The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1917-07-12
BEGAN CAREER IN FACTORY
Vent to Night school, He Explains,
but Obtained Education Chiefly
Through Reading.
By MADAME ON DIT.
WASHINGTON Iunn


laustively about politics. who cannot dis.
uss national issues and international af-
airs. who cannot confer about the init
sate needs of his district or State from
PC session to another, but it is a unique
Gperience to meet a member of Con
Sress who can also explain exactly how
he glass on his desk is made.
That. however, is what Mr.. Zihlman
lid yesterday. turning the thin tumbler
bout in his quick. deft fingers. and de-
lcribing the process of its manufacture
With the familiarity of a master crafts
nan.
Yes. it happens that I do know all
lbout it, he laughed. because my trade
that of a glass blower, and has been
ince l was 10 years old. Indeed. it was
ny uncle who was responsible for this kind
VI thin glass: You know it is compara-
lively only a few years ago that every
hing in glass was thick, especially all
he cheaper quality, and my uncle
travelled over the country introducing this
hin tumbler. He invented several things
n the manufacture of glass with more or
ess success. The most important at the
time. although it is not In use now, was
.utting the top off the drinking tumbler
They're all made-blown, you know,
ike a beer bottle-then the neck. is
Knocked of. and the edges smoothed so
the lips will not be cut. The process
Tor that was devised by my uncle and
successfully used until other processes
were introduced"
How old were you when you first
went into the glass factory?'
Eleven" Mr.. Zihlman replied. Il
vas born in Carnegie. Pa, but my family
moved TO Cumberland when | was three
years old, and I've lived there ever
yince''
Mr.. Zihlman's father, Nocnoias ZihI-
man, was the son of Swiss immigrants,
and a pioneer in the manufacture Of
glass in the State of Maryland. He
died when Fritz. the eldest of FIVE chill
dren. was five years old The small
boy entered the primary grade of the
public schools, and in the next few
years acquired the only education he
was to get inside academic walls
"Oh, afterward l did attend a night
school for a few months. Mr. Zihlmau
recalled. "a night school organized By
one of the school teachers for the chill
dren who were working. but MY so
called education was attained through
my conviction that To get along in the
world. and to get up in the glass trade,
] had to know something That evident
necessity drove me 70 read. write. study
whenever and whatever could There
wasn't much time for II. however. be-
cause l was a journeymar glass Liowcf
at fifteen"
What did you study-how did YOU
inform yourself, when you had time|
by taking advantage of everything
TO read that l could find. l recall
now, that l read entirely too much fl
ton for immediate practical benefit. but
i couldn't help it, | liked fiction. Ny
mother had a lot books and of course
] INDUCED in Leatherstockings Tales
and Dickens to my hearts content. Later
] deyoured Kipling q still have tAo
habit, and I've always read poetry
where l could find it. One of the more
recent books that infuenced-almost to
the point of inspiration-was The Con
queror.'
Its amusing, but true. that for years
I've read the Congressional Record
faithfully and regularly. and there is nc
gainsayiug the information to be OBJ
tanned from its pages on national lcSis
lation." =
Did you just read it because of what
you learned from it on public ques-
tons, or did you have an idea that you
yourself would some day be in politics:
my uncle suggested that to me one
day when l was still in my early teens
but l cannot recall that it aroused any
ambition in my soul. He followed tn,
suggestion with another which I i'm
mediately accepted. l remember the tint
as distinctly as though it were yesterday
lie was always interested in seeing u
get on; Of course | needed no encourage
AuShL " Nplh mat " dS u utttSSIly. gu
be kept at me to study. Fritz he said
you must study. learn things, and SOM
day you'll go to Congress. Now l hav
an encyclopedia at the house; you TAX
that and read it; read about everything
an deducate yourself Well, of course
] got the encyclopedia. and it provided
and educate yourself. Well, of course
1t was a gold mine for me-"
Mr.. Zihlman is one of the younges
men in the House and perhaps the mos
prominent of the labor group" He i
no stranger in legislative halls, becaus
seven years ago, when be was 80 year
old, he was elected as a Republican L
the State Senate of Maryland, where h
distinguished himself for his earnestnes
and zeal, not only in the best interest
of the State, but in the welfare of tn
workingman. n
THE man who has been there
qualified to talk about things with create
fairness than the man who. ALTHOUGH