The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-01-10

ghuOu II lCdoO III pOpu-
lation, its position is one of comparative safety.
1t carries in cold storage enough food to support
It for weeks.
And yet Charles Teller died of starvation!
France was responsible for Teller, but every ma
ton was his debtor. He was born in Amiens.
q debtors prison. he perfected a system for the
preservation of meats, vegetables and fruits.
Thirty-seyen years ago a 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. Tellier's ideas were appIo-
priated 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 bitter
bsss 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 some one re-
preached the French government for its neglect
of Teller, who was in dire want. The government
acted promptly. 1t gave the ribbon of the Legion
of Honor to him. This was a fine thing to do for
an old man, nearly all of whose clothes and furni-
ture were In pawn.
The news of Tellier's death last month stirred
ell France. The people may have neglected Tel
lier alive, but they honored him dead. His funeral
was a national event. Great men delivered eulo-
RleS or MIN. AND now france Is 10 nut up a
monument to him as one of its greatest sons. He
has monuments In the shape of industrial plants
and ships the world over.
About the same time that Teller was dying
Rudolf Diesel, one of the greatest inventors Ger
many has produced, fell or cast himself from the
deck of a ship ON which he was a passenger. He
was a broken-hearted bankrupt genius without
business sense. His engine is in use in every
quarter of the globe. Next to Watt he is ranked
by some as the greatest figure in the development
of power, For all the good he did in the advance
ment of science and industry his reward was
Is small indeed. Harassed by creditors, by his ur-
gent needs. his life had been one of misery for
years.
The tragedy of great inventors is not confined
TO France or Germany. The United States has
more cases perhaps than Europe. 1t is seldom
that a genius is able to protect himself in a world
ly way. 1t is only after he is dead that the world
begins to appreciate his full worth. Sometimes
even that is lacking.
Without the Rev. Hannibal Goodwin p~hotogra-
phy would not have been developed to the extent
It is today. Without him 1t is doubtful If there
would be motion pictures today, yet 1t is a ques-
ton whether any Of the great producers OF the
photo play who have made millions upon millions
OF dollars In the last ten years or one person out
of ten thousand OF those who go to see the
movies know of Hannibal Goodwin and his
work.
The Rev. Mr.. Goodwin was pastor of a little
church in Newark. His pay was small. barely
enough to support his family. He was a great big.
kindly man. Nature intended him for a scientist.
Conditions made him a clergy man. He looked
after his little flock, visited the sick and helped