The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-02-01
ELISHA GRAY'S HARD LUCK
One of the Three Great Inventors of
the Century Now Poor Man.

NEW YORK, Jan. .31.-According to the
Herald, Prof. Elisha. Gray, the inventor of
the telephone, and the owner of brain
which has been the means, of making mill
lionaires of twenty men, is spending the
evening of his eventful life in poverty. This
genius, who is one of the three greatest in
yentors of the century, finds himself a poor
man at sixty-three, and in the very shadow
of the palaces of some of the men who have
Toasted from the products of his brain he
is now forced to live in a humble house, the
half of whose rooms and table is shared by
day boarders who pay the regulation price
of the weekely meal ticket. He can sit in
his place in Highland Park ILL.,, and call
the names of score Of powers in the world
of finance who have caught him in a cor
ner, found him without penny, and fooled
him into selling his patents for song. The
pitifui lament of his latter days is that he
did not have a conseryator appointed when
he had money. He now fears he may die
without q cent.
than any one else He has been up and
down. He has made fortunes and spent
them. He has never had any considerable
amount of money that he did not think it
was enough to last forever. He admits that
ii never occurred to him to be a scientist
for money. He has never looked for any
year in devising a plan foY-an Improvement
in the work of the telephone. The improve
ment was GRABBED up on sight. 1t brought
him a check for $50,oG0 He thought this
was enough to last him the rest of his life.
He ordered his wife and family to pack
the trunks. They sailed for Europe the
next week. There was nothing too good or
expensive for them to buy. They brought
home pictures statuary and art treasures
and the home was decorated like the palace
of king. This season of extravaganza
was followed by one of extreme want.
The Herald's story relates several in
stances in which Mr. Gray secured little or
nothing for his inventions, and concludes:
This man is now in abject poverty. His
present plan of invention embraces a con-
without extraneous aid-such as steam. He
insists that the energy obtained from coal
through steam will be turned directly into
electricity, He claims that too much of the
latent energy is lost in the roundabout
transformation, and that the direct results
will be sooner or later obtained without
the waste of force. Time and time again he
has tried to utilize the electrical current in
the air. He has abandoned that theory. He
says that the force manifested in the air
is the result of a conflict of natural force,
and exists in the air as form of energy.
1t may have been light heat before it
was changed to electricity. He does not
think 1t can ever he turned back into cleo
tricity for the generation of power.
Professor Gray talks thus of the coming
inventions. even in the midst of his per-
sonal failure He is no longer able to pro-
vide for himself a stldio which is free from
invasion There is a house full of children.
The precincts which have heretofore been
sacred to him are now the haunts of rois-
tering boys and girls. The reception room
is perpetually strewn with toys. The
Doarders flock to his house at the blow of
the whistle The young women whack at
the piano in the sitting room The grounds
have been, neglected.. The art treasures
have disappeared The fine tapestries and
statuary are gone. The old cry for a
ward in fame has been supplanted by
lament that guardian was not selected
while IL was not TOO late"