THE CALL OF THE STREET 329 



officer was shot by his side and he ordered a 

 soldier to take him to the rear the reply came : 



"Good God, General, there is no rear!" 



He told of the famous signal from Sherman: 



"Hold the fort!" and of his reply. 



The former has been made part of an evangel- 

 istic hymn, "Hold the fort for I am coming!" 

 but the latter has never received that distinction. 

 As Corse quoted it to me it was: — 



"I'm shot, but I can whip hell out of Johnny 

 Hood!" 



It was the thirteenth of April, 1875, the anni- 

 versary of the fall of Sumter, the beginning of 

 the Civil War, and it was proposed that we cele- 

 brate by driving the next morning to Menlo Park 

 and interviewing Thomas A. Edison, which we 

 did. 



The visit to Menlo Park was a great pleasure 

 to us and I am sure Mr. Edison enjoyed it as 

 well for as telegraph operator he had received 

 many a message relating to both the Generals 

 and he told Townsend that he had taken his stuff 

 by the hour many a time. He talked of his work 



