The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1917-03-27
EDISON BECAME
SUCCESS USING
BRAINS AS BOY
Even AS Paper Boy He
y Found That Thinking
Brought Him Very
Good Results


"I want 1000 newspapers"
The circulation man Of the Detroit
Free Press looked in amazement at
the freckle-faced lad who made this
astonishing request.
"Got the money!" he asked.
mo, sir"
"Get our!''
The boy got out. He went direct
ly upstairs to the Office Of the publish
er. where big men could not enter
without an appointment.
II want $500 papers, Mr.. Storey"
said the boy. Then he explained that
the people along the line Of the rail-
road where he had run as train news
boy would be eagers to get the news
Of the battle of Pittsburg Landing.
"Can you pay for them ?" asked Mr..
Storey.
soon as sell them," answered the
boy. Mr.. Storey wrote something on
a slip Of paper and the boy took it
down to the circulation man.
Fifteen hundred" growled the
man; Thought you only wanted L.
00O?"
20, thought might as well be re-
fused 1900 as 1000" grinped the boy.
And that is one Of the things that
helped Thomas Edison, the world s
greatest inventor, to success.
He had learned of this battle. He
knew the people along the line would
be anxious to hear the news. He had
no money, but he had courage, and,
what is better. he had the habit Of
thinking things out, of thinking
ahead. Usually he sold about 60 pa
pers along this train route. How
that all out in advance and he went
to a telegraph operator whom he knew
was fond Of reading.
eff you'll wire ahead to every stop
that there's a big battle and I am
coming with papers telling the story
and with list Of the dead and wound
ed, I'll give you a daily paper and
two magazines a month for six
months" bargained young Edison.
''Ill do it, agreed the operator.
When Edison reached his first stop,
at Utica, there was a mob waiting
for the papers.
II thought it was an excursion at
first said Mr.. Edison. "I sold more
than half my papers there, charging
10 cents each. At Mt. Clemens there
was another big crowd and at Port
Huron I sold out, getting rs cents
each for all I sold at the last two
places"
Not long after that young Edison
noticed how eager the railroad men
were for news. They would sit and
gossip about railroad affairs like a lot
Of women at a. quilting party. He
got an old hand press, some type and
set it up in one end Of the baggage
car where he kept his papers. It
wasn't long before three boys were
helping him and he was printing 400
copies a week. If Brakeman Jim
Jones brokeNa leg or locomotive No.
1928 blew out a cylinder he put 1t in
his paper and the men liked it,
At that time he was experimenting
with chemicals and tipped over a bot
tie of PHOSPHORUS, which set the
car afire. There was a lot Of smoke
but he got. the fire out. The conduc-
tor, who disliked him, threw off his
printing plant, chemicals and papers
at the next stop and boxed his ears
so violently that it led to his perma-
nent deafness.
The railroad people let him back,
on his promise not to mess things up
with his chemicals any more. There
had been many complaints about that
Edison boy who messes everything
up with his fool chemicals"
Not long after that the little q
year old son of the station master and
telegraph operator at Mt. Clemens sat
in the middle of the track as a string
Of cars were being shunted down.
Young Edison saw him. Instead of
shouting and frightening the baby he
jumped from the baggage car door
where he was standing, threw the baby
off the track and managed to get up
so that the car actually pumbed him
out of the way.
I'm a poor man." said the station
hundred dollars have saved up, and
welcome"
Don't want your money, but will
you teach me how to send telegraph
messages?'' begged Edison.
In two months time he was a ca
pable telegraph operator.
He invented the duplex telegraph
and nearly starved before he could
get it adopted. He landed in New
York city with a dollar in his pocket
looking for work. Three nights he
slept on park benches. One day pass
ing brokers' Office he saw the stock
ticker stop and there was great ex-
element inside. He stepped in while
they were yelling for some one to GO
here and some one there and have it
fixed.
IT think I can, fix it for you," he
said.
They let him try. He opened the
ticker. lifted a loose contact spring
that had fallen between the wheels
and it started up again.
Just as he did this the man who
had big interest in the ticker SER
vice saw him. Were having trouble
with this service. If you can keep it
going for us We'll give you $500 a
month"; he said.
ct nearly tainted when heard this -
says Edison, ''but I remained calm
and agreed to do it, demanding an ad-
vance in good faith I really didn't
want it for good faith but for pork
and beans. hadn't eaten for nearly
80 hours. Nothing ever tasted quite
as good as that dish of pork and
beans"
Edison kept using his brains while
holding down this job. He learned
why the tickers wouldn't work well
and he improved them, securing a pat