Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1882-04-15
BRAZIL FOR EDISON.
Successful Career of an East Tennessee


We copy the following from the New
York Herald:
ITHACA, N. Y, April 2, 1882.
In the summer of 1880 Mr.. Edison. in the |
course of the experiments looking to the
perfection of his electric light, arrived at
the conclusion that by far the best substance
he had been able to obtain up to that time,
from which to manufacture the loops re-
quired in his lamps, was vegetable fibre, it
being much cheaper than platinum or any
other material he had previously employed
for the purpose, and far less quickly con.
sumed by the action of the electric current.
No fibre which he could obtain from any
vegetable growth native to the United States
however, appeared to possess the requisite
elements of hardness and straightness
of grain in any large degree, aud
the attention of the inventor was directed
toward the palms and bamboos of South
America as being likely to yield the much
coveted fibre. The pith or woody substance
from which it was impossible fully to free
fibre to be procured from the indigenous
growths of this region, is almost wholly
absent in the exogenous plants of the South
American forests, and this fact led Mr..
Edison to hope that there the substance he
stood greatly in need of could be obtained.
Accordingly, in December, 1880, MIR. John
G. Branner, naturalist, then present in
New York, who had passed six years in
Brazil with the late Professor Charles F.
HART, of Cornell University, chief of the
scientific expedition fitted out by the En-
peror Dom Pedro, was commissioned by
Mr.. Edison to visit Brazil and spend year,
| if necessary, III an examination of the
palm and bamboo bearing districts of the
Para, Amazon Araguari, Parana, Paraguay,
Eniaba, and other great rivers of South
America. Mr.. Branner sailed for Brazil in
the steamer City of Para, December6 s, $780,
and fifteen days later began his researches
among the palms in the neighborhood of
! Para. in Northeastern BAIL This region is
very rich in palms, fully thirty species having
been found here and examined by Mr..
! Branner. In every instance the tree Sc
| lected as representative of a species was
| thoroughly worked up" in all its parts.
! Segments of the trunk selected at different
! points, beginning near the base and passing
! to the upper part, were cut and preserved.
! The. branches, leaves and fruit were all
studied, in many cases specimens being pre-
served, or careful drawings were made. A
month suficed to complete the palms near
Para; the specimens were shipped to Mr..
! Edison. and then the fibre yielding growths
of portions of the Amazon, the Aruguari,
and later of the Organ Mountains in the
vicinity of Rio Janeiro were studied. Next,
the naturalist turned his attention to the
magnificent forests of the caranda palms,
which line the borders of the Paraguay
River in the Argentine Republic. Thence
he passed through the Cuiaba and other
streams into the heart of the continent
making the discovery of what he regards as
possibly one or two entirely new species of
palms, in the province of Matte Crosse.
This is the great lpecac producing region,
which supplies that drug to all the
world Later on Mr. Branner revisited the
Amazon Valley, and passed up the stream
as far as the mouth of the Rio Negro. He
recently returned to this country, having
travelled upward of twenty-five thousand
miles while absent, and during that time
Having examined a very large number of
fibre bearing plants and collected a great
mass of specimens and valuable scientific
information. 1t is understood that several
of the species of palms, of whose wood
specimens were obtained, yield a fibre very
greatly superior to any that had been used
by DR.. Edison prior SO the exploration by
this naturalist, and that, both from q fnan-
cial and scientific standpoint, the mission Of
Mr.. Branner was successful in an eminent
degree. The young scientist is at present
i'll Ithaca preparing an elaborate report &c
the Electric Light Company, which it is his
purpose to supplement by studies of the
palms in Kew Gardens England this
summer, after which he will publish what,
it is believed by well-informed persons, will
be the most exhaustive work on the subject
of Palms" yet given to the public. The
problem which Mr. Edison and his associ
ates have now to deal with, is this Having
assured ourselves that there is to be had 6
vegetable fibre, the use of which will very
satisfactorily establish the mechanical per
i, lection of the electric lamps, can we, taking
into account the extremely unhealthy ma
ture of the regions in which the plant
yielding this substance are found growing
and the enormously high wages required b,
the many lazy and extremely scarce nativ,
workmen, added to the great distance from
which this fibre must be brought, make it {
paying investment to use the fibre In on
, lamps? MIR. Branner with whom your re
porter has recently conversed, regarding tn
matter, states that Mr. Edison does not b,
? any means despair of finding satisfactory
5 solution to this important question.
| The MIR. Branner here spoken of is al
4 OIu CttSI 16HueSSeeHu, hou VI IL L. pEdu
ner, Beaver Greek, Jefferson County, AM
is widely known throughout East Tennes
see, having numerous friends in our city
By constant labor and perseverance Mr.
Branner has finally worked himself up t
the creditable position which he now ocou
pies, and most assuredly deserves He is
graduate of Cornell University, and is
self-made man in every respect We re
joice to know of his signal success, an
wish him a continuance of the same.
81 would not live always, ask not
stay" We do not wonder, with such
> cold as yours, but there is bright side
y every thing, and sunshine even for thos
racked with pain. DR.. Bulls Cough Syru
q never fails to cure the most stubborn cougl