The Newtown bee., 1879-07-02
How a Comet Strnck the Earth.

HOW COHfet StfHch JIG EaTUN.
 It was very small comet, and us the merest. corner of the earth--but I must tell you the whole story.
 About the year 1889 we went to live on the banks of Rock river in the beautiful State of Illinois
 During the early part of that winter, the first newspaper was printed in the little town near our settlement. It was called the Star. My brother wrote some ambitious verses-chanting the praises of this Star of our country! Star of our banner! Bright Star of glory that shineth afar! !'-which were printed in the first number, and accordingly he was chosen from among the youth of the town to be the printers imp of the Star office.
 How l admired, with just flavor of envy, his sudden elevation! I used to peep in at the windows, for I was too shy to enter by the door, and would watch the mixing of the forms with the hand-roller of those days. And I act ually came to think my brothers good looks were improved by the smutch of ink he habitually wore over his eye or on his nosei
 Well, it was here, lowering about the Sur office, helping occasionally to wash the forms-after I had grown bold enough to go in-and lending hand to pick up the type, clear away the pi and sweep out, that had my first dreams of the life awaiting me in the busy world. True, there was no fountain of inspira- tion that flowed for me there. unless it was the ink fountain of the old Washing ton press, but my visions were shaped by an object hanging against one of the case-stands; and that was-the foot of an old booti
 One day, exploring that dark abyss in the Star office, 1 found lot of types that were only slightly defaced; and then came to me the lucky thought that I could beg these, and pick up enough more like them to set up by-and-bye printing office of my own.
 No prairie sun-fower ever grew so quickly as that idea, and soon I walked with my head among the stars. It hap pened, too, just about this time, that meteors, or |" falling stars" as they were then called; and although did not see them, was constantly thinking about them and the Stdr, and trying to work out in my mind a plan for starting my printing office, and, at length-how the thought thrilled me-publishing paper all my own! How should I print it's What name should I give itp My spare hours were spent in trying to find answers to these questions. And all the time that tantalizing old Star was coming out as regularly as any heavenly body in its course. My paper must have a name taken in some way from the sky !; but what should it be?
 | Mean while, no stamp collector ever worked more diligently in gathering varieties than 1 in getting together the type for my enterprise. The proprietor of the Star gave me the contents of the old boot, and I searched daily the sweepings of the office to add to my stock. did "chores" for friendly carpenter, borrowed his tools, and l finally took him into my confidence. made a type-case by boring in thick in the alphabet, with extra holes for numerals, "spaces," .'quads, points, , double letters, etc. I made a press by | mailing tv tho end of O ~voll- -1oa,v,rod strip of two-inch oak a piece of hard wood foot square and an inch thick. The strip of oak was two feet and half long. and the hardwood piece formed an upright, the strip, smoothly planed and | leveled, making the bed of the press A < cleat," nailed along the upright on its inner face, furnished fulcrum, and a stick four or five feet long was the lever.
 You will see presently how this homemade press was worked.
 "Give me the fulcrum," said Archi- medes, "and 1 will move the worldi" I l had a fulcrum and lever, and with them 1 hoped to lift into existence new body of celestial name.
 But l was like young bear-my troubles were all ahead of me. When began to set up my battered type, I brought about me very hornets nest of discouragements. Still held bravely l nn MU -EnIf duty strengthening up the sides. or mending the faces of the crooked and perverse little letters When 'sorts, '' or particular kinds of letters failed me, l had to reconstruct them entirely, al- ways so far mindful of my "p's" and "q's" as to turn those letters upside down when I was short of dds" and "b's." I made capital "F's" with Els" just chopping off the lower limbs had cut away its tongue. The severest strain, however, was to make two ' V's J stand for "W." Imagine the editorial of paper opening with the quotation "VVhen, in the course of human events l it becomes" etc!
 Through these many similar difficult ties I led my little columns of broken English, until they stood at last in bat tie array on the bed of my press, which had been made true with the aid of a spirit-level. Four hardwood strips formed the < chase" or frame, in which the columns were '' locked up " to com I plete the 's form" I had two pages oi two columns each. the size of the page be- ing three inches and a-half by five inches l linked the type with printers ink applied by ball made of buckskin stuffed with cotton. I laid one of my dampened sheets of printing paper on the inked surface, then a square of wooler cloth, then a piece of hardwood board ten inches square, planed smooth and true, and then, on top of that, another block half the size Now came the su. preme moment. I grasped the lever, fitted it beneath the fulcrum, and swung myself over the other endl l seemed to sit astride the handle of the Great Dipper, in this the proudest moment of my boy life! I tell you l bprp iS no caticfantioy 1il-o +hof ;ol