Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1868-08-21
TRIUMPHs OF GENIUS.

We sometimes think Of genius as way
ward, fckle faculty; but it is rather that
persistent power of the soul which, Ike faith
laughs at i6possibilities, and cuts It's
way through every obstacle. The life Of
Charles Goodyear illustrates this IN an emf
nent degree. The Scteatifc Americaa says:
We presume that the story Of his eyentful
life viii be made public in some more formal
mode, and we viii not attempt fully to trace
the progress of his inventions 1t was in
1884 that Mr.. Goodyear turned his atten-
ton to the manufacture Of India rubber.
There was mystery about this tropical
gum which gave II strange charm to his
imagination Ii was not an article Of COM
merce, but appeared from time to time only
as a rare curiosity brought from foreign
lands. The savages who possessed it kept
the mode of its manufacture profound Sc
cret, 1t was found only under the burning
sun Of the equator, in the gloomy swamps Of
unexplored Amazon, or the jungles of Asia
and Africa. Its nature was as mysterious
as its origin; the chemists who examined it
were baffied in their attempts to make it Of
practical use. Ingenious men, abroad and
at home, had attempted TO solve the mys
tery, but all had failed. That it was Of i'm
mense value in the arts, to supply a thou
sand wants of civilized life, was obyious to
all, but the elastic gum kept its own myste-
rious secret. and there was no clue 70 the
| discovery.
To discover the secret and solve the prob
lem became the dream Of Charles Goodyear :
life. The difficulties and failures which he
encountered only made it more dear to him.
He asked aid from men of science, but they
discouraged him; his associates abandoned
the pursuit in despair; 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 invention
sought to rob him of his rights, the veil was
half Withdrawn from the life Of the inventor,
and few details Of the priyations which he
endured were given. He was in such ex-
treme penury that his bed was sold from I'M
der him; he was so poor that It was said he
could not buy an ounce Of tea on credit. In
/ the dead Of winter there was no foed in his
/ house, and no fuel for fire. This was not
the struggle of few months only, but it
was the story of years; for it was not till
/ 1914, after ten years Of toll, that he perfect
| ed and patented his discovery. His labor,
however, did not cease, and even to the
hour of his death he was devoted to his IA
vorite pursuit on which he layished the Inn
mense sums which he received from his pat
ents. His life was subject to the strangest
vicissitudes- He went from poor debtors
prison to a palace in Paris The man who
was an object Of cold contempt in an obscure
village, on account of his poverty, received
the Grand Gross of the Legion of Honor
/ from the Emperor Napoleon as reward oi
/ his genius In Europe as well as in Ameri-
ca, his name was honored and his merits ap-
preciated, but to the hour of his death be
was the same enthusiastic and patient inEen
tor. Charles Goodyear has wen been callet
the American Palsy, and to his last hou
he acted on the principle that God did no
4 create him to leave him idle