The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1878-11-16
AY, NOVEMBER 16, 1873.

Edison is an inventor by sheer dint oi
native genius. Hisscientific knowledge
Of electricity is by no means thorough
mathematics are repulsive to him. As
soon rs his mind lights upon any new
or peculiar fact at once he conceiveS an
application Of il.
The phonograph was discovered in
the following manner He had invented
an apparatus recording ordinary tele-
graph signals by stylus on yielding ma
tcrial, so that the record could serve to
retransmit the message automatically.
One day, while experimenting with vi.
brating telephone diaphram to which a
pricker was fixed, the pricker pierced
his finger by the force of the vibrations,
md drew blood. In an instant there
AaSsed into his mind the ide: OF the
photograph. He saw that the voice
had power 10 cause a similar pricker 10
indent lis vibrations IN sheet Of tin-foil,
so that they could be automatically re-
produced. As proof Of his power Of
work, il may bc further said that the
idea Of the phonograph occurred to him
one Wednesday afternoon, and he work
cd on ali Wednesday night, Thursday,
Thursday night. Friday, and Friday
night, till Saturday morning. BY that
time he had constructed completely
successful phonograph then he went to
bed and slept with hardly break till
Monday morning.
Edison has been described by the Uni.
ted States Commissioner OF Patents as
the young man who has kept the path
/ t0 the Patent Office hot with his foot
steps. During the last ten years he has
taken out IS7 patents, and applied for
seventy seven more. OF these, however
/ only fifteen or twenty are important in
vcniions. the rest being obtained to fence
them round
HIS yearly income from his patents
is now over $50. 900, and he has realiz.
ed in all over !Ioo, 900 from them. -
TIN, sum has been sunk. a, soon As II,
was earned on books and experiments.
As for the phonograph. his faith IN Il,
Is boundless In future. he believes,
letter, will he talked. books read. ser
mons preached, languages and music
taught. paflor operas played, announce.
men,> made, and reporting done BY
phenagraph Voice albums will become
the fashion. and the memorable word,
OF great men will he treasured "A muse.
umS
There was ! fortune IN the Pope's
last blessing. Ays Edison. somcwha,
irreycrcn,ly "the phonograph record
OF Il, multiplied hy clcrirotypng, would
have sold for five dollars apiece easily. "
/, Is sad tina, Dore gets sussc,iions
for profilrs from the shadow oi a piece
OF crumpled TISSUE paper thrown on the
sunl'' ground and so will the phono.
graph, driven backward. hinL -''-olan
ne' q new musical oomb'naS .-sy-he
musician
Edison ], now making one with ! sap
ph.re point, which Will record even
Whisper, and contain complete novel
% Dlckcn, SC ,oco wordS-on shcc;
oi tin foil 10 inchc> square
There are other mlnels yc, 10 come.
rs the lcrophonc u, hopes 10 make ships
converse Al ~ea. though several miles
dpai; and hrs boast i, that he will
make the statue OF Liberty. 20 be set up
IN New York harbor. read the Dcclara.
ilau Of Independence 50 loud iha, all
Manhattan Island shall hear Il.
Another new thing !, the mega.
phone" kind OF small ear-,rumpet.
doing for the ear what the opera glass
docs for the eve and slightly deaf Is
be in,inc> 10 bc. Edison declares tina;
by is aid he can hear 4 COW chew her
oad an eighth OF mile distant, These
are thing, Of the future. Meanwhile.
u is enough ,ha, his actual achievements
stamp him Is a prodigy in mechanical
invention.
EDISON $ NEWEST MARVEL
NJ Edison SAYS that he has di>cov-
cred how To- make electricity 4 cheap
and practicable substitute Tor lllumina;-
ing gas Many scientific men have
worked asSiduouSly IN that direction.
but with little success. Apowcrtll clcc
tine light Vas the result oi these expert
mcn;s. bu, the problem Of its division
into many small lights was 4 puzslcr.-
Grlmme. Slemcns. Brush. Wallace. and
others. produced n mos, ten lights from
single machine, but single one OF
them was found to bc impracticable.
tor lighting aagh, save large foundrics,
mills and workshops. II has been re.
served for Mr.. Edison to solve the diff
cult problem desired This, he says.
he has done within few days. His
experience with the telephone. however,
has taught him 10 bc cautious. and he is
cNcriing himself TO protect the new
scientific marvel, which, he says, will
make the use of gas for illumination a
thing of the past.
Edison, besides his power OF origina-
ton, has the faculty for developing
the ideas and mechanical constructions
OF Others. He visited the Roosevelt
pilno-forte factory in New York not
long since, and while examining the
component parts OF the instruments.
made four suggestions, so valuable that
they have been patented.
While in the mining district Of the
West recently he devised means OF de-
termining the presence OF gold below
the surface without reSorting to costly
and laborious boring and blasting.
While on visit TO VIM. Wallace, the
electrical machine manufacturer, in An
sonia, Conn, he was shown the lately
perfected dynamo-electric machine for
transmitting power by electricity. When
power is applied to this machine. il will
not only reproduce it, but will turn it
into light. Although said by Edison to
be more powerful than any other ma
chine Of the kind known, il will divide
the light Of the electricity produced in
to but ten separate lights. These being
equal in power to 1000 candles, their
impracticability for general purposes is
apparent. Each Of these lights is in a
substantial metal frame, capable of hold
ing in horizontal position two carbon