Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-01-25

in connection with his rolling mill.
Nothing could discourage him. He
Immediately went to work to make the
first locomotive ever constructed in
America; attached a box-car to it. in
vited the directors to get in, took the
place of engineer himself, and away
thew flew over the thirteen miles in an
hour.
The directors took courage and the
road was 500 finished. Years after,
when Mr.. Cooper had become famous,
and the hospitality of the city of Balti-
more was offered him, the engine was
brought out to the delight of the as
sembled thousands.
Mr.. Cooper soon erected Mt Trenton,
N. j., the largest rolling mill in the
United States, large blast furnaces in
Pennsylvania, and steel and wire works
in various parts of the State. He
bought the Andover iron mines, and
built eight miles of railroad in a
rough country, over which he carried
40, 600 tons a year. The poor boy who
once earned only twenty-fiv dollars
yearly, had become a millionaire. No
goodluck accomplishedthis Hard work,
living within his means, saving his time,
not squandering it as some men do,
talking with every person they meet;
common sense, which led him to look
carefully before he invested money,
promptness, and the sacred keeping of
bis ~word-theso were the characters
tics which made him successful.
Nh. Cooper was honorable in every
business transaction. Once he said to
Mr.. Edward Lester, a friend who had
an interes. i'll the Trenton Works: 81
do not fe<i quite easy about the amount
we are ptaking. Working under n
of u catents we have a monopoly
which seems to me something wrong.
Every body has to come to us for it,
and we are making money too fast; 1t is
not right" The price was Immediately
reduced. A rare man indeed was Peter
Cooper to lower the price simply be-
cause the world greatly needed the
article he had to sell!
He was now sixty-four. For forty
years he had worked day and night to
carr money to build his Free College.
He had bought the ground between
Third and Fourth avenues, and Seventh
and Eight streets, some time previously,
and now for five whole years he watched
the great, six story, brown-stone build
ing as it grew under his hands. The
penniless lad was building into these
stones for all future generations the
lessons of his industry, economy, per-
severance, and noble heart. In a box
in the cornerstone he placed these
words:
''The great object that I desire to ac-
complish by the erection ofthis institution
is to open the avenues of scientific
knowledge to the youth of Jul city and
country, and so unfold the volume of
Nature that the young may see the
beauties Of creation, enjoy its blessings.
and learn to love the Author from whom
cometh every good and perfect gift"
But would the poor young men and
women of New York, who worked hard
all day, car for education? Some said
no. But Mr.. Cooper, looking back to
his boyhood and young manhood, be-
lieyed that the people loved books, and
would use an opportunity to study
them.
And when the grand building was
opened, with its library, class-rooms,
hall and art-rooms, students crowded in
from the shops and the factories. Some
were worn and tired, as Peter Cooper
wasin his youth, ibut they studied eager
ly despite Their WEAKNESS. Every
Saturday night two thousand came to-
gether in the great hall to hear lectures
from the most famous people in the
country. Every year nearly five hun
dred thousand read in the library and
free reading room. Four thousand
pupils came to the night schools to
study science and art.
For twenty-four years this labor of
love has been carried on. The white
haired, kind-faced man went daily to
see the students who loved him as a
father. His last act was to buy ten
type-writers for the girls in the depart
ment of telegraphy. Has the work
paid? Ask the forty thousand young
men and women who have gone out
from this institution to earn an honora-
bic support, with not a cent to be paid
for their education. No person is ac-
cepted who does 20 expect to earn his
living, for Mr.. Cooper had no love for
weak, idle youth who depend on their
parents and on the hope of an inherited
wealth.
The work has now outgrown the
building, and another million dollars is
needed as a monument to the noble
benefactor who gave two million dollars
to found Cooper Institute. OF the tif-
teen hundred who applied last year for
admission to the School of Art for
Women only five hundred could be re-
ceived, for lack of room. The gradu-
ates from this department last year, and
the members of the present class, have
earned over twenty-seven thousand dol
lars in the past twelve months. Three
pupils are teaching drawing in nineteen
of the public schools Of New York City.
One teaches twenty-five hours a week,
in eighth puplic schools, at two dollars
an hour. Several engrave on wood
for Harper & Brothers and for the Cen.
fury Company. One scholar is now
at the head of the Decorative Art So.
ciety in New Orleans, with a salary O.
one hundred and fifty dollars a month,
earning nearly as much in outside work.
Another, with a photographer in Con.
cord, N. H., receives twelve hundred
dollars a year. The Superintendent O
Schools at Winona. Miss, receives ont
tbc,copJ ID11,r. +1,o E,,.+ -o,, -. IL