke, but in his jok-
ing he has been careful never to hurt the
feelings of anyone. He has a quick smile
which he developed when he was a boy, and
he also has the habit of not making enemies,
thinking twice before he speaks. He has al-
ways been a hard, conscientious worker.
After his retirement from the presidency,
Mr. Taft lived quietly at New Haven, Con-
necticut, teaching at Yale, and writing.
During the war his country called on him
for his services, and he took an active part
64 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
in various organizations, chief among which
was the American Red Cross of which he
was director.
What Mr. Taft calls his greatest honor,
however, came to him in July, 1921, when he
was appointed chief justice of the United
States. Throughout all his career, Mr. Taft
remarked that he hoped that some day he
might hold this position. He felt that he
was better fitted to be chief justice than
president. He might have had the honor
earlier in life, before he was president, but
his friends told him that his duty was in the
presidential chair.
It was Colonel Roosevelt who said of Mr.
Taft: "There is not in the nation a higher
or a finer type of public servant than Wil-
liam Howard Taft."
(c) Underwood & Underwood
WOODROW WILSON—
THE SOUTHERN BOY
WHO BECAME PRESIDENT
oA SMALL boy hung over the fence be-
/ \ fore his father's home in Augusta,
^ ^ Georgia, and heard two men talk-
ing very earnestly, paying no attention to
the listening boy.
One of the men said, "Now that Lincoln is
elected, there will be war."
The boy was too young to understand just
what "war" meant, but he could tell by the
tone of the men's voices that it was some-
thing very serious. He slipped down from
66 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
the fence and hurried into the big house.
He went at once to his father's study.
"Father, what does 'war' mean?"
The boy's father was always ready to talk
with his son, so he put down his pen.
"Why do you ask, Tommy?" he questioned.
Then the boy told of the conversation he
had heard.
His father nodded gravely.
"Well," he explained, "Mr. Lincoln, who is
to be the next president of the United States,
wants the people of the South to free their
slaves. The people of the South do not want
to do this. It will mean quarreling, and per-
haps fighting, between the northern and
southern states. There will be armies, sol-
diers will come, and that will mean what is
called a civil war. Now run along, Tommy.
I must work on my sermon."
That was the way in which Woodrow Wil-
son first heard of war — Woodrow Wilson
who was to be the great wTar president of the
United States when our country entered the
recent conflict that shook the entire world.
WOODROW WILSON 67
The great Civil War about which the boy
heard that day did come, but it did not affect
young Tommy Wilson's life, for the town in
which he lived was not harmed. General
Sherman in his famous march to the sea
threatened to go into Augusta, Georgia, but
he changed his plans.
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born at
Staunton, Virginia, December 28, 1856. His
father was a Presbyterian minister. When
Thomas was a very small boy his father ac-
cepted a pastorate at Augusta, Georgia,
where the boy grew up and where he started
his education. During his early days he was
known as Tommy Wilson, but later he
dropped the name Thomas and called him-
self Woodrow Wilson, Woodrow being his
mother's maiden name.
Woodrow Wilson was always an active
boy, both mentally and physically. His
greatest chum was his father and, long be-
fore it was time for him to go to school, he
and his father studied together. People who
knew him as a small boy say that they re-
68 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
member him best for the fact that he was al-
ways running, always in a hurry to get
somewhere. When he reached his teens, he
formed a baseball club. In addition to play-
ing baseball, the club held many meetings.
These meetings were carried on in strict ac-
cordance with parliamentary law.
When he was about fourteen years of age
young Wilson played a great game which
lasted for months. He pretended that he
was an admiral in the United States Navy,
and wrote reports to the Navy Department
regarding his work. One of his duties was
the capture of a band of pirates in the South-
ern Pacific Ocean.
Young Wilson entered Davidson College
in North Carolina shortly before he was
seventeen years of age. His life there was
not an easy one. Every boy had to clean his
own room, fill his own lamp, bring in water,
chop his firewood and carry it to his room.
Mr. Wilson did not finish his course at
Davidson College, for he became ill before
the end of his first year and had to return
WOODROW WILSON 69
home. He spent the next year at home, and
then, not quite nineteen years of age, enter-
ed Princeton University, from which he was
graduated in 1879.
Woodrow Wilson decided very early in his
life that he wanted to become a statesman.
He studied the lives of the great statesmen,
and practiced writing and making speeches.
Even before he was graduated he began writ-
ing for magazines on diplomatic subjects.
This interest, however, did not stop him
from being an all-round athlete, and during
his college days he carefully built for him-
self a strong, clean body. He was president
of the athletic committee, one of the five
directors of the football association, and a
member of the baseball team.
After his graduation from Princeton Uni-
versity, Woodrow Wilson studied law at the
University of Virginia from which he was
graduated in 1881. He practiced law in At-
lanta, Georgia, for about a year.
He then decided that he wanted a differ-
ent type of life, so he entered Johns Hopkins
70 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
University to take graduate work in polit-
ical science. In 1886 he received the degree
of doctor of philosophy from that institu-
tion. He taught in several colleges, and
finally became president of Princeton Uni-
versity.
For many years Mr. Wilson had been in-
terested in politics, and in 1910 he was
elected governor of the State of New Jersey.
His greatest honor came when he was
elected president of the United States. Dur-
ing his two terms, the boy who had asked
what war meant passed through the grim-
•
ness of conflict. At the close of the war he
went to Europe to attend the peace confer-
ence and worked with all his might to bring
about a truly lasting peace.
© Underwood & Undenvood
WARREN G. HARDING—
THE BOY PRINTER
WHO BECAME PRESIDENT
ARREN G. HARDING was born
on a farm at Blooming Grove,
Ohio, on November 2, 1865. His
father was a physician whose practice was
largely among the farm people outside the
village. Warren was the oldest child of the
family, and from boyhood he was large and
strong. He was also very active, both men-
tally and physically.
Doctor Harding tells that when his son
Warren was three years old he came to his
72 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
mother's knee one afternoon with a picture
book in his hand, and said that he wished
that he could read. Mrs. Harding left her
sewing to get a large piece of cardboard.
She marked this in squares and put a letter
in each square. That afternoon Warren
Harding learned his A B C's. Later, when
he was a little older, he became a great read-
er and showed a remarkable talent for re-
membering everything he read — a trait that
has helped him in his public life.
Warren Harding went to the village
school and was always a very good student,
but he never allowed his love of books to
take all of his attention. He was fond of all
sorts of out-of-door sports, and was popular
with the other boys.
His mother loved flowers, and her garden
was one of the most beautiful sights of the
neighborhood. She had a great deal of
housework to do, of course, and so did not
have any too much time to spend in her be-
loved garden. Warren helped her con-
stantly, weeding and watering it.
WARREN G. HARDING 73
The boy never forgot his mother's love of
flowers, and when he grew up he used to
take her a bouquet every Sunday morning.
Whenever he had to be away on business he
arranged to have a florist deliver flowers to
her. Mr. Harding greatly regrets that his
mother did not live to see her son elected to
the highest position in our country.
As Warren grew older he became a great
worker. During one summer vacation he
learned to make bricks at the local brick
yard. Another time he worked as a con-
struction hand on the Toledo and Ohio Rail-
way, and during still another vacation he
helped to paint the frame stations of the
same railway.
One of the greatest joys of his youth was
the town band in which he played the tenor
horn. He was very fond of music, and was
an ardent supporter of the band, which was
the pride of the neighborhood.
His father owned a share in a newspaper
called the Caledonia Argus. Warren went
to work in this newspaper office, setting
74 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
type, doing odd jobs, and carefully watching
the making of the paper.
At fourteen years of age young Harding
went to Ohio Central College at Iberia. He
was graduated from that school with the
degree of Bachelor of Science.
He studied law for a short time after
graduating from college. Then he took a
position as an insurance agent. However,
he had never ceased to be interested in news-
paper work and soon obtained a position on
a newspaper in his home town. When the
presidential campaign between Elaine and
Cleveland was started, Harding, who was a
strong Republican, favored Elaine. The
paper for which he worked, however, was
Democratic — and he lost his job.
Young Harding found that a small paper,
the Marion Daily Star, was for sale and
decided to purchase it. Though he was very
young, he had given such careful study to
newspaper making that the Star began to
grow at once, and soon became a successful
paper.
WARREN G. HARDING 75
When Mr. Harding first bought the
Marion Star and began to write its editor-
ials, his father had a long talk with him and
pointed out the fact that no good ever came
from abusing people. His mother also em-
phasized this benevolent principle, and so all
through his life Warren Harding has fol-
lowed the doctrine that if you cannot say
anything good about a person it is better to
keep silent.
Mr. Harding did not enter political life in
his youth other than to write newspaper edi-
torials on political questions. He was thirty-
four years old when he was elected to the
Ohio State Senate, where he served four
years. For two years he was the lieutenant
governor of Ohio, but was defeated when he
ran for governor. He was later elected
United States senator from his state, a posi-
tion he held until he was nominated for pres-
ident.
In his political life, just as in his private
aifairs, Warren Harding's success has been
largely due to the fact that he has never for-
76 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
gotten to be cheerful and good-natured. He
has always tackled his problems with a
smile, no matter if they were world prob-
lems of state such as he found awaiting him
at Washington, or small personal problems
concerning no one but himself.
Doctor Harding said, after his son's elec-
tion to the presidency, that he thought that
his success as a man was largely due to the
fact that he carefully learned to play the
part of a man when he was still a boy.
© Clinedinst
GEORGE WASHINGTON GOETHALS —
THE BOY WHO SHAPED His OWN CAREER
PRESIDENT Roosevelt arose from his
desk chair at the White House one
day early in the year 1907 and, smil-
ing, offered his hand to a man who had been
sitting opposite.
"Now, go and build it," the President said,
and the man, shaking the President's hand,
bowed, and went away, ready and anxious to
start work. He had just been given one of
the biggest engineering jobs ever offered to
any man ; but he was not afraid. He was a
soldier, and accustomed to taking orders ; so
78 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
he hurried to his post of duty. In seven
years he finished his task, one as great as
the building of the Great Wall of China, and
even greater than the building of the Suez
Canal.
That man was George Washington Goe-
thals, and his job was the building of the
Panama Canal, that great waterway that
connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
George Washington Goethals was born in
Brooklyn, New York, on June 29, 1858. He
is of Dutch descent, his ancestors having
been among the early settlers of the section
of the country about New York City.
He was always an ambitious boy. He was
anxious to win an education for himself and
not at all afraid of the hard work that he
would have to do to earn money to gain that
education.
He was never a very strong boy, for he
•
rapidly grew tall and slender. One of his
"jobs" during his youth was the care of his
body to prevent himself from becoming ill.
When he was not working over his school
GEORGE WASHINGTON GOETHALS 79
books, or doing errands to earn money, he
was exercising. He kept himself in constant
training, and was one of the swiftest run-
ners among his boy friends.
George Goethals took his first regular job
when he was eleven years old, acting as er-
rand boy for a New York broker. He did
this work Saturdays, holidays, and after
school.
When he was fourteen years old, George
had advanced so far in arithmetic that he
was able to take the position of bookkeeper
for a produce merchant in New York City.
This work was also carried on after school,
and on holidays.
He was a very sincere boy and never
shirked his work. The produce merchant
realized this fact, and, while he had only
agreed to pay George five dollars a week for
his services, he advanced the boy rather rap-
idly until George was earning fifteen dollars
a week, which was a very good salary.
While doing this work, and with the money
so earned, George put himself through the
80 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
College of the City of New York. He was
about seventeen years of age when he finish-
ed the college course.
As he had made up his mind to become a
doctor he entered Columbia College. His
years of hard study and even harder work,
which had kept him busy all day and far in-
to every evening, made him ill in spite of his
attempts to keep well and strong, and he
had to give up his studies.
He was not at all discouraged by his fail-
ure to go on, but decided that as long as he
could not become a physician, he would like
to enter West Point and learn to be a soldier.
He wrote to President Grant of his desire to
study at the famous military academy, but
his letter was not answered. That did not
cause him to change his plans.
George Goethals was the type of boy who
does things, if not in one way, then in an-
other ; and he started out to find a man who
would enter him at West Point. A famous
New York politician named "Sunset" Cox
was much impressed by the boy's ambitions
GEORGE WASHINGTON GOETHALS 81
and, feeling sure that George would succeed,
arranged for him to enter West Point. On
April 21, 1876, he became a student at the
United States Military Academy.
George was then not quite eighteen. In
his military studies he displayed the same
courage and grit that had enabled him at
fourteen to work his way through college.
He was very popular at West Point and in
his senior year was elected president of his
class.
After four years he was graduated second
in a class of fifty-four, and was one of the
two graduates who won the honor of being
selected as worthy of a place in the Corps of
Engineers. These honors came to him be-
cause he had earned them. He was a good
soldier, and he had learned the valuable les-
son of doing as he was told.
Upon graduation he was appointed second
lieutenant, but young Goethals did not stop
his studying. For two years he served with
the engineers, and his motto was "I am here
to learn." He did learn, and learned so well
82 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
that in two more years he was made a first
lieutenant, and in 1891 he received the com-
mission of captain.
In the years that followed, George Goe-
thals had many duties to perform and won
many honors. He taught military engineer-
ing for two years at West Point ; he had
charge of the army construction of the
Mussel Shoals locks and dams on the Ten-
nessee River — a very important piece of
work; and he was honored at Washington
by being made a member of the General
Staff of the Army.
When the time came to select a man who
W7ould carry out the building of the Panama
Canal, President Roosevelt sent for George
Goethals because he knew that he was a man
who had fitted himself from boyhood to un-
dertake a big job. His army record was per-
fect and he had executed all of his commis-
ions, both great and small, with the same
perfection.
George Washington Goethals went to
Panama, and soon showed all the men work-
GEORGE WASHINGTON GOETHALS 83
ing under him what it meant to be a good
soldier. He had been given a job to do and,
like a true soldier, he did it.
x
It was a gigantic undertaking, but Colonel
Goethals soon made the men realize that
they were there to work, not to loaf. He set
aside a time during which any man who had
a just grievance could consult him. By so
doing he came in contact with the many
problems of the men, thus averting labor
difficulties. One of the reasons that he was
able to work so well was that he had taken
such good care of his body all through his
life.
General Goethals' life is a splendid exam-
ple of a boy who shaped his own career by
working hard, by sparing himself no efforts
in carrying out orders successfully, and by
giving intelligent care to his health.
© Underwood & Underwood
WILLIAM CRAWFORD GORGAS—
WHOSE FIGHT FOR SANITATION MADE THE
PANAMA CANAL POSSIBLE
WHEN the Civil War broke out in
1861, a boy seven years old was
even more interested than most
boys of his age, for everywhere he went in
his home town of Mobile, Alabama, he heard
people saying that General Gorgas was go-
ing to fight for the South. The small boy did
not exactly understand why they should all
talk so much about it, but he did know that
as his father, General Josiah Gorgas, was a
soldier he would certainly fight in the war.
WILLIAM CRAWFORD GORGAS 85
William Crawford Gorgas was that small
boy's name, and he wished that he, too, was
old enough to be a soldier. He loved his
father, and his father's uniforms, and he
made a vow that when he grew old enough
he was going into the army and be a great
soldier.
That boyhood vow did come true, for later
in life William Crawford Gorgas became
one of the greatest fighters the world has
ever known. But he did not fight with guns.
His fighting implements were such odd
weapons as oil cans, wire netting, and picks
and shovels, for his enemies were the unsan-
itary conditions that breed disease and
death. By caring for the sanitation of the
tropical lands he was able to keep healthy
the men who labored in the heat to build the
Panama Canal.
William Crawford Gorgas was born at
Mobile, Alabama, October 3, 1854. His
grandfather had been a governor of Ala-
bama, and his father was educated at West
Point, advancing to the rank of general.
86 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
From the time he was seven until he was
eleven years of age the boy knew what it
meant to live in a country at war. He was
intensely interested in the welfare of his
fighting father and the other fighting men
he knew.
A deep impression was made on the boy's
mind by the suffering which he saw. It was
in those years that his thoughts first turned
toward medicine, and the career of a physi-
cian began to attract him almost as much as
the possibilities of being a soldier.
William Gorgas went to the public school
and was a keen student. After completing
his preparatory work he entered college. In
1875 he was graduated from the University
of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee.
He then went at once to New York City,
where for four years he studied at the
Bellevue Hospital Medical College. Through-
out his youth William Gorgas showed the
same characteristics that made him a suc-
cessful man. He was a very thorough boy;
when he had a job to do, he did it well.
WILLIAM CRAWFORD GORGAS 87
By the end of his college course William
Gorgas had made up his mind that he would
combine his two childhood ambitions — he
would be a doctor and a soldier. So he ap-
plied for admisson to the Medical Corps of
the United States army.
He was appointed to the post of surgeon
in 1880. His first work was in the Southern
states, and then he went to the Mexican
border, where he served as an army surgeon
and won promotions, until in 1898 he ranked
as major.
It was in Cuba, at the time of the Spanish-
American War, that he first became inter-
nationally famous for his work in sanita-
tion. At that time Cuba was a very un-
healthy place for white people, for the yel-
low fever was prevalent and nearly always
fatal. William Gorgas was placed in charge
of the work of cleaning up the city of Ha-
vana, and did the job so perfectly that he
was afterwards sent to Panama to have
charge of the sanitary work during the
building of the canal.
88 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
Just how great a job William Gorgas had
at Panama can be understood from the fact
that during the nine years that the French
government was working on the canal (the
French government attempted but failed to
build the Panama Canal before the United
States government took it over), they lost
22,819 men because of tropical diseases.
When Colonel Gorgas inspected the Canal
he saw immediately what he would have to
do. There were open sewers along the edges
of the native streets, and everywhere there
were pools of stagnant water in which mos-
quitoes bred. These conditions had to be
overcome in order to eliminate disease.
Colonel Gorgas went to work quietly and
quickly. He dug proper sewers, he cared for
the water systems, he cleaned all the streets,
and issued warnings and commands regard-
ing the care of foodstuffs. He ordered all
houses screened, and saw that the tropical
roaches and ants were banished from the
living quarters of the white men and natives
alike. Also his army of workers went out
WIDLIAM CRAWFORD GORGAS 89
with oil cans, and when they could not drain
off a stagnant pool they covered it with oil,
thus killing the mosquitoes.
It was not an easy task that Colonel Gor-
gas had undertaken, and very often his ef-
forts were met with grumbling, because he
was strict and made people take precautions
that they thought were unnecessary. His
boyhood thoroughness was much in evi-
dence. No matter how many people object-
ed to what he was doing he went right on,
never losing sight of the fact that he had
set out to accomplish certain results.
In a short time, however, the whole world
began to realize that General Gorgas was a
great soldier who fought to make the world
a better place. One of his friends once said
that he was never moved by slights, praise,
success, or defeat. The only things that
really moved him were sickness and suf-
fering.
At the Canal other officers could take visi-
tors to see what their departments had ac-
complished, but General Gorgas could not
90 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
show great locks, dams, or how he had mov-
ed a mountain. However, he could have
pointed out the difference between the old
French cemetery and the American, for few
American workers died — they lived to work.
General Gorgas was a modest man; he did
not care for praise. He knew that he had
done his work well; and that was all that
counted.
Underwood
Underwood
ROBERT DOLLAR—
THE BOY WHO APPLIED ARITHMETIC
To His NAME
HEN you are a cook's helper in a
lumber camp, you do not have much
leisure of your own, even for such
important subjects as arithmetic. This is
what young Robert Dollar thought as he
scribbled on a piece of wrapping paper.
It was the cook who interrupted him, de-
manding why he was not peeling the pota-
toes.
"The potatoes are all peeled, washed, and
boiling," remarked the boy quietly.
92 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
"Well," retorted the cook, "how about the
beans? This is not a summer resort."
"The beans are washed and soaking," re-
plied the boy.
At this moment, when the cook was be-
ginning to grumble again and complain
about a cook's helper who spent his time
scribbling, Hiram Robinson, manager of the
camp, came up.
"Keep right on with your writing," said
Mr. Robinson. "When your work is done, it
is no one's business how much you scribble.
Are you writing a letter ?':
The boy shook his head. "No, it is a sum
in board measure, sir," he answered. Then
he showed the manager how he had worked
out a problem which he had overheard the
manager and the bookkeeper discussing.
This demonstration of alertness on the
part of the cook's helper was a new expe-
rience for the manager, and he began to take
an interest in the youth. This was the be-
ginning of the upward journey of one of
America's biggest business men.
ROBERT DOLLAR 93
Robert Dollar was born in Scotland, in
1844. His parents moved to Canada when
he was a young boy. Soon after that, he was
sent out into the lumber camps and had to
endure the hardships of such a life.
But this was not the kind of career that
his clear brain told him that he should have.
In the intervals of his work he was constant-
ly reading and studying, preparing himself
for something more to his liking and with
more of a future to it than felling trees.
When he was twenty-one years old, young
Dollar took fifty men and a big log drive
down the river, and was so successful in the
venture that he was made foreman.
Seven years later he bought some timber-
land with his savings and had started to
work on it, when a sudden financial panic
left him bankrupt. By constant, unweary-
ing effort, he cleared himself of debt within
four years and made a fresh start, cutting
and shipping lumber.
After a few years Robert Dollar removed
to the United States and purchased large
94 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
tracts of timberland in Michigan. He car-
ried on an extensive business with England
and also sold great quantities of lumber in
the United States.
Being a farsighted man Mr. Dollar was
looking toward the future. He realized that
the greatest undeveloped market for lumber
was in China and made two trips there to in-
vestigate conditions. He believed that Cali-
fornia, with her large supply of redwood,
would be an ideal location from which to
carry on trade with the Orient. With this
end in view he moved there in the late eight-
ies.
He soon observed that the high shipping
rates which he had to pay left him with very
little profit. He decided that it would be
more economical for him to ship his lumber
himself, so he bought an old boat called
"Newsboy." In less than a year this ship
had paid for itself in the saving in shipping
costs. With this striking object lesson, Mr.
Dollar decided that the more boats he owned,
the more money he could make ; and he con-
'KEEP RIGHT ON WITH YOUR WRITING,"
SAID MR. ROBINSON. "WHEN YOUR
WORK Is DONE, IT Is No ONE'S BUSI-
NESS How MUCH You SCRIBBLE."
96 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
sequently began to put all his savings into
ships.
Before many years, he established the fa-
mous Robert Dollar Steamship Company
and had one fleet plying between Alaska and
Panama, and another fleet sailing across the
Pacific Ocean.
Robert Dollar's service to the United
States has been great. He has been very in-
fluential in smoothing out difficulties be-
tween the United States and the Orient, and
also in developing our trade with China and
Japan,
Robert Dollar did not have a hundredth
part of his own name when he went into the
lumber camp at an early age. By great
foresight and indefatigable labor, he amass-
ed a great fortune.
When Mr. Dollar was nearly seventy
years old, a customer one day complained
that a big pile of lumber which he had just
purchased was in poor condition. Mr. Dol-
lar climbed agilely to the top of the pile, ex-
amined it, and found it sound.
ROBERT DOLLAR 97
"You should try to learn the business
standards of the Chinaman," he said to the
customer as he climbed down. "In all my
years of dealing with them, I have never
known one of them to lie or cheat/'
When Robert Dollar was seventy-four
years old he went back to Ottawa to see an
old man, then nearly ninety years of age.
"Do you remember me?" he inquired.
The old man peered at him curiously, and
then his eyes lighted up.
"Of course I do. You are Bob Dollar, my
old cook-boy."
This old man was Hiram Robinson, the
first person to take an interest in the devel-
opment of the future shipowner.
Mr. Dollar has five simple rules which he
says will enable any boy to succeed. They
are brief :
"Fear God.
"Be honest.
"Work hard.
"Save money.
"Use no intoxicants."
© P. and A. Photo
JAMES J. HILL-
WHO HELPED To DEVELOP
A CONTINENT
JAMES J. HILL was born in a log house
on a little farm near Guelph, Ontario,
Canada, September 16, 1838.
When James was fourteen years old his
father died, so it was necessary for the boy
to discontinue his schooling. He became a
clerk in a country store where he worked
for nearly four years. He then started out
to make his fortune in the United States.
As he was interested in shipping he made
his way through New York state to the At-
JAMES J. HILL 99
lantic Ocean. He visited several seaport
towns, but not finding there an opportunity
for what he wanted to do he started west-
ward. He finally reached St. Paul, Minne-
sota, where he obtained work as a shipping
clerk for a transportation company.
"Well," young Hill remarked one day to a
fellow worker, "we are loading steamers
now, but it will not be long before the rail-
roads will take their place."
The other man laughed. "I guess you are
dreaming, Jim," he said. "You will not live
to see those newfangled railroads crowding
out the steamers. No sir!"
"Wait and see," replied young Hill.
Before.many years had passed this young
man's prophecy was fulfilled, and the
strange thing about it is that he made it
come true himself. Jim Hill, holding a mi-
nor position in a transportation company in
St. Paul, later came to be known as James J.
Hill, the "Empire Builder."
One day he gave his employer notice that
he was going to leave.
98039^
100 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
"I will give you more money/7 said his em-
ployer.
"No, thanks, you are paying me enough
for my work. I am going to start a trans-
portation company of my own," he replied.
"Do not try it, Hill," exclaimed the ship-
per. "There are too many transportation
companies here now, and the competition is
so great that you will not be able to make a
living."
"Well, all I can do is to lose what I have
saved," the young man answered. With a
partner he opened his new transportation
company, and made it prosper in spite of the
prediction of failure from his old employer.
One day he said to his partner, "What
would you think of opening a direct shipping
line to Winnipeg?'
"You might as well think of opening a di-
rect line through to Japan," replied his sur-
prised partner.
"I hope to do that some time," said young
Hill quietly. Of course, his partner did not
believe that he was serious.
JAMES J. HILL 101
For years he spent his Sunday afternoons
walking up and down the river front at St.
Paul, talking with steamboat men and ship-
pers and travelers who passed up and down
the river. In that way he learned the wishes
of these commercial men.
He learned that they desired to get lum-
ber and ore from the great unopened West.
He learned that the miners out there needed
machinery and other supplies which could be
obtained from the East.
He learned that in the West there were
thousands upon thousands of acres which
would yield wheat and corn and other things
needed to feed the world. However, it was
useless to plant these acres for it would cost
more than the crops were worth to haul the
products out by mules and horses, even if it
could be done.
Later, Mr. Hill opened the Red River
Transportation Company, the first commu-
nication between St. Paul and Winnipeg.
He organized a fuel company and syndicate,
securing control of the St. Paul and Pacific
102 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
Railroad. All the world knows how he built
the Great Northern Railway across half the
continent from Lake Superior to Puget
Sound, with northern and southern branch-
es, and a direct steamship line connecting
with China and Japan.
James J. Hill was more than a railroad
president. He earned the title of "Empire
Builder." He believed that the great North-
west must some day be opened to the world
of commerce, progress, and civilization, by
means of railroads. By keeping this idea
firmly before him he gradually worked out
all of his plans, and so he became one of the
great leaders of American industrial and
commercial development.
Mr. Hill never lost sight of his early ex-
periences; and the training of his boyhood,
although it was sometimes hard, enabled
him to do his big work later on.
"To be a success," he said, "you must start
at the bottom. It is the hard knocks that
teach us the valuable lessons. Whatever I
may have accomplished has been due to tak-
JAMES J. HILL 103
ing advantage of opportunities; and I have
not been watching the clock. The simple
truth is that the man who attends to his
work will succeed anywhere."
© Underwood & Underwood
JOHN WANAMAKER—
THE BOY WHO BUILDED WITH His BRAINS
INSTEAD OF WITH BRICKS
ONE dollar and a quarter a week is
not a very large wage, even for a
boy. It is likely to look smaller than
it really is, when a boy is eager and impa-
tient to get ahead and when he realizes that
if he were following his father's advice he
would be earning much more money.
Nevertheless, sometimes one dollar and a
quarter earned in doing work that you enjoy
and that will lead to the great work which
you hope to do at some distant day is worth
JOHN WANAMAKER 105
more to you than a much larger wage earned
in doing something that does not interest
you. That, at any rate, was the reasoning
of one of the world's greatest merchants
when he was a boy.
John Wanamaker was born in Philadel-
phia, July 11, 1838. He was the oldest of
seven children. At an early age he helped
his father turn bricks in his brickyard but
he was not satisfied with this work. That is
why he chose to run errands in a bookstore
in Philadelphia when he was fourteen years
old, rather than follow his father's good,
sound suggestion that he become a brick-
maker.
"You can earn much more money as a
brickmaker than you can by running er-
rands," said the father, Nelson Wanamaker.
"Yes," answered John, "but you see I do
not intend to run errands all my life. I ex-
pect some day to be where I can use my head
instead of my legs. If I become a brickmak-
er, I will have to use my hands instead of my
brain. I think that I can make more out of
106 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
myself by using my head than you make by
using your hands."
So the kindly father allowed his son to fol-
low his own convictions, although he shook
his head dubiously.
The boy was deeply in earnest. At four-
teen years of age he had begun to use his
brains. He knew, of course, that his father
worked hard and earned a fair wage.
"I could not see, however, howT my father
was ever going to earn more than he was
then earning," Mr. Wanamaker said in after
years. "I believed that I could do something
that would mean more to me than working
with my hands all my life."
In the bookstore, John Wanamaker work-
ed faithfully. All the while that his hands
were busy his brain was occupied, planning
the future. In a few years he became a clerk
in a clothing store. He saved as much of his
earnings as he could because his ambition
was to become a merchant.
"In 1861 1 found a tiny storeroom," he said
later on, in recounting some of his early ex-
JOHN WANAMAKER 107
periences, "and I put my savings into the
few things that were necessary to equip it.
Then I took a friend into partnership, and
we began business. I discovered that the
outlay for counters, shelves, and other fix-
tures ran so high that there was little money
left to put into stock.
"My partner came and looked over the
store. I told him that I did not think we had
enough stock with which to begin opera-
tions. However, he did not see any way to
remedy matters since our money was used
up."
John Wanamaker took a different view of
the situation. If the stock was not sufficient
he was determined to add to it. So he called
on a wholesaler and told him what he
wanted.
"What security can you give me?': the
wholesaler asked briefly.
"The whole store and stock," replied
young Wanamaker, taking out a carefully
made list, which showed of what the store
consisted, even to the shelves and counters.
108 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
The wholesaler, impressed by the general
bearing of the young merchant, and by the
businesslike way in which he had prepared
to meet the emergency, let young Wana-
maker select two hundred dollars' worth of
stock. This was just twice as much as he
had hoped to obtain.
"You will send a truck for it, I suppose/'
said the wholesaler.
"I will come after it, sir," replied John
Wanamaker.
In a short time he reappeared with a bor-
rowed wheelbarrow and, when the whole-
saler asked him where the truck was, he
pointed to the barrow and explained that he
was doing his own hauling.
"But it will take five trips to do it," remon-
strated the wholesaler.
"I do not mind that/' replied John ; and he
went to work loading his "truck." Recog-
nizing that here was a boy who used his
brains and at the same time was not afraid
of hard work, the* wholesaler extended
young Wanamaker more credit.
JOHN WANAMAKER 109
At the end of the first week John Wana-
maker divided his income, which was piti-
fully small, paying half of it to the man who
had extended him the credit and investing
the other half in advertising.
From that small beginning have grown
the great Wanamaker stores of Philadelphia
and New York. The one in Philadelphia has
forty-five acres of floor space, and the New
York store is one of the show places of the
metropolis.
Many of the right business principles
which we take for granted to-day were
founded by Mr. Wanamaker. He was the
first merchant to mark his goods in plain
figures so that the price of everything would
be the same to all. He has made it possible
for people to return goods with which they
are not satisfied. Every word in his adver-
tisements is guaranteed, and his business is
founded upon honesty and courtesy.
John Wanamaker's active career has in-
cluded not only his mercantile success but al-
so at one time the cabinet position of post-
110 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
master general. In this office he established
the rural delivery of mail and made many
other improvements.
Certainly his firm confidence in the result
to be obtained from using his brain has been
justified. When he might have been laying
the foundation for a house, he was busy lay-
ing the foundation for a big business career,
and for public service.
© Underwood & Underwood
BEN LINDSEY—
WHO HAS NEVER FORGOTTEN
WHAT IT MEANT To BE A BOY
ENJAMIN BARE LINDSEY, or Ben
Lindsey as he was called as a boy
and as he is called to-day all over the
United States, was born in Jackson, Tennes-
see, November 25, 1869.
His father had served as an officer in the
Civil War and at its close had found himself,
like so many other people of the South, prac-
tically penniless. From Jackson, Tennessee,
his family moved to Notre Dame, Indiana,
where Ben's father went to find work. As
112 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
they were quite poor Ben had to work after
school and on Saturdays.
When Ben was in his teens, his father felt
that if they went to the far West where the
country was just growing up, there would be
plenty of opportunities for work. So the
Lindsey family — there were three children
younger than Ben — went to Denver and set-
tled there.
When Ben was eighteen years old his fath-
er died. The boy found himself facing the
necessity of earning money to help support
his mother and the three young children.
Ben Lindsey was not a big boy, but he had
plenty of courage. He went out and found
a good job in a real estate office, and he also
managed a newspaper route.
It was discouraging work, and young
Lindsey grew very tired and unhappy. He
felt that if he was ever to get ahead he must
study. Whenever he had a few minutes to
himself he would read law, the subject that
had interested him for several years and
which he hoped to make his life work.
BEN LINDSEY 113
He used to pretend that he was in court
and that he was delivering long speeches to
the judge and jury. By this method he be-
came a good speaker and felt so much at
home in his mock courts that as soon as he
became a lawyer he was a success.
Ben Lindsey entered upon the practice of
law in Denver in 1894. He was appointed to
a vacancy in the county court in 1900.
One day in the late afternoon, he was sit-
ting in court when an Italian boy was
brought in, accused of theft. Judge Lindsey
heard the case and, as all the evidence show-
ed that the boy was guilty, he mechanically
passed the sentence which the law pre-
scribed.
The boy's mother was present, and she
raised such a cry that the judge ordered her
brought before him. He talked with the wo-
man, and as she presented her son's case to
him he saw it in a very different light.
He decided that sending the child to
prison would not solve the problem, and so
determined to handle the matter in a differ-
114 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
ent way. He visited the boy in his home
many times. With the mother's help and the
boy's cooperation, he saved the boy from
the beginning of a criminal career and made
of him a good citizen.
Sometime later a burglary case came be-
fore Judge Lindsey. Three young boys
were brought in, accused of stealing pigeons.
The judge talked to the boys for a long time
in a friendly manner. He told them that if
they would go out and ask the boys who
were with them, but were not caught, to
come in and report to him, he would give
them all a square deal. The boys felt that
the judge was sincere and so they did as he
requested.
All of the boys came to see the judge and
he talked very frankly with them. He show-
ed them that what they had done was wrong
and that he wanted to help them do what
was right. The boys were put on probation.
They became firm friends of the judge and
with his help were enabled to lead the right
kind of lives.
BEN LINDSEY 115
These incidents made such an impression
upon Judge Lindsey that he decided to see
what he could do to change the system of
dealing with juvenile delinquents in this
country. He began to make investigations,
and soon discovered that much too often
boys were sent to jail as criminals when all
the correction they needed was good father-
ly counsel and the privilege of being put on
their honor.
Through Ben Lindsey's efforts there was
established in Denver a juvenile court of
which he was made judge. This court has
become famous throughout the world. Many
cities both in the United States and abroad
have followed the splendid example of Den-
ver.
Ben Lindsey is the friend and advisor of
every boy in this country, for he believes
that every boy wants to be a good man — a
man of whom his friends will be justly
proud. His motto is "A city of decent chil-
dren means a city of decent men and wo-
men."
(c) Underwood & Underwood
HERBERT HOOVER—
THE BOY WHO WOULD NOT LET OTHER PEOPLE
MAKE UP His MIND
HERBERT HOOVER was born in a
small Quaker community in Iowa,
August 10, 1874. When his father
died, the neighbors were naturally concern-
ed about what would become of the quiet,
cheerful six-year-old boy.
His father had been a blacksmith in the
little town of West Branch, Iowa, and the
neighbors thought the boy intended to do
the same work that his father had done.
"Now that Herbert has lost his father," they
HERBERT HOOVER 117
said, "I suppose he will have to be a farmer
instead of a blacksmith. It is too bad be-
cause he would have made a good blacksmith
under his father's training/7
Some people have an idea that they can
plan a boy's future for him. They felt cer-
tain that Herbert Hoover, who had lost the
opportunity of learning blacksmithing, must
become a farmer. But the boy had no inten-
tions of being either a blacksmith or a
farmer.
Around his father's blacksmith shop little
Herbert Hoover was always a quiet, pensive
boy. If people had not known him except to
see him "daydreaming" about the shop, they
would have called him either lazy or stupid.
But they knew that the little fellow was
neither, that he was bright, cheerful, and al-
ways ready to do whatever work he could.
His mother died when Herbert was ten
years old. He had a brother, three and a half
years older than himself, and a little sister.
Fortunately there were many kind relatives
to take good care of the Hoover children.
118 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
Herbert lived with an uncle in Iowa where
he went to the village school. His relatives
later decided that he should go to live with
an uncle in Oregon where he could attend a
good Quaker academy.
After attending the academy for several
years, the desire to go' out into the world and
make his own way became too strong to re-
sist. He wanted to go where he could be in-
dependent and prepare himself for college.
"You will come tramping back all the way
afoot," his boy chums told him. But his boy
chums were slightly in error, for when Her-
bert came back he had plenty of money in his
pocket and, what is better, his daydreams
had all come true! The blacksmith's or-
phaned son had traveled around the world,
had had many adventures, and had talked
with kings and emperors.
In Portland, Oregon, Herbert secured a
job as office boy in a real estate office. He de-
voted his evenings and odd hours during the
day to constant study for he was making a
strenuous effort to prepare for college.
HERBERT HOOVER 119
He wanted to learn mining engineering.
He read about Leland Stanford Junior Uni-
versity, just then founded, and the good
course in mining engineering to be had
there.
In the fall of 1891 he started forth with his
few belongings, taking with him the money
he had saved, and was one of the first stu-
dents to arrive at the great California uni-
versity.
He had to earn his living and he did so in
various ways, always using his ability as an
organizer. For example, he organized a sys-
tem of collecting and distributing the laun-
dry of the university boys, for which he was
remunerated. He arranged for concerts
and lectures to be given at the University by
certain noted people who were filling en-
gagements in San Francisco.
Because of his remarkable ability as an
organizer he became active in the affairs of
the college. In his senior year he reorgan-
ized the student body affairs, putting them
upon a firm foundation.
120 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
He spent his summer vacations working
in the mines. In 1895 he was graduated from
Leland Stanford Junior University as a
mining engineer. After graduation he
worked in the mines for several months, and
then went to San Francisco and asked a cer-
tain big mining engineer for a position with
him.
"I only need a typist," said the engineer.
"All right, I will take the job," replied Mr.
Hoover, adding that he would come the fol-
lowing Tuesday.
He could not report for duty until that
time for, in the intervening four days, he
had to learn to write on the typewriter.
He was so anxious to become associated
with this big mining engineer that he was
willing to take any kind of job that he would
offer him. Before long he wras several times
promoted and had proved himself to be a
valuable man to his employer.
In the spring of 1897 there was a big min-
ing boom in West Australia. Mr. Hoover's
employer had been asked by a London firm
HERBERT HOOVER 121
i
to recommend a man for them to send to
West Australia. The employer thought that
this was a great opportunity for Mr. Hoov-
er, who was very glad to accept the offer.
He spent about two years in Australia
where he was singularly successful and was
then recommended for the position of Di-
rector-General of Mines for the Chinese
Empire.
Later he became a member of a big Brit-
ish mining firm and traveled to almost every
part of the world. After a few years he
went into business for himself, carrying out
every undertaking in a most successful way,
as he had always done in the past.
Mr. Hoover was in London when the war
broke out. Many thousands of Americans
appealed to him to help them get home. The
admirable way in which he handled the sit-
uation was another proof of his great abil-
ity. Then came the call for an able Ameri-
can to direct the relief work in Belgium, and
all the world knows how well he handled
that commission.
122 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
When the United States went into the war
and it became necessary to conserve food to
feed our rapidly growing army and our al-
lies and some of the neutral nations, the gov-
ernment asked Herbert Hoover to become
food administrator, or controller of the food
for the United States.
After Mr. Harding was elected president
of the United States, he asked Mr. Hoover to
become secretary of commerce. Mr. Hoover
has very ably filled this position.
Mr. Hoover has always known how to face
practical problems. This boy was practical
enough to know that he must have an educa-
tion, otherwise his daydreams would never
come true.
(c) Underwood & Underwood
JOHN J. PERSHING-
WHOSE PERSEVERANCE FITTED HIM
FOR His GREAT OPPORTUNITY
y \f t HEN the man whom everybody
\A/ knows as the commander of the
7 * American Expeditionary Forces
during the World War was eighteen years
old, he taught school in a country district of
Missouri, called Prairie Mound.
Even at that early age, young John Persh-
ing understood the value of discipline and
obedience, and his school had less disorder
than any other school in that section of the
country.
124 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
The firmness and fearlessness with which
young Pershing governed his school are
characteristic of his whole life. This same
firmness and fearlessness were evident in the
fighting spirit which General Pershing car-
ried to France with him, in his great work
in the World War.
Laclede, a little town in Missouri, claims
to be the birthplace of General Pershing.
He was born near there on September 13,
1860.
His father went to Missouri as a railroad
section foreman, and later opened a store in
Laclede and became postmaster. John went
to the public school and also worked on his
father's farm which was not far from the
village.
With a view to earning money so that he
might continue his education he taught
school. He saved every cent that he could
and soon entered the State Normal School
at Kirksville, Missouri. He was not a partic-
ularly brilliant pupil but did all of his work
well.
JOHN J. PERSHING 125
When John Pershing's father was post-
master in Laclede, the office was robbed.
John worked hard to help his father make
good the loss.
John Pershing always used his brains just
as any intelligent youth can and should do.
One of the instances of his sagacity was his
decision to try the competitive examination
for entrance into West Point which was be-
ing held at that time. "It is a great chance
for more education/' he said. Young Persh-
ing won the appointment by passing the ex-
amination just one point ahead of his near-
est competitor.
Not feeling that he was sufficiently well
prepared to enter upon the strenuous work
which he had before him at West Point,
young Pershing decided to attend the High-
land Military Academy at Highland Falls,
New York. Here again he did his work
steadily and earnestly.
In July, 1882, John Pershing entered the
United States Military Academy at West
Point. His four years there were very happy
126 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
ones. In his last year the Superintendent of
the Academy appointed him senior cadet
captain, an honor of which he was extremely
proud. He was also president of his class.
After his graduation from West Point in
1886 he assumed his military duties as sec-
ond lieutenant in the Sixth Cavalry. In Sep-
tember, 1891, he became professor of mili-
tary science and tactics at the University
of Nebraska. From there he went to West
Point as an instructor.
Lieutenant Pershing found his first op-
portunity for active service in the Spanish-
American War. Here he proved his great
ability as a soldier. General Baldwin said of
him at that time, "Pershing is the coolest
man under fire I ever saw."
After serving at several posts John Persh-
ing, who w^as now Brigadier General, was
sent to Mexico in pursuit of Villa.
John Pershing was a regular all-round
boy. His old friends say that whatever he
did he did with all his might, and that he
was very level-headed and dependable.
JOHN J. PERSHING 127
Most of the successful men of to-day were,
in their boyhood, much like young Pershing
and they became successful because they
persevered in their work, whatever it hap-
pened to be.
General John Pershing, commander of the
American soldiers who went to France, did
not leap into fame and success overnight.
He went steadily forward from barefoot
boyhood days in the little town of Laclede to
his study days at Kirksville Normal School,
and then to West Point. From there he
went on up through the service until to-day
he is one of the world's heroes.
His army life is history that anyone may
read. By seeking all the education possible
and by learning the value of work, he equip-
ped himself, all unknowingly, for the posi-
tion he now holds.
© Paul Thompson
LUTHER BURBANK—
THE BOY WHO LOVED FLOWERS
4^A SMALL boy stood in the center of a
/ \ field of wild flowers.
•* ^ "Mother, aren't the wild flowers
wonderful?" he asked.
His mother smiled. She could understand
the boy's appreciation of the beautiful blos-
soms, but a neighbor wTho had accompanied
them on their walk along the New England
hillside frowned.
"Wild flowers are all right/' agreed the
neighbor, "but I do not like these daisies.
They are pests to have in any field."
LUTHER BURBANK 129
The small boy looked hurt. It was not the
first time he had heard the daisy called a
pest, but he loved it just as much as the vio-
let, the delicate anemone, the purple gentian,
or the stately goldenrod. In his boy's heart
he said that some day he was going to make
the daisy just as much liked as the rest of
the wild flowers.
He never forgot that promise to himself
and the field daisy! Years later, when the
world called that boy, Luther Burbank, the
Plant Wizard, one of his achievements had
been the cultivation of the common field
daisy until it became a beautiful flower that
people wanted in their gardens.
Luther Burbank started life as a farmer's
son. He was born on a farm at Lancaster,
Massachusetts, March 7, 1849. The happiest
days of his early life were spent in the fields.
He attended a local academy in Lancaster,
but he learned more in the out-of-doors, for
from his earliest boyhood he was interested
in watching things grow. The trees and
flowers were his real playmates.
130 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
The neighbors thought him a very bright
lad, but one with strange ideas. His mother,
however, understood his interest in seeds
and plants. She realized, when her son was
very young, that he had inherited the family
love for agriculture.
When Luther Burbank was sixteen years
old he went to work in a factory. He was a
shy, serious lad, interested in the work, but
still more interested in the things that grow.
When he had been there a few months he
thought of an improvement to a machine
that would mean a great deal to the com-
pany for which he was working. After giv-
ing the matter careful thought he made a
model and decided that he would show it to
the manufacturer. He also decided that he
would tell him at the same time that he was
going to give up his work in the factory so
as to spend all his time working with plants.
The manufacturer was greatly impressed
with young Burbank's new idea. In fact, he
was so pleased with the lad's interest in his
work that he told him he was going to give
LUTHER BURBANK 131
him a large increase in salary. Luther Bur-
bank was not to be tempted with money. He
quickly told the manufacturer that he had
other ambitions.
"I am glad you like the machine I invent-
ed," the shy boy said resolutely, "and thank
you for offering me so much money, but I do
not want to work in a shop. I want to study
the plants and be out of doors where I can
grow flowers and vegetables, and . . . . " he
stopped suddenly, fearing that the man
would laugh at him.
But the manufacturer did not laugh. He
had been watching the tall, silent, hard-
working boy for several months, and some-
how he felt that Luther Burbank was going
to be a famous man. So the manufacturer
offered young Burbank his hand.
"I am sorry to lose you, Luther," he said,
"but I cannot blame you. Good luck to you
and I hope that you can dig to your heart's
content."
Luther hurried home to tell his mother the
news. She was glad that her son was going
132 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
to start his real life's work. That very after-
noon Luther Burbank went into his moth-
er's garden to start the work that was to
make him world famous. He began by rais-
ing vegetables for the market.
About this time young Burbank read an
article in the county newspaper which said
that the potatoes of the country were very
inferior, and it occurred to him that he could
start his cultivation experiments with the
potato.
He worked very hard. By cultivating and
enriching the land, picking out the best seed,
caring for the small plants and then for the
ripening potatoes, Luther Burbank finally
developed a potato so large that when it was
exhibited at the county fair it was the talk
of the neighborhood.
As Luther Burbank's experiments with
fruits and flowers grew more and more suc-
cessful, he realized that he could do better if
he were away from the cold winters of New
England. So he decided to go to California
where he could carry on his experimental
LUTHER BURBANK 133
farming unhindered by the great changes of
climate. In order to get the money needed
for the journey, he sold his Burbank pota-
toes to a Massachusetts seedsman, reserving
but ten for himself for seed purposes. He
then started for Santa Rosa, California.
The Burbank potato was Luther Bur-
bank's first great experiment in plant grow-
ing; and it made him famous, even though
he was still a very young man. Because of
the improvement which he made in the pota-
to the yearly income from the farms in the
United States has been increased by over
seventeen million dollars.
Since that time Luther Burbank has ex-
perimented with the growing of thousands
of different varieties of plants and flowers.
Many of his improvements in the horticul-
tural world are of great economic value.
He has developed a cactus without spines
or "prickers," which makes excellent food
for cattle. Also by careful cultivation he has
developed extra large plums, prunes, cher-
ries, apples, and peaches. He has also pro-
134 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
duced the seedless variety of many fruits.
He has developed wonderful new varieties
of flowers, berries, vegetables, and grasses,
all of which are helpful in our daily living.
His work has increased the food supply of
the world tremendously.
Luther Burbank still lives at Santa Rosa,
California, and to-day he is just the same as
he was as a boy — a busy, modest, sincere
man, who dislikes a lazy man or woman.
The floods of praise that have come to him
have never hindered his work, and he lives a
clean, high, noble life. He is a man who
stands for the truest type of American citi-
zenship.
And now, just as when he was a boy climb-
ing over the New England hillsides, Luther
Burbank loves the flowers of the field.
© Underwood & Underwoyod
JOHN BURROUGHS—
WHO FOUND His HAPPINESS
OUT OF DOORS
JOHN BURROUGHS was born on a
farm near Roxbury, New York, April
3, 1837, the seventh child of a large
family. His great-grandparents had come
into New York state from Connecticut, and
had cleared enough land for a farm. On a
near-by farm the boy who later in life was
known as America's greatest naturalist, liv-
ed the life of a pioneer.
"Only the boy who has worn cowhide
boots, and a homespun shirt can really know
136 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
what discomfort is," John Burroughs once
said in speaking of his early life. "The boots
were made by the village shoemaker. Often,
on a cold morning, when we arrived at
school we had to sit around the fire until our
boots thawed out. They were so stiff and
heavy that we always needed someone to
help us pull them off at night. We had home-
spun shirts which were very rough when
new, but became soft after many washings.
These shirts were made from flax that we
cultivated on our land.
"Our socks and mittens were made from
the wool from our own sheep, and the goose
feathers for our pillows and 'feather' beds
also came from our farm. Our lights were
tallow 'dips.' We never bought anything;
even our pencils were of soft slate that we
found in the hills, and our fishing lines were
made of braided horse hair."
John Burroughs' father was a hard-work-
ing man, who paid his debts, went to church
regularly, and read practically nothing ex-
cept his hymn book and his Bible. When
JOHN BURROUGHS 137
John began to show a great interest in books
the father was amazed. Mr. Burroughs did
not discourage his son in his ambition to be-
come a writer, but he did not help him to
reach the desired goal. He could never un-
derstand why his son John loved the out-of-
doors so keenly for to him it meant only
hard work on the farm.
Someone once asked John Burroughs if
his early boyhood life in the woods was not
something like the out-of-door life of a boy
scout of to-day.
"Well, I was a boy scout on my own ini-
tiative in my boyhood/' Mr. Burroughs re-
plied. He knew every inch of the land about
his home, and before he was fourteen years
old he had made a study of the animals of his
neighborhood, their homes, and their food.
And he did his good turn every day.
All of this study created in him a desire to
tell boys and girls what he had learned about
nature. To prepare himself to write well
about his beloved out-of-doors he studied
every book available.
138 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
John's desire to obtain the books which
were essential to a well-rounded develop-
ment was very keen. Once when his fath-
er did not think it necessary to buy an alge-
bra which the boy wanted, John went out
and tapped the maple trees about the farm,
collected the sap, and made maple sugar of
it. Then he walked to the nearest town,
where he sold his maple sugar and bought
the book he desired.
John Burroughs was seventeen years old
when he left home to go to work. He had
heard that in the next county he could prob-
ably get a position as a school teacher. Such
a position seemed desirable as it would give
him an opportunity to study, as well as to
earn money. He walked twelve miles from
his home in Roxbury, New York, to meet the
stage which would take him to a small settle-
ment in Ulster County where the school was
located. There he applied for the position
and obtained it after a few days.
He began to write his wonderful stories of
nature when he was about twenty-five years
BEFORE HE WAS FOURTEEN YEARS OLD
HE HAD MADE A STUDY OF THE ANI-
MALS OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
140 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
old. He wrote of the birds and small ani-
mals he had known back on his boyhood
farm at Roxbury. From his very first writ-
ings, John Burroughs was recognized as a
great lover of nature.
About this time he went to live in Wash-
ington, D. C., where he became a clerk in the
Treasury Department. He held this posi-
tion for nine years, and then spent about
eleven years as a bank examiner in New
York state. All through these years his
greatest joys came from the out-of-doors,
and he divided his leisure moments between
his writings and his study of animal and
plant life. He once said that whenever he
wrote about his experiences in the woods
and fields he lived them all over again.
In 1885 John Burroughs retired from bus-
iness so that he might spend his entire time
on his farm near West Park, Ulster County,
New York. It was a beautiful spot, the land
sloping towards the edge of the Hudson Riv-
er. The house was built of stone which he
helped to dig from the earth.
JOHN BURROUGHS 141
There on his farm, John Burroughs stud-
ied anew the birds and little beasts he had
loved in his youth. There he wrote his most
famous books, and played host to the friends
who visited him. He was a friend of Walt
Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Oli-
ver Wendell Holmes. Theodore Roosevelt
was a frequent visitor at Mr. Burroughs'
home, and the two men often tramped over
the Catskill Mountains together. Thomas
Edison was another of John Burroughs'
•
closest friends.
Although he lived apart from the world,
and did not like the rush and hurry of the
great cities, John Burroughs was keenly in-
terested in all the great world movements,
such as the recent war. In his later years,
great honors came to him, but they never
took his attention from his work and his
friends.
On the top of a high hill at the back of his
Hudson River farm he built himself a log
cabin which he called "Slabsides," and there
he spent most of his time. One of his sources
142 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
of exercise was the chopping of his own
wood. He always kept a sharp ax beside a
wood pile that was never allowed to grow
small.
John Burroughs once said that he felt he
was the richest man in the world, for he had
lived out of doors, had loved nature, and had
been contented with the good things that na-
ture gave him. Thousands of American
girls and boys have learned to love the woods
and fields because of his writings.
"I never tried to drive sharp bargains
with life/' Mr. Burroughs said. "I have been
contented with fair returns. I have never
cheated at the game of life. My own success
has come to me mainly, I think, because I
should never have known the difference if it
had not come. I have had all and more than
I deserve."
© Underwood & Underwood
WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS—
THE BOY PRINTER WHO BECAME A GREAT
EDITOR AND AUTHOR
4^A BOY of ten walked into his father's
/ \ newspaper and printing office one
*• " afternoon and climbed upon a high
stool before a rack of type.
"Father, I am going to write when I grow
up. I am going to write just like you do/'
"That will be fine/' the father said as he
smiled at his little boy. "Keep on studying
and working, and some day you will be
famous." The boy was pleased to hear such
encouraging words.
144 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
"I think I will be a printer, too/' he went
on. "I will be a printer like you, but I think
I would like to print books and magazines
better than newspapers."
The man's interest was quickened.
"How would you like to start printing-
right now? I will teach you how to set type
if you will really try to learn."
The boy's eyes beamed as he eagerly ac-
cepted the offer. He became so interested
in his typesetting lessons that in a short time
he could set type as well as his father.
The boy's name was William Dean
Howells. He came to be regarded as one of
the greatest of American authors and maga-
zine editors, a man who had worked hard,
and had never ceased to forget that the price
of success is constant labor.
William Dean Howells was born at Mar-
tin's Ferry, Ohio, on March 1, 1837. When
he was about three years old the family
moved to Hamilton, Ohio. His father was a
printer and newspaper editor. The boy took
great delight in running into the printing
WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS 145
shop to watch the making of his father's
newspaper.
Although he was a very studious lad he
was particularly fond of outdoor life, and of
the birds and small animals in the woods
near his home.
When young Howells was twelve years old
his family moved to Dayton, Ohio, where his
father bought a newspaper. After a short
time the newspaper failed, and the family
became very poor.
His mother's brothers owned a tract of
farm and woodland along the Miami River,
not far from Hamilton, Ohio ; and it was to
this land that the Howells family moved.
There Mr. Howells started farming, which
he hoped would make a living for them.
On this property there was a rough cabin,
which Mr. Howells made livable for his fam-
ily. He patched the roof, relaid the floors,
and filled up all cracks through which the
winter winds might come. Then, in order to
make the rooms warmer, he decided to put
on several layers of paper.
146 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
Wall paper was very expensive and hard
to get at that time. One day when Mr.
Howells went to town for supplies he stop-
ped at the post office. The postmaster gave
him a barrel of old newspapers that had
never been claimed.
Mr. Howells took the barrel home, and he
and William papered the house with several
layers of newspapers. When winter came
William used to stand for hours reading the
old stories and news items that were pasted
on the walls.
It was a life of hardship that the Howells
family lived in their cabin, for they were
poor and the winter was severe. Their chief
joy was a box of books which was sent to
them by relatives, and which William read
and reread. He loved books, and even though
he was only a young boy he began to learn
to write stories. When spring came young
Howells had a wonderful time playing with
the boys from the neighboring farms.
One of the delights of young Howells' life
was to be allowed to drive into town with hi*
WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS 147
father. During these visits he always made
a point of going into the office of the local
paper and talking to the foreman of the
printing department. This man did not be-
lieve that the young boy could really set type
until William showed him how proficient he
was.
One day when the foreman had a big job
on hand, and his printer was ill, he drove out
to the cabin in the country to offer the boy
his first newspaper job. Young as he was
William Howells was very anxious to earn
money for his family, in spite of the fact
that it meant his leaving home and going to
live in town.
This marked the beginning of his literary
•
career. He not only set type but began to
write articles and editorials about local hap-
penings. He advanced steadily in his chosen
work and finally became a newspaper editor.
A young man as industrious as William
Howells was sure to attract attention out-
side of his own little town. He was not a pol-
itician, but he was interested in politics.
148 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
This interest showed in his newspaper writ-
ings.
When President Lincoln was looking for a
young man to become the United States con-
sul at Venice, Italy, in 1861, he remembered
the Ohio boy, William Howells, and offered
him the post. Mr. Howells accepted, serving
his country as consul for four years.
On his return to the United States, Mr.
Howells contributed regularly to The Na-
tion and occasionally to the New York Times
and the New York Tribune. By this time he
had become a noted writer, and his books
and short plays were very popular. He be-
came the editor of the Atlantic Monthly and
later accepted an editorial position on Har-
per's Magazine. Mr. Howells 'was a very
busy man for he wrote continuously
throughout his life. Despite this fact, how-
ever, he always found time to give encour-
agement to young writers.
A great honor came to William Dean
Howells in 1904 when the National Institute
of Arts and Letters, of which he was a mem-
WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS 149
her, chose him as one of seven to form the
American Academy of Arts and Letters of
which body he was elected president.
<c) Clinedinst
HENRY WATTERSON—
THE BOY WHO PERSEVERED
4^A ^ OUNG man named Henry Watter-
/ \ son, who looked older than his sev-
•* ^ enteen years, stood frowning at
the letter in his hand.
"They will not make a book of my poems,"
he said, "but just the same I am going to
keep on writing until I really succeed."
It was a grave disappointment to Henry
that the book he had written should be re-
jected by the publishers. He did not need
the money that the sale of the book would
bring, but he was still young and had not yet
HENRY WATTERSON 151
fully learned to take the disappointments of
life with the same spirit with which he ac-
cepted the joys. He had learned, however,
to keep on trying, realizing that success
must come to the man who perseveres.
Both his mother and his father were
wealthy, and their son had every advantage
that could be given him. He was not a
strong boy, however. In spite of his ill
health young Watterson was a very active
lad, and from the time that he could read
and write he was . interested in books and
newspapers.
His grandparents lived in Tennessee
where the family spent part of each year.
When he was very young the trip was made
by stagecoach and took ten or twelve days.
Later, when the first railroads were opened,
the journey was shortened to four days.
The boy's grandfather was a prominent
politician, who had numerous friends in the
political circle in which he moved, so Henry
met many of the famous men of that day.
One of his earliest remembrances was of be-
152 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
ing taken to visit Andrew Jackson, who had
returned to his farm after his term as presi-
dent.
When young Watterson grew up he was
asked if his life had not held many dis-
appointments. "Disappointments?' he re-
plied. "Certainly. I remember when I went
to see Mr. Jackson. He was called 'Old Hick-
ory/ and I had an idea that he always carried
a big hickory stick with which he ruled peo-
ple. I was keenly disappointed when I look-
ed for the hickory stick and did not find it."
. Harvey Watterson, Henry's father, was a
very young man when he was elected to the
House of Representatives to fill out the term
of James K. Polk, who had been elected gov-
ernor of Tennessee.
Henry Watterson was born in Washing-
ton, D. C., February 16, 1840. As a boy one
of his pastimes was to go to the House of
Representatives and act as page for the
members. His father was one of the editors
of the Washington Union, so the boy became
familiar with the newspaper office.
HENRY WATTERSON 153
At home, at the House of Representatives,
and at the newspaper office Henry was con-
stantly hearing two classes of men talk —
politicians and newspaper men. It was
therefore natural that Henry Watterson
should decide, when he was very young, that
he would be both a politician and a news-
paper man when he grew up, an ambition
that he actually carried out.
In spite of the fact that his father was a
rich man, young Watterson liked to earn his
own money. He happened to be in the office
of the paper of which his father was editor
when Mr. Barnum, who afterwards founded
Barnum and Bailey's Circus, sent in word
that he wanted three or four boys to sell
programs at a concert that night to be given
by the famous singer, Jenny Lind.
Young Watterson heard this message de-
livered, and went at once to see Mr. Barnum.
He bargained with the famous showman,
and said that he would get three other boys
to help sell the programs. The boys were to
receive five cents for each one that they sold.
154 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
In addition to this, young Watterson asked
for a seat at the concert, and Mr. Barnum
finally agreed to give it to him. He made
over five dollars selling programs, and also
had the opportunity of hearing the most fa-
mous singer of that day.
All this time Henry Watterson was care-
fully studying the newspapers and writing
verse and short articles. He managed to sell
some of his poems to the magazines, but his
book of verse was rejected, as was his first
novel which he wrote while he was still in his
teens.
In Washington he obtained a newspaper
job, on the Washington States, which posi-
tion he retained for three years, until after
the outbreak of the Civil War. He learned
a great deal about the business end of the
newspaper as well as the editorial work. One
of his greatest assignments was the inaug-
uration of Lincoln.
When the Civil War broke out young
Henry Watterson, who came from a South-
ern family, joined the Confederate Army
HENRY WATTERSON 155
and served in various capacities until peace
was declared.
At the close of the war, with two of his
friends, young Watterson revived the pub-
lication of a Nashville paper. In 1868 he be-
came editor-in-chief of the Louisville Jour-
nal and later that year he joined with an-
other young man in combinnig this publica-
tion with the Courier, thus establishing the
Louisville Courier-Journal.
In a short time this became the most fa-
mous newspaper in the South, and has re-
mained so to this day. Mr. Watterson never
gave up his interest in the paper, but ill
health forced him to resign from the active
editorship in 1918, when he was seventy-
eight years of age.
As an editor Mr. Watterson became fa-
mous. Because of his vision of the right
kind of a nation he was able, through his
newspaper, to help to reconcile the North
and the South.
Henry Watterson has often been called
the grand old man of the newspaper world,
156 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
and an even more familiar name was "Marse
Henry." His life is a splendid example of a
young man who, in spite of ill health, per-
severed until he succeeded in his chosen
work.
(c) Undenvood & Underwood
JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY—
THE COUNTRY BOY WHO BECAME A
GREAT POET
A SMALL barefoot boy whose father
was the leading lawyer of Green-
field, Indiana, ran through the long-
grasses of the orchard back of his home,
climbed a fence, and, running down the pas-
ture path, reached the edge of the brook
where it was broad and rather deep.
His appearance at the swimming hole was
hailed by the lads with whom he spent his
leisure time, and for an hour they sported in
the water. Growing suddenly tired of such
158 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
play the lads climbed the bank where, in the
early summer, strawberries grew; and the
lips of the boys were soon stained with the
red juice.
Later in the season, the near-by orchards
offered pears, plums, and early apples. And
still later, when the beginning of school days
told that summer was over, there were fall
apples and grapes to be picked, nuts to be
knocked from the trees, and pumpkins to be
gathered for Halloween.
Winter, too, had its sports, its days of
school fun, of sleighing, of snowballing, and
long nights by the fireside, when the older
members of the family would tell stories.
There would also be socials at the church, or
at other lads' homes.
They were happy days — days such as boys
brought up in every country town have ex-
perienced. But we know more about the
days of the boys in Greenfield, for one of the
barefoot boys who played in the swimming
hole has left behind him a record of his
youth, a record in verse that has made men
JAMES WHITGOMB RILEY 159
call him the most beloved poet in America.
This boy was known to Greenfield as Jim
Riley; but the world knows him better as
James Whitcomb Riley.
James Whitcomb Riley was born October
7, 1853, in Greenfield, Indiana. To all out-
siders his early days were just those of an
ordinary, healthy country boy.
He went to school, helped with the work at
home, and played. He reveled in being out
of doo^s. He loved all the people of his vil-
lage. He was fond of a joke. That was the
boy Greenfield saw ; but they did not realize
that "the Riley boy" was so filled with the
joy of youth that he would always be a boy
at heart no matter how many years he lived.
Young Riley's father, who was a promi-
nent lawyer, was very anxious that his son
should follow in his footsteps. Accordingly,
he urged the boy to study law in his office.
Jim Riley was a bright boy, and a good
boy. He tried to study law, but soon realized
A
that he was not fitted for this profession.
Every once in a while he would glance out of
160 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
the window towards the open fields beyond
the town. It was summer, and the woods
and fields called him.
Young Riley was not strong and the con-
finement in the law office affected his health.
He was advised to spend more time out-
doors.
One day as he looked out of the window
he saw a strange procession coming along
the main street. There was a large painted
wagon which belonged to what was known
as a "medicine show." In those days medi-
cine shows were very common, traveling
about the country in large wagons and giv-
ing shows in the public square.
Jim Riley went to the medicine show that
night. He talked to the man in charge, and
said that he wanted to join the show and
tour the state. The manager needed a help-
er, and young Riley was willing to work for
a small salary ; so that night when the show
left town, Jim went along.
Up and down the roads of Indiana they
traveled that summer. Jim's duties were
JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY 161
light and pleasant. He advertised the show
by chalking signs on barns and fences, and
at night he beat the drum which attracted
the crowds.
Then fall came. The days began to grow
shorter, and the nights cold. People no
longer came to the public squares, so the
medicine show was closed for the season.
Later young Riley and several other boys
made a tour of the surrounding country as
sign painters. Jim enjoyed this type of work
because it enabled him to be out of doors.
Jim Riley's father had, by this time, made
up his mind that his son was not fitted for
the law. The boy wanted to write, and his
father urged him to do so.
During his journeying through Indiana
young Riley had met the editor of a paper in
Anderson, and he now went to that town to
accept the position of local editor on the An-
derson Democrat.
It was about this time that Jim Riley first
began to write poems. Gradually his verses
came to be known outside of Anderson. One
162 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
of his greatest admirers was the editor of
the Kokomo (Indiana) Despatch, who re-
printed almost everything the boy wrote.
Young Riley became such a favorite that
the editor of the Indianapolis Journal made
him an offer to come to Indianapolis and
write poems exclusively for that paper.
While there, he wrote a poem that every boy
in America loves to read, "The Old Swimmin'
Hole." It was published under the name of
Benj. F. Johnson instead of his own. The
next year Jim Riley, still using the name
Johnson, published a small book of poems.
The public, however, soon learned that
Johnson was none other than James Whit-
comb Riley.
No one can read Mr. Riley' s poems with-
out realizing that his love for children was
very great. Most of his verses are founded
on incidents in his own youth, or in the
youth of the boys and girls he knew. James
Whitcomb Riley is beloved throughout the
world, and his poems will remain dear to the
hearts of all who read them.
<£) P. and A. Photo
EDWARD ALEXANDER MACDOWELL—
WHO BECAME AMERICA'S GREATEST COMPOSER
DWARD, you simply must practice
your music lesson. Do not sit
there just making chords on the
piano/' his mother called from the next
room.
Edward MacDowell answered his mother
by opening hte music book and starting his
scales. He then tried a difficult exercise
which he did not like to play. For a few
minutes he worked industriously, but pres-
ently his fingers wandered from the scales,
and he was "making chords" again — soft
164 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
music that he loved but which had nothing
to do with his lesson.
His parents and his music teacher thought
that making chords was a bad habit for Ed-
ward to develop, not at all realizing that
when the boy's attention strayed from his
lesson he was really learning music. They
could not foresee that soon he would be
known all over the world as America's great-
est composer and a pianist of renown.
Edward Alexander MacDowell was born
in New York City, December 18, 1861. He
was of Irish descent, and from babyhood he
heard the lilting melodies of that race. His
parents were very well educated, and were
considered wealthy.
Edward MacDowell's father was an artis-
tic man, fond of music and painting. How-
ever, his parents, Edward's 'grandmother
and grandfather, had objected to their son's
following an artistic career. When Mr. Mac-
Dowell discovered that his son Edward had
considerable talent and love for the piano he
helped the boy in every way possible.
EDWARD A. MAC DOWELL 165
Edward MacDowell had three great joys
during his youth; music, drawing, and the
out-of-doors. He would listen to music by
the hour. One day a friend of the family,
who was a splendid musician, offered to give
Edward piano lessons. The boy was then
about eight years old.
Edward did not learn quickly, chiefly be-
cause he did not like to practice his regular
lessons. He loved music and preferred to
make soft chords that held melodies. Even
as a boy he had ideas about composing.
By the time he was ten or eleven years old
Edward MacDowell had learned enough
about music to make him realize that he
wanted to make it his life's work. He went
to school, and played with the other boys.
All the time the birds and flowers were sug-
gesting melodies to him. Later one of his
well-known pieces was "To a Wild Rose," a
flower he gathered in great quantities when
a boy.
By the time Edward MacDowell was fif-
teen years of age, he had studied with sev-
166 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
eral of the most famous pianists of the
United States, and had talked with so many
people about the conservatories of Europe
that he begged his father to let him go
abroad to study.
His father and mother talked over the
subject at great length, and finally decided
that Edward and his mother should go
abroad. In April, 1876, Edward entered the
Paris Conservatory of Music.
Edward was a good student, but he was a
shy boy, and his talent did not always shine
as brightly as it might have done if he had
been more aggressive. He was handicapped
by not being able to speak French, so his
mother engaged a teacher for him. That
teacher almost changed Edward MacDow-
elPs whole career.
Edward had always been fond of drawing,
and one of his pastimes was to sketch. One
day while in his French class he made a
sketch of his teacher, which the teacher
found. Instead of being angry with the boy,
the French teacher was much interested in
EDWARD A. MAC DOWELL 167
the exact likeness of the sketch and took it to
a friend who was a great artist. The artist
was so impressed with the boy's drawing
that he offered to give Edward MacDowell
free instruction.
Mrs. MacDowell was perplexed and won-
dered what she had better do. She thought
it best that Edward should settle the matter
himself. He decided in favor of music and
so continued his work at the conservatory.
After he had studied in Paris for a time,
Mrs. MacDowell and her son went to other
conservatories in Europe where Edward
studied under great music masters. Every-
where they went, Edward was congratulated
on his skill, but he was never overconfident
of himself. That was a great quality that
followed him all through his life. He was
never entirely satisfied with what he did,
and never stopped striving to do better.
• It was the great musician, Franz Liszt,
who helped to bring out the genius of Ed-
ward MacDowell. He met the young man
while Edward was studying in Germany,
168 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
and asked him to play for him. In the room
at the same time was a young Frenchman
who afterwards gained considerable fame as
a pianist, and when each young man had
finished playing, Liszt said to the French
boy, "You must bestir yourself if you do not
want to be outdone by our young American/'
It was about this time that Edward Mac-
Dowell really started to compose music. At
Liszt's invitation he played his first piano
suite at a German music festival in July,
1882. This recital won him instantaneous
recognition.
In 1888 Edward MacDowell returned to
the United States, and in Boston gave his
first concert in his own country. He had
gained fame abroad as a composer, teacher,
and pianist. All the music lovers who crowd-
ed to his first American concerts agreed that
he was a composer and pianist of whom they
could be proud.
He lived in New York City for some time.
However, much of his wonderful work was
done at the farm he bought in New Hamp-
EDWARD A. MAC DOWELL 169
shire, where he could be out of doors with the
birds and trees, and stroll in the green fields.
Edward Alexander MacDowell has given
us music of a rare and beautiful order. It
has been said of him that he is the greatest
musical genius America has produced.
© P. and A. Photo
AUGUSTUS SAINT-GAUDENS—
THE BOY WHO STUDIED AT NIGHT
To MAKE HIMSELF A FAMOUS SCULPTOR
*
cA UGUSTUS SAINT-GAUDENS was
/ \ born in Dublin, Ireland, on March
•* ^ 1, 1848, of French-Irish parents.
His father and mother brought him to the
United States when he was but six months
old. They landed in Boston, where they
lived for a time.
Later they moved to New York City,
where the boy Augustus received his educa-
tion. Their first home was in the "down-
town" section, but Bernard Saint-Gaudens
AUGUSTUS SAINT-GAUDENS 171
soon prospered at his business of shoe manu-
facturing and moved "uptown," as Twenty-
third Street was then considered. He made
this change of residence partly because his
best customers were in that section, and
partly because he wished his children to
have country surroundings.
Augustus Saint-Gaudens was always a
clever boy. He was fond of his school work,
and also fond of outdoor life. From his very
earliest school days he was greatly interest-
ed in pictures and in statuary. He copied
pictures from books, and cut figures from
leather that he found in his father's shop.
When Augustus was thirteen years old he
was quite tall and looked older than his
years. As he was not going to study for a
profession, he and his father thought that
they should decide upon the line of work to
which the lad should be apprenticed, it then
being the custom for a boy to work under a
skilled man and so learn a trade.
Bernard Saint-Gaudens, the boy's father,
would have liked his son to take up his own
172 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
line of work — shoemaking — but he saw that
the boy was not interested in boots and
shoes. In those days, of course, there were
no big factories turning out shoes by the
hundred pairs. A shoemaker had a large
shop where several men worked, stitching
leather to make foot covering for the people
of the city.
Augustus knew exactly what work he
wanted to do. He wanted to enter the shop
of a man named Avet, who was a stone
cameo cutter. At that time cameos were
the most fashionable jewels for'ladies. Mak-
ing cameos by cutting family portraits or
little scenes on stones was delicate work, but
the boy who had played at mud pies and cut
figures out of the scraps of leather about his
father's shop liked skillful labor.
His father agreed to let him work for the
cameo cutter, and Augustus started to serve
his apprenticeship. At the end of about
three years, he went to work for a shell
cameo cutter, named Jules LeBrethon, re-
maining with him three years.
HE COPIED PICTURES FROM BOOKS, AND
CUT FIGURES FROM LEATHER THAT HE
FOUND IN His FATHER'S SHOP
174 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
Augustus Saint-Gaudens had not been at
work very long before he decided that he
wished to know more about art and sculp-
ture than he was learning in A vet's shop.
He knew that he could study in the free even-
ing classes at Cooper Institute, so he applied
for admission to the drawing school there.
He studied there for four years.
He then began to attend the classes at the
National Academy of Design, learning all
that he could and making friends with the
best artists of the day. He always worked
to better himself, doing his work again and
again until it was perfect.
Bernard Saint-Gaudens became greatly
interested in his son's work, and when many
people, who had also become interested in
the genius of the lad, said he ought to be
sent abroad to study, Augustus' father con-
sented.
Augustus Saint-Gaudens studied first in
Paris, and then went to Rome. His work
was almost immediately recognized as hav-
ing a fine quality. After a few years in
AUGUSTUS SAINT-GAUDENS 175
France and Italy, he returned to the United
States and began to accept orders for
statues.
One of his earliest public works was a
statue in honor of Admiral Farragut, which
was placed in Madison Square Park in New
York City. Saint-Gaudens also made for
New York City the notable statue of Peter
Cooper and the large statue of General Sher-
man on his horse.
For Chicago, he made one of the most fa-
mous statues of Abraham Lincoln that is in
existence. His statue known as the "Shaw
Memorial," which is on the Boston Common,
is considered by some critics to be Saint-
Gaudens' masterpiece.
In a very few years he became known as
the greatest American sculptor; and his
work is as much admired abroad as it is in
this country.
Augustus Saint-Gaudens did not work
quickly and did not accept orders for work
unless he felt that he was quite capable of
carrying out the idea desired.
176 WHEN THEY WERE BOYS
When he was a boy learning his art he
studied slowly and refused to give up any
piece of work he had started until he was
satisfied with it. This habit of careful work
remained with him throughout his life. He
spent nearly twelve years working on the
"Shaw Memorial," refusing to allow the
statue to be placed on view until he felt that
it was the best work he could accomplish
with the subject.
During the later years of his life Augustus
Saint-Gaudens lived and worked at Cornish,
New Hampshire. The honors that the world
heaped on him did not take his attention
from his art.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
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