The evening world., 1916-12-01
Friday, December 1, 1919
Fifty Boys and Girls
Famous in History
Copyright. 1919. - tn. Pr~s rubr.hns a. cte Ne" York Evening Would.
NO. 2I-,SIR HUMPHREY DAVY; the Boy Chemist.
By Albert Payson Terhune

we El-pfh hCNF hhEf ~ tc W e"'
"EyH HIS boy Humphrey is incOrrisible!" beloved an elderly English.
man named Tonktn, who had charitably given refuge in his
house to a haltstarved youth named Humphrey Davy. "Hs
W@ is tnc6rrigiblei And he is the idlest dog unhung He Will
blow US all into eternity with these silly chemical messes of hist"
The old fellows rage was not wholly unreasonable. For Davy after
refusing to continue . $ a n apprentice in q so-called respectable trade
had Just blown part Of the Tonkin kitchen to atoms while testing q home
made explosive which he called thunder powder"
Humphrey was the eldest son of . family of five children. He wa
born at penzance in England in 1878. His parents were poor and busy
Too Dol at first to send Humphrey to schoOi and too busy to teach htA
at home.
Children in those days often began to study before they YER four
years old. But Humphrey. to hi, own Joy. was spared this early discipline
He spent his osbyhood years in dreamy idlsne's that made his parents fear
he wss coins to be q hopeless idsr and Ounce
Ills mother in her nrs moments of leisure used to read and re~sd
Bunysns "Pnsrms Progress" aloud to the children. One evening" when
Humphrey a. about five. Mrs Davy could not ind
) e.. the volume when the reading hour cams.
q, m.morv Never mind" spoke UP Humphrey. TIL tell
~ t you" .
- And TO tn. fsmnys Soundisss amaze the nv.-ysar.
old child began to repeat from memory page .r~ page of Bunysn. rsa.
hearing his mother read II x otter.
At sr Humphrey wen, q . village grammar school KEEP, by a eru.. o. . :
man named Coryton. This amlabhe schoolmaster had q habit Of pulling his
pupils sin most ason,,ins fashion by nay of punishment for stupidity.
A. Humphrey at first seemed the supidest boy IN his chss his Aars
we're n q constant state of pain. He did not mind the hurt o much a the
shame Of such huniiauns public punishment One day he a to school
with both LII covered with enormous slabs of Vhesivs plaster. corytea
angrly demanded the reason. The oMd replied:
II put these IN Z o " m from being mortified by "a -puans
'He quickly won . reputation for odd and original thinking He
his w conclusions Som OF he'e conclusions naturally were idoir q
when o n a cruelty hot day he wore a heavy Overcoat and explained his actioA
vi Wa ct Ta anh s s gu, a s' , sess 1T S Sr ,ss NJ. . sss out .ns the he. heat psyv ton ,.1rv ,,.,,
themselves core than ever Humphrey was apDrentced to an ap0hecaTy
HI, chance had come He had always bee roz about chemistry. And
nov" :, IT. as, he nsn found time ITO to 1 Desn sc deeply into. nm0a the study of T..
mastery If surgical lore But he soon knew more about ohemicai. than
s1DsTwsnt.1ss in the case 500 of the thunder under powder. ,.- 80.
e~~~~~~~3 pay for such simple chemicals as h. needed Hs
..s t: s..s:.. sss:s,ss !. s:s' :ss !, = ss'as ,s 5 ss G p5Sss wine
s~~~~~a ar.4 s"s'. .Ha /. a hopeless s !. ,e ,ssT ss n kept s' on ar os t%' nss,a1
, SooS ss .%mo @~'y II. " ~ota sas sssss ss : III. r sSsGt tS. he ,n a ? sA s. s, %.s;
eulogy:
grow sreener by time will descend to the latest pOser.y"