Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1910-07-20
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
The Invention That Edison
Was Paid for Mostly
in Experience
BY "HOlIand.'


winter Of 1892 with Thomas A. Edi-
son in the library of his beautiful
home at Llewellyn Park, New Jersey,
| asked him what. in the way of money
returns, his invention of the mean
descent lamp and his apparatus for
so dividing the electric current that
It would be available for lighting had
meant for him. He looked up at the
light. which was glowing over his
library table. and for a few moments
appeared to be making a mental calcu-
lation. and then he said: THAT inven-
/ ton brought me my first real capital.
] should say, at rough calculation,
that II has brought me about three
million dollars already"
After a pause Mr.. Edison went on.
with his characteristic smile: THAT is.
after all. very small part of the real
capital this thing has created / should
say that the electric light has created
about three hundred millions of new
capital, and ! don't think am far out
of the way I'm saying that it furnishes
support to a million persons. estimat-
ing the average family of an artisan
at five persons"
But didn't you get a large capital
out of your microphone carbon trans
mitter?" l asked. That was the in
Nention which made the modern per-
fected telephone possible"
Mr.. Edison smiled broadly.
suppose ] got paid in large part
for that in experience" he said. Il had
good many things to learn about
business In those days.
You may remember that the West
ern Union Telegraph Company. after
the telephone was demonstrated to be
a practical invention-that was about
lS76-planned adding a telephone sys-
/ tenn to its telegraph lines. To every
| one it seemed certain that there was
to be severe competition between the
Western Union and the original tele-
phone comrany for the telephone
business oil the country. I don't re-
member much of the detail OF this
threatened competition, but do know
that at the time the transmitting APP
paratus of the telephone was by no
means perfect, so l set TO work to
make a perfected telephone in this re-
spect, a vital matter for the future of
the invention. Well, after a good deal
of hard work / got what was after.
There 1t is. and Mr.. Edison pointed
at the receiving end of the telephone
which stood on his desk.
with my carbon transmitter ready
for a demonstration | went TO the of
fees Of the Western Union; had pre-
viously sold that company my stock
ticker invention and my quadruple
system of telegraphy and quite natur-
ally, l suppose, / gravitated to il with
! the transmitter. l saw the manager
and one or two other gentlemen. show
/ ed them the transmitter, and told them
that | was pretty sure that with my
/ apparatus in their possession they
would have the bulge on the Bell in
strument. / tell you, they we're an in
/ terested lot of men, and as soon as I
/ gave them a chance they asked for
some kind of an option on the inven-
ton and gave It to them without fur
Their ado.
1T was only a little while later that
/ they sent for me and made me q prop
osition to buy my apparatus outright.
They said they were willing to pay me
about a hundred thousand dollars in
! annual installments covering a rather
| lengthy period thought that was a
| lot Of money. and how nice it would be
10 count with perfect certainty upon
an income Of several thousand dol
lars a year for quite a number Of
years, and. do you know, I let them
have that invention on their own
terms9'
Mr.. Edison permitted himself to in
dulge in a near-chuckle. "A few weeks
later" he continued. II heard that the
Western Union had sold my improved
transmitter to the Bell people for
eight hundred thousand dollars, simp-
ly by proving to the latter that Il had
the bulge on them.
But have never regretted the deal
/ made with the Western Union peo-
pie. or. rather. the deal they made
with me- I gained lot of experience
in that transaction. and II was worth
the experience. have never let any
body get the better Of me since. and
I am certain that the experience / got
then has made me far more money
than lost through ineXperience when
I didn't decker back and forth between
the Western Union and the Bell people
with my transmitter."
| Copyright, 1910. by F. J. Edwards
All rights reserved)
Tomorrow Mr.. Edwards will tell Of
- Story OF the Days Of the Early
Telephone"