The morning call., 1892-11-05
A DAY IN WONDERLAND.
Notes of a Visit to Edison's
Laboratory.
MARVELS AT EVERY STEP.
Strange and Curious Devices Sprinsing From
the Busy Brain OF the Great In
venter.

| If a great brick building. four stories
high. crowded with machinery and fanked
by other brick buildings, also crowded with
machinery. the whole covering eight or ten
| acres of land and surrounded by an lmpas-
| sable fence-if such an establishment can
| be called a laboratory-tnen, doubtless,
| Thomas A. Edis0n's great workshop on the
| edge of Llewllyn Park. in Orange, n. D.,
Is the most extensive laboratory IN the
| world, writes i CORES pOndent OF the New
York Times.
With its big water tank on the roof and
| steam pouring from its chimneys, II looks
more like factory; but Mr.. Edison calls it
! his laboratory, and as Webster tells US that
| laboratory is "a place where anything Is
| prepared for use," there Is no reason why
the name should not be given to shoe
| makers shop. grocer's where sugars are
| compounded, or printing Office much less
| to place where electricity is harnessed and
| driven.
TheEdison laboratory is easily reached
| bv rail- being within sight of Lleweilyn sta
| tiun in Orange. 1t is easy TO reach the gate
| OF the laboratory. but not so easy to gain
| the inside. TIE gate is kept closed and
| locked, and the people who are constantly
| applying for admission are told, always in
| the politest way and with the deepest regret
| on the part OF the gatekeeper, that they can
not be admitted without a pass from Mr..
| Edison or one of his superintendents. AS
! these gentlemen are either busy inside or
| absent they are not within reach and q
| pass is hard TO obtain.
| Even when provided with pass the usual
| visitor sees little of the establishment be-
! y0nd the dynamOs, the phonOgraphs ana
| the stoekrOom, for experiments are con-
| stanty in progress In the many private
rooms, and visitors there would certainly
| be troublesome and might be dangerous.
had the good fortune few days ago to
| visit the laboratory by MIR. Edison's special
| invitation and to be shown every nook and
corner of it by the superintendent of the
| different departments.
| They took me first to the top story, where
| the monographs are kept and where six or
/ more of them are constantly ready for use.
| All the Photographs were, of course, set
| with different cylinders, and for half an
| hour or more enjoyed variety entertain
| ment OF the deepest interest.
| There were songs and speeches. dialogues,
| concerts, and the playing of dozen musi-
| cal instruments. One of the machines gave
! me the departure OF TWO lrlshmen on
| river steamboat, one hurrying the other
| along, and their jokes and laughter on the
| landing, the ringing Of the boats big bell,
the cry Of "All ashore that's goingP' the
| scraping Of the gangplank as it was drawn
| ashore, the tinkle of the bell in the engine
4 W.
| more jokes and laughter by the lrishmen,
| mingled with the captains shout OF Let go
| that linei"
1t was all so natural and so plain that /
stood for the moment on the wharf and saw
the boat drawing away and was astonished
| the next minute to find myself III Edison's
| laboratory.
Some things they told me about the phono-
| graph that were hard TO understand and
would be still harder to explain in type.
| Ilna txy nf 0at0 md
| that is inaudible, II i may express ii so,
| and t0ning the phonOgraph up until the ear
| could appreciate it. The wax cylinders they
seemed to hold cheap, for my guide broke
! several to show me their composition.
| Forever" was the startling answer when
| | asked how long the cylinders would last.
| This, however, nust be taken cOndltiOnally.
| Although the first impressions made upon
them do not wear out for years. and al
| though an lntnltesimai shaving may then
| be taken from the surface and the cylinders
made ready for second use. still they may
| melt.
They are made largely of hardened wax,
and temperature of 80 or 95 degrees Fab
renheit is likely to soften and ruin them.
For this reason some doubts we're expressed
about the success of Professor Garner s
efforts TO bring some monkey conversations
| back from Africa on ph0nograph cylinders
Professor Garner has taken several pho
DogTaphS with him to Africa, but 1t is more
than likely that the equatorial heat there
will ruin his cylinders.
One of the talking dolls that are common
enough now in the tOyshops was produced.
But this was no ordinary talking doll Its
! clothing was somew hat disarranged and its
head looked as though an autopsy had been
| performed upon it.
| The cylinder was so arranged that it could
| be turned backward and the doll made to
| repeat sentences, beginning at the end and
| producing every sound in reversed order.
The effect was very much as though some
| foreign language was being spoken.
From the phonograph-r0om they took me
| down to the department where incandes-
cent lamps are made. The glass Is blown
on the premises and we saw the glass
| blowers at work, leaving one part of the
! bulb open for the insertion OF the carbon
and the extraction Of the air. In one room
they showed me consign nment of bamboos
! from the tropics. TO be used in making the
| fncandescent carb0ns.
In one of the broad corridors they took
| me under many long rows of electric lamps
| suspended from the ceiling, nearly all burn
| ing. There were hundreds Of the lamps,
| making the hall as light as day and warm
ing 1t perceI tibly. These are all expert
| mental lamps, and the trial of them they
call the survival of the fittest."
| MIR. Edison is anxious to find some more
| durable material for the carbons than bam-
boo, and nearly everything that is sug-
stantly on, and those lamps that burn out
| quickly are taken out and the material is re-
| jected. Nothing SO far has been found that
answers better than bamboo. though some
OF the carbons last a long time.
| The room in which the air is extracted
| from the glass bulbs is full of interest and
| also full of machinery, for the machine
| that does the work occupies almost the en-
| tire space, leaving only narrow passage
| way round the walls. On front and back il
| is studded with long glass tubes like the
water gauge of steam boiler, but larger
and longer.
Through these tubes a constant stream of
| sparkling water seems to be flowing; but
| what seems to be water is mercury. The
unsealed bulb is fitted to a part of the
machine, and the current of mercury be-
! longing to one tube flows through it and
| gradually extracts the air, or rather forces
| 1t out At first the mercury running through
| the tube is full of air bubbles, but they
| gradually diminish, and at the end of twenty
| or thirty minutes the mercury runs smooth
| again.
| Then the air is all out and the bulb is
| sealed. This huge machine can operate
| upon about fifty bulbs at time and it con-
| sequently has capacity of 100 lamps an
| hour.
| From this place they took me into what
| Is called the stockroom, which is quite as
| large as two ordinary houses. 1t is lined
| and filled with thousands of drawers,
| shelves. cabinets and closets, containing
every chemical that could by the most remote
| possibility be useful in experimenting
The stockroom is the pride of the estab-
| lshment, for it is believed to contain the
greatest assortment of chemicals and cleo
| tricai requisites in the world. Half of the
| things will never be used, but they are
| ready II they should be needed.
Mr.. Edison has habit of going into the
| laboratory at night and turning on the
lights to begin the working out Of some new