History of St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources, its war record, biographical sketches, the whole preceded by a history of Michigan, Part 104

Author:
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, A.T. Andreas & Co.
Number of Pages: 818

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Edison's description of the habits of his associate operators at this time is amusing in the extreme. Often when he went home from his work in the small hours of the morning, he would find three of the boys on his bed with their boots on, where they had crawled after an evening's dissipation. He would gently haul them out and deposit them on the floor, while he turned in to sleep. Meanwhile, the office was removed to a new building with improved fixt- ures, and the instruments were fastened to the tables. Orders were issued not to move the instruments. Edison, however, could not desist from taking three sets to connect up so as to get report correctly, for the line outside had not been improved. At one time he had every instrument in the office out and connected together to try an experiment.

Beneath the office was a bank, and in the back office an elegant carpet covered the floor. Over this was the battery room, and one night, in trying to abstract some sulphuric acid for ex- periments, he tipped over the whole carboy. The acid ran through the floor and ceiling, de- stroying the carpet and doing other damage. This proved the climax of endurance, and Edi- son was discharged. He went immediately to Cincinnati and obtained work as report operator. This was the scene of some of his first achievements. He always had a hankering for machin- ery, and when on the Grand Trunk Railway frequented the machine shops and learned to run ar. engine. On one occasion, when the engineer and fireman were exhausted from overwork and fell asleep, he ran a train nearly the entire trip. He unfortunately pumped the engine too full of water, so that it was thrown from the smoke-stack, and deluged the engine with filth, much to the discomfiture of the engineer, who had slept while Edison ran the train. In Cincinnati, on his first stay, he made an ingenious small steam engine, and arranged his first duplex instruments. The instruments were very crude, as he had so little to work with, but the drawings, which still exist, show conclusively that double transmission was possible at a much earlier date than when out into practical use.

His second stay in Cincinnati was very unpopular on account of his continued experiments.

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

He would get excused from duty and take a bee line to the Mechanics' Library, where his en- tire day and evening would be spent reading the most ponderous electrical and scientific works. He remained in Cincinnati only a short time, and returned home.

He had a warm personal friend, M. T. Adams, in the Boston office. An expert was needed to work a heavy New York wire. Several candidates had failed, as the New York end was worked by York and Erie operators, who, as a class, had the reputation of writing anything but the Morse alphabet. G. F. Milliken, the manager, offered the situation to Edison by tele- graph, and he accepted. He started via the Grand Trunk and the train was snowed in for two days near the bluffs of the St. Lawrence River by a violent storm. The passengers nearly perished with cold and hunger. When all resources for fuel and wood were exhausted, a dele- gation was sent out to hunt for relief. They were gone so long, another expedition was about starting in search of them, when they returned and reported a hotel not far distant, where cigars were 1 cent apiece, whisky 3 cents a glass and board 50 cents a day. A shout of relief went up from the crowded cars, and they were soon comfortably housed till the storm was over. Edison finally reached Boston all right.

He arrived in Boston in 1868, and in the person of Mr. Milliken found the first superior officer who could appreciate his character. Mr. Milliken was an accomplished gentleman, a thorough master of his profession, and an inventor of merit. He made allowance for the gawky and hungry look of his subordinate, and in the secret excitement under which he seemed to labor recognized the fire of genius. Edison's stay in Boston was congenial. There is a vein of humor running through his character, and he played a practical joke on the cockroaches which infested the office in great numbers. He placed some narrow strips of tin-foil on the wall and connected them with the wires from a powerful battery. Then he placed food in an at- tractive manner to tempt them. When these clammy individuals passed from one foil to the other they completed the battery connection, and with a flash were cremated, to the delight of the spectators. Edison started a shop in Boston, and gave all his spare time to it. His ideas here began to assume practical shape. He invented a dial instrument for private line use, and put several into practical operation. He made a chemical-vote recording apparatus, but failed to get it adopted by a Massachusetts Legislature. He commenced his experiments on vibratory telegraph apparatus, and made trial tests between Boston and Portland. He ma- tured his first private line printer, and put eight into practical operation. From lack of means to pay for quotations, his venture was not successful and he sold out. This patent subsequently came into the possession of the Golden Stock Telegraph Company, and was considered to have a base or foundation value upon which many subsequent improvements were built.

At one time he was invited to explain the operation of the telegraph to what he supposed was a girl's school. He forgot the appointment, and when found was putting up a line on a house top. He went directly from his work, and was much abashed to find himself ushered into the presence of a room full of finely dressed young ladies. He was actually timid in ladies' presence, but his subject was understood, and the occasion passed pleasantly. He was introduced to a number of young ladies, who always recognized him on the street, much to the astonishment of his fellow-operators not in the secret. Edison is a strong believer in the Boston girl.

His idea of a duplex system constantly burned in his brain, and in 1870 he went to Roch- ester, N. Y., to try his apparatus between the two cities. Mr. F. L. Pope, the present pat- ent adviser of the Western Union Telegraph Company, assisted in New York. The effort was a failure, although Edison has always claimed that it ought to have succeeded. He then went to New York, arriving there dead broke and discouraged. He hung around the office of the Gold Indicator Company for several days. Their apparatus was cumbersome and imperfect and frequently out of order. At such times the brokers would rush to the office and demand immediate repairs. One day when there was an unusual excitement in the gold market the ap- paratus failed. The confusion at the Indicator office was great. The Superintendent was out. Edison happened in and stood watching the confusion. He volunteered to fix the machinery. The President looked upon him with amazement, but being in the mood to catch at straws, gave him permission to try. He speedily found the defect and the next day was engaged to fill a

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

responsible position with the company. He immediately began to improve the apparatus, and soon invented a gold printer. The company was purchased by the Gold and Stock Company, and Edison was thrown out. He then went into company with Pope & Ashley (the latter now being editor of the Journal of the Telegraph).

The Pope and Edison printer was brought out, and a private line system put in active opera- tion. This was soon sold to the Gold and Stock Company, and Edison has for many years been retained in the service of that company and the Western Union Telegraph Company at a large salary, they having the first option to purchase his inventions pertaining to telegraphy at prices agreed upon in each case. Edison's inventions pertaining to the gold and stock telegraphy soon replaced the old apparatus, and that system is interwoven with his inventions and im- provements. At the formation of his intimate connection with the Gold and Stock Company, he established an immense electrical manufacturing establishment at Newark, which was divid- ed into three large shops and two laboratories for experiment. He employed upward of 300 men, and was himself the busiest man in America. He gave himself scarcely any time for sleep. An idea of his determination and persistence can be gained from the following inci- dent: He had been given an order for $30,000 worth of improved printers. The sample instrument had worked an experimental circuit, but the first instruments for practical use proved a failure. In vain he sought to remedy the defect, till finally, taking four or five of his best men, he went to the top floor of his factory, remarking that they would never come down till the printer worked. They labored continuously for sixty hours, and he was so fort- unate as to discover the fault, and made the printers operate perfectly at an expense of $5, - 000. Such severe and protracted labors are common with him. He says after going without sleep more than the ordinary hours he becomes nervous, and the ideas flow in upon him with great rapidity. His sleep after these efforts is correspondingly long, sometimes lasting thirty- six hours. He knows no such division as day and night in his labors, and, when the inspira- tion is upon him, pursues the investigation and experiment to the end.

As a manufacturer he did not prove a success. The more resources at command, the greater his efforts at invention. At one time he had forty-five distinct inventions and improve- ments under way. All the large sums received for his patents and the profits arising from manufacturing to the amount of nearly $400,000 have been expended in inventive efforts. He finally became excessively annoyed at the tax upon his powers arising from regular business and concluded to remove to some small place inconvenient to reach, where he would be free from curiosity seekers, and have opportunity to put into practical shape his conceptions. In 1876, he sold his machinery and moved his family to Menlo Park, N. J., on the Pennsylvania Railroad, twenty-four miles from New York. Here, on the crest of a hill, remote from other buildings, he built a labaratory 28x100 feet, two stories in height. In one room on the ground floor he has a machinery department, in which is located a ten-horse-power engine, and a collection of expensive tools, so that any appliance, however intricate, can be made under his own inspection. In another room are ranged on shelves and in cases the models of a large number of his experiments and inventions. Here are also to be found many instruments of precision which he has purchased at great costs to assist in his investigations. His library is entirely scientific and costly, but not large. On his upper floor he has ranged upon shelves thousands of bottles of chemicals, and he makes it a rule to purchase some of every known chemical or mineral, to have at hand in case of need. Here he conducts his experiments un- der his personal supervision. He has always with him three or four assistants, whom he has se- lected on account of their skill as draughtsmen or workmen, willingness to comply with his wishes, and their physical endurance, which, with him, is an important consideration. Messrs. Charles Batchelor, Scotch, and James Adams, Irish, and Mr. Kusel, of German descent, are the principal assistants. Sometimes he has fifteen men employed exclusively in developing his inventions, if of importance and near completion. Edison was described by the United States Patent Commissioner as the young man who has kept the path to the Patent Office hot with his footsteps. He has been granted 112 patents in this country, and has some twenty applica- tions pending in the office. His most valuable inventions have been patented in many foreign countries. Of his American patents, thirty-five pertain to automatic and chemical telegraphs,

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

eight to duplex and quadruplex telegraphy, thirty-eight to printing telegraph instruments, four- teen to Morse telegraph apparatus proper, and the remainder relate to fire-alarms, district and domestic telegraphy, electric signals, the electric pen, the speaking phonograph, and a variety of electrical and non-electric apparatus.

The printing telegraph instruments, the automatic or chemical system, by which 1,000 words a minute can be transmitted on a single wire for medium distance; the quadruplex sys- tem, by which four messages at a time are sent on the same wire by the Morse method; the electric pen, the carbone telephone, which exceeds all others for its loudness and distinctness; the speaking phonograph, and the ærophone are among his most valuable productions.

He has made many extremely interesting and minor discoveries, such as the lubricating property of electricity upon which the electro-motorgraph is based, and upon which could be built an entirely new system of telegraphy. His mind is so prolific that he can always afford to accept reasonable compensation for his inventions.

He is sharp at a bargain, and has been styled a Tallyrand in negotiating for the disposi- tion of his inventions. His peculiarities and the great value of his inventions have led to se- vere struggles for the possession of some of them. His great anxiety seems to be to give an equivalent invention for the price asked; but he professes to be utterly without conscience in case of any attempt to overreach him. In person he is five feet nine and one-half inches tall; he wears a seven and seven-eighths inch tall hat; his hair is black and is worn short and is slightly grav. His complexion is pale and fair; his eyes are gray and piercing; he has a sharp nose and countenance. When in application, his look is most intense, although there is often a merry twinkle in his eye. His chest expansion is five inches. His powers of applica- tion, patience and endurance are something wonderful. He begins where most people leave off, and, like a Morphy at chess, carries on five or six lines of experiment in totally different divisions, never ceasing any of them till a result is reached or an impossibility proved. He keeps a careful record of each day's experiments, properly witnessed, and numerous volumes of such statistics. He is quite hard of hearing and his accomplishments with the telephone are most remarkable on account of this defect. For a long time he was unable to distinguish the sound produced, and depended upon his assistants. He many times despaired of a result. At last he got his carbon telephone sufficiently loud so that he could hear it over long distances without difficulty, and was satisfied. That such a man should go on and eliminate the speak- ing phonograph is surprising, and in view of his defect, he may almost be forgiven the pro- duction of the aerophone, intended to talk from three to ten miles. He was married to Miss Mars Stillwell, of Newark, in 1873. The medallion on the new silver dollar is an excellent profile likeness of her. Their honeymoon was eccentric, as Edison, although in the same city, could not leave his work for more than a few hours two or three times a week, owing to busi- ness engagements."

Whatever may be the outcome of electricity, the theory and art of its control must be in a great measure credited to him. The successes attendant on his late inventions, the adop- tion of the electric light system, and the illimitable possibilities of his profession, point out the brilliancy of his future life, while making the past secure.

CHARLES P. EDISON.

Charles P. Edison, the subject of this sketch, who died in Paris, France, October 19, 1879, was a nephew of Thomas A. Edison, the inventor, and at the time of his death was em- ployed by his uncle in introducing some of the wonderful inventions that have made the name of Edison known in every land. He was born at Port Huron, Mich., March 5, 1860. His mind in his early youth like that of his uncle, was given to the investigation of every novel and curious thing that came under his notice. The discoveries made by the great inventor seemed to inspire young Charlie with a desire to accomplish something in the world of inventions. At the early age of eleven years, he was constantly experimenting in his rude and novel way with electricity, and to satisfy his desire to unravel the mysterious force, and to give his mind a wider scope, his parents gave the young lad permission to visit the laboratory and work shop of his uncle, then located at Newark, N. J. So infatuated was young Edison with what he saw,

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

that he remained several months, during which time he was constantly at work, sometimes in- vestigating and experimenting on his own account, but always watching closely, storing up in his young mind everything that came under his observation. On his return home, he at once fitted up a small work shop and laboratory, and filled it with various kinds of chemicals, machin- ery and tools which were bought with money he earned in numerous ways, and spent all his leisure time in experimenting. His tastes and habits now, as in later years, were so similar to those of his uncle that it was quite remarkable. He was always looked upon as an eccentric youth, seldom mingling with his companions in their every-day sports, for his whole mind seemed to run to science. At this time he subscribed for many scientific journals. Among the number was the Scientific American, and he was its youngest subscriber. He organized a sort of telegraphic exchange, made telegraph instruments, constructed batteries, put up a line and held evening communications with his associates. So intent was he upon pursuing his ex- perimental work that often his parents would retire leaving the young enthusiast in his minia- ture laboratory at work, and frequently it would be far on to the morning before he would re .. tire to rest. In the winter of 1878, the Common Council of the city decided to put up a fire alarm telegraph and advertised for proposals. Young Edison submitted a bid which was accept- ed, being so thoroughly familiar with the cost of material and expense of instruments that his propositions proved to be far below his competitors. Inside of three weeks it was in working order, and it has never failed in any particular to perform all that was promised. In April, 1878, he again left his home to reside in Menlo Park, N. J. He soon became the principal co- operator of his uncle in the invention of the new receiver for the loud speaking telephone-a telephone which made the voice loud enough to be heard through a large hall. After six months of unceasing labor, he finally completed it and was immediately sent to New York City to superintend the manufacture of these instruments to supply an order received from Eng- land. The 26th of last February he was sent by his uncle to exhibit these instruments before the Royal Society of London and the Prince of Wales; and from the first made it a perfect suc- cess. While abroad, he met many men of note, among them Prof. Tyndall, at whose house he was a guest, and who spoke in the most flattering terms of his genius. Also the King of Bel gium, to whom he gave much information concerning the telephone and electric light, and also upon the subject of establishing telephonic communication between Belgium and England. At the time of his death, he was actually occupied in installing the quadruplex system of teleg- raphy of his uncle between Paris and Brussels, and was the only person in Europe who could operate it. He gave promise of a genius hardly second to that of his uncle, and already had made some inventions which were likely to give him a national or world-wide fame. A French paper, La France, in publishing a brief biography of him, says: "Although young, still he had shown great capacity and aptitude in invention. Science and society suffered a great loss in his death."

CHURCHES.

The churches of Fort Gratiot are the Methodist, Episcopal and United Presbyterian Churches in the village. The pastor of the Methodist Church is Rev. Francis Berry; Rev. T. W. Monteith of the Presbyterian, and Rev. George M. Skinner of the Protestant Episcopal.

ST. PAUL'S MISSION, FORT GRATIOT,

was established in 1873. The present pastor is Rev. G. M. Skinner, who came in 1881. David Curtiss Maitland, James Kirkland, Wardens; James Kirkland, Lay Reader.

The following is the report tendered to the congregation of 1882:

Adults.

Baptized-Infants. 31

Total 33

Confirmed

Communicants admitted in the parish

By confirmation. . 13

Received from other parishes. 12

Total added. 25

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

Died. 1

Removed from the parish.

Total lost ...

Present number.

Marriages 1

Burials

Public services-Sundays.

109

Holy days.

Other days.

Total 16

Holy communion-Sundays.

Holy days.

Private

Total 16

Congregation-Families

Individuals not included in families.

Total of souls. 240

Sunday School-Teachers and officers.

Scholars .

110

Average attendance.

Bible Classes-Teachers.

Scholars .

Average attendance.

Catechising "openly in the church

Sunday School library (volumes).

150

Parochial organizations-Church Aid Society, Relief and Visiting Committee.

Communion alms not otherwise reported.

$ 22 46

Rector's salary.

405 00

Other current expenses. 86 26

Total for Parochial purposes. . $513 52

Christmas fund.

2 14

Domestic missions.

1 32

By the Sunday School-For its own purposes.

23 10

Total of contributions and offerings $515 98

Sources of above-Offertory

133 76

Subscriptions, gifts, pledges, etc ..

405 00

Value of Church Property-Church.

1,800 00

Church lot.

600 00

Total value of property 2,400 00

Salary pledged to the Rector. 500 00

Number of sittings in the church (free).

300

Indebtedness-Church

266 25

Church lot ..

133 75

Due the Rector.

66 00

Total of indebtedness $ 466 00

An account of the organization of the other churches is given in the general history.

In June, 1882, an old resident of the village contributed the following little chapter of reminiscences to the Ft. Gratiot Sun:

"Of the transmutations that time effects, at least in the external world, the writer has been most forcibly impressed by a visit to Ft. Gratiot, after an absence of almost half a century.

"As I approach the old military grounds, I look in vain for the 'star-spangled banner' that always floated over the fort; and as I come nearer, instead of the tall, whitewashed pickets that surrounded the barracks, and the threatening field pieces that guarded the gates, and the blue-coated sentinel pacing his silent beat, I find a busy, bustling city, with all the activities of trade and business. The fort-where is it? Only a few fast disappearing ruins mark its site. I go down what was once a steep bank toward the river, where the bake-house and the sutler's shop stood. I find the spot occupied by railroad tracks, locomotives and cars.

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY,

" Where once only the tattoo or the reveille broke the stillness of the evening or morning air, now the shrieking of the iron horse, night and day, wakes the echoes.

"I look at the river -- the same swift volume of water glides down; but now it is disturbed by the ponderous ferry-boat with its enormous load, and symmetrical propellers cleaving their rapid way, and the little smoke-enveloped tugs steadily breasting the current, and forcibly per- suading their white- winged retinue to follow in their wake. But when I last looked upon its crystal waters, no cloud of steam or smoke shaded its surface, save at long intervals some un- wieldy side wheeler, the Pennsylvania, Superior, or some other of the half-dozen steamboats that then cleft the waters of our inland seas, came toiling up, hugging to its sides some two or more sailing vessels which, mayhap, had lain for weeks at the foot of the rapids, vainly wooing a southern breeze. I look across to the Canadian side, where then no sign of human proximity could be seen along its unbroken beach. and flocks of wild plover fluttered unmolested over the white sand. Now, great edifices, depots, and all the accompaniments of trade, travel and trans- portation meet my eyes.

"All is changed, so strange here, I will stroll up toward the lake and pass by the old . plum trees that strewed the grass with their crimson fruit, and see the wild grape vines once loaded with purple clusters, and where I had seen a hundred wigwams, that for a few days sheltered the tawny natives, who had come from Saginaw Bay to receive their annuities from Uncle Samuel. I remember they were in full dress; indeed, it was a 'full dress party,' that would have more than satisfied the most rigorous demands of fashion, for not only were their necks, arms and shoulders bare, but their chests and lower limbs also. But surely, this is not the place, for here is nothing but streets, stores and dwellings. Still it must be, for there stands the old light-house where the courteous old Scotchman, Mr. Dougall, trimmed the lamp to guide the few mariners of the Jake on their nightly way.

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History of St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources, its war record, biographical sketches, the whole preceded by a history of Michigan, Part 104

Author: Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago, A.T. Andreas & Co. Number of Pages: 818

Author:
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, A.T. Andreas & Co.
Number of Pages: 818