Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1890-10-25
THE ELECTRIC LIGHT pRopl eu
EoW EG:son Urcstled with It's Difficulties.
i knotty Point.

Eo" EDISON Wrestled with Its Difficulties.
IAnotty Point.
l remember Coing to see Edison COO,
after Il was announced that he Lod
boosted of having solved the electric li,bt
problem. All electricians know t,at f5is
same problem Is one of The oldest in tba
held OF electricity. Fifty wears ago sci
entlsts IN England and Professor Josenb
Henry IN this country had made mean
descent lamps. which were to all aDDear-
ance very similar to what we have today
There was a little glass globe from which
the AIR had been exhausted; inside was a
strip OF carbon or platinum. which. when
heated by strong current of electricity
glowed with a white heat.
In Professor Henry's dav the electric
current was an expensive affair. how
ever, the dynamos being unknown. and
the zinc battery alone being in Use
When the dynamo offered an unlimited
current at moderate price inventors be-
gan to work at the glow lamp again
Its defects had never been sufficiently
overcome to make it more than a labora-
tory toy; 1t would give light for a few mo-
ments and would then go out. the oxvcen
remaining In the bulb burning M tbe
carbon loop. In order to make the Iamn
of practical use it was necessary To de-
wise means for making the bulb really
empty OF air and for making the carbon
loop last a reasonable time. Edison went
at this work with his customary ardor
For months he tested air pumps, until he
found better form than any vet known;
then he worked at carbons until his
friends feared he would break down
under the strain. The preparation of a
new form Of carbon loop might REQUIRE
weeks of steady labor, the results of
which would be decided in perhaps five
minutes.
In his search for better material than
platinum for the loop which gives out the
hight IN a glow lamp, Edison tried 3. 200
different materials, arriving finally at
kind Of South American bamboo of re-
markably close fiber. This wood. when
carbOnized, gives a loop of great tenacitv
and durability. For two years the in
ventor worked at the glow lamp before
he dared to say that it was a commercial
success. In the winter of 1S79-SO he an
nounced that his lamp would last long
enough to make competition with gas pos
slble. 1t may be remembered that the
announcement caused a storm Of ridicule.
One so called expert, connected with a
well known college, declared that Edi-
sons lamp could never enter into com
petition with gas, but would remain a
curiosity and possibly luxury for rich
men. This was at time when Edison
was inviting people from all over the
country to see the lamp work at his
Menlo Park laboratory, and so angered
him that he declared he would some dav
erect statue to his critic, light it up
with Edison lamps and make the inscrip-
ton read: ''This is the man who said the
Edison lamp was failure"
There were many dark days that win
ter. After making one batch of lamps
that burned splendidly and lasted for
weeks, burning night and day, Edison
found to his dismay that the second
batch, made in exactly the same way, so
far as he could find out, and of the same
materials, failed completely. Instead of
burning for weeks, the lamps went out
IN less than an hour. For three davs
Edison worked night and day trying in
vain to find the trouble. Then he took
to his bed, seriously i'll, while his ex-
hausted assistant took a rest.
Edison has had the good fortune to at
tract and retain a number of devoted
men, who for the last ten years have
shared in his trials and successes. When
the inventor believes that he is on the
track of something important he COM
pletely fOrgets his meals and his sleep.
He has been known to work for forty-eight
hours at a stretch, without leaving his
laboratory, and with no food except
crackers and cheese which he ate as he
pondered over a knotty point. He can
not understand that other men need rest,
and is indignant that any one should
think of meals or sleep while the result
of some interesting experiment is in
doubt. The Edison lamp was not per-
fected without many such incidents
New York Star.