Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-08-25
EDISON AS AN EDITOR,
How the Now Famous Electrician Con.
dnctsd n Newspaper When Only 12
Years Of Ase-A Novel journalistic

ducted a Newspaper When Only ~
Years Of Ase-A Novel Journalistic
Enterprise.
from the London Globe.1
Mr.. Edison, whose visit to Paris seems likely
to eclipse that of the Shah in interest, has in
formed an interviewer that he means after a
fortnight in Paris to visit Milan, Rome and
| Vienna, perhaps, certainly London and Liver
pool. He jocularly dlsclaims having any busi-
ness purpose, and declares he is on his honey
moon. 1t will be remembered that he married
(for the second time) between two and three
years ago, the bride being an Ohio heiress of
very tender years. She is with him on his
present tour. and he has little girl at school at
Paris-a child years old. 1t may be of inter-
est at a time when he is thus brought promi-
nently before the European public to recall
the incidents of his early emergence from the
humble circumstances in which he was born.
Among the millions who familiar with
the name Of Edison as an electrician. few are
aware of the example furnished by him of
early ambition overcoming the most difficult
| obstacles. Yet the story of his childhood is
hFely to pass into history, no less as instance
| of determined work than as an illustration of
| the precocious smartness of the American
child.
| How He Started a Paper.
At very tender age all Edison's thoughts
| were turned to electricity, and by day and
/ night he made plans as to how he should obtain
the means to study it. After much cogitation
the idea he hit upon was to start newspaper.
Il will become an editor" he exclaimed, in
srinctively turning to what so many hard-up
men find last resort for raising funds. But
| those who have lost thousands IN commencing
journal will be tempted to smile at the idea
of little boy without staff, capital or funds
undertaking such an enterprise. The child had
it all planned out however. He first wrote to
news agency and obtained copy Of the con-
ditions on which he could get supply of tele-
/ graphic news dealing with politics, commerce
| and the general news of the day. This he
| wanted to be sent to the different railway sta
tons between New York and Chicago.
| OF the New York-Chicago-Detroit line, and
| asked bis permission to set up q little printing
| prtss in one of the carriages. "Why, what IS
thtt for?" asked the puzzled railway man. II
hate no money to study" answered Edison,
"atd SO want to publish a.journal in a run
ming train. will edit it myself, / will compose
| agf glanced at the eager. studious child, and,
strtck with the originality of the idea, agreed
| toit But Edison did not look as if he were
lad he was asked. 81 am grateful for your
permission, sir; but you know that every news
| paper lives by its subscribers. Won't you al
one?r The manager laughed, and the tiny
| editor pocketed not only subscription but a
present. Believing himself another Rothschild,
he then left the Office to proceed with his
preparations.
The New Journal.
It need not be imagined that the paper was
as large as the Times or as profound as the
Spectator. 1t was a modest sheet of very small
size, but nevertheless the Grand Trunk Rail-
road Herald was sold more quickly than many
more pretentious journal. Nor was that sur
prising. Edison found at every station fresh
news telegraphed by the Press Association Of
New York, and, young as he was, could thus
with his information get in front of the ordi-
nary papers sold on the line. He printed as
many editions as he saw the need of. M. Emile
Dqrer, in recently-pubiished biography Of
Der, copy Of which the great electrician pre-
sented him with. The news consists OF the or
dinary little two-line paragraphs which are
sent out by the agencies, train announcements,
markets, etc. Edison neither employed a re-
porter nor used pencil himself. He simply
Ths & ann ser up 'so
well-for in the matter Of sales and advertise
ments it was soon evident that the editor had
sound business head on his shoulders-that a
weekly edition was added, the Weekly Herald
the subscription to which did not exceed the
modest sum of cents a month. In a very short
progress, and the editorial 1--WE" are employed
as majestically by the boy as it could have been
by Delane himself.
The Child. Critic.
A few extracts from some of the numbers
retranslatee from the French of M. Durer-win
show that Edison had soon formed an idea of
an EDITORS functions, which are, as everybody
knows, to be omniscient and set the world right
on everything. Here is a specimen of his local
gossip:
"We learn that the Grand Trunk Railway
Company pays every six months prize to the
driver who uses least oil and who burns least
wood, still maintaining the present speed Of his
locomotive.
I'VE have had an opportunity of making the
acquaintance of Mr.. E. l. Northrop. He Is q
mechanic, such as there should be everywhere.
On all the line there is not better and more
exact employe.
mo one knows so we'll how to drive and at
tend to his train. We can speak with authority
for two years with him tthe paper had only
been started few months) and we have no
ticed the unfailing regularity with which he is
at his post.
His machine is always polished like a
mirror; it never has need of great REPAIRS and
if it is little deranged the repairs cost only
"For these reasons we beg to direct the good
will and attention of the directors of the COM
pany to Mr.. Northrop. Ed"
A Clever Young Para grapher.
Thus little Edison had evidently grasped
some of the principles Of modern editing "a Ia
Americaine). He could shoot with q long bow
ana De q sLrOng partisan. bub bnefe are some
even more amusing instances of juvenile edi-
torialness. A man named Watkins had en-
deavored by a clever device to cheat the com.
pany of the Grand Trunk Railroad out of the |
value of a carpetbag which he pretended to
have left at one of the stations. As it hap |
pened however, detective had noticed him |
detaching the ticket from his bag and hiding |
it and the end was that the would-be swindler |
was fined. Upon the case the 12-years-old |
editor remarks watkins has received a lesson |
which should last him for his life and we stig- |
matise for all time % the baseness Of his con- |
duct iu the columns of our journal"
few weeks we are going to increase the size of |
our journal" Is one of the announcements. |
Here, too, is touch worthy of an older head, |
'In few weeks (that ambiguous period) the /
name of each subscriber will be printed in our |
journal" Mingled with these paragraphs are |
sententious moralizations such as this: "Rea-
son, justice and charity have never had suf- /
ficient force on the earth to influence the coun-
sellors of men,"
Student and Editor.
But all the time Edison was keeping his eyes
steadfastly fixed on the ulterior purpose of his
little essay in journalism and even employed
his leisure to make experiments in the way of
telegraphing from moving train, using an in
duction current for the purpose 1t was not |
long, however, before he was furnished with
the means of following out his plan of study
and unlike those who after once becoming
journalists ind 1t impossible to change. he
without reluctance abandoned his first pro-
fesSion. In the aftertime it is not unlikely |