146 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VI., No. 133. 



years. Here he wrote and printed a book 

 on electricity. He also experimented to de- 

 vise the best style of penmanship for telegraph- 

 operators, selecting finally a slight backhand, 

 with regular round letters apart from each 

 other, and not shaded, attaining himself by its 

 means a speed of fortj^-five words a minute. 

 He subsequently operated in Cincinnati again, 

 and in 1868 re- 

 moved from there 

 to Boston, where 

 he was put in 

 charge of a heavy 

 wire to New 

 York. 



It is as an in- 

 ventor, however, 

 that Edison is 

 best known in the 

 community. His 

 first invention 

 was an automatic 

 telegraph-repeat- 

 er, and was made 

 in 1863, while 

 an operator in 

 Indianapolis, 

 though it was not 

 put into practical 

 operation until 

 some time after- 

 ward, at Mem- 

 phis. It was 

 while operating 

 at this latter 

 l)lace that the 

 possibility of 

 duplex transmis- 

 sion occurred to 

 him. And al- 

 though the in- 

 struments requir- 

 ed to test his 

 method were con- 

 structed while he 

 was in Cincinnati, 



it was not until 1 870 that the}' were actually tried 

 upon the line. On reaching Boston, he found 

 an appreciative friend in Mr. Milliken, under 

 whose active encouragement bis inventive tal- 

 ent rapidly developed. He devised a dial or 

 indicating-telegraph for local lines, a chemical- 

 recorder for voting purposes, and a private 

 line-printer, experimenting at the same time, 

 between Boston and Portland, on vibrator}' 

 telegraph-instruments. 



His experiment on duplex transmission was 

 made between New York and Rochester, and 



proved unsuccessful. Penniless and disheart- 

 ened, he went to New York in search of em- 

 ployment. Chancing to be in the oflSce of the 

 Gold and stock company when a serious break- 

 down of their apparatus occurred, the officials, 

 in despair, allowed Edison, then unknown to 

 them, to try his skill upon it. His success 

 showed his abiht} , and he was at once given 



an important po- 

 sition. Soon 

 a f t e r w a r d the 

 Western union 

 telegraph c o m- 

 pany and the 

 Gold and stock 

 company' entered 

 into a joint agree- 

 ment with Edi- 

 son, b}^ which he 

 bound himself to 

 give them the 

 first refusal of all 

 his inventions 

 relating to teleg- 

 raphy. There- 

 upon he opened 

 an extensive shop 

 at Newark, and 

 entered upon a 

 period of experi- 

 mentation and 

 invention. Here 

 he toiled arduous- 

 ly by day and by 

 night, having 

 upon his hands at 

 one time, it is 

 said, no less than 

 forty-five diflTer- 

 e n t inventions 

 and improve- 

 ments in process 

 of development. 

 The constant 

 strain thus put 

 upon him over- 

 ^ ^ 3 up manufactur- 



ing altogether, and in 1876 removed to Menlo 

 Park, where he built and equipped an experi- 

 mental laboratorj', and devoted himself entirely 

 to investigation. From this laboratory most of 

 the inventions have issued which have made 

 Edison so well known. 



Up to the present time, Edison has taken 

 out in this country about four hundred patents, 

 — a fact which shows most clearl}' the prolific 

 character of his mind. Of these, not far from 

 one-fourth relate to telegraphy, — chemical, au- 



taxed his strenofth. He 



