THE VALUE OF EDISON'S INVENTIONS TO THE WORLD
IF the world were to take an account of stock, so to speak, and proceed
in orderly fashion to marshal its tangible assets in relation to
dollars and cents, the natural resources of our globe, from centre to
circumference, would head the list. Next would come inventors, whose
value to the world as an asset could be readily estimated from an
increase of its wealth resulting from the actual transformations of
these resources into items of convenience and comfort through the
exercise of their inventive ingenuity.
Inventors of practical devices may be broadly divided into two
classes--first, those who may be said to have made two blades of grass
grow where only one grew before; and, second, great inventors, who have
made grass grow plentifully on hitherto unproductive ground. The vast
majority of practical inventors belong to and remain in the first of
these divisions, but there have been, and probably always will be, a
less number who, by reason of their greater achievements, are entitled
to be included in both classes. Of these latter, Thomas Alva Edison is
one, but in the pages of history he stands conspicuously pre-eminent--a
commanding towering figure, even among giants.
The activities of Edison have been of such great range, and his
conquests in the domains of practical arts so extensive and varied, that
it is somewhat difficult to estimate with any satisfactory degree of
accuracy the money value of his inventions to the world of to-day, even
after making due allowance for the work of other great inventors and
the propulsive effect of large amounts of capital thrown into the
enterprises which took root, wholly or in part, through the productions
of his genius and energies. This difficulty will be apparent, for
instance, when we consider his telegraph and telephone inventions. These
were absorbed in enterprises already existing, and were the means of
assisting their rapid growth and expansion, particularly the telephone
industry. Again, in considering the fact that Edison was one of the
first in the field to design and perfect a practical and operative
electric railway, the main features of which are used in all electric
roads of to-day, we are confronted with the problem as to what
proportion of their colossal investment and earnings should be ascribed
to him.
Difficulties are multiplied when we pause for a moment to think of
Edison's influence on collateral branches of business. In the public
mind he is credited with the invention of the incandescent electric
light, the phonograph, and other widely known devices; but how few
realize his actual influence on other trades that are not generally
thought of in connection with these things. For instance, let us note
what a prominent engine builder, the late Gardiner C. Sims, has said:
"Watt, Corliss, and Porter brought forward steam-engines to a high
state of proficiency, yet it remained for Mr. Edison to force better
proportions, workmanship, designs, use of metals, regulation, the
solving of the complex problems of high speed and endurance, and the
successful development of the shaft governor. Mr. Edison is preeminent
in the realm of engineering."
The phenomenal growth of the copper industry was due to a rapid and
ever-increasing demand, owing to the exploitation of the telephone,
electric light, electric motor, and electric railway industries. Without
these there might never have been the romance of "Coppers" and the rise
and fall of countless fortunes. And although one cannot estimate in
definite figures the extent of Edison's influence in the enormous
increase of copper production, it is to be remembered that his basic
inventions constitute a most important factor in the demand for the
metal. Besides, one must also give him the credit, as already noted,
for having recognized the necessity for a pure quality of copper for
electric conductors, and for his persistence in having compelled the
manufacturers of that period to introduce new and additional methods
of refinement so as to bring about that result, which is now a sine qua
non.
Still considering his influence on other staples and collateral trades,
let us enumerate briefly and in a general manner some of the more
important and additional ones that have been not merely stimulated, but
in many cases the business and sales have been directly increased and
new arts established through the inventions of this one man--namely,
iron, steel, brass, zinc, nickel, platinum ($5 per ounce in 1878, now
$26 an ounce), rubber, oils, wax, bitumen, various chemical compounds,
belting, boilers, injectors, structural steel, iron tubing, glass,
silk, cotton, porcelain, fine woods, slate, marble, electrical measuring
instruments, miscellaneous machinery, coal, wire, paper, building
materials, sapphires, and many others.
The question before us is, To what extent has Edison added to the wealth
of the world by his inventions and his energy and perseverance? It will
be noted from the foregoing that no categorical answer can be offered
to such a question, but sufficient material can be gathered from a
statistical review of the commercial arts directly influenced to afford
an approximate idea of the increase in national wealth that has been
affected by or has come into being through the practical application of
his ideas.
First of all, as to inventions capable of fairly definite estimate, let
us mention the incandescent electric light and systems of distribution
of electric light, heat, and power, which may justly be considered as
the crowning inventions of Edison's life. Until October 21, 1879, there
was nothing in existence resembling our modern incandescent lamp.
On that date, as we have seen in a previous chapter, Edison's labors
culminated in his invention of a practical incandescent electric lamp
embodying absolutely all the essentials of the lamp of to-day, thus
opening to the world the doors of a new art and industry. To-day there
are in the United States more than 41,000,000 of these lamps, connected
to existing central-station circuits in active operation.
Such circuits necessarily imply the existence of central stations with
their equipment. Until the beginning of 1882 there were only a few
arc-lighting stations in existence for the limited distribution of
current. At the present time there are over 6000 central stations in
this country for the distribution of electric current for light,
heat, and power, with capital obligations amounting to not less than
$1,000,000,000. Besides the above-named 41,000,000 incandescent lamps
connected to their mains, there are about 500,000 arc lamps and 150,000
motors, using 750,000 horse-power, besides countless fan motors and
electric heating and cooking appliances.
When it is stated that the gross earnings of these central stations
approximate the sum of $225,000,000 yearly, the significant import of
these statistics of an art that came so largely from Edison's laboratory
about thirty years ago will undoubtedly be apparent.
But the above are not by any means all the facts relating to
incandescent electric lighting in the United States, for in addition to
central stations there are upward of 100,000 isolated or private plants
in mills, factories, steamships, hotels, theatres, etc., owned by
the persons or concerns who operate them. These plants represent an
approximate investment of $500,000,000, and the connection of not less
than 25,000,000 incandescent lamps or their equivalent.
Then there are the factories where these incandescent lamps are made,
about forty in number, representing a total investment that may be
approximated at $25,000,000. It is true that many of these factories
are operated by other than the interests which came into control of
the Edison patents (General Electric Company), but the 150,000,000
incandescent electric lamps now annually made are broadly covered in
principle by Edison's fundamental ideas and patents.
It will be noted that these figures are all in round numbers, but they
are believed to be well within the mark, being primarily founded upon
the special reports of the Census Bureau issued in 1902 and 1907, with
the natural increase from that time computed by experts who are in
position to obtain the facts. It would be manifestly impossible to give
exact figures of such a gigantic and swiftly moving industry, whose
totals increase from week to week.
The reader will naturally be disposed to ask whether it is intended to
claim that Edison has brought about all this magnificent growth of the
electric-lighting art. The answer to this is decidedly in the negative,
for the fact is that he laid some of the foundation and erected a
building thereon, and in the natural progressive order of things other
inventors of more or less fame have laid substructures or added a wing
here and a story there until the resultant great structure has attained
such proportions as to evoke the admiration of the beholder; but the old
foundation and the fundamental building still remain to support other
parts. In other words, Edison created the incandescent electric lamp,
and invented certain broad and fundamental systems of distribution
of current, with all the essential devices of detail necessary for
successful operation. These formed a foundation. He also spent great
sums of money and devoted several years of patient labor in the early
practical exploitation of the dynamo and central station and isolated
plants, often under, adverse and depressing circumstances, with a dogged
determination that outlived an opposition steadily threatening defeat.
These efforts resulted in the firm commercial establishment of modern
electric lighting. It is true that many important inventions of others
have a distinguished place in the art as it is exploited today, but the
fact remains that the broad essentials, such as the incandescent lamp,
systems of distribution, and some important details, are not only
universally used, but are as necessary to-day for successful commercial
practice as they were when Edison invented them many years ago.
The electric railway next claims our consideration, but we are
immediately confronted by a difficulty which seems insurmountable when
we attempt to formulate any definite estimate of the value and influence
of Edison's pioneer work and inventions. There is one incontrovertible
fact--namely, that he was the first man to devise, construct, and
operate from a central station a practicable, life-size electric
railroad, which was capable of transporting and did transport passengers
and freight at variable speeds over varying grades, and under complete
control of the operator. These are the essential elements in all
electric railroading of the present day; but while Edison's original
broad ideas are embodied in present practice, the perfection of the
modern electric railway is greatly due to the labors and inventions of
a large number of other well-known inventors. There was no reason
why Edison could not have continued the commercial development of the
electric railway after he had helped to show its practicability in 1880,
1881, and 1882, just as he had completed his lighting system, had it
not been that his financial allies of the period lacked faith in the
possibilities of electric railroads, and therefore declined to furnish
the money necessary for the purpose of carrying on the work.
With these facts in mind, we shall ask the reader to assign to Edison a
due proportion of credit for his pioneer and basic work in relation to
the prodigious development of electric railroading that has since taken
place. The statistics of 1908 for American street and elevated railways
show that within twenty-five years the electric-railway industry has
grown to embrace 38,812 miles of track on streets and for elevated
railways, operated under the ownership of 1238 separate companies, whose
total capitalization amounted to the enormous sum of $4,123,834,598.
In the equipments owned by such companies there are included 68,636
electric cars and 17,568 trailers and others, making a total of 86,204
of such vehicles. These cars and equipments earned over $425,000,000
in 1907, in giving the public transportation, at a cost, including
transfers, of a little over three cents per passenger, for whom a
fifteen-mile ride would be possible. It is the cheapest transportation
in the world.
Some mention should also be made of the great electrical works of the
country, in which the dynamos, motors, and other varied paraphernalia
are made for electric lighting, electric railway, and other purposes.
The largest of these works is undoubtedly that of the General
Electric Company at Schenectady, New York, a continuation and enormous
enlargement of the shops which Edison established there in 1886. This
plant at the present time embraces over 275 acres, of which sixty acres
are covered by fifty large and over one hundred small buildings; besides
which the company also owns other large plants elsewhere, representing
a total investment approximating the sum of $34,850,000 up to 1908. The
productions of the General Electric Company alone average annual
sales of nearly $75,000,000, but they do not comprise the total of the
country's manufactures in these lines.
Turning our attention now to the telephone, we again meet a condition
that calls for thoughtful consideration before we can properly
appreciate how much the growth of this industry owes to Edison's
inventive genius. In another place there has already been told the story
of the telephone, from which we have seen that to Alexander Graham
Bell is due the broad idea of transmission of speech by means of an
electrical circuit; also that he invented appropriate instruments and
devices through which he accomplished this result, although not to that
extent which gave promise of any great commercial practicability for
the telephone as it then existed. While the art was in this inefficient
condition, Edison went to work on the subject, and in due time, as we
have already learned, invented and brought out the carbon transmitter,
which is universally acknowledged to have been the needed device that
gave to the telephone the element of commercial practicability, and
has since led to its phenomenally rapid adoption and world-wide use. It
matters not that others were working in the same direction, Edison was
legally adjudicated to have been the first to succeed in point of
time, and his inventions were put into actual use, and may be found in
principle in every one of the 7,000,000 telephones which are estimated
to be employed in the country at the present day. Basing the statements
upon facts shown by the Census reports of 1902 and 1907, and adding
thereto the growth of the industry since that time, we find on a
conservative estimate that at this writing the investment has been not
less than $800,000,000 in now existing telephone systems, while no fewer
than 10,500,000,000 talks went over the lines during the year 1908.
These figures relate only to telephone systems, and do not include any
details regarding the great manufacturing establishments engaged in
the construction of telephone apparatus, of which there is a production
amounting to at least $15,000,000 per annum.
Leaving the telephone, let us now turn our attention to the telegraph,
and endeavor to show as best we can some idea of the measure to which it
has been affected by Edison's inventions. Although, as we have seen in
a previous part of this book, his earliest fame arose from his great
practical work in telegraphic inventions and improvements, there is no
way in which any definite computation can be made of the value of his
contributions in the art except, perhaps, in the case of his quadruplex,
through which alone it is estimated that there has been saved from
$15,000,000 to $20,000,000 in the cost of line construction in this
country. If this were the only thing that he had ever accomplished,
it would entitle him to consideration as an inventor of note. The
quadruplex, however, has other material advantages, but how far they and
the natural growth of the business have contributed to the investment
and earnings of the telegraph companies, is beyond practicable
computation.
It would, perhaps, be interesting to speculate upon what might have been
the growth of the telegraph and the resultant benefit to the community
had Edison's automatic telegraph inventions been allowed to take their
legitimate place in the art, but we shall not allow ourselves to
indulge in flights of fancy, as the value of this chapter rests not upon
conjecture, but only upon actual fact. Nor shall we attempt to offer any
statistics regarding Edison's numerous inventions relating to telegraphs
and kindred devices, such as stock tickers, relays, magnets, rheotomes,
repeaters, printing telegraphs, messenger calls, etc., on which he was
so busily occupied as an inventor and manufacturer during the ten years
that began with January, 1869. The principles of many of these devices
are still used in the arts, but have become so incorporated in other
devices as to be inseparable, and cannot now be dealt with separately.
To show what they mean, however, it might be noted that New York City
alone has 3000 stock "tickers," consuming 50,000 miles of record tape
every year.
Turning now to other important arts and industries which have been
created by Edison's inventions, and in which he is at this time taking
an active personal interest, let us visit Orange, New Jersey. When his
present laboratory was nearing completion in 1887, he wrote to Mr. J.
Hood Wright, a partner in the firm of Drexel, Morgan & Co.: "My ambition
is to build up a great industrial works in the Orange Valley, starting
in a small way and gradually working up."
In this plant, which represents an investment approximating the sum
of $4,000,000, are grouped a number of industrial enterprises of which
Edison is either the sole or controlling owner and the guiding spirit.
These enterprises are the National Phonograph Company, the Edison
Business Phonograph Company, the Edison Phonograph Works, the Edison
Manufacturing Company, the Edison Storage Battery Company, and the
Bates Manufacturing Company. The importance of these industries will be
apparent when it is stated that at this plant the maximum pay-roll shows
the employment of over 4200 persons, with annual earnings in salaries
and wages of more than $2,750,000.
In considering the phonograph in its commercial aspect, and endeavoring
to arrive at some idea of the world's estimate of the value of this
invention, we feel the ground more firm under our feet, for Edison
has in later years controlled its manufacture and sale. It will be
remembered that the phonograph lay dormant, commercially speaking,
for about ten years after it came into being, and then later invention
reduced it to a device capable of more popular utility. A few years
of rather unsatisfactory commercial experience brought about a
reorganization, through which Edison resumed possession of the business.
It has since been continued under his general direction and ownership,
and he has made a great many additional inventions tending to improve
the machine in all its parts.
The uses made of the phonograph up to this time have been of four kinds,
generally speaking--first, and principally, for amusement; second,
for instruction in languages; third, for business, in the dictation of
correspondence; and fourth, for sentimental reasons in preserving the
voices of friends. No separate figures are available to show the extent
of its employment in the second and fourth classes, as they are probably
included in machines coming under the first subdivision. Under this head
we find that there have been upward of 1,310,000 phonographs sold during
the last twenty years, with and for which there have been made and
sold no fewer than 97,845,000 records of a musical or other character.
Phonographic records are now being manufactured at Orange at the rate
of 75,000 a day, the annual sale of phonographs and records being
approximately $7,000,000, including business phonographs. This does not
include blank records, of which large numbers have also been supplied to
the public.
The adoption of the business phonograph has not been characterized
by the unanimity that obtained in the case of the one used merely for
amusement, as its use involves some changes in methods that business
men are slow to adopt until they realize the resulting convenience and
economy. Although it is only a few years since the business phonograph
has begun to make some headway, it is not difficult to appreciate that
Edison's prediction in 1878 as to the value of such an appliance is
being realized, when we find that up to this time the sales run up to
12,695 in number. At the present time the annual sales of the business
phonographs and supplies, cylinders, etc., are not less than $350,000.
We must not forget that the basic patent of Edison on the phonograph has
long since expired, thus throwing open to the world the wonderful art
of reproducing human speech and other sounds. The world was not slow to
take advantage of the fact, hence there are in the field numerous other
concerns in the same business. It is conservatively estimated by those
who know the trade and are in position to form an opinion, that the
figures above given represent only about one-half of the entire business
of the country in phonographs, records, cylinders, and supplies.
Taking next his inventions that pertain to a more recently established
but rapidly expanding branch of business that provides for the amusement
of the public, popularly known as "motion pictures," we also find a
general recognition of value created. Referring the reader to a previous
chapter for a discussion of Edison's standing as a pioneer inventor in
this art, let us glance at the commercial proportions of this young but
lusty business, whose ramifications extend to all but the most remote
and primitive hamlets of our country.
The manufacture of the projecting machines and accessories, together
with the reproduction of films, is carried on at the Orange Valley
plant, and from the inception of the motion-picture business to the
present time there have been made upward of 16,000 projecting machines
and many million feet of films carrying small photographs of moving
objects. Although the motion-picture business, as a commercial
enterprise, is still in its youth, it is of sufficient moment to call
for the annual production of thousands of machines and many million
feet of films in Edison's shops, having a sale value of not less than
$750,000. To produce the originals from which these Edison films are
made, there have been established two "studios," the largest of which is
in the Bronx, New York City.
In this, as well as in the phonograph business, there are many other
manufacturers in the field. Indeed, the annual product of the Edison
Manufacturing Company in this line is only a fractional part of the
total that is absorbed by the 8000 or more motion-picture theatres and
exhibitions that are in operation in the United States at the present
time, and which represent an investment of some $45,000,000. Licensees
under Edison patents in this country alone produce upward of 60,000,000
feet of films annually, containing more than a billion and a half
separate photographs. To what extent the motion-picture business may
grow in the not remote future it is impossible to conjecture, for it has
taken a place in the front rank of rapidly increasing enterprises.
The manufacture and sale of the Edison-Lalande primary battery,
conducted by the Edison Manufacturing Company at the Orange Valley
plant, is a business of no mean importance. Beginning about twenty
years ago with a battery that, without polarizing, would furnish large
currents specially adapted for gas-engine ignition and other important
purposes, the business has steadily grown in magnitude until the present
output amounts to about 125,000 cells annually; the total number of
cells put into the hands of the public up to date being approximately
1,500,000. It will be readily conceded that to most men this alone would
be an enterprise of a lifetime, and sufficient in itself to satisfy a
moderate ambition. But, although it has yielded a considerable profit to
Edison and gives employment to many people, it is only one of the many
smaller enterprises that owe an existence to his inventive ability and
commercial activity.
So it also is in regard to the mimeograph, whose forerunner, the
electric pen, was born of Edison's brain in 1877. He had been long
impressed by the desirability of the rapid production of copies of
written documents, and, as we have seen by a previous chapter, he
invented the electric pen for this purpose, only to improve upon it
later with a more desirable device which he called the mimeograph, that
is in use, in various forms, at this time. Although the electric pen had
a large sale and use in its time, the statistics relating to it are not
available. The mimeograph, however, is, and has been for many years,
a standard office appliance, and is entitled to consideration, as the
total number put into use up to this time is approximately 180,000,
valued at $3,500,000, while the annual output is in the neighborhood
of 9000 machines, sold for about $150,000, besides the vast quantity of
special paper and supplies which its use entails in the production of
the many millions of facsimile letters and documents. The extent of
production and sale of supplies for the mimeograph may be appreciated
when it is stated that they bring annually an equivalent of three times
the amount realized from sales of machines. The manufacture and sale
of the mimeograph does not come within the enterprises conducted under
Edison's personal direction, as he sold out the whole thing some years
ago to Mr. A. B. Dick, of Chicago.
In making a somewhat radical change of subject, from duplicating
machines to cement, we find ourselves in a field in which Edison has
made a most decided impression. The reader has already learned that his
entry into this field was, in a manner, accidental, although logically
in line with pronounced convictions of many years' standing, and
following up the fund of knowledge gained in the magnetic ore-milling
business. From being a new-comer in the cement business, his corporation
in five years has grown to be the fifth largest producer in the United
States, with a still increasing capacity. From the inception of this
business there has been a steady and rapid development, resulting in the
production of a grand total of over 7,300,000 barrels of cement up
to the present date, having a value of about $6,000,000, exclusive of
package. At the time of this writing, the rate of production is over
8000 barrels of cement per day, or, say, 2,500,000 barrels per year,
having an approximate selling value of a little less than $2,000,000,
with prospects of increasing in the near future to a daily output of
10,000 barrels. This enterprise is carried on by a corporation called
the Edison Portland Cement Company, in which he is very largely
interested, and of which he is the active head and guiding spirit.
Had not Edison suspended the manufacture and sale of his storage battery
a few years ago because he was not satisfied with it, there might have
been given here some noteworthy figures of an extensive business, for
the company's books show an astonishing number of orders that were
received during the time of the shut-down. He was implored for
batteries, but in spite of the fact that good results had been obtained
from the 18,000 or 20,000 cells sold some years ago, he adhered firmly
to his determination to perfect them to a still higher standard before
resuming and continuing their manufacture as a regular commodity. As we
have noted in a previous chapter, however, deliveries of the perfected
type were begun in the summer of 1909, and since that time the
business has continued to grow in the measure indicated by the earlier
experience.
Thus far we have concerned ourselves chiefly with those figures which
exhibit the extent of investment and production, but there is another
and humanly important side that presents itself for consideration
namely, the employment of a vast industrial army of men and women,
who earn a living through their connection with some of the arts and
industries to which our narrative has direct reference. To this the
reader's attention will now be drawn.
The following figures are based upon the Special Reports of the Census
Bureau, 1902 and 1907, with additions computed upon the increase that
has subsequently taken place. In the totals following is included the
compensation paid to salaried officials and clerks. Details relating to
telegraph systems are omitted.
Taking the electric light into consideration first, we find that in the
central stations of the United States there are not less than an average
of 50,000 persons employed, requiring an aggregate yearly payroll of
over $40,000,000. This does not include the 100,000 or more isolated
electric-light plants scattered throughout the land. Many of these
are quite large, and at least one-third of them require one additional
helper, thus adding, say, 33,000 employees to the number already
mentioned. If we assume as low a wage as $10 per week for each of
these helpers, we must add to the foregoing an additional sum of over
$17,000,000 paid annually for wages, almost entirely in the isolated
incandescent electric lighting field.
Central stations and isolated plants consume over 100,000,000
incandescent electric lamps annually, and in the production of these
there are engaged about forty factories, on whose pay-rolls appear
an average of 14,000 employees, earning an aggregate yearly sum of
$8,000,000.
Following the incandescent lamp we must not forget an industry
exclusively arising from it and absolutely dependent upon it--namely,
that of making fixtures for such lamps, the manufacture of which gives
employment to upward of 6000 persons, who annually receive at least
$3,750,000 in compensation.
The detail devices of the incandescent electric lighting system also
contribute a large quota to the country's wealth in the millions of
dollars paid out in salaries and wages to many thousands of persons who
are engaged in their manufacture.
The electric railways of our country show even larger figures than the
lighting stations and plants, as they employ on the average over
250,000 persons, whose annual compensation amounts to not less than
$155,000,000.
In the manufacture of about $50,000,000 worth of dynamos and motors
annually, for central-station equipment, isolated plants, electric
railways, and other purposes, the manufacturers of the country employ an
average of not less than 30,000 people, whose yearly pay-roll amounts to
no less a sum than $20,000,000.
The growth of the telephone systems of the United States also furnishes
us with statistics of an analogous nature, for we find that the average
number of employees engaged in this industry is at least 140,000, whose
annual earnings aggregate a minimum of $75,000,000; besides which the
manufacturers of telephone apparatus employ over 12,000 persons, to whom
is paid annually about $5,500,000.
No attempt is made to include figures of collateral industries,
such, for instance, as copper, which is very closely allied with the
electrical arts, and the great bulk of which is refined electrically.
The 8000 or so motion-picture theatres of the country employ no fewer
than 40,000 people, whose aggregate annual income amounts to not less
than $37,000,000.
Coming now to the Orange Valley plant, we take a drop from these figures
to the comparatively modest ones which give us an average of 3600
employees and calling for an annual pay-roll of about $2,250,000. It
must be remembered, however, that the sums mentioned above represent
industries operated by great aggregations of capital, while the Orange
Valley plant, as well as the Edison Portland Cement Company, with an
average daily number of 530 employees and over $400,000 annual pay-roll,
represent in a large measure industries that are more in the nature
of closely held enterprises and practically under the direction of one
mind.
The table herewith given summarizes the figures that have just been
presented, and affords an idea of the totals affected by the genius
of this one man. It is well known that many other men and many other
inventions have been needed for the perfection of these arts; but it
is equally true that, as already noted, some of these industries are
directly the creation of Edison, while in every one of the rest his
impress has been deep and significant. Before he began inventing, only
two of them were known at all as arts--telegraphy and the manufacture
of cement. Moreover, these figures deal only with the United States, and
take no account of the development of many of the Edison inventions
in Europe or of their adoption throughout the world at large. Let it
suffice
STATISTICAL RESUME (APPROXIMATE) OF SOME OF THE INDUSTRIES
IN THE UNITED STATES DIRECTLY FOUNDED UPON OR
AFFECTED BY INVENTIONS OF THOMAS A. EDISON
Annual
Gross Rev- Number Annual
Class of Industry Investment enue or of Em- Pay-Rolls
sales
Central station lighting
and power $1,000,000,000 $125,000,000 50,000 $40,000,000
Isolated incandescent
lighting 500,000,000 -- 33,000 17,000 000
Incandescent lamps 25,000,000 20,000,000 14,000 8,000 000
Electric fixtures 8,000,000 5,000,000 6,000 3,750,000
Dynamos and motors 60,000,000 50,000,000 30,000 20,000,000
Electric railways 4,000,000,000 430,000,000 250,000 155,000,000
Telephone systems 800,000,000 175,000,000 140,000 75,000,000
Telephone apparatus 30,000,000 15,000,000 12,000 5,500,000
Phonograph and motion
pictures 10,000,000 15,000,000 5,000 6,000,000
Motion picture theatres 40,000,000 80,000,000 40,000 37,000,000
Edison Portland cement 4,000,000 2,000,000 530 400,000
Telegraphy 250,000,000 60,000,000 100,000 30,000,000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------Totals
6,727,000,000 1,077,000,000 680,530 397,650,000
that in America alone the work of Edison has been one of the most potent
factors in bringing into existence new industries now capitalized at
nearly $ 7,000,000,000, earning annually over $1,000,000,000, and giving
employment to an army of more than six hundred thousand people.
A single diamond, prismatically flashing from its many facets
the beauties of reflected light, comes well within the limits of
comprehension of the human mind and appeals to appreciation by the
finer sensibilities; but in viewing an exhibition of thousands of
these beautiful gems, the eye and brain are simply bewildered with the
richness of a display which tends to confuse the intellect until
the function of analysis comes into play and leads to more adequate
apprehension.
So, in presenting the mass of statistics contained in this chapter, we
fear that the result may have been the bewilderment of the reader to
some extent. Nevertheless, in writing a biography of Edison, the
main object is to present the facts as they are, and leave it to the
intelligent reader to classify, apply, and analyze them in such manner
as appeals most forcibly to his intellectual processes. If in the
foregoing pages there has appeared to be a tendency to attribute to
Edison the entire credit for the growth to which many of the above-named
great enterprises have in these latter days attained, we must especially
disclaim any intention of giving rise to such a deduction. No one who
has carefully followed the course of this narrative can deny, however,
that Edison is the father of some of the arts and industries that have
been mentioned, and that as to some of the others it was the magic of
his touch that helped make them practicable. Not only to his work and
ingenuity is due the present magnitude of these arts and industries, but
it is attributable also to the splendid work and numerous contributions
of other great inventors, such as Brush, Bell, Elihu Thomson, Weston,
Sprague, and many others, as well as to the financiers and investors who
in the past thirty years have furnished the vast sums of money that were
necessary to exploit and push forward these enterprises.
The reader may have noticed in a perusal of this chapter the lack of
autobiographical quotations, such as have appeared in other parts of
this narrative. Edison's modesty has allowed us but one remark on the
subject. This was made by him to one of the writers a short time ago,
when, after an interesting indulgence in reminiscences of old times and
early inventions, he leaned back in his chair, and with a broad smile on
his face, said, reflectively: "Say, I HAVE been mixed up in a whole lot
of things, haven't I?"