The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1883-04-13

that in the carry days or ms married life,
when his wife was too much occupied with
her household affairs to be able to give
exclusive attention to her baby, he
turned his inventive talent toward a
labor-saving cradle. He invented n cradle
that would not only rock itself and fan away
the flies, but which lulled the child asleep by
a musical-box attachment. This invention
was bought from him by a Connecticut ped
dler, who considered it cheap at the cost of
his whole outfit, horse, wagon and goods.
One of Mr.. Cooper's latest addresses in
public was singularly characteristic of the
man. 1t was delivered in the open street to
a mixed crowd of men and boys, who cheered
the aged philanthropist in return. 1t was
late one afternoon last fall, at Broadway
and Houston street. Peter Cooper's car
riage had come to a sudden stop in front of
the Revere house; one of the traces was bro
ken. The driver labored vainly to repair the
damage. The policeman on the corner tried
to help him, but with no better success. The
street was blocked and the crowd pressed on
impatiently. In the hubbub Mr.. Cooper
opened the door of the carriage and stepped
out to learn what was the matter. The
crowd, instantly recognizing him, made
room respectfully. He no sooner saw what
the trouble was than he called the
coachman away, and, unbuttoning his great
coat, fell to work on the broken trace him
self. The crowd watched him with increas-
ing interest as he defly made his bitches
and half bitches, and with only Il piece of
string and a small wooden stick in a few
minutes repaired the trace sufficiently to al
low the carriage TO be driven on. As he
stepped upon the curbstone after finishing
his work, Mr.. Cooper, pointing to the trace,
spoke kindly to some young men who stood
near, explaining to them the advantage of
being able to help oneself when there was
need. His adore rs was brief, and was
listened to with respectful attention, and
when the old gentleman stepped into his
carriage and closed the door, the crowd
cheered and hats were swung in his honor.
Mr.. Cooper's visits to his Office III Burling
slip of late years were somewhat irregular.
The burdens of the details of the business
nave long been borne on other shoulders
than his, although when the time came for
! consultation and the determination of some
question of moment, his counsel was never
| dispensed with. But, no matter Mt what
time he visited his office, whether in the
morning or the ~afternoon; whether every
day in the week or only at intervals of sew
eral days, he was sure to be greeted on his
departure by n swarm of beggars. 1t was a
mystery how they knew he was coming. 1t
seemed as though they had a man always on
suard to spread the news far and near, for
he no sooner entered the office than the
mendicants began to collect. Not a few
were tramps, who, even reeking with alco-
hol, held out their hands for gifts. They
swarmed to the front of the store and even
invaded the premises. 1t was no use in
telling Mr.. Cooper that they were idle and
drunken. He would not %relinquish his habit
of giving something to every man every
time. He did it in spite of his partners, and
said it gave him pleasure.
Mr.. Cooper was reputed to be n very
wealthy man,, but the extent of his fortune
is known only to his immediate family. H
gave away millions to his relatives, beside.
the millions that he gave to the Cooper
Union. His benefactions in other direc.
lions have been enormous. People never
tired of asking him for money. His daily
mail brought him bushels of begging let.
tiers. He was besought to engage in al
sorts of wild schemes of benevolence, anc
TO contribute to the most pressing individ
nal needs. 1t would have required more
than the labor of one person to answer these
letters, and many of them went unanswered
But many of them met with seccess
He was literally giving all the time. How
much money Mr.. Cooper did make will
probably never be known to the public. HI
reserved something for himself as a sourc,
of income for his running expenses, but it il
said to bear NJ considerable proportion Il
the vast fortune which he earned. A neal
friend of the family said that Mr.. Cooper
will was made several years ago, and that bu
a comparatively small sum was left for Mr.
Cooper to dispose of, as he had already giver
away most of his property.