268

LITTLE BIOGRAPHIES.—HOW SUCCESS

LITTLE BIOGRAPHIES.—HOW SUCCESS LS WON.

IS WON.

By Sarau K. Boiron.

I
PETER COOPER.

{ \N the seventh of April, 1883, the great city of

New York was in mourning. Flags were at
half-mast. The bells tolled. Shops were closed, and
in the windows the picture of a kind-faced, white-
haired man was draped in black. All day long tens
of thousands passed by an open coffin in All Souls’
Church: Governors and millionnaires, poor women
with little children in their arms, workmen in their
common clothes, and ragged newsboys — all with ach-
ing hearts. The great dailies like the Z>ibune and
flerald, gave six columns to the sadevent. Messages
of sympathy were cabled from England.

Who was this man whom the world mourned on
this April day?

Was he a President? Oh, no. A great general?
Far from it. One who lived magnificently and had
splendid carriages and diamonds? Not at all.

He was simply Peter Cooper, ninety-two years old,
the best-loved man in America,

Had he given money? Yes; but other men in our
rich country do that. Had he travelled abroad, and
so become widely known? No. He would never go
to Europe, because he wished to use his money in a
different way.

Why, then, was he loved by a whole nation? for
even the Turks, Parsees and Hindoos talked about
him. A New York journalist gives this truthful
answer:

Peter Cooper went through his long life as gentle as a sweet
woman, as kind as a good mother, and as honest and guileless as
aman could live, and remain human.

Some boys would be ashamed to be considered as
gentle asa girl, Not so Peter Cooper.

He was born poor, and always was willing that
everybody should knowit. He despised pride. When

his old chaise and horse came down Broadway, every .

cartman and omnibus driver turned aside for him.
Though a millionnaire, he was their friend and
brother, and they were personally proud and fond of
him. He gave away more than he kept. He found
places for the poor to work if possible, gave money if
they were worthy, and though one of the busiest men
in America, always took time to be kind.
His sunny face was known everywhere.
tor, Rev. Robert Collyer, said this of him:

His pas-

His presence, wherever he went, lay like a bar of sunshine
across a dark and troubled day, so that I have seen it light up

some thousands of care-worn faces as if they were saying who
looked on him, ‘It cannot be so bad a world as we thought,
since Peter Cooper lives in it and gives us his benediction.’

And how did this poor boy come to his success
and his honor?

By his own will and perseverance. Nobody could
have more obstacles to overcome. His parents had
nine children to support and no money. His father
moved from town to town, always hoping to do bet-
ter, forgetting the old adage, that “A rolling stone
gathers no moss.” When Peter was born, the fifth
child, he was named after the Apostle Peter, because
his father said: “ This boy will come to something.”
But he proved feeble, unable to go to school save one
year in his life, and then only every other day. When
he was eight years old, his father being a hatter, he
pulled hair from rabbit skins, for hat pulp. Year
after year he worked harder than he was able, but
he was determined to win. When his eight little
brothers and sisters needed shoes, he ripped up an
old one, and thus learning how they were made, there-
after provided shoes for the whole family. A boy
with this energy would naturally be ambitious. At
seventeen, bidding good-by to his anxious mother, he
started for New York to make his fortune. He had
carefully saved ten dollars of his own earnings; a
large sum, it seemed to him. Soon after he ‘arrived,
he saw an advertisement of a lottery, where if one
bought a ticket, he would probably draw a prize. He
thought the matter over carefully. If he made some
money, he could help his mother. He purchased a
ticket, and drew—a blank! The ten dollars gone,
Peter was penniless. Years after, he used to say,
“Tt was the cheapest piece of knowledge I ever
bought;” for he never touched games of chance after-
ward,

Day after day the tall, slender boy walked the streets
of New York, asking for work. At last, perseverance
conquered, and he found a place in a carriage shop,
binding himself as apprentice for five years, for his
board and two dollars a month. He could buy no
good clothes. He had n> money for cigars, or pleas-
ures of any kind. He helped to build carriages for
rich men’s sons to ride in, but there were no rides
forhim. It is an old saying, that “ Everybody hasto
walk at one end of life,” and they are fortunate who
walk at the beginning and ride at the close.

When his work was over for the day, his shop-mates
ridiculed him because he would not go to the taverns
for a jovial time; but he preferred to read. Making
a little money by extra work, he hired a teacher, to
whom he recited evenings. He was tired, of course,