EDISON, Thomas Alva, American elec trician and inventor: b. Milan, Ohio, 11 Feb. 1847. His family moved to Port Huron, Mich., when he was seven years of age, but he ob tained no schooling, and at the age of 12 be came a trainboy on the Detroit and Port Huron branch of the Grand Trunk Railway. While in this capacity, in 1862, he bought a small hand press and edited, printed and published a small paper of his own, naming it the Grand Trunk Herald. It had a circulation of 300 among the employees of the road. For the rescue of the son of a station agent he was taught telegraphy by the father and later became an operator at Mount Clemens, but, owing to his dislike of routine work, his fondness for reading and his inventive genius, he lost several subsequent posi tions and became a *tramp operator,* although known to be remarkably proficient. While in Indianapolis in 1864 he invented an automatic telegraph repeater, the first of a long series of improvements and inventions. He soon after went to Boston, where he invented a commer cial stock indicator, which he sold to New York capitalists for $40,000. This gave him the long cherished opportunity of establishing an exten sive laboratory, which he did at Newark, N. J., for the special manufacture of electrical print ing, automatic and other apparatus. In 1876 his health failed and he gave up manufacturing, confining his labor to investigation and inven tion. He established his laboratory at Menlo Park, N. J. and later at West Orange, N. J., gave employment to hundreds of workmen and became known as one of the greatest inventors of the 19th century. More than 300 patents have been issued on his inventions and he has besides produced hundreds of minor contri vances and improvements not covered by pat ents. Among his more important 'inventions may be named the phonograph, a telephone for long-distance transmission, a system of duplex telegraphy (which he subsequently developed into quadraplex and sextuplex transmission), the carbon telephone transmitter, the microtasi meter, the rerophone, megaphone, the incan descent electric lamp, the kinetoscope and a storage battery for street railway cars and automobiles. There is not an electrical instru ment or an electrical process now in use but bears the mark of some great change wrought by the most ingenious of Americans. In 1878 he was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honor by the French government, a commander of the Legion in 1889 and was the recipient of the in signia of a grand officer of the Crown of Italy bestowed the same year by King Humbert. In 1892 he received the Albert medal of the So ciety of Arts of Great Britain.
Among his commercial ventures were the magnetic treatment of iron ore and a Portland cement plant. The greatest of his later inven tions is the nickel-iron storage cell, which is extremely rugged, is almost incapable of electri cal injury and has a very high capacity per unit of weight. Its special use is the propulsion of vehicles and railway cars. Edison also invented a disc phonograph with a diamond-point repro ducer and other improvements. In 1913 by synchronizing his phonograph and kinetoscope he produced realistic talking motion pictures.
Edison is a man of remarkable personality. To those who believe his work is the product of an inspiration given by nature to but few, the story of the manner in which he achieves success will seem shockingly unromantic. In the
genius who works by inspiration Edison has no great faith. is 2 per cent inspiration and 98 per cent perspiration," is the incisive, epi grammatic answer he once gave to a man who thought that a genius worked only when the spirit moved him. Not being given to scientific rhapsodies, Edison does not concern himself with what may be of service a century hence; he confines himself rigorously to the needs of the present. Knowing full well that he is probably not the first who has set for himself the task in the performance of which he is engaged, he reads all that is pertinent to his subject in the vast library which forms an important adjunct of his laboratory. Not content with the infor mation gathered from his own shelves his lit erary agent is ordered to send him more. After a thorough review of his subject, Edison begins laboratory work— an expert keenly alive to the failures of his predecessors, careful to avoid useless repetitions of old experiments. It is now that the 2 per cent inspiration gained by exhaustive reading, and the 98 per cent perspira tion which he is ready to expend, are applied. Experiments are made; not a few, but hun dreds and even thousands. Model after model is built. Failure upon failure is met with, until further efforts seem hopeless. Undismayed, Edison performs more experiments, builds more models. Failure spurs him on. At last an ex periment is performed or a model made which gives faint encouragement. So far from being elated, he regards the promising result with great suspicion. The failures have been too many; the apparent success after all may be due to an accidental combination of circumstances that may never occur again. Only after the par tial triumph has been confirmed by many trials does complete assurance come. Edison knows exactly what he wishes to accomplish, and how his end is to be attained. Absolute certainty of purpose and of method saves him from fritter ing away his time in useless experimentation. Chance has given perhaps an occasional idea, but it has not lightened his work. Tireless per severance and long hours of work are the se crets of Edison's success. In 1897 Edison de voted his exclusive attention to the invention of a new storage battery, on which problem he had been engaged for some five years. For over a year he worked harder than a day laborer. He was in his laboratory at 7.30 in the morn ing. His luncheon was sent to him. In the evening he left for dinner, but returned at 8. At 11.30 at night his carriage called for him; but often the coachman had to wait for three or four hours until the inventor came out of his laboratory. Yet when vacation time comes, and with it a chance to leave his laboratory, Edison plays just as he works, with his whole heart and soul. He will hear nothing of business. Sci ence is thrown to the winds. Consult Dyer and Martin, 'Edison: His Life and Inventions' (2 vols., New York 1910) ; and Jones, 'Thomas Alva Edison) (ih. 1908).
a river in South Carolina, which has its rise in the southern part of the State and which flows in a general direction south east into the Atlantic Ocean. Its source is at the junction of two streams called North and South Forks of Edisto River. The river is 150 miles in length and navigable for 100 miles.