Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-04-18

Every generation builds upon the
generations. Tbs fact IS emphatically
true in both the scientific and tho In
dustrial world. It is true of the houses
in which we live. and the railroad
trains and steamboats, in which we
travel. and the food that we eat, and the
clothing that we wear. and the electric
lights by which We see, and the books
that we read. 1t is true In almost all
the industrial developments of life. 1t
is also true that the men who made
these industrial developments possible
themselves. as n rule, got very little
reward out Of their inventions or i'm
provements.
Franklin's Question.
When Benjamin Franklin was max
ing his electrical Investigations, people
used 10 laugh at him. One day he pro
duced the proof that lightning and
electricity are identical. Then the pco-
pie again began TO sheer and say
well, even if that is true. what is the
EOOu VI lu' tlSNONti, w idl IL tiic
use of child?" answered Franklin
1T may yet become a man. This truth
is now only in its infancy. You can
not fOresee how it may he applied and
into what power 1t may yet he devcl-
oped." Did not the Child Of electrici-
ty" grow into amazing strength? Long
after the sage of Philadelphia was
buried Gslvani and Volta and Ocrsted
and Joseph Henry and laraday and
Sir Humphry Davy and Gramme and
Morse and Edison and Cyrus Field got
to work, and with this far reachipe
truth discovered by Benjamin Franklin
as a basis they developed power to
run our street railways. and power tC
turn the wheels Of factories, and pow
er with which TO scatter the darkness
of the night and power with which &c
send our messages under the seas
Could Benjamin Franklin awaken now
from his grave truly he would not rec
ognize the face of his "chld Of electric
ity.' He planted the seed Of electrica
development, but others have garneret
the harvests. "One man soweth, and
another reapeth'
Many years ago a poor Yale student
who had tendency to consumption
was living in South Carolina in the
home Of the widow Of General Nathan
mel Greene. While there he met some
southern planters who We're bemoanina
the fact that the chief profit OF the cot
ton industry was lost because no ma
chine had vet been invented which
could separate the cotton seeds from
the cotton. Young Ell Whitney, fol-
that was the Yale students name. wen'
to work and laborcd on month in and
month out. He perfected the cottor
gin. but before he could get a paten
upon the invention the barn in which
he had his workshop was broken open
and the machine was stolen. and his
ideas We're patented by other men. FL
Whitney, the man who has made mil
lions Of dollars for the south the mar
who has doubled and Quadrupled ant
infinitely increased the earning ca
pacty Of the southern ntations-pool
Eli Whitney himself never got a dolla
from his cotton gins save the poor pit
lance OF $4,000 granted him by thu
legislature of South Carolina. Like
Robert Fulton with his steamboat, lik'
Morse with his telegraph wires, lik,
Watt with his steam engine, llk,
George Stephenson with his locomotive
like II. A. Holden, the agronomist, ant
Burbank, tho wizard Of flowers ant
vegetables, these men have been seet
planters. They have made millions o
| dollars for other men; but, like Agassiz
| they have not had time to make none,
for themselves. zone man soweth. ant
another reapeth." One generation
Blants the seeds Of the industrial world
and another generation reaps the har
vest.
A Magnificent Heritage.
Have you ever stopped to think how
magnificent is the heritage In the indus
trial world you as a child fell heir t
when you were born? Have you eve
stopped to think Of all the well bull
roads and the railroad tracks and al
the lighthouses and aQueducts an,
sanitary developments which hav,
come to YOU through your ancestors
How you have been served by tn,
wise men and the greatest heroes o
the world! Child Of the twentieth cen
fury, how rich Is the heritage on which
you have entered. Men have though
and studied and toiled, and you are en-
toying the fruit of their labors. d,
you not realize that when John Guten
berg invented printing he was invent
ing it for you, and that when Colum
bus sailed across the seas he was dis
covering America for you, and tina
when Cyrus W. Field stretched his ca
bles he was laying them for you, an,