The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-12-21

to school as chance offered and studied
when he was not too tried. He had
saved a little money, and with his
capital he again looked about for OPP
optrunity, Plymouth Hill. The. post
master and general storekeeper needed
a boy. Young Templeton needed a job.
Perhaps no other boy ever had .
wider variety of duties than fell to the
future governor in his newt post. He
worked in the store a large part of the
for an additional So a week, also as
the janitor of the town church and,
finally, as an official of the United
tinction fell to him in the form of an
of Plymouth Hill, by special dispense
dent.
Il was pretty busy in those years."
the governor remarked. But l won an
opportunity to study, and my employer,
Edward M. Talmadge, encouraged me
to put in every spare moment learning
something worth while. Under his
guidance 1 began to -ead with better
direction. Then determined to enter
Yale, study law and become governor.
1t seemed quite the logical way to go
about the matter. Certainly 1 never
had heard of any hardware merchant
becoming governor. Even the concep-
ton of hardware as career was furth-
est from my mind.
Cooking For Ministers
with this end in view, of preparing
for college, I changed jobs once more,
going over to Plainville, where min
listers in an Episcopal rectory needed a
cook. We became acquainted and they
offered to prepare me for college if 1
would turn chef in their kitchen. I
had learned to cook before then. Mat
ters were going along in excellent fash
ion when got a months leave. l
drifted into Waterbury, and the thought
occurred to me that here was a chance
to pick up bit Of money, something
not very common about the rectory.
The first opportunity I encountered
was a bookkeeper's job in a hardware
store"
Thus was a promising lawyer lost
and successful merchant made. In
cidentally, the road to a Yale degree
and he governors chair led straight
ahead, but it was a road of wheel-ruts,
torturous windings and frequent other
difficulties. The course, however, was
held to for thirty years, and now the
governors special pride is his hardware
business. He built it by going to work
regularly at Z o'clock and staying as
long as there was work to be done. 1t
is said among the Templeton workers
that he often calls up from Hartford
at night to as how the sales have been
for the day.
perhaps should add" the COVER
nor continued, that I almost left hard
ware for college. Again chance inter-
vened. My bookkeeping job paid me
$3.50 a week. After awhile / became
restless and told my employer must
leave him to study. But he said,
Charlie, college is all right; I say
nothing against it. Maybe it is the
best place for you, but 1 have a fine
chance here, and from now on you can
get $1,000 year if you want to stay
Deciding An Issue
Fancy what that meant to a boy
who was earning $3.50 a week. 1 sat
down in my hall bedroom that night
and figured out all the things l could
do with $1,000 a year. 1t meant COM
fort for my parents and endless oppor-
tunity for me. must agree to stay
three years at that price to close the
bargain. Then, with my savings, !
could go to college in style.