The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-09-14
Story Of a Brave Struggle
Selected by EDWIN MARKHAM.

III selected Dy Edwin hAkAFAkA
| Thomas Taper is not new name
/ in these columns. Youth and OPP
| portunity'' ia the name Of MT Tap
per's stimulating volume dealing with
the factors OF success in NE Inc
( following story comes from one OF
| hts chapters:
.'once travelling In the West, I~met
a mine boss. But / had talked with
| him two hours or more before ! nao
learned his business.
| "He was cultured, scholarly, well
1 informed and interested In all the at
/ fairs of this marveiously many-sided
| country of ours How lis It, asked
/ him. that with your extensive equip
ment OF education and interest In az
fairs you remain mine boss?
| Here Is his story. AS you read II
J you will see that a slight circum-
/ stance made him dream, and that ne
| labored to make his dreams come true:
/ ~ was born In Michigan. in the
upper Peninsula. My father died just
/ before l was born. My mother was
| very poor. We lived with my grand
! father. He was a mine iaborer, and
| he devoted his slender earnings to
| the support OF my mother and my
self
| ".At ten years of age I went down
into the mines to work. Up to that
,tirna / had not been a robust boy.
| never went to school, nor had / any
| playmates. But I picked up all at
once and began to earn a little. From
nv tenth to nay twentieth year /
| worked with no other thought than
to make life easier for my mother.
| But this was a deferred hope. for
my earnings were small in those ten
years.
/ MY grandfather was welsh, moth
er was Cornish. and | recoliect even
Cow that my speech was a strange
mixture OF Welsh and English words.
and not very many OF either, i'm
agine,
| ".Ono day a new mine boss came.
AS was about TO do down into the
mine for my nights work, he called
and directed me to measure pile
OF lumber and report II to the ONCE
in writing. In shame for my inca
pacity. I began to cry
:" The mine boss asked ME a few
questions. | told him that | could
neither read. write nor do sums. ke
said something which probably 7 did
not understand. but it sounded sym
pathetic to me- / crawied down the
Ladders for my nights work, a sor-
rowful boy OF twenty.
- The next day. as l was about 10
go down again the boss called me ana
gave me little package. open II,
he said. when you get down"
81 could not imagine what 1t might
be, but l lost no time in descending,
Nor / was In strange turmoil be-
tween the event of the evening be-
fore and the contents of that pack
age. When l opened II found a soil
ed copy book. a McGuffey reader and
an arithmetic. No general ever
planned campaign more carefully
than | planned To use my spare MIN
ates in mastering these books was
on the night shift and l slept all
day. but between rounds ! had some
spare time and / had a mine lamp.
81 carried a little box down with
me for table, and. sitting on the
damp ground, fixed my lamp so that
I could see the page. My process
, WAS simple: First | copied the lines
; In the writing book and learned tho
words Next | began with the reader:
and, on any bit Of paper ! could get.
!, copied the lessons. Then I was
able TO read the questions IN the
, arithmetic.
That process, simple as 1t was.
. took time. After the first night with
, my books never lost moment:
thought words, pictured words to my
self in print and In writing. did
tevery simple sum could think of.
The doing of these things was lib
Grating me and I realized 1t. No hui
man being ever felt more Justly
proud than j did when, having mas
tered the words and conditions OF a
sum. / worked il out and found, on
> turning TO the key at the back. that
: my answer was right I shed many a
4 tear eft down in the darkness of
the
!. But reading the sums and the
!. |. reading book taught. me that I did
not actually know words In our
J little town there was hotel to which
travelling men came. On Sunday
afternoon would have mother call
me about o'clock flor you remem-
Der that I had to sleep In the day.