THOMAS A. EDISON
One of the greatest inventors of the age is Thomas A. Edison, and his whole life is an interesting story for young people. His mother had been a teacher, and her greatest wish for her son was that he should love knowledge and grow up to be a good and useful man.
When Edison was only twelve years of age, he secured a position as train boy on the Grand Trunk Railroad in one of the western states. He went through the train and sold apples, peanuts, papers, and books. He had such a pleasant face that everybody liked to buy his wares. He traded some of his papers for things with which to try experiments. He then fitted out an old baggage car as a little room in which he began his first efforts in the way of inventions.
One of the things he did while working as a train boy was to print a paper on the train. The "London Times" spoke of it as the only paper in the world published on a train. It was named the "Grand Trunk Herald."
Young Edison worked as a train boy for four years, and he had in that time saved two thousand dollars, which he gave to his parents.
Once he thought he would like to read all the books in the city library. He read for a long time, but he found that he could not finish all the books. He then made up his mind that one would have to live a thousand years in order to read all the books in that library, so he gave up the idea.
One day he bought a book on electricity. Soon after that the basement of his home was filled with many odd things. He used a stovepipe to connect his home with that of another boy, and through this the boys could talk when they wished.
A kind friend taught young Edison how to telegraph, and in five months he could operate well and was given a position. He worked very hard, night and day, so that he could learn all he could about electricity. He lost place after place because he was always trying some new idea. When he first proposed to send four messages on one wire at the same time, he was laughed at by the people; but Edison succeeded. Later on he invented the phonograph. His greatest invention is the incandescent light, which is used for lighting purposes.
Mr. Edison loves his work, and although he is now a very wealthy man, he keeps on inventing and working every day. It is said that he sometimes works for twenty-four hours, day and night, without food or rest, until he has perfected some new invention. Mr. Edison is a true type of an American gentleman.