East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1860-03-29
+" The Bare-Lcggca LmdAie..

Sixty years ago bony youth tf eight.
cen years of age, who had been known
among the neighborhood as "grit bare
legged laddie," called on poor village
scLoolmaster, AMI said: ~ would like to
attend your evening school, SIR" "Nyhat
do you wish to study?" asked the teach
err. ~ want to learn to read and write,"
replied the lad The teacher looked into
the lads fact with a somewhat scornful
glance, shrugged his shoulders, and said:
every well, you can attenl." Now il
that bony lad had said to the teacher, 81
mean to become great inventor, to be
the companion of rich and noble men, to
hold conversation with kings, and to write
my name among the great men Of the
world" dare say the teacher would have
called the boy fool, for cherishing such
wild dreams. Yet the poor bony lad, who
at eighteen did not know the alphabet,
did all those things before he died. Who
was he? His name was George Stephen
son, the great railway pioneer! 1t was not
the fault of young George that he was
ignorant; it was only his misfortune
His parents were too poor to send him to
school. He was the son Of fireman of
a pumping engine in colliery. His
birthplace was a cottage with a clay floor,
mud walls and bare rafters He had to
help to earn his living from his earliest
years, first by herding cows and barring
up the gates of the mine at night. Next
he was put to picking stones from the
coal, and after that to driving a horse
which hauled coal from the pit. By-and-
bp he was made assistant fireman to his
father. When he was seventeen he was
made plug-man Of pumping engine-a
higher post than his father's-and had
climbed, as it seemed, to the top of his
ladder What hope was there for youth
who could not read at seventeen But
George had hope in his breast. His en-.
gine was lesson book to him. He took
it apart and put it together again, studied,
heard, loved it, and when he was told that
there were books which told about en-
gines, he made up his mind to 60 to
school. TO school he went, and soon
learned all the village masters could
teach. When twenty years old he was
brakes-man, and began to think about in
venting better engines than he saw about
him. Thus working, thinking, reading,
he kept on, avoiding all bad habits, until
he built locomotive that would travel at
the rate Of four miles an hour on tram
way. This was a great affair at that
time His next work was a railway eight
miles in length, and from this point he
went on until he was known as the great
railway pioneer of the world. George
was often laughed at by men who thought
themselves much wiser than he. One
day he was proposing to build an engine
to run twelve miles an hour. A grave
looking gentleman, thinking to put him
down, said: Suppose one of those en-
gines to be going along railroad at tho
rate of nine or ten miles an hour, and
that COW were to stray upon the line,
would that not be q very awkward cir
cumstance?" eyes," replied Mr.. Ste
phenson, Every awkward indecd-for tho
cow" Thus, by his own industry, did
the "grit barc,laddie" climb to very
high place among men. Great men, and
even kings sought his advice, wealth
flowed into his purse, his name was hon
ored, his character respected. AT ripe
age he went to his eternal reward. Let
this sketch of the "barc-legged laddie"
cheer on the boys and girls to patient ef-
fort in the path of duty. Learn some.
thing every day. Press forward-be
good and you will prosper.