The Development Of The Edison Storage Battery - 4

The Development Of The Edison Storage Battery - 4

 The group that took part in these early years of Edison's arduous labors included his oldtime

assistant, Fred Ott, together with his chemist, J. W. Aylsworth, as well as E. J. Ross,

Jr., W. E. Holland, and Ralph Arbogast, and a little later W. G. Bee, all of whom have

grown up with the battery and still devote their energies to its commercial development.

One of these workers, relating the strenuous experiences of these few years, says: "It was

hard work and long hours, but still there were some things that made life pleasant. One of

them was the supper-hour we enjoyed when we worked nights. Mr. Edison would have

supper sent in about midnight, and we all sat down together, including himself. Work was

forgotten for the time, and all hands were ready for fun. I have very pleasant recollections

of Mr. Edison at these times. He would always relax and help to make a good time, and

on some occasions I have seen him fairly overflow with animal spirits, just like a boy let

out from school. After the supper-hour was over, however, he again became the serious,

energetic inventor, deeply immersed in the work at hand.

"He was very fond of telling and hearing stories, and always appreciated a joke. I

remember one that he liked to get off on us once in a while. Our lighting plant was in

duplicate, and about 12.30 or 1 o'clock in the morning, at the close of the supper-hour, a

change would be made from one plant to the other, involving the gradual extinction of the

electric lights and their slowly coming up to candle-power again, the whole change

requiring probably about thirty seconds. Sometimes, as this was taking place, Edison

would fold his hands, compose himself as if he were in sound sleep, and when the lights

were full again would apparently wake up, with the remark, `Well, boys, we've had a fine

rest; now let's pitch into work again.' "

Another interesting and amusing reminiscence of this period of activity has been gathered

from another of the family of experimenters: "Sometimes, when Mr. Edison had been

working long hours, he would want to have a short sleep. It was one of the funniest things

I ever witnessed to see him crawl into an ordinary roll-top desk and curl up and take a

nap. If there was a sight that was still more funny, it was to see him turn over on his other

side, all the time remaining in the desk. He would use several volumes of Watts's

Dictionary of Chemistry for a pillow, and we fellows used to say that he absorbed the

contents during his sleep, judging from the flow of new ideas he had on waking."

Such incidents as these serve merely to illustrate the lighter moments that stand out in

relief against the more sombre background of the strenuous years, for, of all the

absorbingly busy periods of Edison's inventive life, the first five years of the storagebattery

era was one of the very busiest of them all. It was not that there remained any

basic principle to be discovered or simplified, for that had already been done; but it was

in the effort to carry these principles into practice that there arose the numerous

difficulties that at times seemed insurmountable. But, according to another co-worker,

"Edison seemed pleased when he used to run up against a serious difficulty. It would

seem to stiffen his backbone and make him more prolific of new ideas. For a time I

thought I was foolish to imagine such a thing, but I could never get away from the

impression that he really appeared happy when he ran up against a serious snag. That was

in my green days, and I soon learned that the failure of an experiment never discourages

him unless it is by reason of the carelessness of the man making it. Then Edison gets

disgusted. If it fails on its merits, he doesn't worry or fret about it, but, on the contrary,

regards it as a useful fact learned; remains cheerful and tries something else. I have

known him to reverse an unsuccessful experiment and come out all right."