Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-11-13
~, aud oltsn cried frosA sheer nis.
aarv I remember that, on one oc-

caSion, while l was cnOppinB Sumo
wood. a man sauntered along. and
stood looking at me for some time.
said nothing to him, but kept on
working. After some moments. he
he said to me. Sonny. you're not par
ticularly sociabe. Why don't yon
say something to fellow"
. IF | should talk to you" I answer
ed. Il would not be able to strike
straight with my ak"
That was pretty curt remark.
afterwards thought, for the man went
away rather crestfallen. But the
more | thought OF what / had said, the
more believed that had made the
correct answer. ] was sent to school,
finally, and what "book-learning"
have was gained in Wheeling. No
boy ever enjoyed going to school more
than did A new world seemed to
be opening to me. | became fond of
study. and took considerable pride in
my record ] never missed an ex-
animation. was never tardy, and at
tended year after year without be-
ing absent a single day. But play
fi JbHt uS Idlb 40 6tuhith, anu pt6dh
to experience the strenuous life"
while still young In years. When
went home from school in the evening,
there were always chores to do about
the house. / helped my mother with
the sweeping and heavier household
work, and. whenever she could spare
me, / found many away to earn an
hanaaf I,. ptpo ia
executing some little job for a neigh
Dor.
was Interested in mechanics from
my earliest recollection. ! suppose
the fact that my father was an engi-
ncor had something to do with this,
and could draw plans for engines al.
most before | could write. Before
was seven years old was using a
set of mechanical drawing instruments
with considerable success, and ! cant
remember the time when wasn't
busy with some design. It was al
ways my ambition to work in ma
chine shop. and 1t never occurred to
me that | might do better In some
other line of work.
'''S ' " u VFHHNb NNSiS 0'iJ
Cents Day.
When | was thirteen years old. my
mother decided to move to Chicago
and Immediately, on our arrival in that
city, ! began to look for work. en-
tered an application with the Illinois
Central Railroad company for posi-
tlon. told that company that |
tsa Nvfl ,I,.
pectations were very modest. Per
sonally. ! would have preferred re-
naming in school few years longer.
but my mother needed money and |
had to earn it. | thought that. if
could take home a dollar or two every
week. 1t would be great achieve
ment. My ambition at that early
day did not extend beyond reaping the
reward Of faithful and honest work
In the humble duties of my calling
II never occurred to me that | might
one day be the general superintend-
ent and manager of the great cor
poration into whose employ | was Just
entering.
My first position was In the Office
of Samuel j. Hayes. superintendent of
machinery. where | was employed for
about two months as general er
rand boy. This work was little more
arduous than !, was used to doing at
home. but / was delighted with the
idea that ! was actually engaged in
business. Ny wages at the start were
forty-five cents day. Several men
told me that was fool to work for
such wages. and thought so. too, sev
eral times, but | decided to make as
much of my chance as possible.
Studying at Home Will Often Bring
Great Results.
At the end of two months. was put
to work In the tin and copper shop,
where | did all sorts of work, assist
ing the regular employees by clean
ing up, and by making myself gener-
ally useful. 1t was while serving in
this shop that made up my mind to
become machinst. / entered an ap-
plication with the railroad company
for place In the machine shops so
that | could learn the trade. This was
given In few months, and the prac-
tical training that | received in the
shops has been OF the greatest value
to me ever since. / acquired some
knowledge of carpentry and the de-
signin gthe locomotives. and kept my
eyes and ears open to learn all
could in every department OF the
work
On July 5. 1858. Mr.. Hayes gave
me position in the department of
mechanical drawing, and from that
time | made rapid progress. Mr.
Hayes had warm heart and was
most friendly toward any boy starting
In the world for himself, and under
his good counsel. | developed an am
bition to ut myself for the complete
mastery of both the science and art
of mechanical drawing and engineer
ing. | began course of systematic
study. which | continued for ten years
Mr. Hayes soon saw that | was in
earnest, and he accorded me the priv
ilege OF studying during office hours
whenever my duties permitted. l
also studied at home in the evenings,
and was able to make short work of
some books had. Being regularly EN-
ploycd in the drawing department !