Our national industries lie at the root of national progress. The first Napoleon taunted us with being a nation of shopkeepers; that, however, is now less true than that we are a nation of manufacturers?coal, iron, and steel, and our textile industries, taken along with our enormous carrying-trade, forming the backbone of the wealth of the country. <p> A romantic interest belongs to the rise and progress of most of our industries. Very often this lies in the career of the inventor, who...
