El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-10-21
DAWSON KNOWS
THO5. A. EDISON
Fl Paso Inventor Roomed
With Wizard of Menlo
Park, at Newark.

Back in 1871 two boys lived in the
same boarding house on the corner of
Broad and Fair streets, in Newark, n j.
One was is and the other p. The
older boy was a chemist and the otner
a teleSrapher out OF a JOB Both Wer=
interested in physics and, because Of .he
older boys knowledge OF chemistry, the
younger one stayed in his room until the
oil had burned low in the kerosene
lamps, which furnished the only lights
In those days.
Both Are Inventors.
Today those two boys are men past
middle age One is world famous as
an inventor and the other, himself an
inventor, is one Of the best known
chemists and metallurgists in the coun-
Try The younger boy was Thomas A.
Edison and the other was DR.. Oliver 3.
Dawson, OF Fl PasO. who invented the
Dawson reduction furnace for treating
ores
On the 35th anniversary Of Ed!sOn's
announcement that he had perfected
the fncandescent electric lamp, DR..
Dawson today recalled vividly his
friendship for the wizard Of MenlO
Park" when they were both unknown
young men. living in the Broad street
boarding house and dreaming their
dreams Of the future Edison had been
a telegraph operator on the Grand
Trunk railroad, with headquarters at
Port Huron, Mich, but his hearing was
Dawson SAYS Before learning his
trade, Edison had been a newsboy on
the Grand Trunk and had published
little paper called the Grand Trunk
Made Toys and Taught.
He had a little shop on Railroad
avenue in Newark, where he ttnkered
with telegraph instruments. made toy
telegraph outfits and taught some Jap
anese boys telegraphy," DIT. Dawson
said today. He had lost his last job pc
cause OF his defective hearing and the
inventive turn OF his mind was even
then leading him 10 experiment with
telegraph Instruments. In that dlngy
little shop on Railroad avenue he DIS
covered that more than one message
could De sent over telegraph line al
the same time. That was the oeginnlh5
Of the quadruplex telegraph instrument
He took this TO the Western Union
companys office in New York
Cooled His Heels.
He had the instrument under MS
arm when he went there and cOOleu MS
heels outside OF the general manage ~
door. He expected TO ask 5000 Tor the
invention. Instead, the company palu
him $50 600. He came back 10 the
Broad street boarding house In Newark
with a roll of bills as Dig arouna a .
mint cup. There was 100000 IN lnal
ron told him he had better put II IN
the bank. but he said I'll, ,-..-
it here in my room ,-z
AT that time number Of banks had
failed following the end OF the Glsll
war and he was afraid he would lose
the money that he hoped TO use Tor
uerfecting his other ideas he hue"
Iittle or nothing OF business matters
as he had had no experience IN business
Osio' Pb 5,-1 m Accident.
s-Tbe discovery Of the phonograph
was an accident He was trying 70
find something that would improve MS
bearing by mechanical means Mnen
be discovered that the crude little IN
strunent he was working on RECORDED
and reuroduced articulate speech ne
was as much surprised as was the "oL-u
when he announced his discovery lie
kept working on it until ne had per
ferred the little instrument Wnlch re
uroduced sounds when rubber Iuoes
we're placed to the ears OF the listeners
That was the real beginning OF the
present highly deyelope9 Pnonosl@lii'
sThe first electric lamp was discoE-
cred by a man named King. he
called il Kings electrical pear lIee'
as he had the lamps mounted on d SUI
MORT similar to a tree The light was
FT-1fsbed by zinc batteries. as the gen
orator had not then been discovered
The King lamp was made OF glass en-
closing a vacuum with platinum ma ma
nent- Edison discovered the geneIttoI
and also the car Uon LAAd--A-I-A- -1-
lamps and improved the lamp so that
il had a commercial value
Perfected the Telephone
He also invented the carbon contact
for teleuhones which eliminated the
iaDCling sounds when the telephone
was in use He strung poles at ms
home in Menlo park and experimental
with the electric lamps and telepnone
until ne had perfected both He also
built the first electric railway line X
was : narrow gage one and was Duilt
as an experiment in electrical transpor-
tation-
Inventor Has Changed
When we lived together in Newark.
Edison was a round faced. quiet boy
with little TO say but with a thirst fof
chemical and mechanical knowledge
He knew no chemistry then, and. as
was a commercial chemist, ] did much
OF his work for him He later studied
chemistry and became quite expert IN
the science
u visited him recently at his home
in East Orange. X J.. and found him
broken old man, stopped and aged
We talked awhile but his mind was con-
Centrated on something else and he dc
not know when I left the ROOM He
r-a- a different person from the young