Show I What My Parents Wanted Me to Bej THOMAS A. A EDISON My mother when hen a young woman be became became became be- be came a teacher In the public schools at Vienna Ont where my father and she met She was an attractive highly educated and woman and her influence upon my life has been profound profound profound pro pro- I found and lasting As a child I was of fragile appearance appearance appear appear- ance and supposed not to be strong strong so soI soI soI I was not allowed to go to school at as early an age a as usual and then for only a short time tinie I was usually at the foot of the he class but my mother who had watched ute nie closely believed in my mental powers and resolved to take mo mc out of school and educate me h herself i Fortunately for me she was not only loving observing and wise but also well informed and ambitious From her experience as a teacher she was able to give me an education better than could be had in the local schools of that day Under her guidance I found study easy and pleasant Before I was twelve I had studied the usual rudiments and had read with my m mothers mother's help Gibbon s Decline Decline De cline dine and Fal FaH of ot the Roman Humes Hume's History of England Sears' Sears History of the World Burtons Burton's Anatomy and ly and the Dictionary of Sciences M My father a man of tb do small mental mental mental men men- tal ability also encouraged my literary literary liter Uter- ary ta tastes tes and anel fald aid me a small sum for Jor each book I mastered When I was about seven we moved to Port Huron Mich where a few years later I began active life b by becoming becoming becoming be be- coming a newsboy My Iy interest in chemistry started when I was eleven and I tried many experiments in our cellar wh where rc I spent most of my spare time As J got deeper into my chemical I studies my limited pocket t money disappeared disappeared dis s dis- dis appeared rapidly I had read all the books within reach So I decided elf if if I becam became a atrain atrain atrain train newsboy I could earn all the fie money I wanted for my experiments get fresh reading from papers and magazines and spend some leisure hours in Detroit at the Public library My parents particularly my mother I objected For my father although not I rich was actively interested in several industries and was very prosperous J But I finally overcame their reluctance reluctance I ance and in 1859 at the age of of- twelve I obtained permission from a big big- rai rai- road system to sell newspapers on the trains between Port Huron and De De- troit While a newsboy on the railroad T I became much Interested probably from visiting telegraph off offices offit-e ices I with a chum who had ad tastes similar l mine r 1 rIt It may be surprising that a l la lafrom from about twelve to fifteen sho shou shoni have been allowed such liberty got gol early and returning late a an experimenter in chemistry a alisher pu pu Usher lisher printer amate locomotive engineer and nd what no nc which I was My family except my moth thought I was a strange boy and end any of them expressed during my abs absences she would sa He is all right Nothing will happ t tto to him God is taking care of him J 4 a aShe She understood and allowed m. m the widest possible sphere of act and enco raged my ever studies Copyright isis by the Press Publishing Co Co th New York Vork Evening World f |