The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-06-30
american Heroes of Invention"

ed by Martin Cauheld at the High
school commencement:
american Heroes of Invention"
Friends and Fellow Students: In
the name of the class of nineteen
hundred eleven l salute you with a
most cordial welcome to this the
thirty-sixth annual commencement of
the Honesdale High school.
As the people of the present time
enjoy the conveniences with which
they are surrounded in life, they
neither realize nor appreciate the
hardships and trials which confront
ed the early inventors; yet every one
of these men by his untiring efforts
used his magnificent genius for the
public good. Such men as Franklin,
Howe, Edison, Fulton and Whitney
put vitality into their work not sim
ply for what they could get out of
it but because they felt it the duty
of every true man to aid his fellow
men. Some began their work with
view of personal benefit and others
to render public service but they each
obtained the ultimate result-con-
tributing towards the comforts of life
and the advancement of civilization.
ed as objects of ridicule and suffered
from disappointment but the COM
mon good was ever foremost in their
minds.
When we consider the opportuni-
ties of the modern American boy,
we wonder at the accomplishments
of Benjamin Franklin-who, denied
the advantages of liberal education,
forced early to seek his own liveli-
hood and many hardships-gave to
us many inventions which are still
in use. After he had earned a COM
petence, Franklin retired from active
business but he still devoted his time
and genius for the good of mankind
in the pursuit of scientific expert
ments; in one of the latter, sending
up during a thunderstorm kite
with a silk string he discovered that
lightning was merely discharge of
electricity, whereupon he invented
the lightning rod.
What would be the condition of
the country to-day if it were neces-
sary to separate the cotton from it's
seed without the aid of machinery?
The man who overcame this diff
Guilty was Eli Whitney, who, while
igit OF ha Of n MrS Grnnna
in Georgia, overheard discussion on
this subject and resolved to improve
the existing methods of separation.
He shut himself up in a room provid-
ed by Mrs. Greene and labored day
after day until the cotton gin had
been completed. But Whitney's sue
cess was short-lived for people COM
ing from all parts of the state broke
into his workshop at night and car
ried off the machine, necessitating
the building of a new model before
the patent could be obtained. This
was finally accomplished and the
revolution in the cotton manufacture
caused by it's introduction has con-
tinued to this day.
Several years ago, when that float
ing palace, the steamship Lusitania,
was launched, the event served as a
fitting elimination to the accom-
plishments of Robert Fulton. But at
the time no one even thought of the
first successful voyage of the Cler-
mont, the forerunner of all modern
liners. Previous to this occasion
Fulton's experiments with the steam
boat had been generally unsuccessful.
In his first, which he built and ex-
perimented upon in France, failure
was due to the fact that the boiler
and machinery were too heavy for
the frail boat so that it suddenly
broke apart and went to the bottom
of the river on the eve of it's trial
trip. But the undaunted Fulton, in
company with Livingstone, returned
to this country and began another
series of experiments which resulted
in the construction of the Clermont.
Upon the completion of the boat ar
rangements were made and day ap-
pointed for the first public exhibit
ton. When the day arrived jeer-
ing crowd of unbelievers assembled
on the banks of the river and made
Fulton and his "folly" the object OF
much ridicule; but the jeers were
changed to cheers and shouts of ad-
miration as the boat steamed up the
river. On this occasion which has
become part of the history of our
country Fulton was rewarded for his
years of toll and he lived years OF
enjoyment in that single moment.
At the present time the hum of the
sewing machine is a sound with
which every person in this country is
acquainted, but this was as rich mu'
sic in the ear of Elias Howe, when
after years of trial and scorn he pre-
sented this labor-saving device to the
world. After he had made four ma
chimes, Howe journeyed to England
in order to introduce his invention
but after several years of failure he
returned to this country, entirely des
titute. He Immediately became in
volved in a number of expensive law
suits concerning his patent but hi'
rights were upheld by the courts ant
he was allowed to reap the benefits
of his labors.
AS the business man conversei
with his associates by means of the
telephone, as the stock broker reads
his nnntatiOn fana ganf