Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-18
EDISON SUCCUMBS
AT 3:A O'CLOCK
Members OF Family at Bedside
as End Comes to Wizard
in New Jersey Home.
Continued From First Page)

son perfected an electric vote-recording
machine, which he endeavored TO nave
Massachusetts officials adopt. 1t was
rejected because it would work" and
thus would prevent filibustering. Thus
convinced that he had wasted lot OF
time and money, the young inventor
resolved never to work upon any in
vention unless beforehand I salts
fed myself beyond doubt that u
would be useful in the field for which 1t
was intended" Thereafter, he adhered
strictly to that rule.
Electrical Work Leads.
During the greater part of his active
life Mr.. Edison devoted himself largely
to inventions of an electrical nature,
foremost of which were the incandes-
cent lamp and systems for the trans
mission of electric light. heat and
power: apparatus and machines to I'M
prove systems of communication by
telephone and telegraph; the phono-
graph and moving picture machines.
In 1926, in connection with the Attn
anniversary of his invention of the in
candescent lamp. Mr.. Edison said that
his inventions that underlle the elec-
trio light and power industry he con-
sidered the most important OF his
works. Two years late Arthur Williams,
vice president of the New York Edison
Co. estimated that the value OF the
enterprises which owed their origin. IN
part at least, to Edison's genius, rep
resented five times all the money IN
circulation
With the outbreak of the World War,
the Edison works. among many Amerl-
can industries. faced a serious situation
because of the cessation Of imports OF
various chemicals for which the United
States had depended upon Europe. The
Wizard of Menlo Park" as Edison had
come to be known. then plunged into
the mysteries of synthetic chemistry
and evolved processes for the manufac-
ture of various products that were
needed in industry and which became
essential in the manufacture OF NUM-
tiors after the United States entered
the war.
Before that step was taken by the
American Government Mr. Edison had
been named by Josephus Daniels, then
Secretary of the Navy. head Of the
Naval Consulting Board, the member
ship Of which included score of Amer
leans pre-eminent in the field OF in
ventive research. At the time Edison
was working nearly l8 hours day to
help overcome the handicap with which
his own industries were confronted, but
he said he was mot too busy to lend
a hand to Uncle Sam" Later, when
the war became an actual part OF the
Nations business. he devoted his entire
time in his laboratory and aboard a
vessel provided by the Navy Depart
ment to Government problems of the
war and continued those activities I'M
til the signing OF the armistice.
Experimental With Rubber.
Yet with all that he had contributed
to the progress of life and for the bene-
fit of mankind, Mr.. Edison was not con-
tent. He turned in his latter years to
new field of endeavor, devoting greet
deal of his time to Investigations and
experiments looking toward the produc-
ton of rubber from plants. shrubs and
bushes in the United States in order to
meet a possible national emergency and
to give the rubber trade new mir
acle" to round out his career of inven-
ton.
Mr. Edison was born at Milan. Ohio.
February II. 1347, the son of Samuel
tors emigra ted from Holland to the
United States in 1870. TIE family of
the inventor was noted, especially on
his fathers side, for longevity. His
great-grandfather, a prosperous New
York banker of Revolutionary times,
lived to be 104. and his grandfather 1o2.
His father was "a when he died.
Commenting on that family record
when he was rs, Mr. Edison said he was
only middle-aged and IT don't expect
to lower the family average"
Mr.. Edison'S mother, who was born
in New England. had been teacher in
a Canadian high school and from her
he received most of his early education.
1t has been recorded that Edison spent
not more than two months altogether in
school. At the age of IL he had read
jects, as we'll as other works. such as
Gibbons Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire"
Tried Many Enterprises.
About that time he engaged in a va
riety of business enterprises, including
newsboy on the Grand Trunk Railway
between Port Huron and Detroit, pro-
prietor of a newsstand and book store
and Of vegetable market and employ
ing II boys to assist him in these vari-
Gus activities. At IS he turned to jour-
naltsm and, with some old equipment
purchased 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 published aboard a
train. This venture continued for nearly
year and was suspended when he was
denied further use of the baggage car
From his early reading of scientific
books, Edison was led into chemical ex-
periments, one of which put an end to
his railroad newspaper. While expert
menting in the baggage car, bottle of
phosphorus tipped over and set fire to
the car and he was ousted
On one of his runs as train boy
Edison proved hero at Mount Clemens,
Mich, when he snatched the young son
IS H. eko%i1 -. -
train. In gratitude, the father taught
Edison telegraphy. When he became
proficient as an operator his expert
ence proved an aid to his natural bent
for scientific work. The increased
knowledge of the possibilities of cleo
tricity which he had gained from
biography impelled him to delve further
into its mysteries and into the work
which eventually made him IA nous the
world over.
In 1873. Mr. Edison married Mary
G. Stillwell. by whom he had three
children. Marion Estelle Thomas A., -jr.,
and William L. Mrs. Edison died in
1884 and two years later the inventor
married Nina M. Miller Three chill
dren, Madeline, Charles and Theodore,
were born of this union.
Rugged Up Automatic Device.
After he learned biography, Mr.. 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 Junction,
Canada. There, the story is told, he
conceived the idea for his first con-
trivance, a device to thwart orders for
an all-night vigil promulgated by the
circuit manager.
The latter, fearing that young Edi-
son might fall asleep at his lonely post.
ordered him to tick off the signal six"
every half hour. That, to Edison,
seemed senseless, so he rugged up a