The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1878-04-12

He conceiyed the idea, and had con
structed large bullehn-boards, one o
which he placed at each station alon,
the line. Upon these boards he caused
to be chalked, by telegraph operation
and station agents the news headings'ol
his papers, which he telegraphed in ad
vance of the train. This device was
noticed and characterized by the pres
as a thoughtful idea of newsboy,n and
was speedily adopted on other roads
The relations young Edison thus formed
with the telegraph awakened desire to
understand it, which he gratifed by very
soon learning to operate il. Not content
with the ordinary opportunities offered
by the railway telegraph stations, he, in
conjunction with a neighbor having
similar inclinations, built line of their
own, one mile long, through wood di.
vidIng their houses. Edison constructed
the instruments, but having no battery
and, doubtless, no money to purchase
one, was at loss to know what to do
A novel expedient soon occurred to him
but its application resulted in total fail.
ure. Having noticed that by rubbing a
cats back electric sparks were generated
in the fur, he tried the experiment oi
fastening the wire to the cats legs, and
rubbing Tabby briskly, watched for an
effect upon the instrument, but none
followed. His failure he doubtless at
tributed, at that time, to the crudely
constructed instruments. 1t is proper
to call particular attention to this Incl
dent here as it is perfectly characteristic
of the man. He will to-day undertake
elaborate experiments and conduct them
with great care and marvellous patience
and perseverance, although his reason
clearly points their utter futility. 1t is
this trait, however, which has led him
into lines of original discovery and OBJ
servation uninterrupted by others.
Edison now became absorbed with
the telegraph, and speedily very prof
cient as an operator. He took charge Of
the telegraph Office at Port Huron. but
soon quitting the railway telegraph ser
vice for the higher branch of CONNER
cial telegraphy, we find him occupying
positions successfully at Indianapolis,
Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, and
Boston. While at Cincinnati, in 1867 he
conceived the idea of transmitting two
messages over one wire at the same time;
this had been attempted by electricians
many years before, but of this fact Edi-
son was totally ignorant, and he contin-
ued to make experiments in every
branch of telegraphy, attending to his
Office duties at highland experimenting
in daytime. 1t was this compulsory
division of labor which founded the
habit now too strong to be shaken of
even by the combined pressure of family
and health considerations, and which is
commented upon as an eccentricity by
those who do not appreciate the power
of a long established habit in the diyis-
ion of ones mental labor. Il is unques
tionably fact that Mr. Edison finds his
brain more active in the small hours OF
the night than at any other time; and
the writer of this sketch has personal
knowledge of the Fact h,at nearly all O,
his most valuable and brilliant concep-
tions have been made just before the
break of day, when general discussion
of their merits would be had with his
assistants, and drawings made for his.
workmen to use the next day.
In his early days, as well as in later
Mr. Edison's entire earnings were spent
in these experiments,he having few per-
sonal wantsand no vicious extravagances
of any kind. In Louisville, Cincinnati,
and Boston he always had laboratory
of more or less magnitude. In 1869 he
left the operators chair entirely, and
came from Boston to New York with a
duplex and a printing telegraph, the
latter being the basis of nearly all the
Gold and Stock Exchange reporting
telegraph instruments In New York
he SOON formed IN alliance with electri
clans and manufacturers, and after years
of varied experience with partners in
the laboratory and in the shop, has fin
ally and firmly established himself upon
an independent footing in an extensive
way at Menlo Park, New Jersey, where
he is surrounded with everything which
can contribute to domestic comfort or
facilitate future invention and research.
His property consists ofa we'll construct
ed and furnished laboratory with chem
icals, telegraph instruments of every
description, etc, etc, in its comprehen
siveness being second to no other estab
lishment of the kind in the United
States, having factory with steam pow
er for the construction of models; a
foundry for casting iron and brass; a
handsome villa, with stables and out
buildings, and comfortable cottages for
his assistants and workmen. Among
Mr. Edisons contributions to the tele-
graphic art, we lind sixty patents and
caveats assigned to the Gold and Stock
Telegraph Company of New York, fifty
to the Automatic Telegraph Company,
and some thirty patents and numerous
caveats for miscellaneous inventions;
all, total Of one hundred and thirty.
nine patents and sixty seven caveats and
all taken out since 1870. He is joint in
ventor with A E Callahan, of the Ameri-
can District Telegraph instruments (the
modern messenger service); inventor OF
the Domestic Telegraph system (another
messenger serviceG inventor of the main
features in the Gold and Stock reporting
telegraph; inventor of the American
automatic Chemical recording) system;
inventor of chemical recording auto,
matte Roman letter printing telegraph;
inventor of the celebrated quadruplex
system now so extensively used by the
Western Union Company; inventor Of
numerous forms of duplex telegraphy,
and inventor of the Electric pen, which
is fast becoming popular as a substitute
for circular printing.
| Of this invention, an account has al
ready been given in this journal I;
consists of an electrical engine fixed to s
needle working vertically in q hollow
tube, the whole being held in the hand
as pen, and operating to puncture fine
holes in sheet of paper upon which one
I writes, thus producing a perfect stencil
of the written matter. By placing this
stencil upon blank sheet and passing
an ink roller over its surface, perfect
fac simile in ink of the perforations may
be had. Other inventions of more or