The National tribune., 1911-03-30
A. edison. the inventor.

whose marvellous physical and
mental vigor at the age OF 63 MI
with amazement all those associated
with him, was a delicate child and not
allowed to attend school until he was
quite a boy. From his grandfather
and father, both of whom lived to be
102 years of age, he inherited, however,
the splendid constitution which was to
show itself later, and which, conserved
by his simple habits of life, has stood
him in such good stead in the excessive
drains made upon it by his arduous
career. He takes the least possible
sleep, and yet seems perfectly well
and clear-headed without it. Until sew
en- years ago he worked on an average
of 1873 hours a day, but has now cut
this down to Is. He has endured these
long hours of constant labor without Ill
effect on his health or brain on account
of being thoroIy interested in what he
was doing. in what he happened to be
reading or studying at the time. In
recent publication, entitled Ed1son;
His Life and Inventions" by Frank L.
Dyer and T. c. Martin, both OF Whom
have been intimately associated with
the great inventor, reference is made to
an interview in which it was suggested
to Edison that his long period of hard
work had entitled him to rest, which
he should take, and devote to travel
and the cultivation of the social side OF
life. Edison laughed, and replied that
he had his schedule all worked out.
From now until I am rs years of age,
he said, II expect TO keep more or less
busy with my regular work, not, how
ever, working as many hours or as hard
as / have in the past. At rs / expect
TO wear loud waistcoats with fancy but
tons. also gaiter tops: at 80 l expect 10
learn how to play bridge whist and talk
foolishly to the ladies. At So I expect
to wear full-dress suit every evening
at dinner, and at 90-well, I never plan
more than 80 years ahead"
IA RS. JOSEPH HULL, Of Savannah,
W is a very angry woman, and
Miss Eliza Hull, her daughter,
is another. These ladies returned from
Europe on the Lusitania the other day,
and while they protested that they had
declared everything they should, the
customs officials had received a private
tip that the ladies were bringing home
a diamond necklace which was not
forthcoming upon the examination of
their luggage. Thereupon Mrs. Hull
and Miss Hull were forced to retire to
their stateroom, remove every article
of clothing, even their stockings, Mrs.
Hull says and submit to the most thorO
1ooking-over by a woman inspector.
When this inspeetress requested the Ia
dies to take down their hair that she
might be certain no gems were hidden
underneath the puffs. braids, curls, etc,
the rage of Mrs. Hull and her offspring
knew no bounds. No necklace was
found. and the customs officers were
obliged to confess that they had been
mistaken in their suspicion. However,
the Hull ladies were not permitted to
get OFF without further trouble. Several
articles of wearing apparel were seized
on the ground that their value had
been undeEstated. which will be held
until the actual price paid for them is
ascertained. This, plus the duty. will
represent their true cost to the Ladies
Hull when returned to them Joseph
Hull, the husband and father, one of
the wealthiest men in Savannah. was
waiting on the dock to receive his fam
lily, and when acquainted with the pre-
dfcament of the ladies was properly
very indignant. He threatens to carry
the matters to the courts.
I ". POMFREY. a citizen of Cow
ington, KY, and a very promi-
y nent Mason, has been quietly at
work for the past several years gather
ing facts to substantiate his claim to a
large torture in England. He had the
genealogy of his family down TO fine
point, has always kept track of those
members who had remained in old
anu has 1ttl pretty sure ItE
some time that he was the rightful
heir to the estates in question. His
English attorney tells him that his
proofs that he is the descendant OF the
Pomfret family of England are conclu-
sfve, which family was a noted one, at
one time called Pontefrac. If he sue
ceeds in establishing his claim to the
satisfaction of the English Government
our lucky countryman will become pos
SCISSOR not only of the large fortune of
81 500, 600, but of a title in the Eng
lish peerage and the right to a seat in
the House of Lords as well. Mr.. Pom
frey's Covington neighbors are prob
ably lying awake o. nights thinking of
ways of rendering themselves pleasing
to their fortunate friend and fellow
citizen.
A Nd now all ye short men retire to
~ your closets that your groans
may not be audible, for the
Scientists tell us that in the near future
the growth of the body may be regu-
lated by will And not only can a man
be as tall as he wishes, but the growth
Of any part of the body can be con-
trolled: for instance, if a small nose is
desired, why, small nose it is. Recent
discoveries, which can only be satisfac-
torily explained by a scientist, seem to-
point TO this delightful state of things.
A LFONSO of Spain has turned over
~ a new leaf, so we are told A
short time ago there were ru-
mors that his Queen was to take her
Babies and return to England, unable
longer to endure his disgraceful be-
havicr, but it is hardly probable that
things reached quite as serious state
as that At the time Alfonso was mar
ried he was extremely popular with his
people. The attempt made upon his
life and that of his young Queen on the
very day of their marriage turned that
popularity into a feeling of worship
almost. But Alfonso was soon taken
down from the pinnacle upon which
the people had placed him. Exfrava-
gance, unwise political fayoritism, a
too great preference for English ways
of doing things, and, worse than all
the neglect of his young Queen for NO.
men of fair face but light chara eter
were responsible for this change in
public opinion. Then, IL is said, Queen
Victoria took him in hand, and endeav-
ored to bring him back 10 reason. She
aItho with no great love for her Span
ish subjects, saw with clever wonaa's
intuition the danger in which her royal
husband stood and the necessity for an
immediate change in his manner of
life. Whether these long, serious con-
ferences with his Queen were account
able for the speedy and marked i'm
pfovement in Alfonso, or whether due
TO some other cause is of little impor-
lance. since there was an Improvement
a very great one. the rasulr of which