The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-08-19
CENTENARY OF COUNT
 RIJMFORD, MOST VER-
 SATTLE OF SCIENTISTS

SAIKLE Oh SGAENIISlS One hundred years ago to-day. Au- gusts1s. 1874. there died at Auteuil. France. 8 man who was in many res poets aA genius without an equal. Of all the sscientiste since the beginning .o9 learning he was perhaps the most Nersan1e He was Sir Benjannin rnompson. Count Rumford. oitizen ofsehe world.
 Born in An1erfca. England knighted nin.A Baxaria made him a count. and Frande. adopted him as one of her foreu<st scientists.
 An azatzor1ty on military science ana me organization of armies. he. also wrote cook books and works on dsrnssuo Aeconomy.
 Tn hts latter years. spent in Paris. he star4leds Erenchnen by dressing in 2 white, fronshead to foot. and thus an- tdespatea trns sartorial effects of Mark Twain
 He introduced potatoes into Bava- ria. where the people had been pre5u- diced against the tubers. and gained wor1d-wide reputation among sa- wants by fls investigations Into the nature and Ienects of heat
 Ben5azntn Thompson was born in. woburn. Mass. in 175s. He reeeiv- ed a good education, and married woman of means During the revo- lution he. espoused the cause Of Eng land, and. when the American climate became lunhealthful. he returned to the 1andsof his ancestors.
 He served England for time, and George TIL knishted him for his ser vices and his loyalty. In 17s4 Sir Benjamin became sort Of general ad- visor sand reformer in the employ Of the Ezector of Bavaria There his achievements were many and varied. Besidasl forcing potatoes down the throatsa of Bavartans. he suppressed the beesars of Munich. found employ ment for all who were out of work, introduced q multitude of modern conveanences. and. as minister Of war. reorgsnized the whole military system of the country The German army of to-daysis in no small part organiz- ed along lines suggested by Count Runnford.
 When he, WAS made a count of the Holy sRoman Empire in recognition for hiss Bavariap services, the scientist took the title Runford from the vii- Iage of that name, now Concord, N. H.. where he had married.
 One of his greatest feats was the suppression of mendicancy in Mu- nich. The city was hlIed with bog gars. and thousands Of able-bodied men weres living on aims The evil became so apreyaIent that industry was almost stopped. Count Rum ford secretly built a large work-housa, nI1ed with implements of trade, and on the first of January, 1zso, when the beggars were unusually active, he sprung his coup d'etat. He himself arrested the first beggar he met that morning. the police and soldiers fol- lowed his example, and by night there was not a began on the. streets of Munich. The mendicants were reg 1stered and then released. with orders
 
 to report to the work-house the fol lowing day Within a few weeks, So we'll were they treated and fed, the notorious beggarsof Munich were in- dustrious and independent citizens.
 From 17ss until his death Count Rumford lived at Auterd1 and in Paris. His contributions to .Philoso. phieaI Transactions included scien- tIflc essays on broad wheeled car. riages, the sources of heat. cooking immortality smoky chinneys, food the uses of steam. warm baths, ven tilation, fuel. artificial illumination and q wide variety of other, subjects founded the Rumford Medal o1 the Royal Society of England, whIcI Is awarded biennially to the best dis coverers in light and heat
 Celery Plants, 45c Per Dozen