Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1856-01-22
EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.
THE PRINTERS BALL.

that has been given in this place for many years
A very large company was present ana an
appeared to enjoy themselves in the most plea
SAINT manner Much credit is due to Mr. PHI
LIPS for his efforts in providing an excellent
supper; and though many more were present
than he had anticipated, his table afforded an
abundance to all, of the very best that could be
desired.
| We notice that the Printers in several of the
Western towns held festivals the It'll, III
honor of .. The Printer Boy" In speaking of
TIE Festival in Milwaukee, the Sentinel gives
the following truthful tribute to the memory of
FRANKLIN:
ITO honor the memory of Franklin, the first
printe- Of any note upon this hemisphere; one
of Americas earliest Philosophers and one of
her greatest statesmen in the time that tried
mems souls; her foreign Ambassador honored
respected, and courted abroad, not only by the
diplomats of other lands but by the scientific
men and the savaus af all Europe-to honor his
memory, TO commemorate the event that gave
to America, and not TO America alone, but to
the world at large, the Printer, the Statesman,
and the Philosopher, is duty devolving impera-
lively upon every Composition, every FRESHMAN,
ever IiiiI III Itilb ~ TIC ISSUE ol al HtMS-
paper, from the Editor, Local down TO the de,a
AS a Philosopher Franklin had no equal in
his day he was the first to penetrate the heav-
ems, and to draw from them their ethereal fluid
and to render It subject to mans uses, and to
become one Of the agents to be governed by his
VIII and made one Of the means for his safety
and now, wherever civilization has extended her
arms, the 'silvered points that surmont the
dwellings of man, attest his genius and as they
turn aside from their natural course the currents
of electricity, or the lghtnings FASH that would
have crumbled to atoms, or charred to a black
ered mass the temples of God, the mansions of
the wealthy, the cottage Of the rustic even the
howell Of the poor; rs they cleave the passing
cloud or, penetrating it, catch upon their points
the destructive lightning, they are as so many
senti1tcls standing guard and watching their
safety; attesting, not only to his genius, but
pointing towards heayen-to the seat and the
throne of all wisdom-thev are so many pointed
references to the clearness of his scientific mind
and to the depth of his philosophical knowledge
"Of Sir Isaac Newton it was once said. in
reference to his discovery of the laws of gravi-
tation, that he had dived into the counsels of
the Omnipotent and laid bare the whole secret
of the Universe
But between the great Philosopher of Britain
and the great Philosopher of America there was
vast difference, and one that, in justice to
Franklin, should not be overlooked. Newton,
in his youthful DAYS, was surrounded with all
the advantages of education, furnished him by
his parents; the advantages of early association
with the learned He was blessed with parents
who had it in their power to afford and obtain
for him an early training of his mind for scien-
tiiC research. The result of his searching is
known.
But not so was it with Franklin He was
the child of toll, the laborer the poor boy, the
Printers Apprentice Boy Of Philadelphia, His
education in his youth was as limited as were
the means of his parents to afford him what lit
tie he obtained. Standing at his case, amusing
himself with the click of the type. it may have
appeared to him that his condition was hard
compelled to sustain the dtudgcry of printing
Office that it might sustain him; and vet that
/ boy was a aonParea, for now that his proof has
been read, it shows that he has no equal The
Printer boy toiled on year after year rolled on ;
the boy was making himself 2 man, to be sought
( for in after ears by the most gifted minds of
1 the world, and his opinions to be listened TO
with wonder and admiration. Time rolls on
and the Printer turns q gaze heayenward, and
/ his eye follows he rends the veil, plUnges tbro
/ the mist that obscured kept from sight the
secret but great vital principle that peryades all
nature, he shakes hands with it. crasrs it. OBJ
\ tans portion of it, brings it to the earth, ar
rests it. confines it in glass cell he afterwards
Z lihn~,tas :.
rendered it, ever afterwards, subserviert to
mans protection The lightning, that had struck
terror into every breast, was no longer to be
( feared the Printers boy had dIsarmcd it of its
terrcrs, he had made It's acquaintance, and proved
10 the scientific world that like all other crea-
lures of the Omnipotent it was intended for
mans benefit, and to be used as one Of the great
clements in the advancement of the glory of
God and promote the welfare of humanity. both
here and hereafter
+ TO Prof. Morse is due the credit of having
first discovered the means by which language
could be transmitted from one place to another
by clectricity-as having been the first inventor
of the electric telegraph. Let Morse enjoy all
the rewards and the praise OF his fellow men for
his invention. he Is justly entitled to them. We
would add to these praises if it were possible,
rather than strive to lessen them; but we believe
that The telegraph is too magnificent an inven-
ton to have Its glory concentrated in single
man." Morse found electricity on earth. and
first taught It 10 travel and to turn wire dancer
at he VIII Of the operator; but Franklin had
previously brought 1t to the earth; the printers
boy had previously flown his kite, and its tail
knocking at the clouds, the door of the electric
chambers was opened. Franklin commanded
It's inmate in the name Of the United States to
come down and settle in Ameriky; he made
1t travel straight as a string toeine the line
the whole way. Prof Morse but used what
Benjamin Franklin lad previously provided.
Franklin first threw his lasSo into the heav-
ems, caught the lightning steed and BROUGHT
him 10 the ground upon his launches. Prof
Morse but found him, after his capture, put on
the harness, hitched him to the telegraph and