labors included his old-time assistant, Fred Ott, together with his
chemist, J. W. Aylsworth, as well as E. J. Ross, Jr.; W. E. Holland,
and Ralph Arbogast, and a little later W. G. Bee, all of whom grew
up with the battery and devoted their energies to its commercial
development.
One of these workers, relating the strenuous experiences of these few
years, says: "It was hard work and long hours, but still there were
some things that made life pleasant. One of them was the supper-hour
we enjoyed when we worked nights. Mr. Edison would have supper sent in
about midnight, and we all sat down together, including himself. Work
was forgotten for the time, and all hands were ready for fun. I have
very pleasant recollections of Mr. Edison at these times. He would
always relax and help to make a good time, and on some occasions I have
seen him fairly overflow with animal spirits, just like a boy let out
of school. He was very fond of telling and hearing stories, and always
appreciated a joke. After the supper-hour was over, however, he again
became the serious, energetic inventor, deeply immersed in the work in
hand."
Another interesting and amusing reminiscence of this period of activity
has been told by another of the family of experimenters: "Sometimes
when Mr. Edison had been working long hours he would want to have a
short sleep. It was one of the funniest things I ever witnessed to see
him crawl into an ordinary roll-top desk and curl up and take a nap.
If there was a sight that was still more funny, it was to see him turn
over on his other side, all the time remaining in the desk. He would
use several volumes of _Watts' Dictionary of Chemistry_ for a pillow,
and we fellows used to say that he absorbed the contents during his
sleep, judging from the flow of new ideas he had on waking."
Such incidents as these serve merely to illustrate the lighter moments
that relieved the severe and arduous labors of the strenuous five
years of the early storage-battery work of Edison and his associates.
Difficulties there were a-plenty, but these are what Edison usually
thrives on. As another coworker of this period says: "Edison seemed
pleased when he used to run up against a serious difficulty. It would
seem to stiffen his backbone and make him more prolific of new ideas.
For a time I thought I was foolish to imagine such a thing, but I could
never get away from the impression that he really appeared happy when
he ran up against a serious snag."
It would be out of the question in a book of this kind to follow
Edison's trail in detail through the innumerable twists and turns of
his experimentation on the storage battery, for they would fill a
big volume. The reader may imagine how extensive they were from the
reply of one of his laboratory assistants, who, when asked how many
experiments were made on the storage battery since the year 1900,
replied: "Goodness only knows! We used to number our experiments
consecutively from one to ten thousand, and when we got up to ten
thousand we turned back to one and ran up to ten thousand again, and so
on. We ran through several series--I don't know how many, and have lost
track of them now, but it was not far from fifty thousand."
The mechanical problems in devising this battery were numerous and
intricate, but the greatest difficulty that Edison had to overcome was
the proper preparation of nickel hydrate for the positive and iron
oxide for the negative plate. He found that comparatively little was
known by manufacturing chemists about these compounds. Hence it became
necessary for him to establish his own chemical works and put them in
charge of men specially trained by himself.
After an intense struggle with these problems, lasting over several
years, the storage battery was at length completed and put on the
market. The public was ready for it and there was a rapid sale.
Continuous tests of the battery were carried on at the laboratory,
as well as practical and heavy tests in automobiles, which were kept
running constantly over all kinds of roads under Edison's directions.
After these tests had been going on for some time the results showed
that occasionally a cell here and there would fall short in capacity.
This did not suit Edison. He was determined to make his storage battery
a complete success, and after careful thought decided to shut down
until he had overcome the trouble. The customers were satisfied and
wanted to buy more batteries, but he was not satisfied and would sell
no more until he had made the battery perfect.
He therefore shut down the factory and went to experimenting once more.
The old strenuous struggle set in and continued nearly three years
before he was satisfied beyond doubt that the battery was right. In
the early summer of 1909 Edison once more started to manufacture and
sell the batteries, and has since that time continued to supply them as
quickly as they are made. At the present writing the factory is running
day and night in attempting to keep up with orders.
One of the principal troubles of the earlier cells was a lack of
conductivity between the nickel hydrate and the metal tube in which it
was contained. Edison had used graphite to obtain this conductivity,
but this material proved to be uncertain in some cases. After a long
course of study and experiment he solved this problem in a satisfactory
manner by using flakes of pure nickel, which he obtained by a most
fascinating and ingenious process.
A metallic cylinder is electroplated with alternate layers of copper
and nickel, one hundred of each. The combined sheet, which is only as
thick as a visiting-card, is stripped off the cylinder and cut into
tiny squares of about one-sixteenth of an inch each. These squares
are put into a bath which dissolves out the copper. This releases the
layers of nickel, so that each of these squares becomes one hundred
tiny sheets, or flakes, of pure metallic nickel, so thin and light
that when they are dried they will float in the air. These flakes are
automatically pressed into the positive tubes with the nickel hydrate
in an ingenious machine which had to be specially invented for the
purpose.
Not only was this machine specially invented, but it was necessary
to invent and design practically all the other machinery that it was
necessary to use in manufacturing the battery. Thus, we see that in
this, as in many other of Edison's inventions, it is not only the thing
itself that has been invented, but also the special machinery and tools
to make it.
The principal use that Edison has had in mind for his storage battery
is the transportation of freight and passengers by truck, automobile,
and street-car. Although at the time of writing this book the improved
battery has been on the market a little over two years, great strides
have been made in carrying his ideas into effect.
The number of trucks and automobiles using Edison's storage battery
already run into the thousands, with more orders than can be
immediately filled.
XXII
EDISON'S MISCELLANEOUS INVENTIONS
Thus far the history of Edison's career has fallen naturally into a
series of chapters each aiming to describe a group of inventions in the
development of some art. This plan has been helpful to the writer and
probably useful to the reader.
It happens, however, that the process has left a vast mass of discovery
and invention untouched, and it is now proposed to make brief mention
of a few of the hundreds of things that have occupied Edison's
attention from time to time.
Beginning with telegraphy, we find that Edison did some work on
wireless transmission. He says: "I perfected a system of train
telegraphy between stations and trains in motion, whereby messages
could be sent from the moving train to the central office; and this
was the forerunner of wireless telegraphy. This system was used for a
number of years on the Lehigh Valley Railroad on their construction
trains. The electric wave passed from a piece of metal on top of the
car across the air to the telegraph wires, and then proceeded to the
despatcher's office. In my first experiments with this system I tried
it on the Staten Island Railroad and employed an operator named King
to do the experimenting. He reported results every day, and received
instructions by mail; but for some reason he could send messages all
right when the train went in one direction, but could not make it go
in the contrary direction. I made suggestions of every kind to get
around this phenomenon. Finally I telegraphed King to find out if he
had any suggestions himself, and I received a reply that the only way
he could propose to get around the difficulty was to put the island on
a pivot so it could be turned around. I found the trouble finally, and
the practical introduction on the Lehigh Valley road was the result.
The system was sold to a very wealthy man, and he would never sell any
rights or answer letters. He became a spiritualist subsequently, which
probably explains it."
The earlier experiments with wireless telegraphy were made at Menlo
Park during the first days of the electric light, and it was not until
1886 that Edison had time to spare to put the system into actual
use. At that time Ezra T. Gilliland and Lucius J. Phelps, who had
experimented on the same lines, became associated with him in the work.
Although the space between the train and the pole line was not more
than fifty feet, Edison had succeeded at Menlo Park in transmitting
messages through the air at a distance of five hundred and eighty
feet. Speaking of this and of his other experiments with induction
telegraphy by means of kites, he said, recently: "We only transmitted
about two and one-half miles through the kites. What has always puzzled
me since is that I did not think of using the results of my experiments
on 'etheric force' that I made in 1875. I have never been able to
understand how I came to overlook them. If I had made use of my own
work I should have had long-distance wireless telegraphy."
These experiments of 1875, as recorded in Edison's famous note-books,
show that in that year he detected and studied some then unknown and
curious phenomena which made him think he was on the trail of a new
force. His representative, Mr. Batchelor, showed these experiments with
Edison's apparatus, including the "dark box," at the Paris Exposition
in 1881. Without knowing it, for he was far in advance of the time,
Edison had really entered upon the path of long-distance wireless
telegraphy, as was proven later when the magnificent work of Hertz was
published.
When Roentgen made the discovery of the X-ray in 1895 Edison took
up experimentation with it on a large scale. He made the first
fluoroscope, using tungstate of calcium for the screen. In order to
find other fluorescent substances he set four men to work and thus
collected upward of eight thousand different crystals of various
chemical combinations, of which about eighteen hundred would fluoresce
to the X-ray. He also invented a new lamp for giving light by means of
these fluorescent crystals fused to the inside of the glass. Some of
these lamps were made and used for a time, but he gave up the idea when
the dangerous nature of the X-ray became known.
It would be possible to go on and describe in brief detail many more of
the hundreds of Edison's miscellaneous inventions, but the limits of
our space will not permit more than the mere mention of a _few_, simply
to illustrate the wide range of his ideas and work. For instance:
A dry process of separating placer gold; the rapid disposal of heavy
snows in cities.
Experiments on flying machines with an engine operated by explosions of
guncotton.
The joint invention, with M. W. Scott Sims, of a dirigible submarine
torpedo operated by electricity.
Pyromagnetic generators for generating electricity directly from the
combustion of coal.
Pyromagnetic motors operated by alternate heating and cooling.
A magnetic bridge for testing the magnetic qualities of iron.
A "dead-beat" galvanometer without coils or magnetic needle.
The odoroscope, for measuring odors; preserving fruit _in vacuo_;
making plate glass; drawing wire.
Metallurgical processes for treatment of nickel, gold, and copper ores.
From first to last Edison has filed in the United States Patent Office
more than fourteen hundred applications for patents. Besides, he filed
some one hundred and twenty caveats, embracing not less than fifteen
hundred additional inventions. The caveat has now been abolished in
patent-office practice, but such a document could formerly be filed by
an inventor to obtain a partial protection for a year while completing
his invention. As an example of Edison's fertility and the endless
variety of subjects engaging his attention the following list of
matters covered by _one_ of his caveats is given. All his caveats are
not quite so full of "plums," but this is certainly a wonder:
Forty-one distinct inventions relating to the phonograph, covering
various forms of recorders, arrangement of parts, making of records,
shaving tool, adjustments, etc.
Eight forms of electric lamps using infusible earthy oxides and brought
to high incandescence _in vacuo_ by high potential current of several
thousand volts; same character as impingement of X-rays on object in
bulb.
A loud-speaking telephone with quartz cylinder and beam of ultra-violet
light.
Four forms of arc-light with special carbons.
A thermostatic motor.
A device for sealing together the inside part and bulb of an
incandescent lamp mechanically.
Regulators for dynamos and motors.
Three devices for utilizing vibrations beyond the ultra-violet.
A great variety of methods for coating incandescent lamp filaments with
silicon, titanium, chromium, osmium, boron, etc.
Several methods of making porous filaments.
Several methods of making squirted filaments of a variety of materials,
of which about thirty are specified.
Seventeen different methods and devices for separating magnetic ores.
A continuously operative primary battery.
A musical instrument operating one of Helmholtz's artificial larynxes.
A siren worked by explosion of small quantities of oxygen and hydrogen
mixed.
Three other sirens made to give vocal sounds or articulate speech.
A device for projecting sound-waves to a distance without spreading,
and in a straight line, on the principle of smoke-rings.
A device for continuously indicating on a galvanometer the depths of
the ocean.
A method of preventing in a great measure friction of water against the
hull of a ship and incidentally preventing fouling by barnacles.
A telephone receiver whereby the vibrations of the diaphragm are
considerably amplified.
Two methods of "space" telegraphy at sea.
An improved and extended string telephone.
Devices and method of talking through water for a considerable distance.
An audiphone for deaf people.
Sound-bridge for measuring resistance of tubes and other materials for
conveying sound.
A method of testing a magnet to ascertain the existence of flaws in the
iron or steel composing the same.
Method of distilling liquids by incandescent conductor immersed in the
liquid.
Method of obtaining electricity direct from coal.
An engine operated by steam produced by the hydration and dehydration
of metallic salts.
Device and method of telegraphing photographically.
Carbon crucible kept brilliantly incandescent by current _in vacuo_ for
obtaining reaction with refractory metals.
Device for examining combinations of odors and their changes by
rotation at different speeds.
It must be borne in mind that the above and hundreds of others are not
merely _ideas_ put in writing, but represent actual inventions upon
which Edison worked and experimented. In many cases the experiments ran
into the thousands, requiring months for their performance.
To describe Edison's mere ideas and suggestions for future work would
of itself fill a volume. These are written in his own handwriting in a
number of large record-books which he has shown to the writer. Judging
from a hasty inspection, there is enough material in these books to
occupy the lifetime of several persons.
The immense range of Edison's mind and activities cannot well be
described in cold print, but can only be adequately comprehended by
those who have been closely associated with him for a length of time,
and who have had opportunity of studying his voluminous records.
XXIII
EDISON'S METHOD IN INVENTING
If one were allowed only two words with which to describe Edison it is
doubtful whether a close examination of the entire dictionary would
disclose any others more suitable than "experimenter-inventor." These
would express the overruling characteristics of his eventful career.
His life as child, boy, and man has revealed the born investigator with
original reasoning powers, unlimited imagination, and daring method. It
is not surprising, therefore, that a man of this kind should exhibit a
ceaseless, absorbing desire for knowledge, willing to spend his last
cent in experimentation to satisfy the cravings of an inquiring mind.
There is nothing of the slap-dash style in Edison's experiments. While
he "tries everything," it is not merely the mixing of a little of
this, some of that, and a few drops of the other, in the _hope_ that
_something_ will come of it. On the contrary, his instructions are
always clear-cut and direct, and must be followed out systematically,
exactly, and minutely, no matter where they lead nor how long the
experiment may take.
Unthinking persons have had a notion that some of Edison's successes
have been due to mere dumb fool luck--to fortunate "happenings."
Nothing could be farther from the truth, for, on the contrary, it is
owing almost entirely to his comprehensive knowledge, the breadth
of his conception, the daring originality of his methods, and
minuteness and extent of experiment, combined with patient, unceasing
perseverance, that new arts have been created and additions made to
others already in existence.
One of the first things Edison does in beginning a new line of
investigation is to master the literature of the subject. He wants to
know what has been done before. Not that he considers this as final,
for he often obtains vastly different results by repeating in his own
way the experiments of others.
"Edison can travel along a well-used road and still find virgin soil,"
remarked one of his experimenters recently, who had been trying to make
a certain compound, but with poor success. Edison tried it in the same
way, but made a change in one of the operations and succeeded.
Another of the experimental staff says: "Edison is never hindered by
theory, but resorts to actual experiment for proof. For instance, when
he conceived the idea of pouring a complete concrete house it was
universally held that it would be impossible because the pieces of
stone in the mixture would not rise to the level of the pouring-point,
but would gravitate to a lower plane in the soft cement. This, however,
did not hinder him from making a series of experiments which resulted
in an invention that proved conclusively the contrary."
Having conceived some new idea and read everything obtainable relating
to the subject in general, Edison's fertility of resource and
originality come into play. He will write in one of the laboratory
note-books a memorandum of the experiments to be tried, and, if
necessary, will illustrate by sketches.
This book is then given to one of the large staff of experimenters.
Here strenuousness and a prompt carrying on of the work are required.
The results of each experiment must be recorded in the notebook, and
daily or more frequent reports are expected. Edison does not forget
what is going on, but in his daily tours through the laboratory keeps
in touch with the work of all the experimenters. His memory is so keen
and retentive that he is as fully aware of the progress and details of
each of the numerous experiments constantly going on as if he had made
them all himself.
The use of laboratory note-books was begun early in the Menlo Park days
and has continued ever since. They are plain blank-books, each about
eight and a half by six inches, containing about two hundred pages.
At the present time there are more than one thousand of these books
in the series. On their pages are noted Edison's ideas, sketches, and
memoranda, together with records of countless thousands of experiments
made by him or under his direction during more than thirty years.
These two hundred thousand or more pages cover investigations into
every department of science, showing the operations of a master mind
seeking to surprise Nature into a betrayal of her secrets by asking
her the same question in a hundred different ways. The breadth of
thought, thoroughness of method, infinite detail, and minuteness of
investigation proceeding from the workings of one mind would surpass
belief were they not shown by this wonderful collection of note-books.
A remark made by one of the staff, who has been experimenting at the
laboratory for over twenty years, is suggestive. He said: "Edison
can think of more ways of doing a thing than any man I ever saw or
heard of. He tries everything and never lets up, even though failure
is apparently staring him in the face. He only stops when he simply
can't go any farther on that particular line. When he decides on any
mode of procedure he gives his notes to the experimenter and lets him
alone, only stopping in from time to time to look at the operations and
receive reports of progress."
The idea of attributing great successes to "genius" has always been
repudiated by Edison, as evidenced by his historic remark that "genius
is one per cent, inspiration and ninety-nine per cent, perspiration."
Again, in a conversation many years ago between Edison, Batchelor, and
E. H. Johnson, the latter made allusion to Edison's genius, when Edison
replied:
"Stuff! I tell you genius is hard work, stick-to-it-iveness, and common
sense."
"Yes," said Johnson, "I admit there is all that to it, but there's
still more. Batch and I have those qualifications, but, although we
knew quite a lot about telephones, and worked hard, we couldn't invent
a brand-new non-infringing telephone receiver as you did when Gouraud
cabled for one. Then, how about the subdivision of the electric light?"
"Electric current," corrected Edison.
"True," continued Johnson; "you were the one to make that very
distinction. The scientific world had been working hard on subdivision
for years, using what appeared to be common sense. Results, worse than
nil. Then you come along, and about the first thing you do, after
looking the ground over, is to start off in the opposite direction,
which subsequently proves to be the only possible way to reach the
goal. It seems to me that this is pretty close to the dictionary
definition of genius."
It is said that Edison replied rather incoherently and changed the
topic of conversation.