When Edward was eighteen his father died and the small amount of insurance he left barely covered the funeral expenses. Hence the two boys faced the problem of supporting their mother on their meagre income. The boys there and then determined to make their mother comfortable. At this time he was a member of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, where the great Henry Ward Beecher was pastor. The Young People's Society of the Church decided to publish a magazine and Edward was asked to become editor. He made a decided success of this task and before long a good deal of attention was directed to the magazine. Edward published sermons by Dr. Beecher, Dr. Talmage and others, and besides he got a number of prominent people to write for it. Readers were amazed when they opened its pages to find articles signed by the greatest people in the country. At first, the circulation of this little publication, which was named _The Brooklyn Magazine_, was small, and Edward and another boy wrapped up all the copies themselves and took them to the post office. As the circulation increased the bundles were too heavy to be carried, and a baker's cart had to be used. Before long a double-horse truck was necessary, and three trips had to be made. All this time Edward was working for the Western Union Telegraph Company in the day time and doing his editorial work in the evenings. In 1882--when, he was nineteen--he gave up his position and devoted his whole time to editing and publishing the magazine, which was now known as _The American Magazine_, and had become an important publication. In 1884, before Edward had reached his twenty-first birthday, he was offered a position with the well-known book publishers, Charles Scribner and Sons, which he accepted. The salary was eighteen dollars a week, which in those days was considered a good salary for one so young. He astonished every one by his energy and enterprise. There wasn't a lazy bone in his body. He had an ever-willingness to work which made his success a certainty. When he got out into the world he was astonished to find how many of his young, friends believed that the only way to get on was through favouritism. That was not his experience. He found that if a young man were willing to work, and to do his very best, the way to success was wide, and it was not overpeopled. He was amazed to find how many young men there were who were not doing their best, or anything like it. They were constantly watching the clock, and afraid lest they should work one minute more than they were being paid for. When luncheon time came, Edward listened to the conversation around him and he was surprised to note that scarcely any youth ever gave a thought to anything except wages and outside interests.