Omaha daily bee., 1903-02-15

60 hat, drawn well down on his
forehead, Strengthened up from a
- dilapidated little table over
which he had been beuding, threw a stub
of a pencil down on a yellow pad OF
paper, and settled back in an arm chair.
AT last" he said 1--WE finished work on
my storage battery and now I'm going to
take a rest"
He gazed thoughtfully out of a window
of his laboratory Office for a moment.
"For I'm tired-very tired" he added
simply. I'm all worn out"
Next second his eyes twinkled merrily.
Yes, I've planned for a great vacation"
briskly and enthusiastically, "and it will
begin after I've spent a few weeks in
Florida, where I'm going in a few days.
And the best part of it all is this-it will
last two years"
Mr.. Edison rubbed his hands in antici-
patory Joy.
I'm going to have a fine ~time-splen-
did time during these two years. I'm just
going to rest. Yes, sir, that's what I'm
going to do, and I'll tell you how I'm
going to do It. Up in my house across
the street I've a big book of over 400 pages
filled with notes that I've iotted down from
time to time during the last fifteen or
twenty years. They relate to things that
I've observed while working out my va
rious inventions, and I've simply put them
down and done nothing with them because
I've not had time to investigate these va
rious incidental phenomena. Now, how
ever, I'm tired-thoroughly tired-and I've
made up my mind to drop industrial sci
ence for two whole years and rest myself
by taking up pure science--by investigat-
ing the thousand and one properties of
metals and chemicals that I've got notes
about in my book.
Strenuous vacation? Not a bit of it.
All I'm going to do is what every pure sci
enlist does-the fellow who finds out the
actions of metals and Chemicals Under di--
ferent conditions and in various combina-
tions by experimenting, but who does not
apply the results in'ustrially.
Guided by my notes. I'm going to mix
things in laboratory mortars and chemists
tubes and what not and watch for results.
That's all pure science does. 1t never
thinks things out, like industrial science.
1t just blunders, stumbles against discov-
cries, while industrial science is the result,
in greater part, of concentrated and con-
secutive thought.
1T will be fun and maybe I'll find out
something worth while-who can tell? Any
way, I'm looking forward to a real good
time, and, l believe, that by hustling a lit
tie I'll be able to investigate everything
that I've notes about in my book"
What his notes relate to Mr.. Edison will
not disclose, except to say that one Of his
Investigations will be conducted toward
finding a wood that will be a good substi.
tute for coal, when that fuel becomes more
scarce and a great deal more expensive
than at present.
II firmly believe said Mr.. Edison, THAI
the time will come when we in this coun.
try will secure most Of our heat from Woo
in some form or other. The wood that will
be used will come largely from tropica.
South America, where sprouts spring into
fCll-grown trees in three or four years
Then the vast Amazonian forests will BIZ
worked and nourished on a scientific basi:
by capitalistic syndicates and the worlds
fuel supply thus conserved for all time
And science will find a way to make tho
wood almost, il not as good, for heatini
purposes as coal. Perhaps it will be useC
something after the manner of chaTEOal-
believe that charcoal will some day b.
pretty generally used in the place of. coal
But don't think that we'll live to Sc
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