The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1898-07-23
SIR ISAAC HOLDEN.
LIFE, OF THE MILL-BOY AND
MILLIONAIRE.
Born In Golfers Cottage; Died
BarOnet-His Industry and Inventive
Genius Brought Him Wealth and
World Wide Fame. o

came millionaire, the mechanic, In
: ventor, philanthropist, and statesman
passed away not long ago at the age Of
80. Spurgeon, his friend, once describ-
ed him as "being good and doing
good" In spite of a frail form, he
maintained his health through the
years of strenuous labor, toiled at his
numerous inventions, built up a gil
gantic business, and preserved to the
end his simplicity of manners and sym
pathy with the needy. His life is a
romance of industry and generosity.
He was born in Golfers cottage in
Scotland. George III. was king of
England, Jefferson was president of the
United States, and Bonaparte, who that
year declared Great Britain blockaded,
was the national boyle. His father was
a Cumberland man, wis had married
Scotch woman. The parents of both
had become Wesleyans under John
Wesley's personal guidance. The ia
ther when quite young, worked in a
lead mine. His little home in Cumber-
land is still standing, He then re-
moved to a Scotch village, and become
head man in a coal pit near the Clyde.
Times were hard, wages low, and food
at famine prices. The collier had often
only two days work in the week.
Isaac, when 5 years old, began his
| education in little village school. Five
years later, when work at the pit
ceased, the family removed again. The
/ parents devoted all their savings to
send the boy to Kilbarchan grammar
school. But the wages again failed,
and food was SO dear that Isaac had
to go to work after he was 10 years
of age, and this time as draw-boy to
! two weavers. He went to school at
night. The sight Of machinery became
his constant inspiration. He was al
ways devising, even then, new plans
for saving labor. After a while he be-
came a full-fledged mill-boy, and
worked fourteen hours day.
When better days came he left the
mill, and was sent to the school kept
by Mr.. Fraser, who had known well
the poet Burns. This schoolmaster
was popularity called "Old Radical"
Sir Isaac was fond of telling, later, how
Old Radical had "a Mans a Man for
a That" printed in large type and
mounted on boards for the bows at
school to look at and parse at sight.
When, in the year that George III.
died, 1920, Isaacs father removed to
Paisley, Isaac went to say goodbye to
Old Radical, who talked to him about
George Tvs accession, and said: eff
you want to study the new king. read
Suetonius and Petronius. You will find
his counterpart in their works." Isaac
had been an apt pupil, and replied:
"The kings of the earth take counsel
together, bat what is true and just
must live in spite of them"
The boy of Is was placed with an
uncle at Paisley, to learn shawl-weav-
ing. Here his health broke down, so
that he could do little or no manual
labor. He then became assistant to
John Kennedy, a scientific lecturer,
with whom he studied Greek, Latin.
French and mathematics. Twice he |
offered himself for the Wesleyan min
istry, and was accepted as a candidate,
but his feeble health closed this path |
to him. When he was 10 he became |
a mathematical tutor at Reading, and |
formed a mathematical institute, Civ
ing lectures in natural science and his
tory. Young Holden's lectures at
Reading were given to about 100 young
men, who dubbed together and fur
nished little laboratory. In the
course of his chemical experiments. in
1923, he originated the idea of the lu-
cifer-match, though he never patented
1t nor derived any financial benefit
from it. But we shall hear him tell his
own story. Before a select committee
of the House of Commons, appointed to
inquire into the working of the patent
laws, he said:
In the morning used to get up at
o'clock in order to pursue my studies,
and l used at that time the flint and
STEEL In the use of which I found very
great inconvenience. gave lectures
In chemistry at the time at a very
large academy. OF course. I knew. as
other chemists did, the explosive ma
lerial that was necessary in order to
produce instantaneous light; but it was
very difficult to obtain a light on wood
by that explosive material, and the
dea occurred to me to put under the
explosive mixture sulphur. l did that
and published it in my next lecture
Ind showed it. There was a young
ran in the room whose father was a
hemist in London, and he Immediately
wrote to his father about it, and short
y afterwards lucifer matches were is
ued to the world. 1 believe that was