Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1868-07-31
TRIUMPHS OF GENIUS.

We sometimes think Of genius rs a
wayward, sickly faculty; but it is
rather that persistent power Of the
soul which, like faith, "laughs at i'm
possibilities" and cuts its way throu gh
ovcry obstacle. Tho lifo of Charles
Goodyear illustrates this in an emi.
ncnt degree. The Scientific american
says:-Wo presume that tho story OF
his cventful life will bo mado public
in somo moro formal mode, and we
will not attompt fully to trace tho
progress Of his inventions. 1t was in
1881 that Mr.. Goodyear turned his
attention to the manufacture of India
rubber. Thoro was a mystery abou
this tropical gum which gavo it n
strange charm to his imagination. It
was not an article of commerce, but
appeared from timo to timo only as u
rare curiosity brought from foreign
lands. The savages who possessed it
kept it profound secret. Ii was
found only under tho burning sun of
the equator, in the gloomy swamps of
the unexp!ored Amazon, Or the jun
giles Of Asia and Africa. Its nature
was as mysterious rs its origin; tho
chemists who examined it wcre baE
fled in thoir attempts to mako it Of
practical uso. Ingenious men abroad
and at homo, had attempted to solve
tho mystery, but all had failed. That
it was of immense value in tho arts
to supply thousand wants of civil.
zed life, was obvious to all, but tho
elastic gum kept its own mysterious
secret, and there was no Glow to the
discovery.
To discover the secret and solvo
tho problem became the dream of
Charles Goodyear'e life. Tho diff
cultics and failures which he encoun-
tered only made it moro dear to him.
He asked aid from men of science,
but they discouraged him; his as
sociates abandoned tho pursuit in des-
pair; his friends, one after another,
left him, but he only clung the
closer to his cherished faith. In one
OF the contests by which pirates of
his invention sought to rob him of
his rights, the veil was half with
drawn from the life of tho inventor,
and few details of tho privations
which he endured were given. He
was in such extrome psnury that his
bed was sold from under him he was
80 poor that it was said bo could not
buy an ounce of tea on credit. In
the doad of winter there was no food
in his house, and no fuol for fire.
This WAS not tho, struggle Of a fow
months only, but it was tho story of
years for it was not till 1874, after
ten years of toll, till ho perfected and
patented his discovery. His labor,
however, did not cease, and even to
the hour of his death be was devo-
ted to the favorite pursuit ON which
he lavished the immonse sums which
no received from his patents. His
life WAS subject to strungest vicissi.
tudes. He went from dobtors' pris.
on to palace, in Paris. Tho man
who was an object Of cold contempt
in an obscure village, on account of
his poverty, received tho Grand Cross
of tho Legion Of Honor from tho EN-
peror Napoleon rs reward Of his
genius. In Europe as well as Amer.
ica, his name was honored and his
merits appreciated, but to tho hour
of his death he was the same euthusi-
astic and patient inventor. Charles
Goodyear has we'll boon called tho
American Pallisy, and to his last hour
he acted ON the principle that God
did not create him to leave him idle.