The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-23

A MAN whose temper was infirm and
~ whose thumbs were thick used
\ to indulge in violent language
every time his wife called upon him to
button her up the back. He had a hard
time getting the hookn into the eyes, and
even after he had them all adjusted there
was no telling when some of them would
get loose
One day after he had nearly all of them
fastened, his wife wriggled a bit and most
of the hooks came loose.
Il wish some darn fool would invent a
hook that would stay hooked said the
husband, after he had uttered some things
that are unnecessary to repeat.
s'Why don't your" asked the wife, not
satrically or because she thought he was
a fool but for her own piece of mind and
to save him annoyance.
~ will some day when / have a few
minutes to spare he declared.
And he did From simple device
(which he patented and put on the market
he has made nearly $2.00O,00o
What a contrast this case is to that of
y Charles Teller. who died the other day.
Tellier's whole life was one of poverty
and struggle. More than once he was
east into prison for debt He died of
!. starvation, being too poor to buy enough
" food to sustain life yet nos man in all
+ the history of the world did more to con-
serve the food supply of the human race
than did Charles Teller. He was the in
stventor of cold stoyage. Other men have
been made multi-millionaires through his
genius Hundreds of millions of dollars
are saved each year through the process
he developed. But for him great cities
such as New York, London, Paris and
Berlin would be in danger of famine If
lx.-t.. ~f -.
through a great storm or the Interrupt
ton of their lines of communication.
i New York, so far as its fresh food is
concerned, lives from day to day. In 1888.
when it was tied up by blizzard, most
of the food within the city had been con-
sumed before ~ hours had passed. An
other " hours would have meant untold
suffering Today. with tremendous in
: crease in population its position is one of
comparative safety. 1t carries, in cold
storage, enough food to support 1t for
weeks.
\And vet Charles Teller died of starva-
tion What a tragedy
France was responsible for Teller, but
every nation was his debtor. He was
born in Amiens. More than 40 years ago,
sfter being released from debtor $
prison. he perfected system for the
preservation of meats, vegetables ard
fruits Thirty seven years ago ship
equipped with his cold storage appliance
was at sea for more than 100 days and
brought its cargo of meat into port as
fresh as the day it was put aboard.
Some inventors are careless. Many OF
them lack business ability. Taller s
ideas were appropriated by clever men,
who thought only of using them to their
own advantage without feeling any sense
of obligation to the inventor. Some of
them laughed or scoffed at him when he
protested that they were robbing him of
his rights.
Sensitive and proud he tried to hide his
bitterness and sought solace in working
on other great inventions for the good OF
mankind. 1t takes money to prosecute
studies and experiments and Teller had
little of it. One day someone reproached
the French government for its neglect of
Teller, who was in dire want. The gov
ernment acted promptly. 1t gave the rib
bon of the Legion of Honor to him. This
was . fine thing to do for an old man