The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-05-24
FRANKLIN, MORSE, EDISON.
MEMENToS Nv TUE LOAN EXHIBIT
Ar THE ELECTRICAB SNOW.
BiuG Ben's Letter 60 = british ~. p
Edison as "A Journn,ist ne IA An Ex.
plosion Changed His Career Morse
Gnllecflnn m Inhn..a.inn Rrntnrr-

One OF the most interesting features Of the
Electrical Exposition Is the historical and loan
exhibit at the rear OF the main floor. one
doesn't need to be a practical electrician to
understand aud appreciate the contents OF the
double row " glass cases. Many OF them are
only remotely CONNECTED with electricity. They
are there because they are in some way nsso-
ciatcd with u great electrician like Morse or
Franklin or Edison. There ia, for example, a
letter. yellow with age. but perfectly clear and
lcgible. 1t Is framed behind glass, and reads
as follows:
PHuApELrHi.. July 3. 1875.
Mn. srRAHAS, You arc q member of Parliament
aud ono Of that majority which has doomed my
country TO destruction. You have begun to burn
our Towns and murder our People. Look upon
your Hands! They are stained with the Blood Of
your Relations. You aud I wers long Friends. You
are now my Enemy. I am yours. II. FRANKLIN.
Good for old Bent said ono man the other
day. ns he Strengthened up after bending over
the case to read these lines aloud. That's
tho stuff You are now my enemy. | am
YOUR lie didn't waste words over II, did her
We'll. | like that"
80 must every p~atriotic American who reads
Il. Oddly enough, this letter differs some.
what in handwriting from the other auto.
graph letters Of Franklin which are IN the ad-
joining cases. II il holder, clearer, more de-
cislve. II goes well with the spirit Of the com.
munication. which. II IL to be hoped, had Its
effect on the unregeneratc Strnhnn.
Right next TO ibis Franklin letter Il another
relic which hasn't anything to do with cleo.
tricitv. but Il an interesting mcmcn: 20 OF an
electrician. II is a newspaper which Edison
published when he was ii years old. At that
timo lie was employed on the Grand Trunk
Railway, and lie decided to get out a paper
for the trninmen md other employees. lie
kept his little press and other parnphernnlia
In the baggage car, and it was there that he
did tho work until one unhappy Gn! when mn
accident occurred which put an atrupt stop
to the life OF the paper. Edison was always
ex perimcnti ting with something. and he had n
box ~ chemicals among his trans in the bag.
very disastrous results. Tradition does not
dent. Edison or the, bacgagcnAaster At any
rate, the latter was the first to act, and lie d Il
So with the v;eor And the methods OF hi' gall.
hims.If ON, OF he car, aud Journalism, from
that time, was robbed of the name OF Edison.
The copy OF the paper which is IN the en-
hibit is about six ny eight inches, and has
some extremely int%rfs5t1 ,To % Rfh,,pi
mi bears the Inscription. published by A..
Luison." The familiar initial '..T'' does not
Underneath thi! line is the word Term" in
the largest. the very largest capitals, which
the sic, s,ss' a.. contain a1 t The Thu Prime WIS x sSidemtiiy
cents a mOuth. Then comes:
LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.
Prcmi"rs.-wc b"llev" that the Grani Trunk Rail
slnecrS WAC use the. least Wool and on running
me %sT1l j"uTney,, H ,nrir we m E.rS F%rG WIN ~ pr; ~ =:
believe you could fall in win another .Enrin"rr
more careful or attentive 20 his fnsin" being the
we r"nsiier ourselves some JUDI" having, been
Railway riltrg for over two wears constantly al.
Nray. in and pl!IytuV AMI pNCr a z MS most Hia
In TIE W e understand does no, cost one fnnrth for
repair, what the other engines 10. We woUli
respectfully recommend him 10 the Kindness Of tho
q. 7. Railway officers.
Another Interesting item Is this one:
We have noticed OF late the large Quantitys OF men
taken by Lieutenant Douahoe. - regiment, over
the @. T. Railway to their rendezvous nj Ypsllanta
amt IN inpuirinE hnl that he has recruited more
men than any oih"r man IN The regiment; II his
energy and perseverance in the Held when he
the line of the Il. T. Railway. he VIII make a mark
that the Secesh won't forget.
Then follow advertisements. notices OF stage
liurs. and small items. such as:
IN a Sf fP,y =, w ,S S"'1 .aSn 81" s@b PapiT !" vii q HN have SveNs HI,
name printcr! on his paper.
Alas, what fond hopes were rudely shattered
by that box Of chemicals plus the energetic
baggasemaster. Probably the cntarprisinI
youth was more than ever convinced of the
truth OF .he following little moral remark
which he introduces IN the first page:
Reason. Justice. and Equity never had weight
enough on the face OF the Earth 10 govern the coun-
els OF men.
on The last page OF the sheet there are ad-
vertisemcnts for more stage lines. one Of them
an opposition" one. according 70 the Young
printer. There IS also a time table, two trains
each way daily. Then comes:
THE NEWS.
CnSsius VI. Clay viii enter the army on his return
The l.oooth birthday OF the empire of Russia Will
be Celebrate! AT SoVxoroi in August.
Let me collect myself, H. the man said when he
was blown up by u powder mill.
Finally there is a market report. giving the
prices for butter. eEgs' lard dressed hogs, f!3nr;
he really Inclined to regret those chemicals II
it wern not that they had given America
something even more unique than a good
newspEpe man.
There wasq Young Canadian leaning over
porter was examining the contents. II was
he that told the tradition about the urtimely
end OF the little newspaper, .
81 think that yarn is all right, " he said. but
the yell another M in Montreal Edison ran
out OF there. you know. on the Granl Trunk
that for a while ho was train despntoher. OF
course ho Ind 10 10 inyentlrG sonetuin-. so he
invented II little machine 20 wake hlw w. One
night the machine went back on him. and he
didn'r wake NJ A. the critical moment. There
was u smasIup and that was the end OF Edi-
sons trHtr lcSIntching."
In the same cn~c with the Franklin letter
md the Edison new-nap"r Is a leitcr from Peter
saving that lie would meet Morse at ~ Irving
rlGcc, aud 'exrhnnRe conaratnl nti"ns On he
success OF our mutual triond, Cyrus w. Field. "
There f. also IA letter frcm Field himself.
written in London. saying that "te'cgraph
matters look BRIGHT here"
Tho Morse collection is an extremely inter
cst,nz and purely personal one. There are
sketch books galore, with water color and pen.
I'll drawings; There II II picture 81 the Morse
family. which youur samuel painted ut tho axe
~ htteen. AMI in which hC represents himself
quite correctly, without doubt NJ u hand some
Noutn leaning over hts mothers chair. while
his father, tho Rev. Jed"liah Morse, traces
snmethinx or other on u large globe set In the
family -.ruup. Another sketch book contains
studies NJ Prof, Mursc's oldest chid NJ the age
OF Two wears. 4 stNl more interesting mo-
mento NJ HIN is the following letter, written In
u round, childish land;
ASpnVrN. ~ August. 1909.
Df,R Paw. | hope Won ar" we'll | Will thank you
n YOU VIII send ne yp S"uVc nuts give my love Ia
mana uUi Nancy ani iN lirtir brothers plea, 10 KITS
them for me and Soni ne ~ SouIr very gopi paper
10 write TO you, have as many hlarEhrrrI", as |
want 90 aud pick them myself.
SANrTL FlNIAY RRFISL MoHsE.
Your son. 100.
Thee Is also Mors"'S passport signed by Wash
iuytun irving at the legation In London. Ant
there Is nm Interesting letter which concludes;
Hope YOU are Arrlv'I IN GpOi Health. Ny Dear
str, ant. r~crrrsing you 10 the European papers, IN,