The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-02-18
CAREER
OF A SLAV EMIGRAN|
New York Norld.)

Professor Pupin of Columbia unlVer-
sity, who has recently gained interna-
tional reputation as the inventor of the
ocean telephone, is the hero of re-
markable career.
Few men even in America have risen
so quickly and in the face of so many
obstacles as he. The man who has an
nOunced the greatest invention since
the telephone came to New York in
1874, almost pennileSs and without
word of English In twenty-six years
ne has become an authority on electric
ity, a professor in Columbia university
and dispOses of a single one of MS in
ventiOns for 100000.
BY birth Professor PuDin is a Slav,
! coming from the military frontier OF
/ Austria. He was raised in the same
district from which Tesla came. Ac-
! cording to Professor Pupin. his ances-
/ tors have been so busy fighting the
/ Turks for generations that they had no
/ time for seIf-culture.
! Michael Idvorsky PupIn, like all
| young men of his country, was sent to
| a military school. He studied for a
| time in Prague, and ran away to
America in 1874. The appearance of
/ New York struck the young Slav with
| terror. He was unable to ask for a
direction, and every business seemed
BARRED against him. He was without
! q. single friend.
4
he went to the country and began
| work on a farm as a day laborer. With
in a month he had learned to speak
/ enough English to warrant him return
ing to New York. His teacher was the
daughter Of the farmer who employed
him. The lessons followed the long
days work. and lasted usually till tal
past midnight.
The next five years saw a severe
/ struggle Pupin worked at antyhlne
and everything which would yield ar
honest living. It is said that at one
I time he even worked as Enasseur IN
/ Turkish bath esta bIiShment.
During this period of struggle, how
ever, he managed to attend night schoo
/ at Cooper Union.
Success came more quickly to hin
| than to most. His fortune dates from
/ his invention of a holder for news
J papers. Every one is familiar nov
! with the wooden forms used for bind
! ing newspapers together. Professor Pu
pins paper holder was the first 10 b.
introduced. He peddled them abOu
| town at first himself. The first frame
he sold was at the Vienna cafe OF
Broadway. The demand for them 81
Increased that he could afford TO emplO,
agents to sell them. The little ventur
yielded several thousand dollars prof
its. Pupin Immediately prepared MIN
self for Columbia, entering the colleg
in 1879. He graduated IN 1898
While still supporting himself, Pupll
went to the University of Cambridge
England and afteTward to Berlin
where he specialized under the famou
Professor HelmholtZ. He took his de
gree of Phi. D with honor in Berlin, re
/ turned to New York and was appoint
| ed an instructor at Columbia in 1885,
| When the electrical engineering de
| partmenU was started at Columbia, n
| was placed in charge
Professor Pupin has been known 10
years as d practical electrician.
| The importance of Professor Pupin
latest discovery can scarcely be over
| estimated. 1T is of Immense Valu
( apart from the fact that it lengther
the lines of telephone communicated
The invention enables telephone eli
cults to be connected over ordinary te
egraph wires. Telephone wires hereto
fore have been of copper. In New 4oT
alone the difference in the cost of
/ copper and iron wire used amounts
a fortune. By com aiming this disco'
cry with Professor PupinS method
using one wire for several messages.
| single wire will do the work of te
wires under the present system, ana
it better 1t will now be possible
telephone and telegraph over the san
wire at the same time.