The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1905-07-08

| I'M na lsls ss' wi1',an I
Igleheart and manages the Salt Lake
Herald, of which w. A. Clark is presi
dent-developed in Chicago the quail.
ties which have made him a success
full newspaper publisher. During the
days of the worlds fair he was In
charge Of the Records bureau on the
| grounds and bossed staff that was
enthusiastic, active and rather prided
itself upon its ability to get every BIZ
of news on the ground day or two
ahead Of anybody else
One day the rumor reached the office
that Thomas A. Edison was in the
city, and had been on the fair grounds
every day for week without being
recognized or interviewed. Mr.. Ed
ison's opinion of the fair, and partic-
ularly of the electrical display. had
been awaited by every electrical ex-
pert In the country. and the value Of
his impressions Of the great exposition
was too apparent to need diagram.
News that the wizard was close at
hand, and that he had been prowling
about for week without discovery,
gave Igleheart shock which pro-
duced something partaking of the
symptoms of both nervous prostration
and heart disease He was certainly
worried and his nights were sleepless.
Every day he tried a new scheme,
AAA nm ~ thu 10 triad hfo
hand at locating the great inventor.
The electricity building was watched;
the grounds were divided up into Sec
tons, section assigned to each re-
porter, and patrol system established
which would have done. credit to the
experienced sleuths of Scotland Yard.
A face so familiar as Edison's Of
fered hope of detection even in a big
crowd, but with 100000 or 100000 Wis
itors on the grounds the task proved
insuperable. Prof. Barrett. who was
chief of the electricity department.
had no Information to give. no light
to offer. and the boys were at their
wits end, scared all the time for fear
that some other paper would blossom
with an Edison story
Finally, after two days Of anxiety,
which threatened to send every MEM
Der of the staff to the detention hos
pital. Igleheart decided to participate
actively in the search himself He ac-
cordingly went to the electricity build
ing. walked into the chiefs ONCE and
found the assistant, DR.. Allan Horns
by. there alone. Without giving
Hornsby a chance to collect himself,
Igleheart said:
DOC. want to find Edison. I've
Just got to have an interview with
him. and must have 1t tonight"
Hornsby, an old and thoroughly ex-
perisuced newspaper man himself.
smiled guiltily and tried to dodge. but
he finally admitted with great reluct-
ance. when pushed to the extreme.
that Edison was in town. and that his
whereabouts were known.
But l can't tell you where he is"
continued Hornsby. much as I'd like
to, for we are under orders not to give
him away. That's all there is to it,
and you are simply wasting time by
trying to pry anything out of me-"
Ingleheart was determined. He was
also desperate, and he sat in with
Hornsby for an hour. but without sue
cess. When he pleaded. Hornsby was
stone. When he threatened, Hornsby
Just laughed and reminded him that
he knew something about the game
himself Igleheart appealed to Horns
by's sympathies, his esprit du corps;
he worked every turn which is part
of the equipment of the man whose
business 1t is to elicit information
from sources from which information
Is not supposed to come.
At last Hornsby said: Look here.
tgleheart, there IL no use of your try
ing the old games on me. I'm not go
ing to give up, and II you knew where
Edison is you couldn't get at him. I'd
like to help you. but can't. and that
Is all there is to 1t. You win have to
try somewhere else
At the end of another hour and
purely on the ground of friendship,
Hornsby agreed to write a note to Mr.
Edison on the stationery of the de-
partment of electricity. 1t read this
way:
Dear Mr.. Edison: The bearer is
reporter from the Chicago Record.
He Knows that you are in town, wants
an Interview and ought TO have 1t for
tho persistence he has shown In locat-
Ing you. With fear and trembling, I
am, sineere!y yours,
~ Allan HnR NEpv.