Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1883-04-13
peter Cooper.

Peter Cooper, whose life ended Wed
ueslay mUruing little before daybreak
was man whose career may well be
taken as model for all ambitious
Youths. He started in life with no capt.
tai except an original brain, a stout
heart and willing hands. Education he
hal none. lie served an apprehentice-
shin as a coach maker, and subsequently
en- ,arcd in the mercantile pursuits, and
LATER in manufacture. What he learned
from books-and it was no little-he
picked up as best he could. But while
he read All that occasion offered, he al
WAYS thought for himself
lie had the merit of seeing the value
ofucw things. When new inventions
were made he saw and estimated their
worth, anl invested capital in them
Thus he saw at once the value Of rail-
roads. and in 1880, while railroads were
in this infancy, he founded rOlling-mll
at Caution. aud also built the first loco
motive. used for the first time on the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroai between
this city and E'scott's Mills He saw
al once the future Of teiegraphs, aud
funded wire mill in New York city
Everybody can see the value of these
things now but there was some merit
in seeing them There was time when
railroads were regarded as visionary as
the Kceley motor is now, aud telegraphs
a. impossible as ;urial navigation. But
Peter Cooper had the practical sense to
know real invention when he saw it,
and herein lay the secret of his success.
OF course, man who had such prac-
teal sagacity, combined with energy,
could no. remain poor mechanic. He
earned large sums Of money, and he in
vested them as prudently as if his forte
had been finances, and thus he grew to
be very rich. There are strong points
Of similarity in his life and the life Of
the late Ross Winans, of this city
Both were men who by native force
/ fought their way to wealth and influence
along the same paths both lived to
very advanced age, and died leaving
/ vast fortunes. Such careers are hardly
possible in any country except Amarica.
/ But his material successes are a small
part of the claim which Peter Cooper
has upon the respect and gratitude of
j this generation He was not one of
whose wealth growls harder as his wealth
grows larger-as is 50 often the case.
His sympathies have always been warm
and true, and the cause of the poor has
been bis cause. Benevolence has been
She handspring of his actions, and even
his errors and weaknesses sprang from
this He sometimes showed strange eT-
rors of judgment in financial matters
as for example, when he became Green
back cndidate for the presidency; but
the root of this error was a mistaken
sympathy with the poor who had lost
employment during the gloomy years
from 1874 to 1878.
The Cooper Institute in New York
city was established to give to the work
ing classes the sort of technical education
that its founder so ardently de sired in
his youth. 1t has lectures, libraries,
reading rooms, instructions in drawings,
modelling, designing. carving, painting,
machinery, architectre-and many 9TH
or things ;ha; equip workman well for
I the life before him In this institution
Peter Cooper has invested already near
ly a million dollars. 1t is not impro-
bable that his will will show that he
has made other philanthropic endow-
ments. Peter Cooper has been so prom
inent in movements of all kinds to bet
ter the condition of the poor in New
York that he became n target for good
natured caricature, and his face is famil-
lar to all; but there was in the communi-
ty where he lived a great deal ofrespect
and affection for him. American.