Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 186, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 August 1911 — Fame Vs. Fortune. [ARTICLE]

Fame Vs. Fortune.

An anecdote is related of Benjamin West, that when a small boy in his Pennsylvania home, he accompanied a neighbor’s son to mill, ' haring, boylike, in his ride ’ upon the bags of grain. As they rode leisurely on, they discussed their plans for the future, and Benny surprised his young playmate by announcing his designs to become an artist and paint the portraits of kings, queens and nobles. “Very well,” returned thj rustic; “I Intend to be a tailor.” “Then you may ride by yourself,” exclaimed Benny, leaping down from the back of the thrice-laden horse; “I’ll not ride with a boy who looks no higher than that.” Benny’s ambition was gratified; he lived to paint portraits of the noble and the royal, winning plenty of fame, but a very moderate share of fortune. He was offered ti e distinction of knighthood, but prudently declined; he was not rich enough to support a title. The incipient tailor probably made a fortune in ready-made shoddy, and if he had been where such trappings are in the market, might perhaps have purchased the baronetcy which West was too poor to accept. Elevation Affecting Steam Engines. Remembering that water boils more readily, that is, with less heat, at high altitudes, it appears to be only reasonable to expect that steam would have less force on high mountains than in valleys. An engineering authority tell of a large gas plant which was some time ago exported from Great Britain and erected at a location several thousand feet above sea level- The engines did not give the power expected from them, and several reasons were advanced to account for this deficiency. It was finally concluded that the loss of power was due to the altitude of the power station. Upon investigation of the theoretical and practical considerations involved it was found that there is a loas of about one per cent, of the indicated horse-power for each 1,000 feet increase In elevation. The effect of an Increase In elevation on an engine with a low ration of compression is slightly less than on an engine with a high degree of compression.