La Junta tribune., 1908-11-14

building. II Is little house. The
rooms are small. There are fire
places. stone floors. wooden beams,
narrow and steep stairways. so mar.
row and 30 low and 30 steep that l
had to bend my body. raise my feet
high and even then bumped my head.
With great difficulty reached the
upper story. There had been an at
tic. where once were sleeping cham
bers. but they must have crawled
into the rooms. for without the attic.
the ceiling is low, in parts. The
room where the great poet was
born is a very small. dark. dismal
room. not a place where one would
look for the birth Of a great man. for
certainly there was no Inspiration
poetical or dramatic. In the III
lighted. badly ventilated. homeiy cor.
ner. except such inspiration as
when divinity dwells In clod: but
genius is not made. Genius is born
1T IL birthright Genius Is not
born In palace, is not bred from
royal loins, is not the inheritance
of kings. but comes into the world
unannounced. 1t Is schooled In
trials and adversity Inspiration an
destiny guard and shape its course
and give |, wings to sustain its diz'
zy flights. His was a rare genius.
Fancy was at his command. knowl-
edge OF human nature and sense OF
human kind was his whether by ex.
perience or intuition. history does
not tell. He knew history. the ways
and customs of kings and the sad
lot OF the lowIy. the spirit of avarice
jealousy. pride, power and glory. as
though he had been king. beggar,
miser, spendthrift. a coquette. a
lover. false and true, Richard the
Third, and King Lear-had had
the heart of all men. Here. In this
little room. OF humble parents. his
father . wool stapler or merchant
and . glove maker-here was the
grsatest poet bora, the greatest by
univsex <wsansent. I visited the
school room where he learned TO rea
write and learned what he knew OF
mathematics and the languages. His
desk bears the marks of the ordinar!
genius-carvings. notches and holes.
his yearning for manual training.
which the boys In those days only
enjoyed In this way. Mayhap. had
he been a whitesmith or a black.
smith, locksmith or bell hang
er, as was open to the boys. with
such inclinations In those days. then
we had not seen Julius Caesar. Hen
ry the w. or the Merry Wives OF
Winsdor. In the church In this lit
tie village. lie his bones. which no
one has dared to disturb. You have
read his epitaph. written with his
own pen-the curse called down
upon him who would disturb them
stepped upon the slab and read
this singular epitaph. We're 1t not
for this epitaph. his dust would lie
In Westminster Abbey. no doubt
where his monument honors his mem
ory among the monuments of kings
yet greater than they.
Birmingham is city Of more than
Q half million, a city well known
throughout the civilized world. Fol
iron and steel manufacturing city In
the world. 1t Is still one Of greatest
but it has respectable rivals. OuI
lown Pittsburg is greater in man,
lines OF iron and steel production
SO great is the reputation and pres
tige of Birmingham. that every cit,
which has few smokestacks lays
claim to being the birmingham Of the
West the South, of this state ol
that state. Here visited the elliot
Steel Pen works, pen used when
l was boy. l believe this steel per
followed the quill. oh. happy goose
Oh, happy school master. who had
among his duties the making and
mending Of quill pens! followed
the process, from the steel ribbon
about two and one-half inches wide
step by step. until saw the per
feet pen, boxed and labeled for the
market. The pen passes through
about eighteen different hands. be
fore It Il completed. The work II
largely done by girls and women
Each person must haldle every pen
until It reaches the packing. where
they are not counted but weighed
The mashlnes are all worked by hand
mot power, strange to say. One
hundred and. fifty millions Of thsse
pens are manufactured annually
There are about four hundred labor
crs employed in this establishment
This firm commented the mAaufAct
ure Of pens in 1s40. These peni