Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-15
His School DAYS Shortened,

Benjamin Franklin was first intended for
the church and was thus sent early to the
grammar school. His uncle promised to
bequeath him his collection of sermons as
stock In trade, but his father, later being
impressed by the mean living many so ed
ucated obtained" changed his mind. took
him out of school and into business with
himself. When he was twelve years old to
prevent his running away to sea- his par
ents bound him over, as was the custom
IN IN, those days, to his brother printer, I'M
til he was twenty-one. Then began his lit
erary career. Il then took a fancy for DO
etry," he says, and made some little pieces;
my brother thinking that it might turn to
account, encouraged me, and put me on
composing occasional ballads One was
called THE Lighthouse Tragedy" the 9TH
er was a sailors song on the taking of
Teach Cor Blackheard), the pirate They
were wretched stuff IN the Grub-street bal
lad style; and when they Were printed he
sent me about the town to sell them. This
fiattered my vanity, but my father discour-
aged me by ridiculing my performance"
That Franklin was self-educator there
is no doubt, almost from his childhood he
set himself lacks like a schoolmaster and
studied his stint with diligence. From his
earliest youth he was self-centered and ap-
piled all the wisdom he could gather to his
own life and conduct At sixteen a book
By Tryon made him a vegetarian, and
about the same time he got his first les
sens In diplomatic argument from a gram
mar by Greenwood. He Is said even in
those early days to have been very artful
in drawing people of even superior knowl-
eoge into concessions, the consequence of
which they did not foresee, and from then
to the end Of his days he took pains never
to antagonize his adversaries.
He did not however, use this diplomacy
with his brother with whom he was en-
ployed. In 1920 or 21 the Franklins began
to print the New England Courant," the
The Boston Newsletter was already es-
tablshed in the same town and many at
tempted to discourage his brother from the
undertaking, declaring that one newspaper
was quite enough for America-four vastly
too many. From an anonymous contributor
Benjamin Franklin became. by delicious
accident, the retention of his brother in
jail for debt, the editor of this sheet But
changing the policy of the paper during his
brothers enforced absence led to disa-
greement which sent him to Philadelphia
TO seek his fortune.
A Born Reformer.
With no money and small experience he
die not have a particularly easy time of It,
and Furthermore he fell in with some rather
unfortunate companions. After a time,
however, he got employment in Keimer's
printing house and gradually made the ac-
auaintance of people of good standing. He
was a born reformer and was never salts
fed with things as he found them. The
governor of the colony took fancy to him
and offered to set him up in business. In
deed ne went so 1af as TO start MIN for
England TO purchase the necessary ma
chinery and then withdrew his support.
In this way Franklin first went to Eng
land and when scarcely more than lad
found himself duped by the man he had
trusted and penniless stranger in London.
AT Palmer's, then famous printing house
In Bartholomew Close, he found employ
ment for nearly a year, during which time
he wrote some wise essays and sowed some
wild oats. From Palmer's he went to
Watts, but took leave Of printing" to re-
turn to America and enter into the mercan-
tile business with Mr.. Denham OF Phila-
delphia.
| on the eve of his departure from British
| shores he was sent for by Sir William
| Wyndham who had heard of his swimming
| exploits desired him to teach his sons and
| urged that he remain in England and open
| a school of swimming. And, strange a 1t
| may seem, to do this Franklin was almost
persuaded.
| 1T26 tried his skill in business for time
| and then went back to his old employer.
/ Keinler with whom he stayed until he
started a printery OF his own. That he un-
| derstood modern business methods is
! eyincefl by the following incident:
Bradford (his rival still printed the
votes and laws and other public business
He had printed an address of the house to
i the governor, In coarse, laundering man.
| ner. We reprinted 1t elegantly and cor
rectiy and sent one to every member. They
voted US their printers for the ensuing
| year
About 1929 he opened in connection with
| his printing Office a stationer shop. In
order to create good impression he "drest
plainly, was seen at no places of diversion;
business sometimes brought home the paper
/ he purchased at the stores thro' the streets
on wheelbarrow."
From that time his influence began to be