Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-09-12

United States, who will speak in this
city on Friday evening, September Is,
at the Grand Opera House.
| Allen l.. Benson, son OF Adelbert L.
and Rose Morris Benson, was born
in Plainwell, Allegan county, Michigan
November 6, 1871. His father, In early
life was a factory worker, later a
country miller. His mother died when
he was an infant, and he lived until
he was IL years old with his grand.
father, farmer, at Silver Creek, Mich.
igan He attended district school, and
when he was IA years old, worked on
, farm for So a month. At the age OF
IL, his fathers mill having burned,
he was compelled to forego his inten-
ton to go to college and become q
lawyer He left home and found work
in a chair factory at $3.50 a week.
After a year of this he went to, work
in a paper mill While thus engaged
at Otsego, Mich, he became the friend
Of Chauncey A. Barnes, the village
druggist, who was also school director.
Mr. Barnes obtained for Benson an
opportunity to become the jan1tor OF
the village schools at SO month and
go to school, A year in the Otsego
high school was the only schooling
Benson ever had except in district
schools. Before the end Of the year.
he took a teachers examination and
was given a certificate emitting him
to teach district school. In Gun
Plains township, he was hired to teach
winter term in a country school
where the regular practice of some
of the farmer boys was to thrash the
teacher. About two months after the
term began. they tried to whip Ben.
son. He cleaned the school out-but
rather too ugorously-the school d.
rectors thought he had gone too far,
though he had done no more than use
his fists. Benson, who had already
discovered that country school teach.
ing did not interest him, promptly
resigned, and began to lay plans to
get into a large city and do newspaper
work.
| Benson and farmer boy whom he
had stimulated with dreams of con-
quest in the city, left Otsego in April,
1891, for Detroit. In Detroit they both
went to work for the Peninsular Car
Company Benson working as ma
chine hand. Every Saturday afternoon
Benson laid off to scour the Detroit
newspaper Offices for a job as a re-
porter. The next month he found
such a job-at Sc week.
In the fall, Benson went to Ann
Arbor as the managing editor Of the
Washtenaw Daily Times. The follow
! ing spring, he became one of the tele-
graph editors of the Chicago Inter
Ocean. During the next fourteen
years he was successfully telegraph
editor of the Salt Lake Tribune, a
newspaper writer in San Francisco,
assistant managing editor Of the De-
troit Journal, managing editor Of the
Detroit Journal and managing editor
of the Washington Cd. c. Times.
1t was while Benson was the editor
Of the Detroit Times that he became
socialist. He began writing socialist
editorials for the paper, and continued
to do so, in violation OF orders for
two years.
For the last nine years, Benson has
been a magazine writer in New York.
He is married, has four children, lives
| in Yonkers, a suburb Of New York,
does his writing at home and seldom
goes to the Office Of the magazine for
which he works.
Mr.. Benson is accompanied by George
, H. Goebel, of Newark, N. j., who is
one of the pioneers among socialist
speakers in America. Mr.. Goebel will
precede Mr.. Benson on the platform.
The meeting will be held at the
Grand Opera House Friday evening,
! September Is, and is being arranged
! by the local socialist organization.
/ The committee is looking forward to a
record attendance. as this will be Mr..
! Benson's first appearance on plat
/ forr, IN fbic citr