OVERCOMING HANDICAPS
OVERCOMING HANDICAPS
BY
ARCHER WALLACE
_Author of_
“STORIES OF GRIT,” “CANADIAN HEROES OF MISSION
FIELDS OVERSEAS”
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
REV. FRANK LANGFORD, B. A.
Secretary of the Board of Religious Education of the United
Church of Canada
[Illustration]
GARDEN CITY NEW YORK
DOUBLEDAY, DORAN & COMPANY, INC.
1929
COPYRIGHT, 1927,
BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
OVERCOMING HANDICAPS
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
INTRODUCTION
Did you ever feel utterly discouraged over your failure to master
some subject at school? Or have you lost nearly all of your interest
in school studies because some of your fellow-students could outstrip
you in spite of your best efforts? Well, those circumstances may be
discouraging, all right, but would it not be still worse if you had
no chance to go to school at all, or if you had to work hard all day
with your hands, and then snatch such education as you could get by
attending classes for a couple of hours each evening? That is the way
some boys had to do, and yet they got an education, and a good one, so
that they became great and successful men. Read the stories of some of
them in this book, and see how great were the handicaps they overcame.
What do you suppose it would be like to leave home, and find yourself
all alone in a great city where you had never been before? Worse still,
suppose you were surrounded by a gang of lads about your own age or
older, who seemed bent on making your life as miserable as possible.
To complete the story of difficulties, imagine yourself entirely
ignorant of the language spoken in that city. What would you do? If you
had the right kind of stuff in you, you might get along as well as did
some of the young fellows in the stories in this book. Remember, these
stories tell of real people, who actually did face difficulties, so you
may rest assured that what they did, you could do too.
You will be surprised to find out how much like yourselves these men
were. Some of them were poor, some were without friends, some had no
education, some were weak lads physically, some had hot tempers--in
short, they were very much like most of us. How did such ordinary boys
become great men? Why, it is to answer that question that this book
was written. The author has given us a living picture of each of them
in such interesting fashion that we become acquainted with the boy, we
watch him grow up, and we see how he won his success.
And now you don’t want to wait another minute. Let’s read the book.
FRANK LANGFORD.
The biographical sketches which make up this book were originally used
in _The King’s Own_, a Canadian paper for boys. The author thanks the
publishers for permission to use the stories in book form.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. The Little Cripple with the Giant Mind 13
II. The Amazing Story of Arthur Kavanagh 22
III. The Delicate Boy Who Became England’s Greatest
Sculptor 29
IV. Brave Tusitala, the Teller of Stories 36
V. The Composer Who Could Not Hear His Own Music 47
VI. The Thrilling Story of An Immigrant Boy 56
VII. A Great Artist and a Great Hero 69
VIII. From Bookbinder’s Errand Boy to Great Scientist 76
IX. The Newsboy Who Became a Great Inventor 85
X. The Unlettered Boy Who Became a Tree Doctor 94
XI. The Peasant Boy Who Made His Dreams Come True 103
XII. The Boy Whose Difficulties Made Him Determined to
Succeed 111
XIII. Kindergarten Pupil at Twenty-five: College
Professor at Fifty 119
XIV. A Poor Negro Boy Who Thrilled a King 127
XV. A Quaker Boy Who Astonished the World 133
OVERCOMING HANDICAPS
OVERCOMING HANDICAPS
CHAPTER I
THE LITTLE CRIPPLE WITH THE GIANT MIND
On April 9, 1865, Charles Steinmetz was born at Breslau in Germany.
He was a cripple from his birth. Both his father and grandfather had
suffered from spinal trouble, but in Charles the affliction was more
noticeable and all his life, though he had a very wise head, he had an
undersized, misshapen body. He was so short in stature that he looked
much like a dwarf and while his shoulders were thrown up, the head was
set so as to give him the appearance of a hunchback.
His mother died when Charles was just one year old and his grandmother
came to take care of him. She would have loved her grandchild in any
case, but his affliction made him especially dear to her, and she
cared for him so that all through life he loved her dearly and after
her death he cherished her memory. Breslau is a large railway centre
and Charles’ father worked in the government railway service there.
He was a comparatively poor man but keenly interested in science. He
was determined that, as far as was possible, Charles should have a
thorough education. Charles himself was a studious boy, and eager to
take advantage of every opportunity to learn. He was not able to play
games and enjoy an active life as other boys did but he did enjoy
life and the subjects he studied greatly interested him, and severely
crippled though he was he made up his mind that he would devote himself
to science. He said that he hoped to make discoveries that would help
other people.
As soon as he was old enough, Charles began to study at the university.
He was most interested in mathematics, chemistry and electricity and
he made considerable progress in these subjects. He was just about to
receive his degree when his political views made it necessary for him
to leave Germany and go to Switzerland, where several of his friends,
holding similar views, had gone before him. The proud, overbearing,
arrogant views of many German leaders of that time were not to his
liking and he had shown decided radical tendencies which brought him
under suspicion of the German government.
He arrived in Switzerland in June, 1888, with very little money. It
took exactly half of all he had to pay the first month’s rent for
his room, but he possessed great courage and immediately resumed his
studies in chemistry and physics, while he wrote articles for local
papers and magazines and so earned enough to pay his way. By dint of
hard work he managed to earn fourteen dollars a month and although this
was not very much, his wants were few, and he did not suffer hardship
nor get into debt.
While he was in Switzerland he met a young Dane named Oscar Asmussen.
This man had once lived in San Francisco and intended returning. He
urged Charles Steinmetz to go with him but Charles was almost penniless
and the thing seemed impossible. Oscar Asmussen had just enough money
to pay for two steerage passages and a few dollars over and in June,
1889, the two set out for America.
Charles Steinmetz, at that time, could not speak a word of English
and the days on board ship were chiefly devoted to learning English,
although one can easily understand that the crowded, uncomfortable
quarters of the steerage would make such a task difficult. When
at last the ship reached New York something happened which nearly
resulted in Charles Steinmetz’ being deported back to Switzerland.
The ship arrived on a Saturday night and passengers had to wait till
Monday before being examined. Charles slept near an open porthole and
caught a severe cold which caused his face to swell. When he appeared
before the authorities for examination on Monday morning he was indeed
a sorry-looking spectacle. He was dwarfed and misshapen in body;
his eyesight was very defective, his face terribly swollen, and his
clothes decidedly shabby. Furthermore he could scarcely speak a word of
English. Had it not been for the earnest entreaties of Oscar Asmussen
he would most surely have been refused admission to America. He was
admitted, however, for in those days the government authorities were
not as strict as they are now.
Charles Steinmetz certainly did not look a very promising immigrant and
during his first few weeks he met with much that would have discouraged
a less determined man. He had letters of introduction to two electrical
engineers in America. The first man read his letter and turned him down
flat. “There is a perfect epidemic of foreign electrical engineers;
we cannot do a thing for you,” he said. The other man to whom Charles
Steinmetz went, read the letter and promised to send for him in a few
days. He did not send, and Charles who was penniless, went to see him
at the end of a week and found that the man had forgotten all about
him. However, when reminded of his promise, he gave Charles a position
at twelve dollars a week. It was not the kind of work that he wanted
but he was glad to get a footing of any kind and he worked hard at it.
One day his employer stained his hands with dye; his chemists were not
able to remove the stains, and he was agitated and annoyed. Charles
Steinmetz suggested an acid solution which was tried, and instantly
removed the stains. As a reward for this he was set to work in the
laboratory of the factory, at tasks more suited to his liking and which
gave him a chance to show his skill.
He soon showed amazing ability and in two papers he read before the
American Institute of Electrical Engineers he established a position
as a leading authority on the subject. Soon after this the American
General Electric Company was formed and Charles Steinmetz was offered
the position of chief consulting engineer at a large salary. He
accepted the position under somewhat peculiar conditions. He did not
want a large salary, but he did wish to be quite free to carry out
whatever experiments he desired and requested that the company should
permit him to draw on them for whatever money he needed. This they were
quite willing to do. At Schenectady, a very fine laboratory was fitted
up for him and there he began his experiments in electrical engineering
in which he was so keenly interested. For many years he toiled on
without attracting a great deal of attention. He was a hard worker and
forgot himself in his work. The General Electric Company knew that in
him they had one of the greatest experts living, but for a long time he
was not widely known. Then, from time to time, authoritative articles
on electricity and chemistry began to appear in the leading magazines
signed “Charles Steinmetz,” and they were recognised as being of a very
high order. Then it gradually became known that a really great mind
was at work in the laboratory at Schenectady, and his position as an
authority was established.
All this time he worked hard, ever seeking to perfect electrical
appliances already in use and to make discoveries that would benefit
humanity. His laboratory was one of the best equipped in the world
and when Thomas A. Edison visited it, he expressed his admiration and
astonishment at what he saw there. A warm friendship had sprung up
between Steinmetz and Edison and they recognised each other, not as
rivals, but as co-workers in the same field.
When spoken to about his hard work, Charles Steinmetz refused to take
any credit. He insisted that he loved his work so intensely that he
never became fatigued. “There is no more credit due me for sticking to
my work,” he said, “than there is to a child who plays. I love my work.
It is my chief joy and I could not easily take a holiday from it if I
had to.” He never had any faith in the lasting value of work done for
the sake of the wages. He believed that work should be done for work’s
sake. Only men and women who love their work, he believed, would ever
make a success of it, and benefit others. In this connection it is
interesting to note that when he died in November, 1923, he left behind
him practically nothing except an insurance policy for $1,500 and an
old automobile. He had no one depending upon him and to heap up money
was the last thing in the world he wanted to do.
For some time before his death he was working hard to invent devices
which would offset the destructive effects of lightning. In order
to do this he studied closely how lightning is formed. He succeeded
in producing artificial lightning with the energy of one million
horse-power--an achievement which created a sensation among experts in
the electrical world.
He had unbounded faith in the future of electricity. He was one of the
first to predict that electricity would eventually do away with steam
locomotives and thus enormously cut down the consumption of coal.
He made many other predictions which at the time seemed impossible,
but which appear much more reasonable now. He was quick to see that
electricity was destined to become more and more useful and a greater
boon to the human race.
Many great distinctions came to Charles Steinmetz. He was made
a Professor of Electrical Engineering at Union University. Both
Harvard University and Union University conferred degrees upon him in
recognition of his valuable work. No doubt he was glad to receive such
honours but he remained very unassuming. His chief delight was in his
work and often he appeared at important functions wearing a soft collar
and a shabby tweed suit. Charles Steinmetz lived a few months less than
sixty years but into those years he put his very best work. When he
was buried many of the most notable people on the American continent
hastened to pay their tribute to his worth. One writer said: “This
deformed hunchback had the mind of an angel and the soul of a seer.”
When one thinks of these things there arises before the mind a picture
of that penniless, deformed youth, humbly seeking admission to America
in 1889. He was a sorry-looking object then--and indeed as far as his
body was concerned--remained so throughout life. But though he was
dwarfed in body, Charles Steinmetz was a giant in mind and in spirit.