=The Leading Facts.= _1._ Edison learned telegraphy, and made his
own instruments. _2._ Edison saved the day in Wall Street, and
made his reputation, as well as plenty of money. _3._ He made
many telegraph and telephone inventions. _4._ He built great
laboratories in New Jersey, where many men worked helping him. _5._
Edison invented the phonograph, and worked to improve the electric
light. _6._ An argument about horseracing led to the invention of
moving pictures. _7._ Edison improved the moving picture camera.
_8._ C. Francis Jenkins invented the first complete moving picture
machine. _9._ During the World War remarkable moving pictures
were taken on all fronts. _10._ Moving pictures are often used
in schools and elsewhere for educational purposes. _11._ The
typewriter was really the work of many different inventors. _12._
Typing machines for the blind first invented. _13._ Christopher
Sholes' typewriter was the first practical one invented. _14._ The
dictaphone is really a development of Edison's phonograph. _15._
It consists of two machines, and is used in business offices to
save time. _16._ Steam automobiles were the first kind invented.
_17._ For one hundred years many inventors worked trying to build
automobiles. _18._ The first gasoline automobile in this country
was built by Charles Duryea. _19._ The United States is far in the
lead in the number of automobiles manufactured and used. _20._ Men
have for ages tried to discover a way to fly. _21._ They filled
balloons with gas or heated air which carried them far up. _22._
Dirigible balloons were invented by Zeppelin. _23._ Wilbur and
Orville Wright built a successful heavier-than-air machine. _24._
The gasoline engine made their success possible. _25._ Airplanes
can now go three miles a minute. _26._ All the great progress in
flying has come since Wright's first successful flight in 1903.
_27._ In the war airplanes were used for observing the enemy, for
fighting, and for bombing. _28._ In this country airplanes are now
used chiefly for carrying mail. _29._ A hydroplane has a boat-like
body. _30._ In 1919 three successful flights were made across
the Atlantic. _31._ John P. Holland was the first to succeed in
building a submarine. _32._ The submarine is guided by means of the
periscope, and is valuable in peace and war. _33._ Depth bombs and
tanks were new inventions. _34._ The Germans introduced poison gas.
=Study Questions.= _1._ What books could Edison read at twelve?
_2._ Tell of his thousand newspapers. _3._ What were the cause and
the effect of his first lessons in telegraphy? _4._ What was his
first great invention? _5._ What did he find in Wall Street, New
York? _6._ How much did Edison think of asking for his invention?
_7._ How much was offered him? _8._ Tell the story of the work
in Edison's shop at Newark, New Jersey, _9._ Why did he want a
great library at Menlo Park? _10._ How does sound travel? _11._
What was the trouble with Edison's first phonograph? _12._ Name
some of the uses of the phonograph. _13._ Make a list of Edison's
great inventions. _14._ Tell how the first moving pictures came to
be made? _15._ How did the machine Edison invented differ from a
real moving picture machine? _16._ Who invented the first complete
moving picture machine? _17._ How important is the moving picture
business? _18._ Tell some incidents of the war which you saw in
moving pictures. _19._ Does your school use a moving picture
machine in its classroom work? _20._ How are lessons studied when
moving pictures are used? _21._ Where can schools get their films?
_22._ Name two other uses for moving pictures. _23._ What earlier
invention resembled the typewriter? _24._ Name one simple thing the
lack of which kept men from inventing a typewriter sooner. _25._
Describe Sholes' first typewriter. _26._ From what invention did
the dictaphone come? _27._ How is dictating done by means of the
dictaphone? _28._ What difficulty held back the progress of the
automobile? _29._ Name two ways in which this has been overcome.
_30._ How old is the automobile business? _31._ How does the United
States compare with other countries in number of automobiles used?
_32._ How did auto trucks keep the Germans from capturing Paris?
_33._ What is a Zeppelin or dirigible? _34._ Tell about the studies
of the Wright brothers. _35._ What progress had others made before
the Wright brothers succeeded? _36._ What was unusual about Wilbur
Wright's flight in 1903? _37._ What is a monoplane? a biplane? a
hydroplane? an airship? _38._ Name some peace-time and war-time
uses of airplanes. _39._ Tell the story of Holland's inventions.
_40._ What are the uses of the submarine? _41._ Name the first
submarine to cross the Atlantic.
=Suggested Readings.= THOMAS A. EDISON: Mowry, _American Inventions
and Inventors_, 85-89; Dickson, _Life and Inventions of Edison_,
4-153, 280-388.
CHRISTOPHER L. SHOLES: Hubert, _Inventors_, 161-163.
THE AUTOMOBILE: Doubleday, _Stories of Inventors_, 69-84; Forman,
_Stories of Useful Inventions_, 161-163.
WILBUR AND ORVILLE WRIGHT: Wade, _The Light Bringers_, 112-141;
Delacombe, _The Boys' Book of Airships_; Simonds, _All about
Airships_; Holland, _Historic Inventions_, 273-295.
JOHN P. HOLLAND: Corbin, _The Romance of Submarine Engineering_;
Bishop, _The Story of the Submarine_; Williams, _Romance of Modern
Inventions_, 143-165.