The colonists, having lost the guidance of this resourceful man, were
soon reduced to great want; still they held out and later on became a
flourishing colony.
LESSON LVIII
THOMAS A. EDISON
One of the greatest inventors of the age is Thomas A. Edison, and his
whole life is an interesting story for young people. His mother had
been a teacher, and her greatest wish for her son was that he should
love knowledge and grow up to be a good and useful man.
When Edison was only twelve years of age, he secured a position as
train boy on the Grand Trunk Railroad in one of the western states. He
went through the train and sold apples, peanuts, papers, and books. He
had such a pleasant face that everybody liked to buy his wares. He
traded some of his papers for things with which to try experiments. He
then fitted out an old baggage car as a little room in which he began
his first efforts in the way of inventions.
One of the things he did while working as a train boy was to print a
paper on the train. The "London Times" spoke of it as the only paper
in the world published on a train. It was named the "Grand Trunk
Herald."
Young Edison worked as a train boy for four years, and he had in that
time saved two thousand dollars, which he gave to his parents.
Once he thought he would like to read all the books in the city
library. He read for a long time, but he found that he could not
finish all the books.
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