Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1880-04-11
AN HouR WITH EDISON.
Menlo Park About to b. Illuminated
by the Electric Light Experts {
- Hard at Work Making : &.
Tests--New Y0rk's Time
Not Coms--Ths Gold -
Discovery. 1
New. York Herald, April G.

/ New. York Herald. April6. .-
Reaching the inventors office after /,
struggle through mud and rain, the re-
porter found Edison sleeping on the soft
upstairs. Not wishing to break into tn,
dreams-possibly of carbon horseshoe
and gold tailings-that the tired scientis
was enjoying, the reporter walked AROUND
for half an hour from window. to window
and was astonished to see great number
of new posts planted throughout thu
park Edison soon reused himself, anC
in answer to the question whether Their,
was anything new going on, replied
Don't you see anything new YOURSELF
Upon being answered In the affirmative
he began relating what had happened
since the reporters last visit, as follows
"You see all those posts? Well, L an
having oyer 700 of them put up and upor
each will be au electric light Intend
Ito surround the park with those gasstocl
gravestores, and will have light equal Il
about one thousand gasjets. That,
lbelieye, ought to be enough to convince
the skeptics of what the light will cost
and how 1t is managed. BY the way
Those lamps you see along the roadway
from the depot have been very pr0mi-
11nently mentioned throughout the coun-
1 try, and to show you what measures the
4 opposition take to influence public opinion
I will tell You about the matter. A rep
| resentative OF { the Boston Journal came
A hear aud found the Lights. out. That
! paper then published a paragraph telling
how the lights went ont, and ended by
saying the whole affair was fzzle. The
| paragraph was copied into many papers
Throughout the country, and necessarily
was received by the readers as correct.
One very important fact did not appear
though, and that is, the lamps went out
after burning on an average 800 hours.
Now, / do not claim that the lamps will
burn forever, ard think that any I'M
preiudiced person will say that ligh,
that burns for nearly four months 81 x
hours per day without needing regulation
| is not fizzle. The journal has been
very bitter against the electric light from
the start, which was something sunac
countable, until it was learned that the
proprietors were among the largest hol
dera OF New England Gas Company
stocks"
"If your light is satisfactory to you why
don't you begin to introduce il into New
York City2'
"That is Just the question everybody
asks, Why, IL every one acknowledged
the success Of the light, and were anxious
to use it, it would take at least year and
half to get up station and lay the
wires, etc, to light Canal street, between
Broadway and the Bowery. l have not
yet machinery enough to make the lamps
in large quantities, and therefore ITS
Introduction will not take place for some
time. | believe in slow but sure work
The putting up around the park of the 700
lamps is but carrying out what proposed
two years ago. When purchased the
large engine now in use did not need it
for experimental purposes, because had
a small one that was amply sufficient.
When all the lights are going the scien-
lists of this country and Europe will be at
liberty to make all the tests and expert
ments they desire 4"
Mr. Edison then accompanied the
reporter to the new station, where eight
teen dynamo machines are being placed
in post on. The building is close to the
engine house, and the machines are run
by q large shaft turned by betting direct
from the engine. In a small room off the
workshop Profs. Bracket and Young
we're found hard at work testing the
dynamo machines. They made one series
Of tests which were astoundingly success
full, according to Edison, and they are
some new kind of apparatus in orJer that
no error SHOULD creep in during the
examination. As soon as the tests are
finished and the lamps surrounding the
park lighted, Edison will turn his
thoughts to the supplying Of this city. He
says that twenty four stations would be
necessary to illuminate the metropolis
perfectly. .-8
The statement made in mining and
other journals to the effect that Edison's
process for getting the waste gold out OF
"tailings'' embraces the use of quicksilver,
oxide Of lead carbonate of soda, char
coal, and powdered glass, is pronounced
by the scientist as unfOunded. His
process, he states, is entirely secret, and
to explain it should be disregarded. He
declines to state the details Of the process
further than that the agencies employed
are electricity and inexpensive chem
icals, and that it bears no resemblance
whatever to any ofthe old processes"
Some of the latter, he states, are good
in their way, but the main objection to
them is the expense attending their use,
the cost oftentimes being as much, if not
more than the value Of the gold extract
ed by them. BY his method Edison claims
the cost of working the ore will not ex-
coed SIS a ton. r. -- --.
When asked what answer he had to
make TO the criticisms to the effect that
while be might get good results in bis
IL III -
large scale, Edison shrugged his shout
ders and replied That's just where the
critics make mistake. I've been work
ing on this now for nine months, and it's
no longer question of theory or expert
ment. know what l can do Why, on
large scale l can get much better results
than get in the laboratory, because the
expense will be less, But, added the
inventor with an air of ind Inference as he
turned away, I'm getting callous to
critics. They are always predicting the
Let them predict. Their criticisms can't
alter tacts.1 know as the result of months
of experimenting that l can get gold out
of concentrated Ia lings all the way from
500 ton upward, and have got as high
as ST., 400 per ton, but of course, that was
exceptionally rich. and know that the
cost Of do Dg this does not exceed SO per
ton. All the objections in the world can't
change ths.'a And the inventor voided
further interviewing by starting for the
private room in his chemical laboratory.
HE assistants state that the plsns for the
mills to be erected at Oreville, Cal, where
Edison has secured immense quantities of
"tailings," are now being prepared by Mr..
Edison's architect, and Msj. Nc Laughlin,
the Superintendent of the works, ttarts for
the site on Tuesday to make arrangements
preparatory to beginning work on the ore.