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THE NEWBERRY SUN. NEWBERRY. S. C. EDISON CENTENNIAL Early Efforts Backfired but Lessons Brought Lasting Fame WNU Features. During his lifetime Thomas A. Edison found time to root around in about everybody’s backyard, doping out a gadget or a machine or a formula that would help his neighbor. He was crammed with ideas about many things, some of which, as everybody knows, brought him enduring fame. There were some, however, that his 84 years did not give him time to perfect. As the 100th anniversary of his birth, on February 11, 1847, ap proaches, there are probably very few people who know that Edison once won a patent on a “flying ma chine.” Back in 1910, he doped out an idea on a helicopter, in which field he thought the future of avi ation lay. On another occasion he was granted a patent on a method of preserving fruit, and when he died he was working on a formula for extraction of rubber from the lowly goldenrod. ‘Wizard’ Was Human. Edison once even worked on an insecticide, and this experience shows a human side that belies any suggestion that he had a “magic t$iumb” in the inventive business. He was just coming into fame as the “Wizard of Menlo Park” when he was approached by a neighbor ing farmer whose principal crop was threatened with destruction by an invasion of potato bugs. The year was 1878, Tom was 31, and he already had to his credit such in ventions as the phonograph and a score of telegraph patents. The farmer allowed as how an up-and- coming young inventor ought to be able to find a way to kill off the potato bugs. Accepting the challenge, although he knew relatively nothing about bugs and plants, Edison collected a quart bottle full of potato bugs and set forth to compound a lethal po tion. Testing every chemical in his laboratory, he hit upon bisulphide of carbon as a sure-fire potato bug killer. Jubilantly, he and the farm er sprinkled the infested potato vines and waited to tabulate the re sults. The bugs died like flies—but so did the potato vines; and Edi son had to pay the farmer S300 damages for, as he put it, “not experimenting properly.” He never again made the mis take of not experimenting enough. Consequently, some of his inventions took him years to perfect, and be cause of his patience the world has become a much better place in which to live. His invention of the electric light made necessary a sys tem of electrical distribution which brought not only light but also scores of electrical gadgets to the farm home as well as city resi dence. His phonograph put the best music into the home, and his numer ous other inventions, including the motion picture, made life easier, more comfortable and entertaining. Worked Too Well. There was one other of Edison’s creations which backfired, but it wasn’t because he hadn’t perfected it; this one, on the contrary, worked too well. At one time he was working as night telegraph op erator in the Grand Truck railroad station at Stratford Junction, Can ada. One of the requirements of the MJJJob was that Edison, then 17, must // check in on the wire every half hour by sending the signal 6 in Morse code to the train dispatcher at a nearby station. Edison deplored this arrangement oecause it prevented him from catching up on the sleep he wasn’t getting during the daytime, which he spent in study and experimenta tion. So he rigged up a device for automatically sending out the sig nal 6. He hooked up the instru ment to the office clock so that ev ery. 30 minutes the signal went out ever the wire, thus reassuring the dispatcher that Edison was on the job whereas, in fact, he was sound asleep. This ruse was successful until one night the train dis patcher tried vainly to contact Edison on the wire during one of his catnaps. Alarmed by the prospect that the Stratford Junc tion telegraph office was un manned, the dispatcher made his way to Edison’s office on a handcar. He arrived just in time to find Edison blissfully sleep ing while the young inventor’s machine obediently dotted-and- dasbed the prescribed signal. The next day Edison started looking for another job, but the ex periment proved of incalculable value because it started him on a Two highlights in Thomas A. Edi son’s amazing career are shown in these pictures. Top, Edison is shown demonstrating his first phonograph at the White House on April 18, 1878. Lower, the inventor is shown oper ating an early and crude model of his first motion picture machine. Man About Town: Memos of a Midnighter; Insiders hear next year’s flying time from N. Y. to Miami will be 200 minutes. I. . . Many of the show gals are worried silly that their names will be dragged into the Alvin Paris foot ball bribe scandal because they were Paris’ dates. Paris hasn’t had so . much publicity since French post cards. . . . John Murray Anderson’s chums hear he is experimenting with the Russian “youth” serum. He is in his 60s. . . . Bing will make : close to a million dollars out of his platters this year, not including his many other chores. . . . Rodgers & i Hammerstein are taking no risk with their gold mine, “Annie Get Your Gun.” They are paying Mary Jane Walsh the highest wage yet , for an understudy—just to stand by in the wings. $750 per week. . . . Top loss to Moss Hart (whose apt. was burgled) was the gold ciggie case signed by the cast of “Winged Victory.” train of thought that led him first to the invention of a stock ticker and an automatic telegraph, thence to the phonograph and later to the motion picture camera. Earns First Money. With the idea planted in his mind of constructing telegraph apparatus that would automatically send and record messages, Edison invented and patented an improved stock ticker. It was so much better than the crude tickers which antedated his that a telegraph company paid him $40,000 for it—the first money Edison ever received for an inven tion. With the $40,000 Edison estab lished a shop in Newark, N. J., in 1870, and began the manufacture of stock tickers. He was 23, and for the first time in his life he had enough money to experiment with the hundred and one ideas that coursed through his agile mind. One of a score of telegraphic pat ents he took out as a result of his experiments in Newark was on an automatic telegraph, which could send and record messages on a strip of paper tape at a rate far beyond the speed possible in send ing and receiving by hand. In seek ing to improve his first automatic telegraph, Edison experimented with a machine employing a turn table covered with a paper disc. Perforations in the paper disc sent out dots and dashes when the turn table was rotated. One day, how ever, the turntable was operated at an excessive speed and, instead of dots and dashes, the result was a musical hum. Edison was quick to sense the possibilities of his dis covery, and on July 18, 1877, he made the following entry in one of the 2,500 notebooks he filled with scientific data and reports before his death at 84 on October 18, 1931: “Just tried experiment with a diaphragm having an embossed point and held against paraffin paper moving rapidly. The speaking vibrations are indent ed nicely and there is no doubt that I shall be able to store up and reproduce automatically at any future time the human voice perfectly.” Less than a month later he did just that. First Movie Was ‘Talkie.’ Ten years later, in 1887, Edison set out, as he later commented, “to do for the eye what the phonograph did for the ear.” The result was | the birth of what today is probably the most glamorous industry in the world—the motion picture industry. Thus it was that the germ of an idea which took root in Edison’s mind when he was fired as a tele graph operator ultimately led to in vention of the stock ticker, the au tomatic telegraph, the phonograph and the motion picture camera. fedison probably is best remem bered as the inventor of the first practical incandescent lamp. The lamp was a handy symbol of achievement seized upon by the pub lic, but actually it constituted only a small portion of his work in the field of electric lighting and power distribution. From 1868, when he received his first patent for an electrical ly energized voting machine, un til his death 63 years later, Edi son created 1,097 patentable in ventions — by far the greatest number of patents ever issued to any one individual by the United States Patent office. The wide range of his accom plishments is almost un believable. The carbon transmitter that made Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone a commercial success was an Edi son invention, and for many years the names of both Bell and Edison appeared on telephone instruments. This same transmitter later was adapted to radio and served as the first broadcasting microphone. Perfects Telegraphy. Edison patented a system of teleg raphy through space six years be fore Guglielmo Marconi made the instrument that earned him the title of “Father of Wireless Teleg raphy.” Edison invented, built and oper ated the first electric railroad in America. Some of his patents caused revolutionary changes in the cement industry, and as early as 1908 he was building cement houses with prefabricated molds. He invented an electric automo bile, a helicopter, a method of mak ing plate glass. He patented a method of preserving fresh fruits and vegetables in glass containers; he devised a machine, called the micro-tasimeter, for measuring minute heat fractions, and another, the odoroscope, for registering the presence of odors, however slight. Indefatigable Worker. Before introduction of the type writer, Edison invented an electric pen which cut stencils of handwrit ing so that one letter could be re produced in illimitable quantities. Its modem counterpart is the mimeograph machine. These and scores of other cre ations, some of great im portance and some, like his talk ing doll, hardly more than nov elties, came out of Edison’s mind. He rued the fact that the day con tained only 24 hours, because it did not give him enough time to do everything he wanted to do. His fa vorite motto — and one which he displayed prominently on the walls of his laboratory and offices—was a quotation which said: “There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the serious labor of thinking.” Although Edison lived to be 84, he continued to put in long hours of study and work right up until a few weeks before his death. When friends chided him about not re tiring to a life of ease, his reply was that “There’ll be plenty of time to think about retiring when I reach 100.” Tom Edison has “reached 100” and he has “retired,” but his mem ory lives on in a thousand creations that have benefitted mankind. Broadway Ballad: (By Don Wahn): I do not blame the young for being sick. ... Of giving alms to beggars of the past. . . . Why should they turn to watch a shabby trick? . . . Why should they care if terror joined the cast? . . . We had our roses, redolent of spring. . . . We had our nights of revelry and mirth. . . . We had the soft est, loveliest songs to sing. . . . We had the shining rapture of the earth. . . . Yes, it is gone and shortly we will go. . . . The golden girls, the roses and the wine. . . . And newer lads will find the nights aglow—with all the misty magic that was mine. . . . And when they find that love and beauty die. ... I hope they leave — more gracefully than I. The Broadway Lights: J. Du rante, X. Cugat and the dice tables were the reason the new Flamingo (Las Vegas) attracted 28,000 patrons in the first three days. . . . Midtown hotels had their worst week in five years. One had 370 empty rooms, another 320 and another 300. . . . Buddy Kaye made so much coin out of the ditty, “Till the End of Time,” that he is among the prodacers of the new Jerome Robbins show, “Look, Ma, I’m Dancing.” ... A short titled “The Last Bomb” comes across with atomic impact, particu larly one episode wherein the cam era slowly moves through the rows of graves at Iwo Jima. After view ing that, you’ll cherish every mo ment of peace like it was the Iasi minute of your life. Broadway Story: The most valuable song copyright in the world is “White Christmas.” . . . It was published in 1942 and sold over one million copies dur ing its first four months. . . . On some days it sold over 50,009 copies. . . . Each year (since) it was purchased by 350,000 peo ple. . . . The recordings totaled five million records—two million of which were Bing’s version up to this year. . . . Decca says this year it out-sold any of the previous seasons—over 500,000 platters. . . . But this is why it is the most valuable copyright. ... A copyright lasts 56 years. ... It has over 50 years to go— and selling at the rate it is going —you can imagine how much richer the tax department will get. The Story Tellers: The latest edi tion of Who’s Who reveals that the American general who has won the most decorations (40) is Brig. Gen. Edgar K. Hume. This is the first time we ever came across his name. . . . Joff Keate’s cartoon chuckler has been widely reprinted in the' di gests. A child specialist is giving advice to a mother: “You’ll have to handle this child carefully; remem ber you’re dealing with a sensitive, high-strung little stinker.” . . . The Minnesota state prison’s newspaper (edited by a convict) ran this edi torially: “Those caught stealing items from the papers will be dropped from our list of contribu tors. Stealing from another’s writ ings is one of the lowest bits of thiev ery!” Washington newsmen enjoy spinning this one: A group of them once accompanied FDR to a show. They thanked a secret service man for providing them with excellent seats. “Don’t mention it,” the secret servicer retorted. “Just notice the seating arrangement. You’ll discover no one can take a shot at the President without hitting one or two reporters first!” Hypnotism Aids in Tooth Extraction BAKERSFIELD, CALIF. — Hyp notism, long considered a good stage trick but also utilized in medicine and in curing mental ills during re cent years, found a new use in den tistry here. When Mrs. Violet Nicola went to a medical-dental clinic to have two teeth extracted, it was discovered that she was allergic to all types of anesthetics. The dentist called two ioctors and a psycho-therapist into consultation. The consulting psycho therapist started talking to the pa tient and within a few seconds she was in a hypnotic trance. Thirty minutes later Mrs. Nicola was brought out of the trance, minus her two teeth but completely unaware that they were gone. Al though the doctors and two other witnesses told her the operation was over, Mrs. Nicola was not convinced until she looked in a mirror. Boy Peruses Comics As Home Fire Flares CHAMPAIGN, ILL. — Even a fire in his own home could not induce seven-year-old Bernard Burke to abandon his comic book. Firemen, called to the Burke home to quell a blaze, found Bernard in the bath tub reading a comic book. To anxious queries, Bernard calmly ex plained: “I’m busy. The firemen will put it out.” After the blaze was out, Bernard was still in the tub. Quotation Marksmanship: T. Parker: Democracy means not “I am as good as you are,” but “You are as good as I am.” . . . Maurois: Growing old is a bad habit which a busy man has no time to form. . . . E. Brandeis: Sometimes you pay compliments and sometimes you pay for them. . . . P. Davis: And so they were divorced and loved happily ever after. ... Ed Wynn: It was so cold my blankets fought to get on the bottom. . . . M. Kom- roff: What can you expect of a dpy that begins getting up in the morn. ■Smart ^t)cnjluner j^or cjCarge Sicjure Pattern No. 8097 is for sizes 36, 38. 40. 42, 44, 46, 48. 50 and 52. Size 38 requires 4‘/a yards of 35 or 39-inch; 4 , /2 yards of binding. SEWING CIRCLE PATTERN DEPT. 530 South Wells St. Chicago 7, III. Enclose 25 cents in coins for each pattern desired. Pattern No Size Gas on Stomach Relieved in S minutes or <Mle roar money kook When excess stomach acid caosea painful, suffocat ing gas, soar stomach and heartburn, doctors usually prescribe the fastest-actinff medicines known for symptomatic relief — medicines like those i n Bell-ana Tablets. No laxative. Bell-ana brings comfort in * jiffy or doable your money back on return of bottio to us. 25c at all druggists. rMOROLINE SAFETY \ QUALITY PETROLEUM OHrcll \ J E LLV - LA ROM JAB A NARROW harmonizing bind- ing makes a nice finish on this simple styled daytime dress in the larger size range. The flat tering panelled skirt is beloved by all women. Norway Honored Weaver Of Museum Pieces by Law Few artists have been honored during their lifetime as was Nor way’s celebrated weaver, Frida Hansen (1853-1927L After her tap estries had won awards at nine international expositions and be come museum pieces, the Nor wegian government, fearing all her work might be purchased abroad, passed a law forbidding export of any more. OYAL JUPITER, Grand Champion steer at the 1946 International Livestock Exposition, best shows today’s demand in beef cattle. And on American farms, the New Firestone Champion Ground Grip is the Champion among tractor tires. As the Champion, this new tractor tiro cleans up to 100% more effectively ... pulls up to 62% more at the drawbar ... lasts up to 91% longer . . . and rides smoother on the highway. There are sound reasons for this. The curved traction bars flare outward from the center, making a wider opening at the shoulder from which mud and trash fall easily. The connected bars take a powerful “center bite” in the heart of the traction zone. The extra-deep, pyramid-like curved traction bars cut sharply into the ground with a cleaving action. The extra height, plus buttressing at the base and Triple-Bracing near the center, give the bars greater strength and stability. Con tinuous bars give the Champion smoother contact with the highway . . . lengthen tire life. When you order tractor tires, or a trac tor, ask your Implement Dealer, Firestone Dealer Store, or Firestone Dealer to specify Firestone Champion Ground Grips. WRITE FOR FREE BOOKLET Firestone has prepared a beautifullf illua- 1 traced 16-page booklet which tells in detail y how Royal Jupiter was fitted and shown to> 1 the Grand Championship of the 1946 Inter* national Livestock Exposition. To receiv* your free copy, clip and mail this coupon today. 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