Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1934-04-01
THOMAS A. EDISON Modern Olympian.
BY Mary Childs Nerney. New York: Har-
rison Smith & Robert Haas.

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Orange N. j., invited there for the
purpose because she Is trained In historical
research and library methods. 1t turns out
that she has also the ability to tell story
and to understand human beings. Nothing of
Edison's remarkable scientific career nothing
of his genius which made him the central figure
in an age of power through electricity, is lost
in Miss Nerney's biography, but to the inventor
in the picture is added the man. Edisons
first experiment, when as a child he set fire
to his fathers barn to what would happen.
resulted not in praise, but in q public spanking
In the town square Of Milan, Ohio, his birth
place. which was applauded by all the citizens.
who were sure the boy would come to bad
end. Miss Nerney thinks Edison was born at
just the right time, February IL, l847, because
half a century earlier Faraday had not yet
prepared the way for his strictly unitarian
genius" and so years later his trial and error
methods were in conflict with more scien-
tific technique of experiment; while In his old
age he found himself outstripped by detailed
broken ground"
Edison was a "twig that was not bent" in
spite of strict home training. and q rolling
stone which rolled on. He was not q business
man, though he was an industrial leader. He
cared nothing for money In itself, but he re-
spected and desired capital for what 1t could
do In the early days, while struggling over
his lamp, he said to his assistant: If worst
comes to worst, earn my living as q
telegrapher and you can 60 back TO stenog-
raphy" His secretary and fdus Achates was
Samuel insult: Miss Nerney wonders whether
the issue would have been different had he had
"a Henry Ford for a secretary" Liking it or
not Edison was obliged to 60 into business In
1888 when he started a lamp factory at Menlo
Park, without bothering to incorporate it, and
hoped nobody will ever give us credit" Other
aoI ~ mi
prosperous the first, but when capital vas
not forthcoming Edison did some financing
himself. As one reads, the impression grows
that Edison, though not q conventional bust
ness man, was not such bad one after all
Interesting anecdotes, not casual, but indicative
of character, are abundant in the book. such
as Edisons extra dividend of cigars, paid for
many years; his habit of paying small salaries,
but rewarding his assistants with stock not
always to their contentment). his surprise when
the price paid for his English telephone turned
out to be $4,000, instead Of dollars; his aver
sion to evening clothes. One interesting chapter
Is given to comparisons of Edison with Napoleon
and with Faraday.
WINDOWS ON HENRY STREET BY Lillian
D. Wald. With Drawings From Life by
James Daugherty Boston: Little, Brown
& Co.
busy Miss wald the time to write this
volume of "reminiscences Of her life at the head
of one of the foremost social settlements in
the world. 1t continues the story of her earlier
book, THE House Henry Street" In 1893
Miss Wald founded the Henry Street Settle
ment, at first called the Nurses Settlement, for
her first interest in social work was In nursing,
and she was the originator of the first school
nursing work in the world. The present book,
like the former one is neither statistical nor
theoretical, but is personal story of the au-
thor's life work with human beings (not social
cases. and Of some of those human beings and
what Henry Street did to help them overcome
an adverse fate. Numerous anecdotes fill the
pages; In fact, Miss Valid apologies for their
number, but her readers will applaud her lib
erality The nursing work of the settlement,
often carried on under difficulties, has always
been one of its chief activities. Clubs for all
ages in the neighborhood have brought settle
ment workers into close relations with what
might be termed their constituency. Miss Wald
regrets the passing Of the prohibition amend
ment, for, whatever the -Four Hundred"
thought of it, the -Four Million" were, in her
opinion, greatly helped by it. The Henry Street
Settlement has uniformly been the ally of pub
lie education and has often been called upon
to assist in school problems arising from chill
dren who do not fit into the standard scheme.
When children have become cases for the law,
Henry Street has also frequently aided in adj
justments. 1.-THE Lean Years. have brought
trouble to Henry Street. Many thrifty small
homes which have been built up under its
guidance have been abandoned for overcrowded
tenement rooms, jobs which supported family
in comfort have been lost, relief needs have
rapidly increased. And usually where the pow
erty has been greatest the family has been
largest. That is problem before which Henry
Street, like most other social agencies stands
appalled,.
TWICE SEVEN. BY H. c. Bainbridge. New