Edison, His Life and Inventions

F >> Frank Lewis Dyer and Thomas Commerford Martin >> Edison, His Life and Inventions


"My kit of tools made, my maps drawn, my Oriental geography reviewed, I
come to the point when matters of immediate departure are discussed; and
when I took occasion to mention to my chief that, on the subject of life
insurance, underwriters refuse to take any risks on an enterprise so
hazardous, Mr. Edison said that, if I did not place too high a valuation
on my person, he would take the risk himself. I replied that I was born
and bred in New York State, but now that I had become a Jersey man I did
not value myself at above fifteen hundred dollars. Edison laughed and
said that he would assume the risk, and another point was settled. The
next matter was the financing of the trip, about which Mr. Edison asked
in a tentative way about the rates to the East. I told him the expense
of such a trip could not be determined beforehand in detail, but that I
had established somewhat of a reputation for economic travel, and that
I did not believe any traveller could surpass me in that respect. He
desired no further assurance in that direction, and thereupon ordered a
letter of credit made out with authorization to order a second when the
first was exhausted. Herein then are set forth in briefest space the
preliminaries of a circuit of the globe in quest of fibre.

"It so happened that the day on which I set out fell on Washington's
Birthday, and I suggested to my boys and girls at school that they make
a line across the station platform near the school at Maplewood,
and from this line I would start eastward around the world, and if
good-fortune should bring me back I would meet them from the westward at
the same line. As I had often made them 'toe the scratch,' for once they
were only too well pleased to have me toe the line for them.

"This was done, and I sailed via England and the Suez Canal to Ceylon,
that fair isle to which Sindbad the Sailor made his sixth voyage,
picturesquely referred to in history as the 'brightest gem in the
British Colonial Crown.' I knew Ceylon to be eminently tropical; I knew
it to be rich in many varieties of the bamboo family, which has been
called the king of the grasses; and in this family had I most hope of
finding the desired fibre. Weeks were spent in this paradisiacal isle.
Every part was visited. Native wood craftsmen were offered a premium on
every new species brought in, and in this way nearly a hundred species
were tested, a greater number than was found in any other country. One
of the best specimens tested during the entire trip around the world was
found first in Ceylon, although later in Burmah, it being indigenous
to the latter country. It is a gigantic tree-grass or reed growing in
clumps of from one to two hundred, often twelve inches in diameter, and
one hundred and fifty feet high, and known as the giant bamboo (Bambusa
gigantia). This giant grass stood the highest test as a carbon, and on
account of its extraordinary size and qualities I extend it this special
mention. With others who have given much attention to this remarkable
reed, I believe that in its manifold uses the bamboo is the world's
greatest dendral benefactor.

"From Ceylon I proceeded to India, touching the great peninsula first
at Cape Comorin, and continuing northward by way of Pondicherry, Madura,
and Madras; and thence to the tableland of Bangalore and the Western
Ghauts, testing many kinds of wood at every point, but particularly the
palm and bamboo families. From the range of the Western Ghauts I went to
Bombay and then north by the way of Delhi to Simla, the summer capital
of the Himalayas; thence again northward to the headwaters of the Sutlej
River, testing everywhere on my way everything likely to afford the
desired carbon.

"On returning from the mountains I followed the valleys of the Jumna
and the Ganges to Calcutta, whence I again ascended the Sub-Himalayas to
Darjeeling, where the numerous river-bottoms were sprinkled plentifully
with many varieties of bamboo, from the larger sizes to dwarfed species
covering the mountain slopes, and not longer than the grass of meadows.
Again descending to the plains I passed eastward to the Brahmaputra
River, which I ascended to the foot-hills in Assam; but finding nothing
of superior quality in all this northern region I returned to Calcutta
and sailed thence to Rangoon, in Burmah; and there, finding no samples
giving more excellent tests in the lower reaches of the Irrawaddy,
I ascended that river to Mandalay, where, through Burmese bamboo
wiseacres, I gathered in from round about and tested all that the
unusually rich Burmese flora could furnish. In Burmah the giant bamboo,
as already mentioned, is found indigenous; but beside it no superior
varieties were found. Samples tested at several points on the Malay
Peninsula showed no new species, except at a point north of Singapore,
where I found a species large and heavy which gave a test nearly equal
to that of the giant bamboo in Ceylon.

"After completing the Malay Peninsula I had planned to visit Java and
Borneo; but having found in the Malay Peninsula and in Ceylon a bamboo
fibre which averaged a test from one to two hundred per cent. better
than that in use at the lamp factory, I decided it was unnecessary to
visit these countries or New Guinea, as my 'Eureka' had already been
established, and that I would therefore set forth over the return
hemisphere, searching China and Japan on the way. The rivers in Southern
China brought down to Canton bamboos of many species, where this
wondrously utilitarian reed enters very largely into the industrial life
of that people, and not merely into the industrial life, but even into
the culinary arts, for bamboo sprouts are a universal vegetable
in China; but among all the bamboos of China I found none of
superexcellence in carbonizing qualities. Japan came next in the
succession of countries to be explored, but there the work was much
simplified, from the fact that the Tokio Museum contains a complete
classified collection of all the different species in the empire, and
there samples could be obtained and tested.

"Now the last of the important bamboo-producing countries in the globe
circuit had been done, and the 'home-lap' was in order; the broad
Pacific was spanned in fourteen days; my natal continent in six; and
on the 22d of February, on the same day, at the same hour, at the
same minute, one year to a second, 'little Maude,' a sweet maid of the
school, led me across the line which completed the circuit of the globe,
and where I was greeted by the cheers of my boys and girls. I at once
reported to Mr. Edison, whose manner of greeting my return was as
characteristic of the man as his summary and matter-of-fact manner of my
dispatch. His little catechism of curious inquiry was embraced in four
small and intensely Anglo-Saxon words--with his usual pleasant smile he
extended his hand and said: 'Did you get it?' This was surely a summing
of a year's exploration not less laconic than Caesar's review of his
Gallic campaign. When I replied that I had, but that he must be the
final judge of what I had found, he said that during my absence he
had succeeded in making an artificial carbon which was meeting the
requirements satisfactorily; so well, indeed, that I believe no
practical use was ever made of the bamboo fibres thereafter.

"I have herein given a very brief resume of my search for fibre through
the Orient; and during my connection with that mission I was at all
times not less astonished at Mr. Edison's quick perception of conditions
and his instant decision and his bigness of conceptions, than I had
always been with his prodigious industry and his inventive genius.

"Thinking persons know that blatant men never accomplish much, and
Edison's marvellous brevity of speech along with his miraculous
achievements should do much to put bores and garrulity out of fashion."

Although Edison had instituted such a costly and exhaustive search
throughout the world for the most perfect of natural fibres, he did not
necessarily feel committed for all time to the exclusive use of that
material for his lamp filaments. While these explorations were in
progress, as indeed long before, he had given much thought to the
production of some artificial compound that would embrace not only the
required homogeneity, but also many other qualifications necessary for
the manufacture of an improved type of lamp which had become desirable
by reason of the rapid adoption of his lighting system.

At the very time Mr. McGowan was making his explorations deep in South
America, and Mr. Ricalton his swift trip around the world, Edison,
after much investigation and experiment, had produced a compound which
promised better results than bamboo fibres. After some changes dictated
by experience, this artificial filament was adopted in the manufacture
of lamps. No radical change was immediately made, however, but the
product of the lamp factory was gradually changed over, during the
course of a few years, from the use of bamboo to the "squirted"
filament, as the new material was called. An artificial compound of one
kind or another has indeed been universally adopted for the purpose
by all manufacturers; hence the incandescing conductors in all
carbon-filament lamps of the present day are made in that way. The fact
remains, however, that for nearly nine years all Edison lamps (many
millions in the aggregate) were made with bamboo filaments, and many of
them for several years after that, until bamboo was finally abandoned in
the early nineties, except for use in a few special types which were so
made until about the end of 1908. The last few years have witnessed
a remarkable advance in the manufacture of incandescent lamps in the
substitution of metallic filaments for those of carbon. It will be
remembered that many of the earlier experiments were based on the use of
strips of platinum; while other rare metals were the subject of casual
trial. No real success was attained in that direction, and for many
years the carbon-filament lamp reigned supreme. During the last four
or five years lamps with filaments made from tantalum and tungsten have
been produced and placed on the market with great success, and are now
largely used. Their price is still very high, however, as compared with
that of the carbon lamp, which has been vastly improved in methods of
construction, and whose average price of fifteen cents is only one-tenth
of what it was when Edison first brought it out.

With the close of Mr. McGowan's and Mr. Ricalton's expeditions, there
ended the historic world-hunt for natural fibres. From start to finish
the investigations and searches made by Edison himself, and carried on
by others under his direction, are remarkable not only from the fact
that they entailed a total expenditure of about $100,000, (disbursed
under his supervision by Mr. Upton), but also because of their unique
inception and thoroughness they illustrate one of the strongest traits
of his character--an invincible determination to leave no stone unturned
to acquire that which he believes to be in existence, and which, when
found, will answer the purpose that he has in mind.



CHAPTER XIV

INVENTING A COMPLETE SYSTEM OF LIGHTING

IN Berlin, on December 11, 1908, with notable eclat, the seventieth
birthday was celebrated of Emil Rathenau, the founder of the great
Allgemein Elektricitaets Gesellschaft. This distinguished German,
creator of a splendid industry, then received the congratulations of his
fellow-countrymen, headed by Emperor William, who spoke enthusiastically
of his services to electro-technics and to Germany. In his interesting
acknowledgment, Mr. Rathenau told how he went to Paris in 1881, and at
the electrical exhibition there saw the display of Edison's inventions
in electric lighting "which have met with as little proper appreciation
as his countless innovations in connection with telegraphy, telephony,
and the entire electrical industry." He saw the Edison dynamo, and he
saw the incandescent lamp, "of which millions have been manufactured
since that day without the great master being paid the tribute to his
invention." But what impressed the observant, thoroughgoing German was
the breadth with which the whole lighting art had been elaborated and
perfected, even at that early day. "The Edison system of lighting was as
beautifully conceived down to the very details, and as thoroughly worked
out as if it had been tested for decades in various towns. Neither
sockets, switches, fuses, lamp-holders, nor any of the other accessories
necessary to complete the installation were wanting; and the generating
of the current, the regulation, the wiring with distributing boxes,
house connections, meters, etc., all showed signs of astonishing skill
and incomparable genius."

Such praise on such an occasion from the man who introduced incandescent
electric lighting into Germany is significant as to the continued
appreciation abroad of Mr. Edison's work. If there is one thing modern
Germany is proud and jealous of, it is her leadership in electrical
engineering and investigation. But with characteristic insight, Mr.
Rathenau here placed his finger on the great merit that has often been
forgotten. Edison was not simply the inventor of a new lamp and a
new dynamo. They were invaluable elements, but far from all that was
necessary. His was the mighty achievement of conceiving and executing
in all its details an art and an industry absolutely new to the world.
Within two years this man completed and made that art available in its
essential, fundamental facts, which remain unchanged after thirty years
of rapid improvement and widening application.

Such a stupendous feat, whose equal is far to seek anywhere in the
history of invention, is worth studying, especially as the task will
take us over much new ground and over very little of the territory
already covered. Notwithstanding the enormous amount of thought and
labor expended on the incandescent lamp problem from the autumn of
1878 to the winter of 1879, it must not be supposed for one moment that
Edison's whole endeavor and entire inventive skill had been given to the
lamp alone, or the dynamo alone. We have sat through the long watches
of the night while Edison brooded on the real solution of the swarming
problems. We have gazed anxiously at the steady fingers of the deft and
cautious Batchelor, as one fragile filament after another refused to
stay intact until it could be sealed into its crystal prison and there
glow with light that never was before on land or sea. We have calculated
armatures and field coils for the new dynamo with Upton, and held the
stakes for Jehl and his fellows at their winding bees. We have seen the
mineral and vegetable kingdoms rifled and ransacked for substances that
would yield the best "filament." We have had the vague consciousness of
assisting at a great development whose evidences to-day on every hand
attest its magnitude. We have felt the fierce play of volcanic effort,
lifting new continents of opportunity from the infertile sea, without
any devastation of pre-existing fields of human toil and harvest. But
it still remains to elucidate the actual thing done; to reduce it to
concrete data, and in reducing, to unfold its colossal dimensions.

The lighting system that Edison contemplated in this entirely new
departure from antecedent methods included the generation of electrical
energy, or current, on a very large scale; its distribution throughout
extended areas, and its division and subdivision into small units
converted into light at innumerable points in every direction from
the source of supply, each unit to be independent of every other and
susceptible to immediate control by the user.

This was truly an altogether prodigious undertaking. We need not
wonder that Professor Tyndall, in words implying grave doubt as to the
possibility of any solution of the various problems, said publicly that
he would much rather have the matter in Edison's hands than in his own.
There were no precedents, nothing upon which to build or improve. The
problems could only be answered by the creation of new devices and
methods expressly worked out for their solution. An electric lamp
answering certain specific requirements would, indeed, be the key to the
situation, but its commercial adaptation required a multifarious variety
of apparatus and devices. The word "system" is much abused in invention,
and during the early days of electric lighting its use applied to a mere
freakish lamp or dynamo was often ludicrous. But, after all, nothing
short of a complete system could give real value to the lamp as an
invention; nothing short of a system could body forth the new art to
the public. Let us therefore set down briefly a few of the leading items
needed for perfect illumination by electricity, all of which were part
of the Edison programme:

First--To conceive a broad and fundamentally correct method of
distributing the current, satisfactory in a scientific sense and
practical commercially in its efficiency and economy. This meant, ready
made, a comprehensive plan analogous to illumination by gas, with a
network of conductors all connected together, so that in any given city
area the lights could be fed with electricity from several directions,
thus eliminating any interruption due to the disturbance on any
particular section.

Second--To devise an electric lamp that would give about the same amount
of light as a gas jet, which custom had proven to be a suitable and
useful unit. This lamp must possess the quality of requiring only a
small investment in the copper conductors reaching it. Each lamp must
be independent of every other lamp. Each and all the lights must be
produced and operated with sufficient economy to compete on a commercial
basis with gas. The lamp must be durable, capable of being easily and
safely handled by the public, and one that would remain capable of
burning at full incandescence and candle-power a great length of time.

Third--To devise means whereby the amount of electrical energy furnished
to each and every customer could be determined, as in the case of gas,
and so that this could be done cheaply and reliably by a meter at the
customer's premises.

Fourth--To elaborate a system or network of conductors capable of being
placed underground or overhead, which would allow of being tapped at any
intervals, so that service wires could be run from the main conductors
in the street into each building. Where these mains went below
the surface of the thoroughfare, as in large cities, there must be
protective conduit or pipe for the copper conductors, and these pipes
must allow of being tapped wherever necessary. With these conductors and
pipes must also be furnished manholes, junction-boxes, connections, and
a host of varied paraphernalia insuring perfect general distribution.

Fifth--To devise means for maintaining at all points in an extended area
of distribution a practically even pressure of current, so that all
the lamps, wherever located, near or far away from the central station,
should give an equal light at all times, independent of the number that
might be turned on; and safeguarding the lamps against rupture by sudden
and violent fluctuations of current. There must also be means for thus
regulating at the point where the current was generated the quality or
pressure of the current throughout the whole lighting area, with devices
for indicating what such pressure might actually be at various points in
the area.

Sixth--To design efficient dynamos, such not being in existence at the
time, that would convert economically the steam-power of high-speed
engines into electrical energy, together with means for connecting and
disconnecting them with the exterior consumption circuits; means for
regulating, equalizing their loads, and adjusting the number of dynamos
to be used according to the fluctuating demands on the central station.
Also the arrangement of complete stations with steam and electric
apparatus and auxiliary devices for insuring their efficient and
continuous operation.

Seventh--To invent devices that would prevent the current from becoming
excessive upon any conductors, causing fire or other injury; also
switches for turning the current on and off; lamp-holders, fixtures, and
the like; also means and methods for establishing the interior circuits
that were to carry current to chandeliers and fixtures in buildings.

Here was the outline of the programme laid down in the autumn of 1878,
and pursued through all its difficulties to definite accomplishment in
about eighteen months, some of the steps being made immediately, others
being taken as the art evolved. It is not to be imagined for one moment
that Edison performed all the experiments with his own hands. The method
of working at Menlo Park has already been described in these pages
by those who participated. It would not only have been physically
impossible for one man to have done all this work himself, in view of
the time and labor required, and the endless detail; but most of the
apparatus and devices invented or suggested by him as the art took shape
required the handiwork of skilled mechanics and artisans of a high order
of ability. Toward the end of 1879 the laboratory force thus numbered at
least one hundred earnest men. In this respect of collaboration, Edison
has always adopted a policy that must in part be taken to explain his
many successes. Some inventors of the greatest ability, dealing with
ideas and conceptions of importance, have found it impossible to
organize or even to tolerate a staff of co-workers, preferring solitary
and secret toil, incapable of team work, or jealous of any intrusion
that could possibly bar them from a full and complete claim to the
result when obtained. Edison always stood shoulder to shoulder with his
associates, but no one ever questioned the leadership, nor was it ever
in doubt where the inspiration originated. The real truth is that Edison
has always been so ceaselessly fertile of ideas himself, he has had more
than his whole staff could ever do to try them all out; he has sought
co-operation, but no exterior suggestion. As a matter of fact a great
many of the "Edison men" have made notable inventions of their own, with
which their names are imperishably associated; but while they were with
Edison it was with his work that they were and must be busied.

It was during this period of "inventing a system" that so much
systematic and continuous work with good results was done by Edison in
the design and perfection of dynamos. The value of his contributions
to the art of lighting comprised in this work has never been fully
understood or appreciated, having been so greatly overshadowed by
his invention of the incandescent lamp, and of a complete system of
distribution. It is a fact, however, that the principal improvements he
made in dynamo-electric generators were of a radical nature and remain
in the art. Thirty years bring about great changes, especially in a
field so notably progressive as that of the generation of electricity;
but different as are the dynamos of to-day from those of the earlier
period, they embody essential principles and elements that Edison then
marked out and elaborated as the conditions of success. There was indeed
prompt appreciation in some well-informed quarters of what Edison was
doing, evidenced by the sensation caused in the summer of 1881, when
he designed, built, and shipped to Paris for the first Electrical
Exposition ever held, the largest dynamo that had been built up to that
time. It was capable of lighting twelve hundred incandescent lamps, and
weighed with its engine twenty-seven tons, the armature alone weighing
six tons. It was then, and for a long time after, the eighth wonder of
the scientific world, and its arrival and installation in Paris were
eagerly watched by the most famous physicists and electricians of
Europe.

Edison's amusing description of his experience in shipping the dynamo to
Paris when built may appropriately be given here: "I built a very large
dynamo with the engine directly connected, which I intended for the
Paris Exposition of 1881. It was one or two sizes larger than those I
had previously built. I had only a very short period in which to get it
ready and put it on a steamer to reach the Exposition in time. After the
machine was completed we found the voltage was too low. I had to devise
a way of raising the voltage without changing the machine, which I did
by adding extra magnets. After this was done, we tested the machine, and
the crank-shaft of the engine broke and flew clear across the shop.
By working night and day a new crank-shaft was put in, and we only had
three days left from that time to get it on board the steamer; and had
also to run a test. So we made arrangements with the Tammany leader, and
through him with the police, to clear the street--one of the New York
crosstown streets--and line it with policemen, as we proposed to make a
quick passage, and didn't know how much time it would take. About four
hours before the steamer had to get it, the machine was shut down after
the test, and a schedule was made out in advance of what each man had
to do. Sixty men were put on top of the dynamo to get it ready, and each
man had written orders as to what he was to perform. We got it all taken
apart and put on trucks and started off. They drove the horses with a
fire-bell in front of them to the French pier, the policemen lining
the streets. Fifty men were ready to help the stevedores get it on the
steamer--and we were one hour ahead of time."