The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1877-07-26
The Lightning Tanner.
Philadelphia Record.1

"That man Edison is a curiosity in
the electric world" observed an old tele-
graphic newspaper agent a few days ago
the new telephone described in the
Record. Invention to him is like
music to Blind Tom'-an inspiration.
There is no new idea that can be given
him but he can suggest an improvement,
which will perfect it. He is the inven-
tor of the celebrated duplex and quad
ruplex system of biography by which
one wire may be made to serve the pur-
pose of two or four wires, the greatest
practical economical project hat has
yet been devised. He is an exemplifca-
ton of how a mans apparent ill-luck
may turn out to his actual benefit.
81 first met him in New York over ten
years ago, and if I'd had the gumption
to invest five hundred dollars in him l
might have been a rich man, a blarsted
bondholder,' rolling in wealth. He was
introduced to me at the National Hotel,
on Cortlandt Street, which the operators
then generally made their headquarters,
as a telegrapher who had Just been dis
charged by the Western Union Telegraph
Company. Imagine a tall, lanky, shah
bily-dressed, light-haired young man,
with broken shoes and a dilapidated soft
hat-for all the world a specimen of
Horace Greeley in his early days-and
you have a pen picture of the man who
was destined to create such a revolution
in the scientific world.
"'They turned me out because they
said I was lazy he remarked; they
said l didn't earn my salt at the key,
when all the time General Lefferts was
keeping me in the experimental room
getting up inventions and improvements,
which they were appropriating without
credit or reward. l guess. some day
they'll be sorry for it, And then he
sat down and explained to me a few
points of his Improvements.
"Some observations | dropped about
the telegraph being still in its infancy
led him on gradually to expatiate on its
future developments, which sounded
like the dream of a visionary. To him
there was no boundary to its vastness.
At the same time there was such an I'M
dercurrent of sound common sense to
everything he said that he impressed me
greatly, and if l had not had my means
engaged in developing a Geographic
news agency l would have been disposed
to go in with him to aid in carrying out
his projects.
"Soon Edison burst out as a star of
the first magnitude. He invented the
duplex system about which there is such
a deadly contestsin the courts now be-
tween the rival telegraph companies. 1t
involved the fate of one of them. and it
gave him an opportunity to give his first
blow of revenge at the company who so
summarily dismissed him. 1t was
placed on the Franklin line between
Boston and New York; and when it was
first announced that messages could be
sent and received over one wire even the
best electricians secuted the idea, but il
soon became too practical not to be &C
knowledged.
Then the opposition telegraph com.
pany, being poor, tried to get ahead OF
Edison on a share in the benefits they
received from it. IF they try that game
I'll invent something better that'n beat
that coolly remarked Edison; and, il
| get beaten on my quadruplex, Phi beat
them if 1 have to run a hundred instru.