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281
Heroes of the Telegraph
·
John Munro
100
'When,'
said
he,
'the
electrotype
process
first
became
known,
it
excited
a
very
general
interest;
and
although
I
was
only
a
young
student
at
Gottingen,
under
twenty
years
of
age,
who
had
just
entered
upon
his
practical
career
with
a
mechanical
engineer,
I
joined
my
brother,
Werner
Siemens,
then
a
young
lieutenant
of
artillery
in
the
Prussian
service,
in
his
endeavours
to
accomplish
electro-gilding;
the
first
impulse
in
this
direction
having
been
given
by
Professor
C.
Himly,
then
of
Gottingen.
After
attaining
some
promising
results,
a
spirit
of
enterprise
came
over
me,
so
strong
that
I
tore
myself
away
from
the
narrow
circumstances
surrounding
me,
and
landed
at
the
east
end
of
London
with
only
a
few
pounds
in
my
pocket
and
without
friends,
but
with
an
ardent
confidence
of
ultimate
success
within
my
breast.
'I
expected
to
find
some
office
in
which
inventions
were
examined
into,
and
rewarded
if
found
meritorious,
but
no
one
could
direct
me
to
such
a
place.
In
walking
along
Finsbury
Pavement,
I
saw
written
up
in
large
letters,
"So-and-so"
(I
forget
the
name),
"Undertaker,"
and
the
thought
struck
me
that
this
must
be
the
place
I
was
in
quest
of;
at
any
rate,
I
thought
that
a
person
advertising
himself
as
an
"undertaker"
would
not
refuse
to
look
into
my
invention
with
a
view
of
obtaining
for
me
the
sought-for
recognition
or
reward.
On
entering
the
place
I
soon
convinced
myself,
however,
that
I
came
decidedly
too
soon
for
the
kind
of
enterprise
here
contemplated,
and,
finding
myself
confronted
with
the
proprietor
of
the
establishment,
I
covered
my
retreat
by
what
he
must
have
thought
a
very
lame
excuse.
By
dint
of
perseverance
I
found
my
way
to
the
patent
office
of
Messrs.
Poole
and
Carpmael,
who
received
me
kindly,
and
provided
me
with
a
letter
of
introduction
to
Mr.
Elkington.
Armed
with
this
letter,
I
proceeded
to
Birmingham,
to
plead
my
cause
before
your
townsman.
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