The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph

The early accession of this gentleman gave strength to the new enterprise. In all the million inhabitants of the city of New York there was not a name which was better known, or more justly held in honor, than that of Peter Cooper. A native of the city, where he had passed his whole life, he had seen its growth, from the small town it was after the War of the Revolution, and had himself grown with it. Beginning with very small means and limited opportunities, he had become one of its great capitalists. Many who thus rise to wealth, in the process of accumulation, form penurious habits which cling to them, and to the end of their days it is the chief object of life to hoard and to keep. But Mr. Cooper, while acquiring the fortune, had also the heart of a prince; and used his wealth with a noble generosity. In the centre of New York stands to-day a massive building, erected at a cost of nearly a million of dollars, and consecrated "To Science and Art." This was Mr. Cooper's gift to his native city. Remembering his own limited advantages of education, he desired that the young men of New York, the apprentices and mechanics, should have better opportunities than he had enjoyed. For this he endowed courses of lectures on the natural sciences; he opened the largest reading-room in America, which furnishes a pleasant resort to thousands of readers daily; while to help the other sex, he added a School of Design for Women, which trains hundreds to be teachers, and some of them artists; who go forth into the world to earn an honest living, and to bless the memory of their generous benefactor. This noble institution, standing in the heart of the city, is his enduring monument.