Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-02-20
SUCCESS is NOT
FOR THE DRIFTERS
Richard Trevithick's Life Was One of
Perpetual Promise and Repeated
Failure-Cecil Rhodes and Alfred
Krupp Never Dodged Difficulties.
By JOSEPH H. oDELL

! i tion and drifting. John Sherman, in a
| letter TO young man who believed himself
to be failure, said, mo ship ever reached
It's port by sailing for dozen other ports at
the same time" "There Is limit" said
Gladstone. ito the work that can be got out
OF n human body or human brain. He Is a
wise man who wastes no energy pursuits
for which he is not fitted; he is wiser who,
from among the things he can do WELL
chooses and resoutely follows the best"
Cecil Rhodes, the South African millionaire
and statesman, said, at took me is years to
get my first mine, but got It. Though my
boat may have been slow in the race, knew
exactly what I was starting for"
Edward Emerson Barnard began life as
photographers boy, his work being to sit
upon roof and watch the exposure OF
Photographic plates While thus engaged his
thoughts were upon the sky and the stars, and
he determined to know all about them. Alone
and unaided he struggled through such books
as he could get upon astronomy, studied and
mastered mathematics, scrimped and saved
until able to purchase a small telescope, and
finally so great was his ambition, he worked
his way through Vanderbilt University.
Nothing swerved or daunted him, rebuffs
from prominent astronomers who thought
him only precocious boy did not dishearten
him, apparently insurmountable difficulties
only served to stimulate his determination
He was graduated from the university In
1886, and in less than 20 years found himself
one of the foremost of the worlds astrono-
mers, the discoverer of the fifth satellite of
Jupiter and the recorder of more comets
than any other living man.
Atlantic Cable Took Time
Such wel-dlrected effort is bound to win
fame, or power, or wealth. or whatever other
goal the worker has set before him. Field
spent 13 years in laying the Atlantic cable;
Webster gave 36 years to the compilation OF
his dictionary; Bancroft devoted 26 years to
the writing of his History of the United
States; it took James Watt 80 years to
bring his condensng engine to perfection.
There is no road too long to the man who
advances deliberately and without undue
haste; there are no honors too distant to the
man who prepares himself for them with
patience" said La Bruyere.
John B. Herreshoff, the designer of the in
vncbe yachts which have held the coveted
"Challenge Cup" on the American side of the
Atlantic, was born blind. While still boy
he determined not to let the terrible afflc-
tion cheat him out OF a successful life He
would not allow 1t even to handicap him.
The business he chose seems the last
one that a blind man should attempt. At the
age of II he was learning the lines of boat
by the sense of touch. Soon afterward he
began to make models. He quickly learned
to select material by running his hand over
it, and a defective beam or plank never
escaped detection. Beginning in a modest
way, he made rowboats and sailing craft of
small and simple pattern. He laid It down
as a rule never to excuse himself, never to
r-i,, 10 70 q
problem as insoIuble, but to think and work
until every obstacle was overcome.
Nothing worthy can be accomplished by
the man who simply drifts Thousands OF
lfe-falures may be thus accounted for every
year-the men who never decide, only drift
They were born into the world without any
conscious effort on their own part. and they
wish to continue to the end with just as
much ease. So they dodge difficulties and
evade responsibilities; nothing Is so dlstaste-
full to them as the act of decision, or so irk-
some as sustained application. They drift
into school and out again; they drift into
the occupation that presents the fewest
initial difficulties; they drift from job
to job. from city to city; they drift from
pleasure to pleasure, from meal to meal, from
drink to drink, from sleep to sleep And
most OF them are languidly cursing the Crea-
cause things were not so ordered that they
could drift into fame, or wealth, or honor, or
power.
Trevithick's Futile Brilliancy
No more striking illustration OF failure as
the result of lack OF persistence and concen-
tration can be found than that OF Richard
Trevithick. Trevithick was born In Corn
wall, England, just ten years before George
Stephenson. In early years he drifted about
the mines, refusing to go to school, and thus
lost the discipline which application to study
gives to the will as we'll to the brain. AS
he grew up he developed a most original
mind, great mechanical skill and a fitful kind
of industry. He preceded many wel-known
inventors by his novel plans and construc-
tions. and showed fertility in many lines
Of engineering that was truly marvellous He
with the condenser and introducing a sim
Pile and economical high-pressure system.
He also used for the first time a cylindrical
wrought-iron boiler.
In 1903 Trevithck constructed the frst
steam carriage and ran 1t successfully on a
road for 30 miles. He then took it to Lon
dom and won the admiration Of Sir Humphry
Davy and other distinguished scientists. But
for some unknown reason he developed the
scheme no further broke up the engine and
returned to Cornwall to resume ordinary
mine engineering. Later he built another
engine which was really the nrst OF all rail-
road locomotives Its cylinder was AZ inches
in diameter, and was placed horizontally. A |
big hywheel was geared through intermsdi-
ates to the four propelling wheels. which
were smooth-rimmed. 1t ran on iron rails,
and under 40 pounds steam pressure made 6h