The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-04-29
THE TELEcTROScOPE'S INVENTOR


Ny first impression OF ezczopanik, ns met
him at tho pouse Of his fnancior, Herr Lud-
wig Keinberg at Vienna, was thar he could
be any thing but an invontor, though / don't
suppose any one has ever been able to detect
an inventor by mere external appearance.
He might tc struggling musician. u student
or a shopman. think my SECOND was that
thero was q singular naiveto in this erstwhile
village schoolmastcr, who, just over the
threshold of twenty five, had in night
sprnno into fame. Szczepanik is Of medium
height ard Of turdy build. Bis speech comes
quickly, though bis natural Polish volubiiity
is somewhat crrbed by the idiomatic difiicul-
ties which German presents to him. He ees-
ticulated freey as he spoke, and paced mp and
down the room preferably to sitting. He
wore an incongruous kin ! OF dress OF black
the usual continental compromise between
evening dre,s and an English artisan 8 "sun-
day best" His voice was soft. almost child
ish; his manners gentle and kind: but until
one wo his confidence his demeanor was re-
served 10 the point OF shyness. His modes ty
and bland simplicity are remarkable, and
| irresistibly draw you 70 one OF whom his
| fnancicr remarked to me-: she Is an un-
| spoiled child of nature. He does not know
| his own greatness. and his modesty is charm.
ing"
Herr Klenberg Is said to have made the ac-
quaintancc os this gifted stripping casually
in Vienna cafe rs he possed through that
ftful "sturm and Drang' period, destitute
of everything but his wonderful ideas.
"You must be an incessnnt worker, Herr
Szczepanls," i said to him. Eyes. l am
practically always at work, though IL Is only
In the night that my mind can be said to be
nest fruitful. DO / miss my sleep? Not a
bitl II an idea comes to me must get up
and clinch II, and I believe l alarm my
friends 10y the enormous number OF cigarettes
consume in the nocturnal hours. My men,
ory, 10 vovsr, works, as it were, on certain
lines. and though should never forgot the
details of O machine that have once soen. /
might easily forget an everyday incident
where Others could not possibly do so. / jot
my idens down in note books. My friends
| laugh at mo about these BOOKS. never know
when an idea Is going to strike me, and walk
| ing along the streets my companions are
sometimes astonished to q nd that hsve dis
appeared. What my par ticular sphere Of IN
ventive work is cannot say. MY mind Is
omniverous. My invention, which revolu-
| ,ionized silk weaving was discovered, for In.
stance, without my scarcely knowing what a
weaving loom was :"
"Row did you first discover yourself. so to
sav2'
~ don't know. dabbled In invention as a
child-made ships and whatever came 70
hand My technical knowledge Is almost all
practical aud acquired hapha2ard. II is true
/ studied physics. but never gained any dis
tInction, ana am afraid made good many
enemies"
He sai!od reirinisccntly. ST use to spring
problems upon the professors. even in MY ex-
animation papers. and they didn't like IL.
Then took up the subject Of photography,
and had tho mortsfcaticn Of seeing soveral
things patented which had also invented.
The finder IN the kodak. that's one; tho elec-
| trophonic piano. that's another. How did
| hit upon the telcctroscopef oh, the iden is
| by no means new one. Ny attention was
| first called to IL by reading Professor Licse-
gangs 'Beitrage zum Problems des Elcctrios
| chon Fsrnschons. / hit upon the idea oi
employing osciilating mirrors. do not shy
| that my instrument a perfect. Was photog
| raphy perfect. was ,l)h telephone or tho tcle-
graph perfect when first introduced to the
| publc7 Well it uvoe be relatively the same
| thing with tho tel0 1scope But claim Il
| be abloto show 80 picture OF the object