The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1908-01-17

/ day. In a Sms II house on MIX street,
/ Boston. was born that versatile states
man and philosopher who ranks second
/ only TO Washington among the builders
J Of the new nation. This was Benjamin
Franklin, fifteenth Of the seventeen chill
I dren of Josiah Franklin. "tallOW chan
dler and sope boiler" as the philosopher
has himself written il in his famous auto
| biography Few m,n In their time have
/ played so many parts so well and with
I such complete understanding Candle
maker, printer. journalist inventor and
philosopher. diplomatist, philanthropist
abolitlonist arbitrator, legislator. and
statesman-in each and all Of these he
made himself supreme.
AS a chandler he spent many rebelli0us
/ hours at the irksome task Of cutting
wicks running tallow in the tin molds.
and using his nimbe legs 20 save his
/ father steps But the smell Of the tallow
and the soap did not appeal 10 him.
Though he read the good books Of his
4 fathers library there was little prospect
of his fulfilling his mothers cherished
/ hope Of some day being a preacher. The
smell Of the sea was strong in hts nos
/ trils the love Of adventure began 10 grow
/ in his heart. and there was fear that
he might go to sea, so his father ap-
prenticed him 10 his forty yeaT-old
brother. printer OF Boston town. In
Boston in Philadelphia, and in England
he piled his trade as printer. and when
slightly over forty had saved practically
enough on which to retire.
\ copy Of his Philadelphia Gazette
would bring to-day fabulous sum. HIS
Poor Richard Almanack" rivals Uncle
Toms Cabin" as a bidder for second
place in world popularity, the Bible. Of
course being first His autobiography is
one OF the classics in American literature,
his essays and correspondence appeal to
the world Of letters, and yet for all his
writing he asked and received no pay
except such as came i'm as payment for
the periodicals ne owned and In which
his writings appeared Il is "a peculiar
incident in literature that Franklins au-
photography should have appeared first in
French. and the first English edition was
"a translation from the French. The orig
inal as Franklin wrote il was not pub
lished until twenty or thirty years after
Franklin's death.
While YET a printer he walked in the
fields near Philadelphia one day, and with
child's TOY. a bit OF Irvine and a door
key, proved his 9ft-expounded theory
that lightning and electricity are related.
Should time turn back the pages Of the
years 10 that period and wipe from the
mind Of man this thing that Franklin dis
covered. nearly niue-tenths of our mod
ern industries would suddenly be render
ed useless. and life would be so widely
affected that a large part OF the
world would face starvation. England
| laughed al the printers theories. and
/ later showered upon the philosopher every
I honor that her scientific circles could
muster Not only was the lightning-rOd
his but he was The pioneer IN the con-
/ servation Of fuel and made himself dear
+ to thousands of housewives by abOlishlng
/ the smoking chimney and inventiug A
stove that gave double heat at half the
expense.
I he was first 10 discover the tempera-
/ ture of the Gulf Stream He organize the
Z first circulating library in the world.
( when he formed a society in Philadelphia
whose members paid so much q year.
and drew cut books 10 read every week.
In I144 he proposed the first philosophical
society in America. In l741. al his sug-
gestion. the first militia was organized
over here. 20 protect the colonies Of the
English King He provided for Phiadel-
phia her first paved streets, her first
STRENGTHENING department. her first fire
and police departments and her first
night watch. lie founded the first AmeTi-
can magazine in J741 and the first Ameri-
can academy I'm 1749-an academy that
exists to-day as the University Of Penn
sylvania He founded the first abolition
society, and through his efforts means
were secured and the way made clear for
the founding Of Americas first hospital
in l75l. II was his plan that called for a
uniting of the American colonies In i7d,
and his was one of the master hands that
a quarter Of & century later carved q
new nation from those colonies. His is
the first name standing on record in all
the world as one who plead for aTbitra-
ton rather than war There never was
a good war, nor bad peace he once
said.
AS a diplomatist his career began early
Indians had to be treated with, and he
often was trusted with the terms Of the
mission. In 1I57 Pennsylvania sent him
as agent to London 20 protest against
certain taxation Of unsurTeyed lands for
the support Of border war. Seven years
later he went as the agent for Pennsyl-
Vania Massachusetts New Jersey. and
Georgia. and stayed until the spring Of
1175. when home affairs had reached the
breaking point with England Born a
subject of good Queen Anne, and living
IN the reign 81 three Of the Georges, he
proved a subject OF whom England's mon
archs were proud once when he fear
lessly rose TO be questioned by Parliament
as 10 colonial affairs, and his answers
were not calculated 10 make British
King thoroughly comfortable, that King
admired him. and mentally pitted him
against the entire royal cabinet
As envoy 10 stir the Canadians TO revolt
with the American colonies against Eng
land, he went over the border into the
north IN 1775, taking a printing press
along TO instruct the people in Demo
cratic principles. Next time they had
best send a schoolmaster," he humorous
~ reported when telling how he had fail
ed. For only one in every 500 could
read, Then he was sent TO France. and
there he remained for nearly ten years,
eementing the French people 10 the
American; securing S1S00o,0O0 from that
nation as a loan to the revolving colonies.
when France was hardly able to keep her
own people; fitting out vessel after vessel
from French yards for American defense.
and winning the undying admiration and
loyalty of all France with his simple
straightforward ways. his wonderful
grasp of subjects, and his widely varied
knowledge
After twenty-five years of service TO
his country as q diplOmatist at the courts
Of England and France, Franklin at last
came home, a boon reluctantly granted
by his government after he had begged
it for several years. Almost as soon as
L. LID lnnaoa Ia us nlnctaa LIZ in-.roa N