Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-06-14

fIotttttU IHtfkC3t. WnNh
near its ful6lmenf, he is also busy
upon improvements 10 Submarine tese-
craphy. The method now generally 10
vogue Of reckoning words through ca
bic by the flicker Of flame thrown
upon . mirror is amazingly insufficient,
as Is shown on diagram which Edison
displayed. The number Of dots ind'-
eating letters often bss to be judged by
operators from the length Of time that
The flame hesitases. Even the siphon
receiver, invented by Sir William
Thompson and used by one or two oil
the new cables, is not gate satisfactory,
although il marks the dots pretty nearly.
Edison Is trying to devise some means
Of attaining higher or better regulated
rate of speed, so thst the record may be
made clearer. Bot {" it's tough job, "
he SAYS.
Perhaps the most interesting thing
he had TO say WIS respecting his expio-
ration for ssnew force" At present
hecalls il simply va. He does mol
pretend to know what il is. But he
says that there IRE many phenomena
which are not explained by any force
yet recognized, and it is these which
he is going 10 investigate. Vibrations
of matter q. the rate Of 10000 a second
produce the highest sound we can hear.
Between these and the vibrations which,
at the rate Of millions per second, cause
the sensetion Of heat, there is . large
zap and between these and the vlbra-
tions that give sensations Of coler there
is another gap. These gaps, Edison
believes. are filed by vibrations as yet
unmeesured, which constitute the new,
or uanamed, force he is in search Of.
He brought out from drawer .sundry
loose sheets, on which he had sketched
number Of machines he had projected,
which respond TO some influence still
underlined. ~ iot these down as they
occur to me-" he said, "and when |
get enough of them together | shall
have the machines made and try to gen.
erelize my observations.
Think Of it A man in this skepti-
cal century who dares believe in dis
oovery beyond all discoveries. Here
is q student of nature who is not afraid
TO have the spirit Of Calico or a
Kepler or an Isaac Newton. Perhaps
we shall learn from him that in return
ing to faith and insight, aided by bold
and patient experiment, we may go for
ward by going backward. What do
you think as to the nature Of matter? "
| asked, unscrupulously. The an
swer was prompt: II do not believe
that matter is inert, acted upon by an
outside force. TO me it seems that
every atom is possessed Of certain
amount of primitive intelligence. Look
at the thousand ways in which atoms Of
hydrogen combine with those of other
elements, forming the most diverse sub
stances. DO you mean to say that-they
do this without intelligence: When
they get together in certain forms they
make animals Of the lower orders. Fl
nally, they combine in man, who repre-
sents the total intelligence of al the
atoms"
." But where does this intelligence
come from originality"
Prom some power greater thar
ourselves"
do you then believe in an intelli
gent Creator--a personal GOd!" wa
the next question.
Certainly" said Mr.. Edison
1.-The existence Of such God, in my
mind, can almos: be proved from chem
istry.'
Lucretius thought that all atoms were
moved by feelings Of love or hate
what we call attraction or repulsion
Edison's idea is far more subtle, since
he allows the atoms only germ of in
telligence. 1t also seems to be quite
in keeping with the doctrine Of eyolu'
ton, while it contains nothing that i:
not in harmony with the idealism Of
the Platonists. And so we discover
down on Avenue b, in the prosaic city
Of New York, a philosopher who
believes in personal God, and
is at the same time the foremost
exponent of applied science. Curious
that he should be at work here, night
after night, in the midst Of a million OF
people. only few hundred of whom
know how he is employed during the
nocturnal hours! AS usual thing he
works until or 6 O'Clock in the morn.
ing, his supper-bssket remaining un'
touched beside him, and sometimes it is
9 o'clock Of the next day before he
leaves the bench or the laboratory. g.
can't think out anything" he says
Except when I'm experimenting.
have a library of 5000 scientific works
but somehow can't find what | wan
in books. How do make calculations
Well, | don't know exactly. | CEN
do it on paper. | have to be moving
around"
So there he goes, moving around
thinking and working with his hands
in the big sombre building, while th'
city is asleep. He is the controlling
power Of several large factories, mil
lionaire, a man of business, marvel
lous inventor; yet he is as simple anC
happy as a child, when wrapped>in al
old seersucker dressing-gown, he car
manipulate at will and without inter
ruption the mysterious forces and pro
perties OF nature. In meeting him
thought Of him more as poet or {
musician than as machinist and elee
trician. Like the Brahmin | saw las
week, he deals with occult powers, il
quite a different way, but perhaps Il
the same end, Of perfecting mans con
troll over the elements that shape life
1t was significant that we climbed
dark stairway to reach his topmos
place Of light and intelligence. Amer
cans are practicable and skeptical. L
ought to amuse them greatly to lear
that the champion Of their inventiy,
genius is largely believer in thing
unseen and unknowable.
Horsford's Acid Phosphate