Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1891-12-24
SINGLE TAX DEPARTMENT
HENRY GEORGE.


Henry George was born September 2,
1889. at 312 Catherine street. Philadel-
phiaA The house still stands His
grandfather was a shipowner and sea
captain; his father in early life a pub
| Usher of religious literature and for
| thirty years a clerk in the custom
house; his mother, q comedy and esti-
| mable woman, at the age of eighty was
described as "a queenly looking woman
| still beautiful despite the years that
have left their traces on her features"
Henry George attended public school
until his twelfth year, and afterward
| attended DR.. Hare's academy. AT Is
| he was indentured to a printer, but
| soon becoming weary of the calling,
| persuaded his father to allow him to
| go as a cabin-boy on the ship Hindoo.
| bound to Calcutta on a three years
| cruise. On his return he was appren-
| ticed to King & Baird. printers, but the
| panic of 1857 caused the failure of the
| firm, and Henry George was compelled,
| from lack of other employment, to
| ship on q small coal steamer running
between this port and Boston On this
/ vessel he labored for one year, and then
secured a berth as a sailor on the
| United States steamer Shubrick bound
| for San Francisco via Cape Horn. On
reaching its destination the vessel was
thrown out of commission, and our
| EN- bryo political economist out of en-
ployment with few dollars and no
| friends
It was at the time of the gold dis
coveries in California, and Henry George
became a miner and followed the occu-
| patton for number of years but with
| indifferent success. In 1861 he obtained
a position as compositor on the Alta Cali
| fornia Presently h1Dbegan anonymous
communications to the press which
! were almost always accepted Among
| these he wrote a nine-column article
| on the life and services of Abraham
Lincoln, just after the assassination.
| 1t made a marked impression, ex
tracts therefrom being published
| in every section of the nation.
| Changing his position as compositor
from the Alta California to the San
| Franciso Times he sent all his COM
munications to the latter paper. They
were eagerly received and invariably
published, often as editorial matter.
| Finally DR.. Gum, the editor, determined
| His attempts to do so were unsuccess-
full until he noticed that these letters
were always deposited in box at the
foot of the stairs leading to the editorial
rooms. At this box a watch was kept
| Whenever a note was inserted the per-
son on watch removed it and compared
the writing with that of the unknown
correspondent At length Mr. George
was seen, in passing the box, to slip a
letter in it and proceed up stairs to his
employment The watcher glanced at
the letter and found the handwriting he
had been searching for. He hurried to
| DIR. Gum, told of his success. Both
rushed into the composing room. Hen
| ry George was in one of the "alleys"
removing his coat DIR. Gum showed
him the letter and asked him if the
handwriting was his. Mr.. George an
swered Eyes" Then, young man."
said the doctor, ''you must not fool
away any more of you time as a COM
position. 1 have place for you in the
editorial ROOM
Three months afterward he became
managing editor of the paper and held
the position until 1867, when he re-
signed and joined the editorial staff OF
the San Francisco Herald In 1912
Henry George, in conjunction with four
others started the Evening Post, a PEN
ny paper. Owing to his brilliant and
logical editorials the paper soon had
| thousands of readers and to a large ex-
tent among workingmen. He contin-
ued in charge of the Post until 1875,
when it passed into other hands by pur-
chase. He then accepted an official po-
| sition from Gov. Irwin, which gave him
| sufficient leisure to make an exhaustive
study of political economy, and to write
Progress and Poverty" He found
great difficulty in securing a publisher.
first edition on five hundred copies
was published by Hinton in California.
The Appletons sent out q second edi-
ton; then Kegan Paul, of London,
brought out large edition. but it re-
manned unsold and piled in their cellars
until the English government kindly
came to their rescue. At this time,
1882. Henry George was in Ireland as p
| correspondent of the Irish World. This
| was enough to make him a suspect and
| cause his arrest on two occasions. His
arrest brought him into public promi-
nence, and directed attention to his
great work 1t found readers compe-
tent to appreciate it's merits. Favor
| able criticism doomed its sale and with
in fortnight the cellars of Kegan Paul
were empty, and new editions called
for, which could not be brought out
fast enough to meet the demand. The
| Philadelphia Press