Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1890-04-05
EDISON AS A NEWsBoY.
The B~eginaing OF His Career and His Oar
Ing Enterprise when n Newsboy.

ing Enterprise when n Newsboy.
The following is one of the Talks
with Edison" which George Parsons
Lathrop reports in Harper's Magazine:
"At the beginning Of the civil war;
said MIR. Edison, II was Shaving late
And early at selling papersi but, to tell
the truth l was not making a fortune.
I worked on so small n margin that l
had to be mighty careful not TO owe
load myself with papers that i couldn't
sell. On the other hand, | could not
afford to carry so few that / should
lind myself sold out long before the end
Of the trip. To enable myself to hit 1.-THE
happy mean, / formed q plan which
turned out admirably, | made a friend
Of one of the compositors in the Free
Press Office and persuaded him to show
ne every day q galley proof of the
most important news article. From n
study Of its headlines j soon learned
10 gauge the value Of the days new
ind It's capacity, so that / could form
4 tolerably correct estimate OF the
uumber of papers | should need. AS n
Guile, / could dispose of about 200; but
4 there was any special news from the
peat of war, the sale ran up to 800 or
over. Well, one day my compositor
brought me q proof slip of which near
" the whole was taken up with n
gigantic display head. 1t was the first
report of the battle Of Pittsburg Land
lng-afterward called Shiloh. yon know
and il gave the number Of killed and
wounded as $4,000 men!
IL grasped the situation at once.
Here was a chance for enormous sales,
4 only the people along the line could
know what had happened; If only they
could see the proof slip l was then
reading! Suddenly an idea occurred
10 me, i rushed off to the telegraph
operator and gravely made a propo-
sition to him, which he received just as
~grayely. He, on his part, was to wire
TO each of the principal stations on our
route, asking the station-mastcr to
chalk up on the black bulletin-board-
rsed for announcing the times of
arrival and departure Of trains-the
news of the great battle, with its ac-
.ompanying slaughter. This he was
% do at once; while / agreed, in re-
lurn, 10 supply him free, gratis, for
nothing.' a Hdrper's Weekly, a Hdrper'S
Monthly. and a daily evening paper
during the next six months from that
late.
This bargain struck, / began TO be.
think me how / was to get enough
papers to make the grand coup | in
Tended. | had very little cash; and, /
feared, still less credit. | went to the
superintendent Of the delivery depart
ment and proffercd n modest request
for one thousand copies of the Free
Press on trust. But | was not much
surprised when my request was CURLY
and grumv refused. In those d""'
though, / was n pretty cheeky boy, ana
| felt desperate, for ! saw a small for
tune in prospect il my telegraph oper-
ator had kept his word-a point on
which | was still a trifle doubtful.
Nerving myself for a great stroke.
marched upstairs into the Office of Will
bur +. Storey himself, and asked TO
see him. A few minutes later | was
shown in to him. | told him who
was, and that / wanted fifteen hundred
copies of the paper on credit. The
tall, thin, dark-eyed, aScetic-looking
ma stared at me for a moment, and
then scratched a few words on a slip
of paper. Take that downstairs said
he, and you will get what you want,
And SC l did. Then | felt happier than
] have ever felt since.
II took my fifteen hundred papers,
got three boys to help me fold them,
and mounted the train, all agog to find
out whether the telegraph operator had
kept his word. AT the town where ouI
first stop was made ] usually sold two
papers. As the train swung into thai
station / looked ahead and thought
there must be a riot going On. A bis
crowd filled the platform, and as tht
train drew up | began to realize tina
they wanted my papers. Before We
left / had sold a hundred or two at fiv,
cents apiece. At the next station the
place was fairly black with people.
raised the ante, and sold three hun
dred papers at ten cents each. So i
went on until Port Huron was reached
Then i transferred my remaining stocl
to the wagon which always waited fol
me there. hired a small boy to sit OF
the pile of papers in the back of thu
wagon, SO as to discount any pilfering
and sold out every paper l had at
quarter of a dollar or more per copy
/ remember l passed a church full o
worshippers, and stopped to yell on
my news. In ten seconds there wa
not a soul left in the meeting. AL
of them. including the parson wcr'
clustered around me, bidding agains
each other for copies Of the precious
paper.
'You can understand why it strucl
me then that the telegraph must b.
about the best thing going. for it wa
the telegraphic notices on the bulletin
boards that had done the trick. / de
termined at once to become n tele
graph operator. But IL it hadn't bee
for Wilbur +. Storey l should neve
have fully appreciated the wonders o
electrical science"
Hollands Youthful Princess.