The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-05-22

Ssss d ,saass! 3.sxs ~
SIR HIRAM MAXIM
millionaire Inventor, who b er1an an wcrked
with his hands at noble toll
rood wash, and turns out spick and span
again.
,.In the old days in America this sort OF
thing was perhaps carried to excess.
remember forty years ago, IN Rhooe
Island, the men used to turf, up at the
works In top hats.
Well-Paid Manual Labor.
'shortly after I started making guns al
Crawford had smart American over 70
take charge Of the works, and no asked
me for permission to try to cultivate
cleanly habits among the men. Natural
ly. | gladly consented.
$50 ample washing arrangements were
provided, and he preached the gospel Of
keeping working garments for working
/ hours But the men laughed at him.
They were only workingmen, they said;
| what did 1t matter to them now they
lived? suppose the sons OF those men
are now clerks. trying. poor fellows. 10
be respectable. and putting up a brave
| fight against poverty.
What u pity! Education begets self
respect, and intelligent, self-respecting
workmen are sadly needed. 1t is this
fetish, this stupid fetish, the black coat,
that prevents cur having in this country
! q great class of happy. well-to-do me-
| chnnics and artisans such as there Is In
America.
'And these people earning good pay
and living In nice homes are great
/ -. nrtkN hn
| States Indeed, the false shame OF labor
/ ing with ones hands Is losing to this
country "a most important class. a class
that is sending America ahead by leaps
and bounds
personally" Sir Hiram went on. as he
pounded the table with his fist, II have
. never been ashamed OF working with my
hands. I began when was years old.
| At that age was not allowed to have q
pointed knife. but. on the other hand. I
was allowed the run of lathe in my
| fathers wood mandatory.
"The result was that at the age OF nine
I had a good acquaintance with machin-
! cry But my mechanical education did
not end there. AT II. as my father also
/ had grist MILL went to work there.
and soon mastered the mysteries OF that
trade.
AT 10 I was still going to school, but
/ two or three evenings 4 week used to do
an amount of manual labor that would
nowadays be considered too much for
three grown men.
| Il had TO mix barley, oats and peas to-
gether. put them into hopper and then
grind them at the rate of three bushels
| a minute. Afterward ] had to put the
] meal into sacks, and lift them onto the
top Of a shelf as high rs my chin
4 This exercise endowed me with a splen-
4 did physique and when I was appren-
! ticed to serve my time as carriage
builder and decorative panel painter the
work seemed quite light in comparison.
:, A Busy Life,
~ did not, however, continue at that
4 work. At the age OF 20 had charge Of a
wood factory, and at the age Of % I was
the manager OF steel and iron works.
"Then-and believe / have to thank my
physical strength for It'll was able to do
Imore with shetland brass on lathe than
any man had been known to do before.
Meantime was making myself prof.
cient draughtsman
"When electricity first came out I'M
medIately took up the study OF that, ana
for one of my Inventions, shown at the
! Paris Exhibition. ] was made Knlght OF
the Legion OF Honor.
subsequently / took up gunmaklns.
| and was the first to produce smokeess
powder from nitro-glycerine ana gun-cot-
ton. Now am building airships,
"My only object In summarizing the
worx of nv life is to show that me-
cha nic may achieve considerable results.
Everv dny for nearly forty years have
work cd with my coat off, and do SO stu.
~ have no patience with the man who
thinks 1t degrading to work IN MS shlr'
4 sleeves.
s.o ~ he would do to take charge of an
imnortant piece of engineering work, He
arrived in a top hat, frook coat and Kid
slaves, I remarked that that kind of cos
tmn,a would not be suitable for the work
4 | proposed to give him.
n,0h., said he, II never take my coat on
nov ".verv we'll. replied, II that is your
nr,nc,nle shall certainly not ask you to
,h,rnas II Indeed, II you have ideas of that
sart would not have you N my employ
e eor al the money IN the world Go away
- no,,ing ahead, 1t Is difficult to see
,,,,,a, the end of this worship of the fetish
- ~ black coat Will be.
o.once again, / would point out that we
oht learn a most useful lesson by adopt
,ng the ideas OF the oldest civilized coun-
trv IN the world-China-in regard to the
!, nosition and dignity of labor
."rnere the man who tllls the soil has
tho highest honor paid him, and men who
follow such occupations as soldering ana
nlav.acting are regarded IN much the
same light as hangmen are IN EUROPE
lt,i55 aIA5
Death From Sleeping Sickness.
BRUSSELS, May Alone Oh the two