The telegraph manual: a complete history and description of the semaphoric, electric and magnetic telegraphs of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, ancient and modern.

822 APPENDIX
WILLIAM M. SWAIN,
~f Vennsalbania.
THE subject of this brief sketch was born in 1809, in Manlius, Onondaga
county, New-York. It was but a few years after the birth of Mr. Swain
that the last war with Great Britain took place, and his father was among
the brave patriots of that day, who at once left their comfortable and wellsupplied homes to take part in that struggle for their country's honor.
While in the performance of his duties as a soldier, Mr. Swain's father
caught a very severe cold, and was brought home. He died from its
effects, leaving his son William but three years old. Fortunately for Mr.
Swain, his mother was an uncommon woman of that day. She was well
educated, and possessed the ability and experience necessary for the proper
management of domestic affairs. In his earlier years Mr. Swain received
a liberal education, and his clear and discriminating judgment of the
present time was manifested then. He studied his Euclid with assiduity
and the most complete success, and the evidences he gave of a well-cultivated mind in after-years induced his friends to urge him to give to the
young the benefits of his richly stored mind by opening a school. Ile was
thus employed for several years, but the life of a teacher did not harmonize with his tastes, and he abandoned it. In 1825, he selected the art of
printing as the most congenial to his disposition as an affair for life, and
in due time he was found standing at the case. The superior talents of
Mr. Swain could not be confined, however, to the labors of the compositor, and a greater range for the exercise of his thought was necessary.
In a few years thereafter he occupied a position in the establishment
which gave him an opportunity to exhibit his singularly well matured
administrative powers.
Iis abilities seemed to be diversified and capable of commanding the
whole routine of a publishing establishment, and the evidences given
secured fir him the charge of the New-York Sun. As an editor he was
talented and vigorous. As manager of its business affairs he had no
equal. He toiled day and night in the discharge of his duties. The
dawning of day often found Mr. Swain at work, having passed the whole
night in the service of the establishment. Iie discharged his business
first, and his personal comforts were the last matters that he cared for.
In 1837, Mr. Swain, in company with two others, Messrs. Abel and
Simmons. started the " Public Ledger "' in Philadelphia, and subsequently
the " Sun " in Baltimore. These were " penny papers," and were opportune
for the laboring classes of the country. In establishing these papers
the gentlemen were not adventurers, without means, abilities, and experience. Mr. Swain had become a perfect master of the publishing business,
and. as well as his partners, brought into the comnpany his proportion of
capital. The "' Ledger" was thus introduced to the world for patronage;
it was founded with ample means by gentlemen energetic and talented.
The Ledger was not long an experiment, but it soon commanded the confidence of the public and the most extended patronage. It still continues
to wield an influence unsurpassed by any other paper.