davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Bismarck tribune., 1931-10-19
Produce Many Results

Among the major problems on
which Edison and his assistants sent
definite results to Washington were:
An obstruction device for torpedoes;
submarine searchlights, alrplane de-
tectors, device for quick turning of
ships, submarine buoys for coast pa
troll, ship camouflaging and the burn
ing OF anthracite, expansion Of tor
pedo power, oleum cloud shells.
For protection against submarines
and mines: A safety device for bring
ing merchant ships out Of mined har-
bors; destruction of periscopes by
machine guns, sound range to To-
cate the position of a gun, detector
OF submarines by sound from moving
ships, the detection on moving YES
sci of torepdoes by submarines.
Water-penetrating projectile and
turbine-headed projectiles, observa-
ton Of periscopes by a silhouette pro-
cess, reduction of the rolling of ships
at sea, induction balance for sub
marine detection, stability of sub
merged submarines, method of
"blinding" submarines and peri
scopes.
What was regarded as one of the
most important of the protective in
ventions was Edison's device for
quickly changing the course of a ship
out of the path Of torpedo. With
his listening device aboard q vessel
1t was possible to hear a torpedo as
far away as 5000 yards. In a test,
a ship 325 feet long, loaded with a.
200 tons Of coal, was turned at right
angles to her previous course with an
advance of only 200 feet.
The Bismarck tribune., 1931-10-19
Works on Electric Light

In the summer of 1878 Edison ac-
companied an astronomical party to
RaWlins. Wyo., to test his microtasi-
meter during a transit of Venus and
upon his return began working OH the
electric light problem. Up to that
time the electric light was known
only IN the form of the powerful arc
light to illuminate streets. HIS prob
lem was to make 1t practical il
Elimination for the home.
He worked steadily until October
1879, when by carbonizing an ordin-
ary piece Of thread for a filament
lie produced the first incandescent
lamp and which. when put into a cir
cult. maintained it's incandeScence for
more than 40 hours. In two months
the thing was SO perfected that the
first public demonstration of the
lamps. 700 in number, was given at
Menlo Park on the night of Dec. 81,
1879, and attracted hundreds of peo-
pie. In less than two years the first
factory for manufacturing the lamps
was established. The popularity of
the new form of illumination was in
stantaneouS and grew into the use
OF almost countless millions of in
candescent lamps the world over.
With that success, Edison contin-
ued his work in the electrical field
and invented radical improvements
IN the construction of dynamos, max
ing them suitable for generators for
systems of distribution, regulation and
measurement Of electric current. He
also produced sockets, switches and
various other appliances and i'm
provements in systems that enabled
the introduction commercially of elec-
trio light. heat and power.
Between 1880 and 1887, in the de-
velopment, improvement and exploit
alton Of these systems, Edison took
out upwards of 800 patents, many of
which became of fundamental i'm
portance in other branches Of the
electrical industry, including the elec-
trio railway. In the same years h.
worked on a system of wireless tele-
graphy (by induction) to and from,
trains in motion, or between moving
trains and railway stations, which
was installed in 1887 on the Lehigh
Valley Railroad.
In the latter year Edison moved
his laboratory to West Orange, N. j.,
where he began new era of inven-
ton and in four years took out more
than 30 patents. Some of these were
improvements on things he had pre-
viously evolved, while others were
new machines and devices, including
the motion picture camera. Mean
while, he embarked on an extensive
scale in the manufacture and sale o.
monographs and records and dictaL-
ing machines.
The Bismarck tribune., 1931-10-19
Young Man Perfects Vote Recording Machine

When young man working telegraph
perfected an vote recording machine which
officials
thus would prevent buerins Thus convinced
beforehand satisfied
the field which
to rule
During the himself largely
light heat and
telephone and telegraph the phonograph
1926 connection with the
ncandescent lamp Edison said his
light
Two later Arthur Williams vcepesdent Edison
estimated
Edison
in rrc,1of
The Bismarck tribune., 1931-10-19
Runs Factory Six Years

For six years the factory continued
to turn out tickers while Edison ap-
Piled himself to the perfection of
many telegraphic inventions, includ-
Ing the automatic, duplex, quadru-
pleX. sextuplex and multiplex sys-
TENS, the development of which saved
the investment of millions of dollars
IN wires. Concluding that the manu.
featuring business was interfering
with his inventing, he gave up The
factory and established his first lab
oratory at Menlo Park in 1876.
The year before Edison had dis
covered the previously unknown and
unique electric phenomena which he
called "ctheric force" later recog-
mzed as due to electric waves in free
space and which became the founda-
ton of wireless telegraphy.
When he was able to Woris on his
inventions unhampered, Edison pro-
duced them rapidly. In his first two
years at Menlo Park he brought out
the carbon telephone transmitter.
Which made telephony a commercial
art and included the microphone.
Which makes radio possible.
The favorite of Edison's early in
ventions was the phonograph, which
he produced in 1877. When he heard
his first contrivance repeat after him
the verse about Mary's Little Lamb,
he remarked that it seemed even 20
him almost supernatural" 1t was
not many years after that the in
ventor saw his prediction come true,
that the talking machine would be
rs familiar in as many thousand OF |
homes as was the piano at that time.
The Bismarck tribune., 1931-10-19

school youths ambitious for q tech
nical education. The typical part OF
this movement was the practically
with which the scheme was worked
out SO as to bring prize students from
every state together in nationwide
contest.
The examinations which deter
mined the ultimate yearly winners
were not only technical, but designed
as we'll to test the general intelli-
gence and intellectual alertness OF
the boys. A foundation Of common
sense coupled with talent for scien-
tific research was emphasized by the
founder Of the tests as requisite for
success, illustrating the tenacity with
which he clung through the years to
his determination to work only for
results which would be useful.
The Bismarck tribune., 1931-10-19
Honored In SIND Year

Edison was in his 82nd year when
the United States government hoil-
ored him by presenting him with the
Congressional Gold Medal "in COM
memoration of his, achievements In
illuminating the path of progress
through the development and appli-
cation Of his inventions" The exer-
cises, which were broadcast over q
radio network, took place at the Edi-
son laboratory at West Orange, and
included an address by President
Coolidge, broadcast from Washing
ton. The president praised the in
ve;1tor as representing the finest
tradition Of our citizenship
The Bismarck tribune., 1931-10-19

Shortly afterward he was in the op-
Grating room Of the Gold and Stock
Telegraph Company seeking employ
ment when the circuit, over whici,
fluctuations in gold prices were sent
to several hundred brokers' offices,
broke down. Edison volunteered to
chase" the trouble, rectified it and
Immediately was hired as superin-
tendent at $500 a month.
He set about to improve the tickers
then in use and brought out new in
ventions, among which was the Uni
versal stock ticker. In less than a
year he received $4,000, the first
money from his inventions, and
opened a manufacturing plant at New
ark, N. j., to fulfill a contract with
the Western Union. which had taken
an option on his patents.
The Bismarck tribune., 1931-10-19
ENGLAND

At the same time Coolidge sent the
following message to Edison: "NobIe
kindly servant OF the United States
and benefactor of mankind, may you
long be spared to continue your work
and to inspire those who will carry
forward your torch"
The medal was presented by An
drew w. Mellon, secretary OF the
treasury.
The French government honored
Edison by making him in turn
chevalier, officer and commander of
the Legion of Honor. He received
honors from several other foreign
governments as we'll as medals from
scientific and engineering societies
and honorary degrees from several
American colleges and universities.
Edison was one of that quartet of
famous business men whose close
friendship was manifested in their
annual vacations taken together. The
others were Henry Ford, Harvey S.
Firestone and the late John Bur-
roughs. After the death Of Bur-
The Bismarck tribune., 1931-10-19

experimenting in the baggage car. a
bottle of phosphorus tipped over and
set fire to the car and he was oustcd.
On one of his runs as a train boy
Edison proved a hero at Mount Glenn
ems, Mich, when he snatched the
young son of the station agent from
in front Of train. In gratitude, the
father taught Edison telegraphy.
When he became proficient as an op-
orator. his experience proved an alo
to his natural bent for scientific
work. The increased knowledge Of
the possibilities of electricity which he
had gained from telegraphy impelled
him to delve further into its myster-
les and into the work which even-
tually made him famous the world
over.
In 1873, Edison married Mary G..
Stillwell, by whom he had three chill
dren, Marion Estelle, Thomas A.. Jr..
and William L. Mrs. Edison died III
1884 and two years later the invent
or married Nina M. Miller. Three
children, Madeline, Charles and
Theodore, were born Of this union.
After he learned telegraphy, Edi-
son became an operator for the West
ern Union at Port Huron, Mich, and
later night operator for the Grand
Trunk Railway at Stratford juno
ton. Can. There, the story is told,
he conceived the idea for his first
contrivance, device to thwart or
ders for an all-night vigil promul-
gated by the circuit manager.
The latter, fearing that young Edi-
son might fall asleep at his lonely
post, ordered him to tick off the sig
nal "six' every half hour. That, to
Edison, seemed senseless, so he rugged
up a wheel with notches that auto
matically licked off the required sig
nal.
The Bismarck tribune., 1931-10-19

roughs the other three continued
their annual outings together for sew
eral years.
It was on one Of these trips that
Edison first became interested in the
idea OF growing rubber in the United
States. In the course Of q discussion
on rubber, Ford expressed apprehen-
sion that the foreign supply soon
would be exceeded by the demand
and. turning to Edison, asked, "Why
don't you do something about it >"
I will Immediately" replied Edi-
son.
The inventor then acquired planta-
tons on which to grow various plants
and weeds from which he could OBJ
tain certain amounts of rubber and
sent agents all over the country to
collect specimens with which he could
experiment.
Besides his Llewellyn Park HONS
at West Orange, N. j., the inventor
maintained residence at Fort NV
erS, Fla, where he spent the winters
or several years past.
The Bismarck tribune., 1931-10-19

late years was the help he gave high
The pictures above show the higl1
spots In the career Of Thomas A,
Edison, the worlds greatest inventor.
The numbered sketches show:
!. Edison as boy Of 10, working In
the chemical laboratory which he
started in the basement Of his home.
2. How he put up q telegraph line
from the railway station to the near
by village Of Port Huron, Mich. He
was then Is years old.
3. In 1871 he helped build a type
writer, the forerunner of the mod
ern writing machine.
4. In 1877 he invented the carbon
telephone transmitter, the first
known ancestor of the radio micro
phone.
S. He invented the phonograph the
same year. The first words repro
duced on 1t were this statement:
Mary had a little lamb"
6. In 1879 he invented the electric
lamp, turning night into day for mil
lions throughout the world.
Z. In 1891 he invented q motion
picture machine, parent to the mod
ern motion picture protector. It was
a box-like affair in which the pic
lures revolved rapidly, giving the
impression Of motion. Only one per-
son could look into it at time.
8. When enthused about q project
he would work long hours at q time,
getting only four hours Of sleep daily
for weeks at time.
8. His last great dream was un-
finished. In 1890 he said II he lived
five years more he would devise COM
mercial means Of getting rubber from
the golden rod which, would enable
the world to grow q rubber crop in
IL months time.
In the center at the left, Edison is
shown congratulating Wilbur B. Hus-
ton Of Fort Madison, WASH, winner
Of contest among the nations high
school boys to select the one best
adapted to scientific career. At
the right IS picture Of the inventor
taken at Fort Myers, Fla, on the day
he observed his eighty third birthday
Below he is shown playing with
his dog on his winter estate at Fort
Myers, Florida, and with Henry Ford,
one Of his close personal friends.
At the bottom is a reproduction
II the paper which Edison issued
while news butcher" on the Grand
Trunk railroad. He set up his print |
ing equipment in q baggage car and |
gave the customers the news while It |
vas "hot." He then was only Is years
Did. The inset shows Edison as he
ooked at, that time.
The Bismarck tribune., 1931-10-19
Made Head Of Board

Before that step was taken by the
American government, Edison had
been named by Josephus Daniels,
then Secretary of the Navy, head of
the Naval Consulting Board, the
membership Of which included a score
of Americans preeminent in the field
OF inventive research. At the time
Edison was working nearly 18 hours
a day to help overcome the handicap
with which his own industries were
confronted, but he said he was mot
too busy to lend hand to Uncle
Sam" Later when the war became
an actual part of the nations bus.-
ness he devoted his entire time in
his laboratory and aboard a vessel
provided by the Navy Department 70
government problems Of the war and
continued those activities until the
signing of the armistice.
Yet with all that he had contrib
uted to the progress Of life and for
the benefit Of mankind, Edison was
not content. He turned in his lat
ter years to a new field OF endeaycr,
devoting q great deal of his time to
investigations and experiments lock-
ing toward the production of rubber
from plants, shrubs and bushes III
the United States in order to meet a
possible emergency and to give the
rubber trade a new miracle" to round
out his career of invention.
Thomas Alva Edison was born at
Milan. Ohio, February II, 1847, the
son OF Samuel and Nancy Elliott Ed;-
son. His ancestors emigrated from
Holland to the United States in 1880.
The family of the inventor was
noted, especially on his fathers side
for longevity. His great-grandfathcl
a prosperous New York banker of
Revolutionary times, lived to be 104.
and his grandfather 102. His father
was "a when he died.
Commenting on that family record
when he was rs, Edison said he was
only middle aged and II don't expect
to lower the family average"
EdiSons mother, who was born in
New England, had been q teacher in
Canadian high school and from her
he received most of his early educa-
ton. It has been recorded that Ed1-
son spent not more than two months
altogether in school. At the age of
IL he had read number of treatises
on scientific subjects as well as other
works such as Gibbons Decline and
Fall Of the Roman Empire"
About that time he engaged in a
variety OF business enterprises, in |
Guiding newsboy on the Grand Trunk
Railway between Port Huron and De-
trolt, proprietor of newsstand and
book store and of vegetable market.
and employing II boys to assist him
IN these various activities. At IS ne
turned to journalism and with some
DID equipment from the Detroit Free
Press, set up his shop in the baggage
car OF his train. There he published
the Grand Trunk Herald, said to
have been the first newspaper oub-
hShed aboard train. This venture
continued for nearly year and wss
suspended when he was denied fur
tner use of the baggage car.
Made Chemical Experiments
From his early reading of scientific
DOCKS: Edison was led into chemical
experiments. one of which put an
end TO his railroad newspaper. While
The Bismarck tribune., 1931-10-19
Resumed Personal Affairs
After the war Edison resumed II

After the war Edison resumed the
direction of his personal affairs and
continued improving and perfecting
many technical processes and mech
anisms. Upon the completion of
these he turned his attention to the
production of rubber in the United
States.
Many years ago Edisons hearing
became defective and in later years
it was said that so far as noise was
concerned Broadway to him was as
quiet as village street. The defect,
ra5ler than being a handicap to the
inventor, was said to have been a
blessing in that it sheltered him from
useless irritations and annoyances.
He once said it was nothing to worry
about, tnat within 100 years every
body would be deaf because of our
Increasingly noisy civilization"
Edison was an indefatigable work.
er. fact that was the basis for sew
eral stories regarding the small
amount of sleep in which he in
dulged. However, he was known to
have put in long hours at his labora-
tory, hours that were interrupted at
times only when Mrs. Edison drove
in an electric runabout and its sue
cessor automobiles to the laboratory
and insisted that he take recess for
drive. Usually there were argu-
ments about the useless loss of time,
but usually Mrs. Edison had her way.
The inventor insisted that most
people ate too much and slept too
much. When he reached his 65th
birthday anniversary he figured that
at that time he had lived lis years.
That is,' he explained, working as
other men do, I have done enough 70
make me lis years old. And I hope
to keep on for 20 years more, which.
figuring at the average mans labor
per day, would make me l55 Yeas
old. Then may learn to play bridge
with the ladies'"
In the later years of his life, Edi-
sons birthday anniversaries were re-
cognized all over the world and were
made the occasions for congratula-
tory messages from rulers and prom
,nent persons in many countries. And
on these days he usually had a mess
The Bismarck tribune., 1931-10-19
Becomes q Wanderer

Edison left his job at Stratford
Junction in haste without even the
formality of resignation when he
permitted q train, which he was di-
rected to stop, to pass by the sta
ton. Taking time to reply to the Or
der. he found upon reaching the sta
ton platform that the train had
gone by. A disastrous collision was
averted only because the engineers
OF the two trains travelling toward
each other on straightaway track
were able to stop them in time.
Making his way to Port Huron.
Edison later went to Fort Wayne,
Ind, and then to Indianapolis, where
he began experimenting on his idea
Of the repeater. His positions were
of short duration for after leaving
Indianapolis he went to Cincinnati
and then worked in Louisville and
Memphis. He was then II and a liv-
ing refutation of the old saying "thc
Clothes make the man. for he had
put all his money into his expert
ments.
While working at Memphis he per-
iected his repeater and by its use was
the first operator to bring New o.
leans into direct communication with
New York. But he los: his Job be-
cause OF jealousy on the part Of the
office manager. He walked back tc
Louisville and got his old job. which
he retained for two years. Then ne
lost that when he tipped over a bot
tie of chemical in the course of an
experiment. The fluid trickied
through the floor and ruined the car
pet OH the floor of the managers
office.
Working as all operator in severa.
other cities. Edison finally landed in
the Western Union office at Boston
BY that time he had established him.
self as a clever operator and had won
a reputation for one Of the "cleancst
hands in the business. In Boston
he set up small workshop. where
he continued experimenting on a DID,
plex system of telegraphy. After the
rejection of his vote-recording ma
Chine. on which he took out his first .
patent. he went to New York in 1869.
The Bismarck tribune., 1931-10-19

With the outbreak Of the World
War, the Edison works, among many
American industries, faced a serious
situation because of the cessation OF
imports Of various chemicals for
which the United States had depend
ed upon Europe. The Wizard of
Menlo Park" as Edison had come to
be known, then plunged into the
mysteries of synthetic chemistry ana
evolved processes for the manufac-
ture Of various products that were
needed In industry and which be-
came essential in the manufacture of
munitions after the United States en-
tered the war.
The Bismarck tribune., 1931-10-19
Didn't Know Exactly

HAlcW ShdCLly myself, ne replied.
but I don't. The only way for me to
get rich Is to die. I make q whole lot
OF money, but save only what would
be the salary of railroad president.
Money always had habit Of getting
away from me becuse I am always
experimenting and that costs a heap" "
Knowing his weakness for money,
he said that when he sold to the
Western Union the inventions he had
contrived for that company, it paid
him 100000, but he declined to take
II IN lump sum. Remarking that
that was lot Of money at that time.
ne said: Il knew I was q goner II I
took all that money at once. So I
made the agreement read that was
70 get 1T IN II installments They
lasted over II years and I kept feed
ing 'em into the MILL"
The total product Of that mill"
was prodigious. BY 1928 when he re-
ceived the Congressional Gold Medal
EuSon had taken out 1923 patents
and the monetary value of the indus
tries either based wholly upon his in
ventions or materially aided bv his
discoveries was estimated officially at
the Midas-like total Of $500 900 900.
This indicated that the inventor
had been instrumental in adding a,,
average Of So, 100000 a year or moro
to the nations wealth over q period
OF more than half century, the list
OF enterprises in which he could
claim part ranging from the teIc-
graph, to which he devoted his earll-
est attention, down to the moving
pictures and radio.
The national congress made this
ofticlal summary of the worth of the
inventor ~ fto ,,o+ior.
The Bismarck tribune., 1931-10-19
His Inventions Are
Valued by Congress
At $l5,599, 900, 900
BY 1923, When He Received Congressional Medal He Had
Taken Out 1928 Patents Directly or Indirectly
Affecting Many Industries
Commercial Electric, Light, Heat Power Industry Made
Possible BY Wizard of Meno Park; Phonograph
Was His Favorite Invention
BY CHARLES p. STACK
Associated Press BiOgranhical EditO,

In October 1928 Thomas Ava Edison presented with
the gold medal of the Congress of the United States the re-
verse side of which bore the inscription: He Illuminated the
path of progress by his Inventions
On that occasion President Coolidge sauted the venerable
and renowned inventor thus: Nobe kindly the
United States and benefactor of mankind"
These two sentences tell tersey and vvdy what Edison
did, and was, and the achievements of of the
most useful and fruitful Of American lives.
For than SO Edison conceived ideas and then
turned out devices founded them An invention
OF the Edison brain the of about every
weeks and his registration Of approximately 1000 patents at
Washington made him the most prolific inventor of his time
and, perhaps of all time.
Edison foremost not only in the number of his in
ventions but also because of the remarkably high
his discoveries and evotons that became practical
both commonplace and marvellous in the life of world Tnei
latter fact probably due the economic and financial fail
of his first patent.
The Bismarck tribune., 1931-10-19

age for the world, delivered In the
course Of interviews with newspaper
men.
During one Of these interviews he
was asked, If he thought 1t q fair
question, what was his income from
incandescent lamps. monographs,
moving pictures. telephones. storage
batteries and other products Of his
Inventions which had been patented
and commercialized.