Magnetic Ore Milling Work - 9

Magnetic Ore Milling Work - 9

 The financial aspect of these enterprises is often overlooked and forgotten. In this

instance it was of more than usual import and seriousness, as Edison was virtually his

own "backer," putting into the company almost the whole of all the fortune his inventions

had brought him. There is a tendency to deny to the capital that thus takes desperate

chances its full reward if things go right, and to insist that it shall have barely the legal

rate of interest and far less than the return of over-the-counter retail trade. It is an

absolute fact that the great electrical inventors and the men who stood behind them have

had little return for their foresight and courage. In this instance, when the inventor was

largely his own financier, the difficulties and perils were redoubled. Let Mr. Mallory give

an instance: "During the latter part of the panic of 1893 there came a period when we

were very hard up for ready cash, due largely to the panicky conditions; and a large payroll

had been raised with considerable difficulty. A short time before pay-day our

treasurer called me up by telephone, and said: `I have just received the paid checks from

the bank, and I am fearful that my assistant, who has forged my name to some of the

checks, has absconded with about $3000.' I went immediately to Mr. Edison and told him

of the forgery and the amount of money taken, and in what an embarrassing position we

were for the next pay-roll. When I had finished he said: `It is too bad the money is gone,

but I will tell you what to do. Go and see the president of the bank which paid the forged

checks. Get him to admit the bank's liability, and then say to him that Mr. Edison does

not think the bank should suffer because he happened to have a dishonest clerk in his

employ. Also say to him that I shall not ask them to make the amount good.' This was

done; the bank admitting its liability and being much pleased with this action. When I

reported to Mr. Edison he said: `That's all right. We have made a friend of the bank, and

we may need friends later on.' And so it happened that some time afterward, when we

greatly needed help in the way of loans, the bank willingly gave us the accommodations

we required to tide us over a critical period."

This iron-ore concentrating project had lain close to Edison's heart and ambition--indeed,

it had permeated his whole being to the exclusion of almost all other investigations or

inventions for a while. For five years he had lived and worked steadily at Edison, leaving

there only on Saturday night to spend Sunday at his home in Orange, and returning to the

plant by an early train on Monday morning. Life at Edison was of the simple kind--work,

meals, and a few hours' sleep--day by day. The little village, called into existence by the

concentrating works, was of the most primitive nature and offered nothing in the way of

frivolity or amusement. Even the scenery is austere. Hence Edison was enabled to follow

his natural bent in being surrounded day and night by his responsible chosen associates,

with whom he worked uninterrupted by outsiders from early morning away into the late

hours of the evening. Those who were laboring with him, inspired by his unflagging

enthusiasm, followed his example and devoted all their long waking hours to the

furtherance of his plans with a zeal that ultimately bore fruit in the practical success here

recorded.

In view of its present status, this colossal enterprise at Edison may well be likened to the

prologue of a play that is to be subsequently enacted for the benefit of future generations,

but before ringing down the curtain it is desirable to preserve the unities by quoting the

words of one of the principal actors, Mr. Mallory, who says: "The Concentrating Works

had been in operation, and we had produced a considerable quantity of the briquettes, and

had been able to sell only a portion of them, the iron market being in such condition that

blast-furnaces were not making any new purchases of iron ore, and were having difficulty

to receive and consume the ores which had been previously contracted for, so what sales

we were able to make were at extremely low prices, my recollection being that they were

between $3.50 and $3.80 per ton, whereas when the works had started we had hoped to

obtain $6.00 to $6.50 per ton for the briquettes. We had also thoroughly investigated the

wonderful deposit at Mesaba, and it was with the greatest possible reluctance that Mr.

Edison was able to come finally to the conclusion that, under existing conditions, the

concentrating plant could not then be made a commercial success. This decision was

reached only after the most careful investigations and calculations, as Mr. Edison was

just as full of fight and ambition to make it a success as when he first started.

"When this decision was reached Mr. Edison and I took the Jersey Central train from

Edison, bound for Orange, and I did not look forward to the immediate future with any

degree of confidence, as the concentrating plant was heavily in debt, without any early

prospect of being able to pay off its indebtedness. On the train the matter of the future

was discussed, and Mr. Edison said that, inasmuch as we had the knowledge gained from

our experience in the concentrating problem, we must, if possible, apply it to some

practical use, and at the same time we must work out some other plans by which we

could make enough money to pay off the Concentrating Company's indebtedness, Mr.

Edison stating most positively that no company with which he had personally been

actively connected had ever failed to pay its debts, and he did not propose to have the

Concentrating Company any exception.