The Osceola times., 1884-01-26
OR GREAT INVENTOR.
som. Interesting Reocllections Of Thomas
Edison.
Louisville Courier-Journsl

Louisville Courier-journsl,
'Oh. yes. there ale a great many of Us
who remember Mr. Edison" said an old
Western Union operator yesterday. 81
boarded in the same house with him fol
months and worked at the same table
with him. Smart2 Well, should say
so. You wouldn't think it, though, to
talk to him. He is like almost all iuyen-
tors. a poor describer. lie could make a
new machine easier then he could tell
Won about it. ! remember when he first
came here. He was a modest, shy sort
Of a boy, and took liking to him. He
was hard to get acquainted with, but Of.
ter you got to know him, he was socia5lc
enough. If you have noticed men much
YOU will find that they all have one Iver-
whelming passion. 1t may be drink, it
may be cards, it may be pett'coats. But
there is one thing to which they are
mere strongly addicted than all the rest
put together Well, Tom was one Of the
feg men VINO never seemed to be troub
led with a vice. He couldn't be induced
to touch card. He never took drink
in his life, and the rustic of woman's
skirts, that made many good man 20
wrong, never set his heart abcating. The
man was wrapped up in machinery. He
had no time. no thought for anything
else. lie and were doing day work,
and at night. ins cad of going to the
theatre, or amusing himself as the rest
of us did, he would go mp to his room
and set to work with all sorts of electri-
cal appliances. And he used to have the
queerest of rooms. Ii looked like an old
Junk shop. Our poor old laRdlady used
to be in death,y fear of "some of them
things goin' off," rs she expressed it,
and the negro servants used 10 give him
and his apartment a wide berth. He
had a funny habit when he was studying
anything particularly abstruse Of wrap
ping a towel soaked in ice water around
his head and keeping his feet in warm
water.
"llc was one Of the most superstitious
men | ever knew. He would always
study with the same coat on-a ragged,
torn old vclveteen jacket without but
tou--because i, gave him luck, he said
He had a moral aversion to cats, and
swore they were responsible for every
mistake he ever made. | have known
him to walk two blocks out of his way
to avoid seeing an old pussie that used
to sit contentedly ON the front doorstep
of a house tnat was IN his way home
He used to seriously talk of inyenting
an electric machine to kill them with,
and for all know he has, for there isn't
Il thing that Tom Edison wanted to do
with machinery that he couldn't do.
Like all men of delicate nervous or
ganization, he was extremely irritable
at times. He had 10 eschew tea and
coffee and often said that he verify be-
lieved that drink of whisky would have
set him crazy.
Edison was as considerate rs wo-
man of the feelings of others, and | never
knew him to say harsh word about any
one. He was one of those shrinking.
timid, pale-iaced men whom you some
times meet, with the keenest sensibility
and the most retiring modesty. You,
could be with him for a lifetime and he
would never allude to anything he did or
intended to do.
Il often used to wonder what his feel
ings were toward his beloved machines.
He use to hang over network of wheels
within wheels, and cogs within cogs, ad-
iusting, arrowing, fitting innew ones, and
removing old ones, and have sat by the
hour watching the rapt, tense look on
his face Ibelieve he regarded this cold
iron as a living, breathing creature, to
which all the love and tenderness Of his
nature was given. These masses of inert
matter must have assumed all sorts OF
fantastic Shapes to his busy mind.
III Edison was backward among men
he was absolutely helpless among wo-
men. Our landlady had pretty daugh-
ter, who, bv the way, still lives here, and
that girl, think. caused Edison as much
trouble as his much hated feline enemies.
lie used to sit near her at the table, and
she took especial pains TO please him.
He got to loving her, as much as he
could love anything that was not in the
machinery line, and it was curious TO see
his passion struggling with his ditfidence.
| The girl, with true feminine coquetry,
would keep the poor fellow in hot water
all the time by staving off the great con-
feSsion. One day he met her on the
stairs, and nerved himself up to go
through the fearful ordeal of having to
tell his love. She was fairly caught, and
before she could escape Edison blurted
out the old story.
"'Why. Mr.. Edison, You surprise me,
said the little rogue. i like you ever so
much as friend, but | can't marry you
because Mr.. - is going to marry me
! tonight
Edison Just went back to his machin-
cry with more energy than ever. But
doubt if he has to this day forgiven the
girl for leading MIN on, though he has a
sweet faced little woman for a wife and
several handsome children. That was
his first love. he afterward told me. And
it did not seem to have much fan effect
on him.
He would have been a fine operator
if he had kept TO his business, but he was
forever trying to devise methods OF
shortening the work. | believe Edison
was always sorry the Almighty didn't
call him in at the creation so that he
could get up an improvement on the
/ plan of the universe. lie was one of the
| best receivers ever saw. He could take