The Washington times., 1906-02-11

OF the Lehigh Valley road. / re-
member l once flashed a message to
a kite two miles up in the air. Then
something else came up TO interest
me more. and, loi here's Marconi
finding out lots more than ever
knew on the subject That's all
right. There's room for more than
one man, or even two, to dig for
truths in nature"
That he had been born in Ohio
Tin Milan, Erie county, in 1870,
may have helped a little toward the
success which Edison has since
achieved, but its real cause is to be
found in the earnest young fellow S
persistent efforts and the sound
common sense which lay behind all
he attempted. 1t is no new story
that he began as a newsboy on the
Grand Trunk lines. soon branched
OF into telegraphy, began TO finger
keys in Michigan when seventeen,
began TO experiment with borrowed
saunders while employed in India
napolis, and so at last drifted east
TO Boston and then to New York
The story of how he forced the
Western Union seriously to consider
his ideas, however. is not too old
for retelling.
He had for months pestered the
officials of that concern to take up
his inventions, but all to no pur-
pose other than to seem to them
part bore, part crank. Then, one
day, as he entered the offices of DR..
Norvin Green, president of the sys-
TEN, where several of the bigger
fellows" had gathered in cons,Ita-
ton. he was greeted with this: Mr..
Edison, you're timely. You seem to
think you know more about teIeg-
raphy than all of us put together,
so suppose you locate the trouble
which is holding up our communi-
cation with Albany"
The tone was obviously sneering.
but the newcomer seemed not TO
notice that as he replied. "AlI
right Give me two or three
hours" and then he added: If
l straighten this out in that time,
will you seriously look into my
proposals."
Surely" came the half-banter-
ing rejoinder Even if you un-
tangle US in two or three days, "
and as Edison left the room there
was another laugh at his assurance.
Yet in less than an hour ne was
back with this advice: Send a
repair crew up the road two miles
north of PoughkeeDsie. The wire is
down there"
Wisely enough, he did not tell
anyone how he had found out, but
all he really had done was to go
to the main Broadway offices, call
up Pittsburgh, get the operator
there to call up Albany and instruct
him to wire southwark as far as he
could, and report back, Albany
soon answered that he could not
get Poughkeepsie, and guessed the
trouble TO be some two miles on his
side of that town. Mr.. Edison re-
ported this-and it was right. It
was simplicity itself-the wonder is
no one else had thought of doing so
obvious a thing,-but it meant the
first long step toward the immense
financial success of the practical
scientist who met a difficulty with
good common sense.
The First Check and Second Wife
When Dame Fortune once started
to smile she did so generously, and
she has smiled ever since. The
first check from the Western
Union (settling for Edison's patent
on his stock Indicator was for s4O,-
600, sum that today would not
seem staggering to him, though
then he has himself said that he
SO little realized all that it meant
that he stood willing to sell If to
the first bidder who might have
offered two crisp one-thousand dol
lar bills for it," A workshop was
soon set Up in Newark. the MenIo