Chapter XII: Part 12

Oliver Evans of Philadelphia built the first steam automobile in the United States in 1804, to carry a steam flatboat he had made down to the river. Evans and other inventors after him for nearly one hundred years worked on self-driven carriages, but could interest no one in their plans. Watts, the great English inventor of the steam engine, stopped a friend who had all but invented an automobile. It was useless, he said; roads would not allow such rapid travel. Watts could discover steam power, but it never occurred to him that good roads could be easily built. The use of rubber tires in 1887 stopped the jolting that had been such a difficulty.

In 1892 Charles Duryea built the first gasoline automobile in America. He tried to get money to continue his work. He told a business man, "You and I will live to see more automobiles than horses on the street." The man thought him crazy, and refused to help him. Now horses are becoming rare in large cities.

=206. America, the Land of Automobiles.= In 1891 the first electric vehicle in this country was made. The first gasoline car was sold March 24, 1898. Now, twenty years later, this country is manufacturing nearly half a million cars annually. Other countries are backward by comparison. Four-fifths of all the automobiles in the world are owned in the United States.

[Sidenote: =Motor trucks in the war=]

Motor trucks can carry many tons, and are now very largely used for hauling, especially in cities. At the end of the war our government had seventy thousand trucks in use overseas.

One time when the German army threatened Paris it was only the unbroken stream of motor trucks moving along a great French road carrying men and supplies to the front that saved the city. In memory of its service the French call this road the "Sacred Way."

WILBUR AND ORVILLE WRIGHT, THE MEN WHO GAVE HUMANITY WINGS

=207. Early Attempts to Fly.= To sail through the air as birds do is an ambition that has dazzled men since ancient times. The Greek myths tell us of Phaeton who drove the horses of the sun, and of Icarus who flew too near the sun with his wings of feathers and wax.

[Sidenote: =Studying birds=]

To learn how to fly men studied the wings of huge birds living millions of years ago, made careful mathematical reckonings about them, and then made themselves wings of feathers or skin. But with these wings they could only glide to earth from high towers or cliffs. One useful thing they learned from this study. They found that the wing of a bird is bent as you bend a long piece of paper if you hold it by opposite corners and start to twist it. This is called the principle of the screw, and is now used in making the propeller blades of airplanes.

=208. The First Airplanes.= Early airplanes, airplane models and "gliders" were made in the queerest, most outlandish shapes imaginable. They had from one to five or more planes, arranged at almost every possible angle. Some looked like a row of box kites, some like dragons, and some like a collection of old fashioned windmill wheels all fastened together.

It was only a little while ago that men were working with these strange models, for it was only about ten years before the World War that a successful airplane flight was first made.

The invention of the balloon came late in the history of flying. Two sons of a French paper manufacturer probably made the first balloon. They filled a large bag with hot air from a bonfire, and found that it rose and sailed away.

Early balloons were carried through the air by wind currents, and could not be guided. Their passengers were often blown out to sea and drowned.

[Sidenote: =Zeppelins=]

A German, Count Zeppelin, invented a balloon called a dirigible, because it could be directed through the air. The Germans named these large cigar-shaped balloons "zeppelins," after their inventor.

Dirigibles are now built more than two blocks long, about the length of the largest battleships. They can lift heavy loads, but are very expensive and very easily broken, and require huge sheds or houses to shelter them.

[Sidenote: =First successful flight=]

An airship properly means a dirigible, while an airplane is a heavier-than-air machine. The first successful flight of any length in an airplane that could be directed was made by Wilbur Wright in 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. It was also the first time an airplane had been driven by a gasoline engine.

[Sidenote: =Did bicycle repairing=]

=209. The Wright Brothers.= Wilbur Wright was one of two brothers who had long been working on the problem of a flying machine. He was born in 1867, and his brother Orville in 1871. Their father was a bishop whose excellent library took the place of a university education for his boys. Wilbur and Orville studied especially works on physics, mathematics, and engineering. They earned their living by making and repairing bicycles. But they spent much time experimenting with different kinds of gliders. They also studied the action of the atmosphere. Aërostatics, or the science of the air, is a very difficult and important part of flying.

[Sidenote: =Flights by airplane models=]

Before Wilbur Wright's success in 1903 progress of various kinds had been made. Fairly long flights with gliders had been made in different countries. Two Americans, Langley and Hiram Maxim, had worked out models driven by steam. Langley's had flown half a mile over the Potomac, and Maxim's, though not allowed to fly freely, was strong enough to carry a man.

The Wright brothers were wise in employing a gasoline motor. A steam engine, with its large boilers, was of course much heavier. They had a rudder in the tail of their machine, but they also invented a new method of steering. By "warping" or bending the planes, a monoplane, with its one set of wings could keep its balance as well as a biplane, which has two.

After Wilbur Wright's first flight in 1903 several Frenchmen made successful flights. But in 1908 Wilbur Wright went to France and broke the records of all the French flyers by the unparalleled feat of remaining in the air for more than two hours.

_From a photograph of a Bleriot Monoplane in "Flying," New York_]

[Sidenote: =Air records=]

Now the airplane can do all kinds of fantastic tricks. Aviators "loop the loop" dozens of times, and move in any direction through the air at will. They can rise in the air thirty-six thousand feet, and can fly at the rate of three miles a minute. In 1907 Orville Wright made the first record flight of an hour. All this has been accomplished in scarcely more than a dozen years since then. Flying developed especially rapidly during the World War. Airplanes were used to spy out the enemy's defenses, to direct gunfire, to drop bombs, to shoot down soldiers, and to hunt submarines. The daring and brilliant fighting of airmen in the World War makes a story more breathless than that of any novel. Incidents like landing with burning planes or with planes partly stripped of their canvas were not uncommon for these fighters of the air.

[Sidenote: =Bombing machines=]

One type of airplane was used for fighting and another heavier type for bombing. Air bombing is now so accurate that in the future it may be useless to build super-dreadnaughts and large battleships.

=210. Peace Time Uses of the Airplane.= During times of peace airplanes are useful in exploring and for carrying passengers and light freight. Airplanes scarcely more expensive than the earlier automobiles can now be bought.

[Sidenote: =Airplanes carry the mail=]

Airplanes in this country are chiefly used for carrying mail. "The mail must fly" is the slogan of the mailmen of the air, and in storm or fog--even in the face of a tornado--it has gone.

In May, 1919, a hydroplane belonging to the United States navy made the first trip across the ocean. A hydroplane is an airplane having a boat-like body so that it is able to alight on or rise from the water.

[Sidenote: =Transatlantic flights=]

In July a British dirigible flew across with its crew. A few weeks earlier a British plane flew from continent to continent in less than sixteen hours. It took Columbus seventy days to make his crossing.

JOHN P. HOLLAND, WHO TAUGHT MEN HOW TO SAIL UNDER THE SEA

[Sidenote: =Bushnell and Fulton and the undersea boat=]

=211. The Submarine.= During the War of the Revolution an American named Bushnell worked on the problem of making a boat that would sail under the surface of the sea. He was the first to work on this problem and is called the Father of the Submarine. Some years later Robert Fulton (page 257) became interested in the submarine. In 1801 he built one for the French government. But Fulton turned his efforts to making steamboats and did not continue his plans for a successful diving boat.

[Sidenote: =John P. Holland, 1842=]

=212. John P. Holland.= John P. Holland was born in Ireland in 1842. He was a studious boy and became a teacher. The stories of Bushnell and of Fulton interested him and he studied carefully what they had done.

He came to America and settled in New Jersey. There he got a position as teacher in a parochial school. He continued his study of the undersea boat making many experiments and tests.

Holland's first submarine became stuck in the mud. But he did not give up. His next boat he called the "Fenian Ram." It frightened people when it suddenly raised its head out of the water and as quickly disappeared.

_From a photograph_]

In 1895, after a number of severe tests, Holland succeeded in interesting the United States Government in his plans. He built for it a submarine which he named the "Plunger."

Holland now formed a company to build his boats. In 1898 he produced the famous Holland submarine. This boat settled any doubt about what submarines could do. It was only fifty feet long, but it could dive under water and rise again at the will of the inventor. From that time the Holland company built many submarines for all the great nations of the world.

[Sidenote: =The periscope=]

From the top of the submarine there extends upward a long slender tube called a periscope. When the boat is under water the end of this tube extends above the surface. By means of a certain arrangement of lenses and mirrors in this tube, the observer in the submarine can see everything on the surface of the water. In this way the boat can be guided in any direction.

Holland died in 1914.

[Sidenote: =Value in war=]

=213. The Submarine in War and Peace.= The submarine is much used in war time. The war diver is provided with one and sometimes two tubes through which torpedoes or bombs may be fired at enemy ships while the submarine is hidden under water. It is very hard to detect a submarine when it is under the water. The only sign of its approach is a slight ripple on the surface. But if we look straight down at the water from high up in the air, then the outlines of the boat can easily be seen. In war time airplanes are used in spying out the submarine.

[Sidenote: =Use of the submarine in peace=]

In times of peace, too, the submarine is of great value. It is not exposed to great storms on the sea, since it can escape the waves by submerging. These boats can cross the ocean and are large enough to carry cargoes of valuable goods. In July, 1916, the world was startled by the arrival of the merchant submarine, "Deutschland," at Baltimore. Loaded with articles of trade, mainly chemicals, she left Bremen, dodged the British and French blockade, and in fifteen days reached America.

One cause of America's entering the World War was Germany's attempt to starve England by a submarine blockade.

[Sidenote: =Fighting the submarine=]

=214. Other Inventions in the War.= The "depth bomb" was an out and out new invention. 11 could be "dropped" over the spot where a submarine was seen. Very often it blew the submarine to pieces.

The "tank" was a "moving iron fort" drawn by a tractor. It could tear wire entanglements to pieces and cross enemy trenches. The "depth bomb" and "tank" were used mainly by the Allies.

The wide use of "poison gas" was first introduced by the Germans. Guns able to shoot many miles were invented. One of them carried seventy miles or more.

SUGGESTIONS INTENDED TO HELP THE PUPIL

=The Leading Facts.= _1._ Edison learned telegraphy, and made his
own instruments. _2._ Edison saved the day in Wall Street, and
made his reputation, as well as plenty of money. _3._ He made
many telegraph and telephone inventions. _4._ He built great
laboratories in New Jersey, where many men worked helping him. _5._
Edison invented the phonograph, and worked to improve the electric
light. _6._ An argument about horseracing led to the invention of
moving pictures. _7._ Edison improved the moving picture camera.
_8._ C. Francis Jenkins invented the first complete moving picture
machine. _9._ During the World War remarkable moving pictures
were taken on all fronts. _10._ Moving pictures are often used
in schools and elsewhere for educational purposes. _11._ The
typewriter was really the work of many different inventors. _12._
Typing machines for the blind first invented. _13._ Christopher
Sholes' typewriter was the first practical one invented. _14._ The
dictaphone is really a development of Edison's phonograph. _15._
It consists of two machines, and is used in business offices to
save time. _16._ Steam automobiles were the first kind invented.
_17._ For one hundred years many inventors worked trying to build
automobiles. _18._ The first gasoline automobile in this country
was built by Charles Duryea. _19._ The United States is far in the
lead in the number of automobiles manufactured and used. _20._ Men
have for ages tried to discover a way to fly. _21._ They filled
balloons with gas or heated air which carried them far up. _22._
Dirigible balloons were invented by Zeppelin. _23._ Wilbur and
Orville Wright built a successful heavier-than-air machine. _24._
The gasoline engine made their success possible. _25._ Airplanes
can now go three miles a minute. _26._ All the great progress in
flying has come since Wright's first successful flight in 1903.
_27._ In the war airplanes were used for observing the enemy, for
fighting, and for bombing. _28._ In this country airplanes are now
used chiefly for carrying mail. _29._ A hydroplane has a boat-like
body. _30._ In 1919 three successful flights were made across
the Atlantic. _31._ John P. Holland was the first to succeed in
building a submarine. _32._ The submarine is guided by means of the
periscope, and is valuable in peace and war. _33._ Depth bombs and
tanks were new inventions. _34._ The Germans introduced poison gas.

=Study Questions.= _1._ What books could Edison read at twelve?
_2._ Tell of his thousand newspapers. _3._ What were the cause and
the effect of his first lessons in telegraphy? _4._ What was his
first great invention? _5._ What did he find in Wall Street, New
York? _6._ How much did Edison think of asking for his invention?
_7._ How much was offered him? _8._ Tell the story of the work
in Edison's shop at Newark, New Jersey, _9._ Why did he want a
great library at Menlo Park? _10._ How does sound travel? _11._
What was the trouble with Edison's first phonograph? _12._ Name
some of the uses of the phonograph. _13._ Make a list of Edison's
great inventions. _14._ Tell how the first moving pictures came to
be made? _15._ How did the machine Edison invented differ from a
real moving picture machine? _16._ Who invented the first complete
moving picture machine? _17._ How important is the moving picture
business? _18._ Tell some incidents of the war which you saw in
moving pictures. _19._ Does your school use a moving picture
machine in its classroom work? _20._ How are lessons studied when
moving pictures are used? _21._ Where can schools get their films?
_22._ Name two other uses for moving pictures. _23._ What earlier
invention resembled the typewriter? _24._ Name one simple thing the
lack of which kept men from inventing a typewriter sooner. _25._
Describe Sholes' first typewriter. _26._ From what invention did
the dictaphone come? _27._ How is dictating done by means of the
dictaphone? _28._ What difficulty held back the progress of the
automobile? _29._ Name two ways in which this has been overcome.
_30._ How old is the automobile business? _31._ How does the United
States compare with other countries in number of automobiles used?
_32._ How did auto trucks keep the Germans from capturing Paris?
_33._ What is a Zeppelin or dirigible? _34._ Tell about the studies
of the Wright brothers. _35._ What progress had others made before
the Wright brothers succeeded? _36._ What was unusual about Wilbur
Wright's flight in 1903? _37._ What is a monoplane? a biplane? a
hydroplane? an airship? _38._ Name some peace-time and war-time
uses of airplanes. _39._ Tell the story of Holland's inventions.
_40._ What are the uses of the submarine? _41._ Name the first
submarine to cross the Atlantic.

=Suggested Readings.= THOMAS A. EDISON: Mowry, _American Inventions
and Inventors_, 85-89; Dickson, _Life and Inventions of Edison_,
4-153, 280-388.

CHRISTOPHER L. SHOLES: Hubert, _Inventors_, 161-163.

THE AUTOMOBILE: Doubleday, _Stories of Inventors_, 69-84; Forman,
_Stories of Useful Inventions_, 161-163.

WILBUR AND ORVILLE WRIGHT: Wade, _The Light Bringers_, 112-141;
Delacombe, _The Boys' Book of Airships_; Simonds, _All about
Airships_; Holland, _Historic Inventions_, 273-295.

JOHN P. HOLLAND: Corbin, _The Romance of Submarine Engineering_;
Bishop, _The Story of the Submarine_; Williams, _Romance of Modern
Inventions_, 143-165.

HEROINES OF NATIONAL PROGRESS

ELIZABETH CADY STANTON AND SUSAN B. ANTHONY, TWO PIONEERS IN THE CAUSE OF WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE

[Sidenote: =Women play an important part in early progress=]

=215. The Women of Our Nation.= Women have had a large part in the progress of our nation. In colonial days women often had to defend their homes against Indians. They endured the hardships of the first settlements as bravely as did the men. They had larger rights and greater freedom than in England at that time, because their help was so plainly necessary in this new country.

By 1850 nearly one-fourth of the nation's manufacturing was done by women, but otherwise until that time women's lives were spent almost entirely in their homes. Though no colleges were open to women until 1833, many mothers knew enough of books to prepare their sons for college at home.

[Sidenote: =Women's service in war=]

During the Revolution women formed a society called "Daughters of Liberty," to spin and sew for their soldiers. They gave their treasured pewter spoons and dishes to be melted up for bullets. As women have always done, they cared for the sick and wounded after battles.

In the great Civil War, women were needed still more to nurse the wounded, for even then there was no Red Cross or large body of women who were nurses by profession to call upon. Women took the place of the men called to war in many ways, and especially in teaching schools. On both sides women worked in the fields, and sometimes acted as spies, or served, disguised, in the ranks. Southern women also entered the factories in large numbers. They had to meet even greater hardship than women in the North, and were often face to face with starvation.

On the frontier women had always worked in the fields when necessary, and often helped to build the houses they lived in. The fearless pioneering spirit and fine, sturdy character of these women won them the highest respect. This was one reason why western states were the first to grant women the right to vote.

[Sidenote: =Women's equality with men=]

Long before the Civil War great leaders in the cause of woman's advancement had appeared. These leaders saw that in many ways women had proved their equality with men. This encouraged them to appeal for wider opportunities for women, who then had almost no legal rights. The leaders now demanded the privileges enjoyed only by men. We should all know the stories of these women of wise and fearless vision.

_From a photograph_]

[Sidenote: =Born, 1815=]

=216. Elizabeth Cady Stanton.= Elizabeth Cady was born in New York, in 1815. Her girlhood was a happy one, spent with her brother and sisters. She was a healthy, rosy-cheeked girl, full of life and fun, who believed girls were the equals of boys and had just as much intellect.

[Sidenote: =Studies hard=]

When Elizabeth was eleven years old her brother died. Her father grieved deeply over the loss of his only son, and Elizabeth determined to try to be to her father all that her brother might have been. She therefore applied herself diligently to study and self-improvement.

[Sidenote: =Finds woman's position unequal=]

Her father was a lawyer. He had been a member of Congress. Many hours out of school Elizabeth spent in his office, listening while his clients stated their cases. She gradually became indignant at what she found to be the unequal position of women in almost every walk of life. She determined to devote her life to securing for women the same rights and privileges that men had.

[Sidenote: =Marries Henry B. Stanton=]

While studying she did not neglect the arts of housekeeping. She regarded these as occupations of the highest dignity and importance. When twenty-five years old she married Henry B. Stanton, a lawyer and journalist who since his student days had talked and written against slavery. But she did not forget her old resolve to struggle for the rights of women, even when occupied with the duties of home and children.

[Sidenote: =Calls woman's rights convention=]

=217. The First Woman's Rights Convention.= In 1848 Mrs. Stanton called a woman's rights convention--the first ever held. Its purpose was "to discuss the social, civil, and religious conditions and rights of women."

[Sidenote: ="Declaration of Sentiments"=]

[Sidenote: =Women demand the right to vote=]

Mrs. Stanton read to the convention a set of twelve resolutions, the now famous "Declaration of Sentiments." It demanded for women equality with men and "all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of the United States," including the right to vote. This was the first public demand for woman's suffrage. The resolutions were passed. A storm of ridicule followed the convention, but Mrs. Stanton's position remained unchanged.

[Sidenote: =Susan B. Anthony, 1820=]

=218. Susan B. Anthony.= A few years after this historic convention, Mrs. Stanton met Susan B. Anthony. Miss Anthony was the daughter of Friends, or Quakers as they are often called. She was born at South Adams, Massachusetts, in 1820. Her father maintained a school at Battenville, New York, and here Susan received her early education.

_From a photograph by Veeder, Albany, N.Y._]

[Sidenote: =Teaches school=]

[Sidenote: =Won to the cause of woman's rights=]

From her seventeenth birthday until she met Mrs. Stanton, Miss Anthony had been engaged in teaching school. But now the great national questions of anti-slavery and temperance were drawing her away from her work as a teacher. At first Miss Anthony had not been in sympathy with the Declaration of Sentiments, but when she met Mrs. Stanton the cause of woman's rights won an able, enthusiastic, and untiring friend.

[Sidenote: =National Woman's Suffrage Association=]

From this time on these two fought side by side for the cause of women. They traveled and lectured in all parts of the country. In 1868 they started a weekly paper, which they called _The Revolution_. Miss Anthony was the business manager and Mrs. Stanton was the editor. Its motto was, "The True Republic--men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less."

[Sidenote: =Miss Anthony casts vote for President=]

In 1869 they organized the National Woman's Suffrage Association. In many states the question of woman suffrage became an important one at election. Wherever they were needed, in California, in New York, or in any other state, these two women could be found. Every year from 1869 until her death, in 1906, Miss Anthony addressed committees of Congress. In 1872 she cast a vote for President. She declared it to be her right under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. For this act she was arrested and fined, but the fine was never collected.

[Sidenote: =Women win suffrage=]

Mrs. Stanton died in 1902. The great movement she had started was on its way to certain victory. Congress passed the suffrage amendment in 1919, and in August, 1920, it became law. Over twenty-five million women were entitled to vote in the presidential elections that year.

JULIA WARD HOWE, AUTHOR OF THE "BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC," AND HARRIET BEECHER STOWE WHO WROTE "UNCLE TOM'S CABIN"

=219. Julia Ward Howe.= All the great wars in which our country has engaged have brought heavy burdens and sorrow to women. They could not march away to fight side by side with the men. Their duty was to cheer their loved ones as they went away to danger and perhaps to death.

[Sidenote: =Women in the Civil War=]

At the outbreak of the Civil War, from thousands and thousands of homes father, husband, son, or brother went away, in many instances never to return. Women were left behind, praying for their loved ones and working untiringly night and day to provide food and clothing and to keep up their homes.

[Sidenote: =Born 1819=]

But there were other women who could not serve their country in this way. Many had no one to send away to fight. Among these was Julia Ward Howe. She was born in New York in 1819, of wealthy and distinguished parents. She was carefully reared, but she knew little of the work that girls are usually taught to do. Practically everything was done for her by servants. However, Julia dearly loved to read and study, and very early she began to write poetry.

[Sidenote: =Marries Doctor Howe=]

[Sidenote: =Desires to be of service to the Union=]

In 1841 she married Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, a noted teacher and reformer. While visiting in Washington in 1861 she saw women nursing the wounded soldiers brought in from the battle field of Bull Run. She was deeply stirred by the sights around her. What service could she do for her country? Her husband was too old to enter the army, her son too young. She knew that there were thousands making clothes for the soldiers in the field. But she could not sew for the soldiers or care for the wounded, for she had never been taught to work with her hands. She could only write poetry. Of what use was that now?

[Sidenote: =Writes "Battle Hymn of the Republic"=]

One day her minister suggested that she write words for the popular army tune, "John Brown's Body Lies A-mouldering in the Grave." She did so, and the poem was published in a magazine under the name of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

[Sidenote: =It helps to bring victory=]

Soon the song was being sung through all the camps of the northern troops. The soldiers sang it on the march, in wild charges, or at night beside the camp fire. Everywhere its challenge roused the northern soldiers to a more determined fight for victory. In writing this poem Mrs. Howe had done a great service for the Union.

[Sidenote: =Founds clubs for women=]

=220. The Woman's Club.= After the war Mrs. Howe wished to continue serving her country in some way, and she took up the cause of woman's rights. Women had had little or no chance to educate themselves and broaden their minds by discussing with each other subjects outside their homes. She thought woman's clubs would work to free women from the narrowness of mind that comes from thinking only of dress, hired help, and housekeeping. From then on, she devoted herself to establishing clubs for women. She traveled over the country and wrote and lectured on this subject. She urged that the members of these clubs should seek not only for self-improvement but for means of serving others; and through their efforts hospitals for women and children, lodging houses, and labor schools were established.

Mrs. Howe had found a means of serving her country even greater and more effective than the writing of her "Battle Hymn of the Republic."

_From a photograph by the Notman Photo. Co., Boston_]

[Sidenote: =Born, 1811=]

=221. Harriet Beecher Stowe.= Another woman who did great service for her country with her pen was Harriet Beecher Stowe. She was born in 1811. Her father was a Connecticut minister, and she was brought up in a deeply religious home. At school she was apt at writing and she dreamed of becoming a great author.

[Sidenote: =Marries Calvin E. Stowe=]

She married Calvin E. Stowe, a student of theology, and thereafter devoted herself to her home and her children. During the years just before the Civil War there was much discussion of the slavery question. Mrs. Stowe had traveled in the South and had seen how the negroes were kept in ignorance, and how cruelly they were sometimes treated. She was aroused by the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law and by some of the things that happened as a result of it. She resolved to use her talent for writing to help the slaves.

[Sidenote: =Writes "Uncle Tom's Cabin"=]

In 1851 she began the story, _Uncle Tom's Cabin_. It was first published in serial form in an abolition paper in Washington. It was later published in book form. From the first, the sale of the book was enormous. It was translated into many languages and was very popular abroad as well as at home.

Mrs. Stowe became famous. It is said that the book converted more than two million people to the cause of freedom for slaves. It helped to unite the North and to give it strength to stand firm in the great conflict.

_From a photograph by Sarony, New York_]

Mrs. Stowe continued writing in behalf of the slaves. She gave her son to the cause of freedom. He was wounded at Gettysburg and never regained his health. She aided in establishing schools for the negroes in the South, and worked among them earnestly until her death in 1896.

FRANCES E. WILLARD, THE GREAT TEMPERANCE CRUSADER; CLARA BARTON, WHO FOUNDED THE RED CROSS SOCIETY IN AMERICA; AND JANE ADDAMS, THE FOUNDER OF HULL HOUSE SOCIAL SETTLEMENT IN CHICAGO

[Sidenote: =Frances E. Willard, 1839=]

[Sidenote: =Family moves to Wisconsin=]

=222. Frances E. Willard.= In 1839, when Frances Elizabeth Willard was born, thousands were leaving the eastern states for the new West. Her father and mother were successful teachers in New York, but when Frances was two years old they decided to move with the westward current. After living five years at Oberlin, Ohio, the family went on to Janesville, Wisconsin, settling on a farm in the midst of picturesque hills and woods. There Frances and her brother and sister grew up healthy, happy children, playing together in the forest and fields. The parents were religious and were total abstainers, and the children never forgot their teachings.

[Sidenote: =Stands at head of her class=]

At fifteen years of age Frances went to school in Janesville, and at eighteen to a Milwaukee college for girls. The following year she entered the Northwestern Female College at Evanston, Illinois. At graduation she stood at the head of her class.

[Sidenote: =Death breaks up the home=]

Miss Willard began teaching. Then the death of her sister Mary, and shortly afterward, of her father, broke up her home. That home had been an ideal one. There the father and mother were equal in all things, and discussed together the affairs of the household. It was a perfect home, orderly and temperate. Frances Willard made up her mind to spend her life in spreading abroad a knowledge of such homes, and in helping women to become equal with men before the law.

[Sidenote: =President of W.C.T.U.=]

In 1874 came the anti-saloon crusade. Miss Willard saw that this movement was part of the fight for better and happier homes, and threw herself ardently into the work. When the Woman's Christian Temperance Union was organized in Chicago, Miss Willard became its president.

In 1879 she became the president of the National Union. Her work was never-ending. She wrote books; she lectured all over the country. For twelve years she held an average of one meeting a day.

_From a photograph_]

[Sidenote: =Favors woman suffrage=]

Miss Willard had seen that unless women had the right to assist in making laws, their cause was hopeless. Accordingly she declared herself in favor of woman suffrage. A few years later the Woman's Christian Temperance Union followed their leader into politics in an effort to encourage temperance legislation.

[Sidenote: =Women united for the protection of the home=]

Miss Willard's work constantly became wider. The organization of which she was the head became international in its influence, and the World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union was organized in 1883, with Miss Willard as president. She had united the women of the world in a great league for the protection of the home. Miss Willard remained to the end of her life president of the World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union. She died in 1898.

[Sidenote: =Clara Barton, 1821=]

=223. Clara Barton.= Clara Barton was born in 1821, near Oxford, Massachusetts. She was educated to be a school teacher, and for many years followed that profession. In 1861 she visited Washington, and there felt the impulse that led to her great life work.

_From a photograph by Charles E. Smith, Evanston, Illinois_]

[Sidenote: =Nurses the wounded=]

The injured soldiers from the first battles of the Civil War were being brought to Washington. Miss Barton at once felt it her duty to help in caring for them. She not only nursed the wounded, but she encouraged those who were on the way to the line of battle.

=224. Goes to the Battle Field.= The men that were being taken to the hospitals received no care until they arrived there. Miss Barton saw that her place was on the battle field.

[Sidenote: =Constantly in danger=]

[Sidenote: =Received no pay=]

She secured a pass to the firing line, and for four years she followed the Union soldiers. She was constantly in danger; her clothing was pierced by bullets, her face blackened by powder. But she was undaunted. The soldiers needed her, and she must be there to help them. When she could, she nursed wounded Confederate as well as Federal soldiers. She received no pay for her work.

[Sidenote: =Red Cross Society in Europe=]

When the war was over Miss Barton went to Europe. There she learned of the Red Cross Society, founded in Geneva in 1863. The purpose of the society was to care for the wounded of any nation on the field of battle. A treaty among the nations agreed that the Red Cross nurses should be safe from capture. Miss Barton was asked to organize a branch of the Red Cross in the United States.

[Sidenote: =American Red Cross=]

In 1882 President Arthur signed the treaty, and the American Red Cross, with Miss Barton as its first president, was established. She continued as president until 1904, when she resigned.

[Sidenote: =Goes to Armenia=]

In 1896 Miss Barton went to Armenia at the head of her Red Cross to relieve the suffering caused by the massacres. She saved thousands from starvation and disease.

Again she nobly responded to the call of President McKinley to go to the help of Cuba in the Spanish-American War.

Miss Barton lived to see the Red Cross a world-wide society carrying comfort and cheer to all nations. In the World War after every great battle the Red Cross nurses worked on the field or in the hospital to lighten the awful sufferings of the wounded.

[Sidenote: =Work of the society in times of peace=]

=225. The Red Cross Society in Times of Peace.= It was Miss Barton's firm belief that the world needed the services of the Red Cross in times of peace as well as in times of war. Accordingly an amendment was made to the Geneva treaty. Local Red Cross societies sprang up in every part of the country. The suffering which followed the great Charleston earthquake, the Galveston flood, forest fires, mine explosions, and all similar accidents found the Red Cross Society on hand with aid and supplies.

The greatest calamity that has befallen our country since the Red Cross was well organized was the burning of San Francisco following the great earthquake of 1906. Five hundred millions in property was destroyed, and two hundred and fifty thousand people were left homeless and without food. The Red Cross alone spent three million dollars in giving aid to the sufferers.

[Sidenote: =Rural work of the Red Cross=]

An important new undertaking is the rural work of the Red Cross. This is not limited to health questions, though a nurse is the first person sent into a country. But also if possible another worker is sent to help the country people with their social problems, their amusements, and the building up of a spirit of neighborhood coöperation.

[Sidenote: =Jane Addams and the cause of the poor=]

=226. Jane Addams.= There was still another great and vital field of service waiting for a leader. This was the cause of a better chance in life for the very poor. A better understanding among all people, rich and poor, and a knowledge of the interests which all have in common are aiding in this. Education, reform of unjust working conditions, and social service--the help or relief of poor or unfortunate people--are all means of progress through which people like Jane Addams have worked.

In 1883 while traveling in Europe, Jane Addams, a daughter of wealthy and distinguished parents, was deeply touched by the terrible poverty and misery she saw everywhere around her. She herself had never known want or hunger. Indeed she had more wealth than she knew how to spend for things she herself needed or cared for.

_From a recent photograph_]

[Sidenote: =Devotes herself to social service=]

She determined to devote herself and her fortune to a fairer distribution of the world's goods and pleasures among those who were always hungry and in want. It was a vast undertaking, but Miss Addams was not dismayed. She hoped that some day the rich and the educated would see that all men are equal and would unite with the unfortunate in one great brotherhood.

[Sidenote: =Hull House Social Settlement founded=]

She returned to Chicago, and there with a group of workers established a social settlement in a building in a poor quarter of the city and called it Hull House.

There everyone, however poor, was welcomed. People could come there for advice or help. Through personal influence they were led to become acquainted with the best books, to cultivate their minds, and to meet each other at times for study or social enjoyment.

[Sidenote: =The settlement a success=]

Men and women from all parts of the country and from abroad visited Hull House to see what Miss Addams and all her fellow-workers, through personal service, were doing to make the lives of the poor people around them a little brighter and happier. They found Hull House a success. The neighborhood was like a great family whose members sought each other's welfare. They regarded Miss Addams as one of themselves. This was a bit of the human brotherhood of which Miss Addams had dreamed.

[Sidenote: =Greater opportunities for women=]

=227. What Has Been Accomplished.= These great women of whom we have read have worked for the advancement, not alone of their sex, but of all mankind in the United States and the world over.

Through their efforts great changes have taken place in woman's position. Throughout the country she has a place more equal to man's in the eyes of the law, almost unlimited opportunities in education and business, and whatever openings in public life she proves fitted for. Now looking back, we can see that the greater part of what Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony so relentlessly strove for has been gained. Woman suffrage will doubtless soon cause the more backward states to give women full legal rights, and it will also enable women to work more freely for the progress of the nation.

SUGGESTIONS INTENDED TO HELP THE PUPIL

=The Leading Facts.= _1._ Women shared the hardships and dangers
of the early colonists. _2._ They did heroic service during the
Revolution and in the later progress of the nation; but they had
no legal or political rights. _3._ Leaders arose among the women
demanding for their sex the same rights and privileges that men
had. _4._ As a girl Elizabeth Cady Stanton became indignant at
what she found to be the unequal position of women in almost every
walk of life; she resolved to devote her life to the struggle for
the rights of women. _5._ In 1848 she called the first woman's
rights convention, where she made the first public demand for woman
suffrage. _6._ She met Susan B. Anthony, a school teacher, and won
her to the cause. _7._ Together they organized the National Woman's
Suffrage Association. _8._ Their great work succeeded in making
woman suffrage an election issue in many states. _9._ By 1915
eleven states had been won to woman suffrage; some voting rights
had been won in twenty-two other states.

_10._ Julia Ward Howe was the daughter of wealthy parents and knew
little of work. _11._ She began to write poetry early. _12._ When
the Civil War broke out Mrs. Howe wanted to be of service to the
Union. _13._ She wrote "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," a song
that proved a great aid to victory since it cheered the soldiers in
the field. _14._ After the war Mrs. Howe established women's clubs
in all parts of the country for self-improvement among the women,
and for social service.

_15._ Harriet Beecher Stowe as a girl was apt at writing. _16._ She
resolved to use her talent to help the slaves. _17._ _Uncle Tom's
Cabin_ helped the North to win the victory by uniting the people
against slavery. _18._ Frances E. Willard was raised in Wisconsin
in frontier days. _19._ In school she stood at the head of her
class. _20._ Joined the anti-saloon crusade; became president of
the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and later of the National
Union. _21._ Declared herself in favor of woman suffrage. _22._
As president of the World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union,
Miss Willard united the women of the world in a world union for
the protection of the home. _23._ Clara Barton took up the work of
nursing after the first battles of the Civil War. _24._ First in
the hospitals of Washington, she finally went to the battle fields
in order to give the wounded immediate help. _25._ The Red Cross
Society was founded in Europe; a branch was established in the
United States by Miss Barton. _26._ Following the great earthquake
and fire in San Francisco in 1906, the Red Cross did heroic work in
aiding the 250,000 people left homeless and without food.

_27._ Jane Addams while traveling in Europe was touched by the
sight of the poverty and misery everywhere. _28._ She determined
to devote herself and her fortune to make better and brighter the
lives of the poor. _29._ She established the Hull House Social
Settlement in Chicago.

=Study Questions.= _1._ How did women aid in the progress of the
nation? _2._ What did they do during the Revolution? during the
Civil War? _3._ What was their position in law and in affairs of
government? _4._ Who was the first to champion woman suffrage?
_5._ Describe Elizabeth Cady in her girlhood. What was her opinion
of boys and girls? _6._ To what did she determine to devote her
life? _7._ What was the purpose of the woman's rights convention?
_8._ What demand was first publicly made at this convention? _9._
What was Miss Anthony's occupation before she met Mrs. Stanton?
_10._ Describe the work of these two women for the cause of woman's
rights. _11._ In 1915 how many states had granted women the right
to vote? _12._ Why did Julia Ward Howe know so little of work?
_13._ What did she like to do? _14._ What sights did she see in
Washington in 1861? _15._ What did she do to serve her country?
_16._ How could a song count much for victory? _17._ What was the
purpose of women's clubs? _18._ How did Harriet Beecher Stowe
serve her country? _19._ What book did she write? What was its
effect? _20._ Describe Frances Willard's girlhood, her home, and
surroundings. _21._ Why did Miss Willard take up temperance work?
_22._ Did Miss Willard work hard for temperance, woman's rights,
and protection of the home? What makes you think so? _23._ How did
Miss Willard become of international influence? _24._ Where did
Clara Barton begin her work of nursing the wounded? _25._ Where
did she go then, and why? _26._ Where was the Red Cross Society
founded? _27._ What was its purpose? _28._ What great service does
it perform in time of peace? _29._ What was the result of the San
Francisco earthquake? _30._ How did the Red Cross relieve the
distress? _31._ How did the sight of poverty and suffering affect
Jane Addams? _32._ What did she determine to do? _33._ What did
she establish in Chicago? _34._ What did the Social Settlement
accomplish? _35._ Was it a success?

=Suggested Readings.= Wade, _The Light Bringers_, 64-111, 142-171;
Adams, _Heroines of Modern Progress_.

RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES OF OUR COUNTRY

HOW FARM AND FACTORY HELPED BUILD THE NATION

[Sidenote: =The great cotton crop of the southern states=]

=228. Cotton Fields and Cotton Factories.= Since the days of Eli Whitney cotton has been grown in all the southern states from Virginia westward to Texas, and from the Gulf of Mexico north to Missouri. More than one half of all the cotton in the world is grown in southern United States. High-grade cotton is also grown in California, Arizona, and New Mexico, and California is now one of our leading cotton-producing states.

A field of growing cotton is very picturesque. Its culture employs many laborers. The number of laborers needed, however, is not the same throughout the year. In the fall, when the bolls ripen, all hands, large and small, pick cotton. This work takes several months. Then the picked cotton is put through a gin which is still built along the lines of Whitney's invention. The cleaned cotton is pressed into large bales and is then ready for market.

[Sidenote: =Cotton-seed oil=]

The cotton seed goes to one mill, the cotton to another. For many years the seed was wasted. Farmers burned it or threw it away. But now in all parts of the South great mills crush the seed and make from it a valuable oil. What is left is cotton-seed cake, and is bought eagerly by cattle growers everywhere.

[Sidenote: =Cotton mills in the South=]

Only a few years ago almost all the cotton grown in the South was shipped away, either to Europe or to New England. In Massachusetts and Rhode Island cotton mills employ more people than any other industry, and great cities are supported almost entirely by manufacturing cotton goods. Now the South has also discovered that it can spin and weave its cotton at home. About many of its waterfalls is heard the hum of busy cotton mills. New cities are growing up, and prosperity has returned to the South.

_From a photograph_]

[Sidenote: =Wheat belt west of the Mississippi=]

=229. The Grain that Feeds the Nation.= From the days of the early colonists, wheat has been one of the most valuable crops produced in this country. In the states east of the Mississippi River the farmers have long raised it in connection with a variety of other crops. But as the newer lands west of this river were taken up, the settlers discovered that in that region wheat yielded more abundantly than any other crop.

From Kansas northward to Minnesota and western Canada lies a broad stretch of land which has cool spring weather and a light rainfall. This is the climate best suited to wheat, and here has developed the great wheat belt of America.

[Sidenote: =Traction engines=]

In this region there are vast wheat fields almost everywhere, stretching farther than the eye can see over the level surface. Most of the farms are very large, some of them including many thousands of acres. The work on these places is done with the most modern machines. Traction engines are used to pull the great plows, the largest of which turn fifty furrows at a time. In harvest time an army of reaping and binding machines harvests the golden grain. The harvesting machine and the thresher have also been combined. On some of the greatest farms a huge complex machine makes its way through the standing grain, leaving behind it rows of bags, filled with threshed grain ready for the market.

[Sidenote: =Grain elevators=]

With the aid of such machinery a few people can cultivate a great many acres. As a result, the country is thinly settled. The towns are few and far between. In most of them the principal building is the grain elevator, which holds the grain until it is ready to be shipped.

[Sidenote: =Flour mills=]

From the elevators the wheat goes to the flour mills. The largest of these are in Minneapolis, in the eastern part of the wheat belt. The flour in its turn goes to feed the many millions of people in all parts of the country.

[Sidenote: =Grain exports decrease=]

For many years this country grew much more wheat than we needed, and we shipped great quantities to Europe. But each year our growing population needs more food, and our exports of this grain decrease steadily. Even now our farms grow but little more of this grain than is needed at home, and the time is almost at hand when we shall no longer send any of it abroad.

_From a photograph_]

[Sidenote: =Texas and Iowa lead=]

=230. Cattle Raising and Meat Packing.= Cattle raising, like wheat farming, is principally an industry of the West. As late as 1850 the states which raised the most cattle lay along the Atlantic coast. But to-day Texas and Iowa are in the lead, and Kansas and Nebraska follow closely.

[Sidenote: =Cattle ranches of the West=]

As the eastern states became peopled more densely, cattle grazing was forced west. The cattle pastures were broken up into fields. The prairies of Illinois and Iowa became a vast cornfield. Eastern Kansas and Nebraska were turned into corn and wheat farms. Always the cattle had to give way to the grain. At last the farmers came to a strip of country where the rainfall was not enough to make grain growing profitable. This comparatively narrow strip stretches north in an irregular area of plains from western Texas to Montana. This region grows fine grass and has become the great grazing country of the United States. Here vast herds of cattle still roam on large ranches and are cared for by cowboys.

[Sidenote: =Corn-fed cattle=]

East of the ranch country lies the corn belt, in which Illinois and Iowa are the leading states. Cattle fatten better on corn than on any other food, and the meat of corn-fed stock brings the best prices.

The corn states have therefore taken up the raising and fattening of cattle on a tremendous scale. When western cattle leave the ranch they are generally not very heavy. Thousands of carloads are shipped into the corn country each year, there to be fattened before going to the packing houses.

The Department of Agriculture, at Washington, is now taking great pains to induce the boys, especially of the South, to make experiments in corn raising. Some wonderful results have been produced, and the South is in a fair way to take to the raising of corn.

_From a photograph_]

[Sidenote: =Invention of refrigerator cars=]

The largest meat-packing plants are located in the corn belt at Chicago, Kansas City, Omaha, and other cities. To-day meat packing is the greatest business of Chicago and many other large cities. A generation ago it had scarcely begun. But the packers learned to can meat, to use ice for cold storage, and, most important of all, the refrigerator car was invented.

By this last discovery it became possible to ship meat almost everywhere. Where before the packers had to sell their goods at home, now they have the world as a market. A steer raised on the western prairies may now be fattened for market in Illinois, slaughtered in Chicago, and served in New York, or sent to England or even to the Orient.

MINES, MINING, AND MANUFACTURES

[Sidenote: =Great value of coal and iron=]