The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-08-06
VICTIMS OF EXPERIMENT.
Edison's Eyes Affected a~-- Assistant
 Loses Arm.


 New York Press.
 Experimenting with the X-ray in an endeavor to utilize its mysterious light In business way has almost cost Thom- as A. Edison his sight. While trying the effect of the rays on various objects the strange light exerted its power on both MT. Edison and Charles Daily, an as- sistant. As a result the noted inventor s sight has been thrown out of focus, while one of Dally's arms has been Imputated and he probably will lose the other.
 For several years MT. Edison has been experimenting along the line of the K rays, He has always thought that the light which could penetrate solids could be put to some commerciaE:use He therefore built large dark room at one end of the laboratory in Orange, N. J., and in this. made his experiments. He installed expensive apparatus, but at first experimented in a casual manner. He found that the rays, besides penetrat- ing the object at which they were direct ed, also affected the object itself He tried the rays on many kinds of objects and the effect seemed to be different in each instance. It was apparent the rays had some peculiar property of their own, and what that was Mr. Edison was de- termined to discover
 It was when in the midst of these ex- periments and at a time when success seemed to be within his grasp that his sight began to fail.
 I guess the rays are beginning 70 exert their influence on me- he. told Daily, ''so l think that you had better go on with the experiments alone for a while"
 This the assistant did, and MT. Edison soon recovered his sight. He then went back to his experiments, and one day the assistant told him he felt a strange, burn irrr i1a A doctor amined 1t and found the rays had so par alyzed one arm it would have to come off. MT. Edison tried to save for his assistant the use of the limb, so he sent m to va- rious famous surgeons. The arm contin- ued to grow worse. however. and frally was amputated. -& -f c
 While his assistant was having trouble with his arm, MT. Edison's sight began to fail again. It grew steadily worse, and specialists were called in. He was or dered to stop experimenting with the K rays at once. The physicians found that the focus of both eyes were affected, and things seemed much further away to Mir. Edison than they really. were. After rest ing for time the sight was restored, but the inventor has not been entirely cured.
 My left eye is still out of focus," MT. Edison said yesterday, and have about given up experimenting with the X-rays. I believe however, that the discovery of the X-ray and radium portend some thing big in the Scientific field. Talk about the danger of experimenting with huorescents.
 Why, my assistants one arm has been amputated, and now they are cutting of the other, bit by bit. Only today they cut another chunk off, and the poor man may die from the effects. I am lucky that did not go blind while experiments ing with them
 T discovered many things of scientific value, but nothing that would be of prac- tical use. It was the practical that I was after and that is the reason had to work and experiment all the time. The light with which I was experimenting was a most mysterious one, so mysterious in fact that I was not aware of what 1t wal doing to my sight until 1t became so af- fected that to neglect the symptoms ould have been sheer folly
 MT. Edison told about his failing sight while seated in his laboratory in Orange Although it was Saturday afternoon and almost every ernploye of the, place had gene home. the noted Inventor was still busy studying plans and discussing busi- ness with his manager His bad sght evidently did not injure his capacity for work. for he was going carefully over the minutest details of the plans before him
 What I am most interested in just now is my new battery for automobiles, he continued. All our experiments have been successful and you can say posi- lively for me that I have solved vehicle