The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-10-23
BY WILLIAM JOSEPH HAMMER
Noted Scientist and Lifelong Associate of
Thomas A. Edison, AS Told to Willis
]. Ballinger.

Js DdllluKEAS
Copyright. 1881. NEA Service. Inc.)
MODERN civilization was born
1V1 on the second floor of a two
story wooden building at Menlo
Park, N. j. 1t is surprising to be
able to localize the place so exact
ly. Yet one may go a step far
ther. 1t is possible to fix the time,
too.
The year was 1879.
Turn to the actual picture.
Some one has been bothering
Thomas Alva Edison, master of the
world changers, child of his cen
fury, embodiment of human prog
ress in it's clearest form.
This some one is a pompouS man.
He is Mr.. Bailey of PuskaS & Bailey,
a New York fnancier, with a great
deal of money. He has been hang
ing around the laboratory in Menlo
Park, and annoying Edison and his
handful of workers with proposals
to get in with Edison and develop
the European Edison Companies.
+ + Il
TT is late at night, and Mr.. Bailey
l. has missed his last train back
to New York. He wants to know
where he can sleep. Edison shrugs
his shoulders.
There is an old cot back of the
organ" he says, where you can
rest YOUR Delmonico bones"
Bailey shifts. But he is tired. He
sees others of the Edison men sleep
ing on laboratory tables, and he de-
cides that the cot will do. He
stretches out. In a moment he is
snoring.
In another moment Edison and
his aids surround the cot. Working
with screwdrivers, they swiftly and
expertly take every screw out Of the
frame of the pallet. One of them
fastens a long copper wire to the
spring, which is rolled out to the
other end Of the laboratory.
TINE wire is yanked. The bed
/ crashes to earth, carrying with
it the highly alarmed and furious
Bailey. His rage is frightful.
Sir" he bellows, 81 have never
been so insulted in my life"
Edison Shrugs his shoulders.
what did you come here for,
anyway?" he asks. Bailey stalks
out into the night and the boys at
the laboratory tables send up a
great whoop of delight.
They were about to effect the
greatest changes in humankind in
recorded history. But they become
hysterical at the sight of the de-
bris of the bed, and slap each other
on the back.
A handful of laughing, yelling,
dirty men in disreputable clothes,
eyes dull from lack of sleep, led
by a rather fat, smiling young man,
who, despite the legend, loves to
eat, loves to hear a rowdy story,
loves practical jokes.
The World Changers!
THESE, then, were the men
Il sanctifed to changing the
world, at work in. their dingy build
ing on a sunny eminence in a New
Jersey toWnlet. Take a cross
glimpse of the world upon which
they were to operate SO extensively.
An unprecedented time of pros
perity was at hand. 1t also was to
be the longest stretch of good times
in our history.
The change had begun. 1t was
however, waiting. It was waiting for
two things-power and light.
The crucible was sitting on the
furnace, but the furnace was not
hot. The work was ready to be
done, but there was not the pow
er big enough to move the wheels.
The industrial setup that was to
rule America had been foreshad-
owed, in its major outlines, but it
needed the spark to make it go. To
understand how great a change oc-
Cured after 1879, one must under
stand that a Yale professor just
had issued the novel theory that
oil oozing up out of the ground could
be used for light. Locomotives were
doing thirty miles the hour. Whale
oil was being put into lamps, and
the wicks trimmed.
There was no time for Edison to
lose.
e n Il
TITO determine just how fast he
i really did his work, look at the
clock. Let its twelve hours repre-
sent the rise of the human species
from the old femur of Pithecan-
thropus ereetus to the grave of
Edison.
Eleven hours have gone by and
still man has never known anything
better than a horse for transporta-
ton.
It is 1880 and urgent calls for
the doctor are achieved by shanks'
mare.
II - o,o~+o~ - - 80 fo4Lo~