The Washington critic., 1888-03-08
EpIsoN,s rIRsT MARR1AGE.
Tho Inventors Remarkable Absent
Mindedness on the Occasion.

Mindedness on the Occasion.
New York TYibune.
An old telegraph operator, who was
stationed at Mcnlo Park when Edi-
son first came there, entertained u
Tribune reporter the other day with
some stories about the wizard. He is
an oddity, doing nothing in the COM
mon way and setting at naught all the
conventionalities. The first Mrs. Edi-
son was nm operator in the Newark
factory where Edison was making the
machines TO fiji his first order for the
stock indicator, which brought him
into notice and formed the basis of his
fortune. She was u tall, fine-looking
girl-One of dozen sitting at bench
winding magnets. One day as Edison
was walking down the line, that girl
spoke up and bade him good morning
without raising her eyes from her
work.
Good morning" B" said the inventor.
How did You know IL was p'
"Oh, ] can always tell when you're
near" was the reply
See here" said the man of inven-
tions, "pve noticed you n good deal OF
late: Suppose you and get married z"
Pm ready"
when shall It be ?''
Three weeks from tonight"
"All right ~ and the inventor went
on his rounds while his intended bride
mcrrily wound away upon her bobbin
of wire.
On the wedding day the first con.
| signment of stock indicators came
back from the purchaser, imperative.
When Mr.. Bachelor, who has always
been Edison's right-hand man, went
down TO the shop after supper he
found the inventor there in his dirtiest
shop-clothes tinkering away at the
machines. Didn't he remember that
it was his wedding night2 No, he'd
forgotten all about it. Bachelor
dragged the tagging groom TO the
nearest clothing store. got him into u
new suit, then TO q barber shop, and
| finally put him on car and shipped
| him of to the house of the bride.
Then he went back to the shop to
work, supposing that was the last of
Edison for that night. In an hour or
| two, however, Edison rushed in again,
threw his new coat down on q greasy
| lathe. hung his waistcoat upon the
gas pipe, kicked his shoes under the
bench, seized file and went at the
defective stock indicator as if there
were no such thing us marriage and
giving in marriage. and there he
stayed with his faithful lieutenant
till the morning sun looked in on two
weary toilers and an electrical stock
indicator that worked like charm.
When wealth came TO them, Mrs
Edison No. ! betrayed q tendency to
branch ont in the social world, but it
had no effect on the inventors habits.
One of the largest entertainments
| Newark ever saw was given at her
house All the leading men of the
Edison works were there, but he was
nowhere to be seen. His subordinates
grew little uneasy. A committee of
them went over TO his laboratory
about midnight and there was the IN
ventor, tipped back in a rickety old
chair, in his shirt-sleeves, his shoeless
feet high up on the workbench, sing
ing away into his photograph at the
top of hs voice, happy as clam at
high-tide.
The present Mrs. Edison sticks to
her husband like a shadow. She is
always at his elbow in working hours,
with book and pencil, taking down his
ideas and experiments. She is, in
fact, helpmate in every way worthy
of his abilities.