298

of, Colonel Walker turned to him and said: “Now, my man,
what can I do for you?”

“T have called to see about the payment of the Seventeenth
Connecticut.”

The paymaster, a little irritated, told him bluntly “that a
paymaster could do nothing without money, and that until
the Government could furnish some it was useless for soldiers
to come bothering him about the pay of their regiments.”

“T know,” said the soldier, “the Government is in straits,
and I have called to find out how much money it will take to
give my regiment two months’ pay, and if you will tell me, I
am ready to furnish the amount.”

The officer started with astonishment, and asked the name
of the soldier, who was no other than Elias Howe. On re-
ferring to his books, Colonel Walker found that the sum re-
quired was thirty-one thousand dollars. Upon receiving the
information, the private wrote a draft for the sum and received
in return a memorandum, certifying the advance, and promis-
ing reimbursement when the Government could furnish the
money. A few days after, at Fairfax Court House, the regi-
ment was paid. When Mr. Howe’s name was called, he went
up to the paymaster’s desk, receiving twenty-eight dollars
and sixty cents of his own money, and signed the receipt
therefor, “ Private Elias Howe Jr.”’ After rendering all the
services a man in his physical condition could render, he re-
luctantly asked a discharge and returned home. He used to
say to the soldiers:

“T have got to leave you, boys. I’m of no use here; but
never mind; when your time is out come to me at Bridgeport;
I’m building a large sewing machine factory there, and I
shall have plenty of work for those that want it.”

Many of his comrades took him at his word, and until
his death were at work under him in various capacities.

Three years after the war closed, in 1867, Mr.
Howe received a gold medal for his sewing machine
at the Paris Exposition, and the Cross of the Legion

 

LITTLE BIOGRAPHIES.—HOW SUCCESS IS WON.

of Honor; a personal distinction to a great in
ventor. What was there left forhim to ask? He
had wealth, he had honors. He had overcome ill
health, poverty, and the schemes of men to rob
him of his inventions. He had held steadily to
one purpose in life, and through all he had been
uniformly just, kind, and never had he been in an
ill temper at the indifference of the world. That
man only has learned to live rightly, who takes
with a smile the world’s praise or blame, and with
steady head and hand goes straight on with the
work he has in hand.

In one sense, his was a completed life; and that
same autumn in which he received the Cross of the
Legion of Honor, he took cold, and was soon quite
ill, Still in early middle life, only forty-eight, his
friends felt that he must recover ; but one Thurs-
day afternoon, October 3, as the sun was setting
he sank peacefully away.

The sewing machine companies of the country
passed resolutions of sorrow and respect for “an
inventor of genius and ability, a business man of
industry and integrity, a benevolent and kind-hearted
friend, and a citizen of liberality and patriotism.”

Such a life as that of Elias Howe is surely full of
encouragement to those who, lacking money and
education, are yet determined to make the most
of themselves, who are determined to be true to the
ideas they believe in; itis by these plucky men the
race is helped forward to its great achievements.

 

 

LITTLE BIOGRAPHIES.—HOW

SUCCESS

IS WON.

By Saraw K. Botton.

Ix.

ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.
N a Georgia cornfield, might have been seen,
some years ago, a feeble little boy dropping
kernels for the colored “hands.” The hills were

four feet apart, and by quick, faithful work, he
could cover ten acres a day. This little lad’s
lovely and intelligent mother had died when he
was a baby, three months old. Hehad one “own”
brother and sister, and there were five half-brothers
and sisters. This family was poor, but its young
members were devoted to each other.