Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-07-24
From an Attic to a Pinnacle


From an Attic to a Pinnacle
The progress from that humble attic to
place on the list of the greatest three con-
temporary Pennsylvanians has been slow
but steady Each step upward toward the
lofty pinnacle of fame was preceded by
heavy toll.
John wanamaker. the Governors second
man, was born and reared right here in
Philadelphia, and Is not an example Of the
country boy going to the city to make his
fortune, but a city boy who saw ample
opportunity at home. He began to work
for wages when he was IA years old
This is younger than the law now permits
boys to enter permanent employment. He
received $125 a week, or about one-quarter
what the modern boy thinks he ought to get
when he starts When he was is he became
a salesman in Tower Hail. the biggest mems
clothing store in the city, but within two
years his health broke down and he was
threatened with tuberculosis He went to
Minnesota to recover, and when he returned
he Joined the Presbyterian Church, and soon
after became the first paid secretary of
Young Mems Christian Association In the
country. His salary was $1,000 BY the time
he was 20 years old he had saved $1,000, and
he took n partner and rented a store and
started to make and sell mems clothing him
self. Fifteen years later he started the first
department store in the country and now
well, what 1S-year-old boy is planning, as
he was at that age, to become one Of the
greatest merchants in the world?
All Cast in the Same Mold
John A. Brashear, of Pittsburgh, who
heads the list as "the greatest Pennsylva-
nian" and IAN ideal citizen" is that rare COM
bination-a great scientist and successful man
of affairs. His start was as humble that
of either of the others He had to earn his
living and learned the machinist's trade.
But he was interested in astronomy The
mystery of the heavens fascinated him. and
while he was working in a rolling mill in
Pittsburgh he made telescope OF his own,
grinding the lenses with the help of his
wife, His first hve-inch lens did not please
him, and he made one ~ inches In diameter,
perslsting through many obstacles till he
had succeeded. He was just a mechanic
with a hobby until he attracted the atten-
tion OF men interested in science. Then he
became a successful manufacturer of scien-
tihc astronomical instruments and work.
ing astronomer. He has been honored by
the great astronomical societies of the world,
yet when he was informed that the Gov
ernor had put his name first the list of
Pennsylvania's great men he thought that
some one was Joking
These men are not exceptional They were
cast in the same mold that has turned out
men OF distinction in all nations, and women
too, The old Dowager Empress OF China
had nothing but her brains when she started
on her career toward power and fame
Napoleon was equipped as generously by ma
ture and as nggardly by fortune. Disraeli
was a nobody and transformed queen into
an empress Edison was a telegraph opera
tor in his youth, but has taught the light
ming TO illumine the dark places in our homes
! and in the public streets, Charles H. Mark
ham, the $4,000 president OF the Illinois
| Central Railroad Company, started as a sec
/ ton hand on the track with a pick and
shovel at s125 a day. J. H. Cummings. ths
head OF the largest hat factory in the world
/ began as an once boy In the same factory.
The list could be made almost as long a.
/ the list or the worlds successful men
whether in business politics war or learn
ing. It is an old story, so old that many o.
the young men OF the present who are com
/ planning OF lack or Opportunities never heaTS
IT, They prefer the mueh-traveled road o
medlocrity 10 the rocky highway 70 dis
tinctlon. rocky because 50 few go that way
A PLEASANT SOUND
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