Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
281
Heroes of the Telegraph
·
John Munro
195
The
ready
ingenuity
of
Edison
is
shown
by
his
device
for
killing
the
cockroaches
which
overran
the
Boston
office.
He
arranged
some
strips
of
tinfoil
on
the
wall,
and
connected
these
to
the
poles
of
a
battery
in
such
a
way
that
when
the
insects
ran
towards
the
bait
which
he
had
provided,
they
stepped
from
one
foil
to
the
other,
and
completed
the
circuit
of
the
current,
thus
receiving
a
smart
shock,
which
dislodged
them
into
a
pail
of
water,
standing
below.
In
1870,
after
two
years
in
Boston,
where
he
had
spent
all
his
earnings,
chiefly
on
his
books
and
workshop,
he
found
himself
in
New
York,
tramping
the
streets
on
the
outlook
for
a
job,
and
all
but
destitute.
After
repeated
failures
he
chanced
to
enter
the
office
of
the
Laws
Gold
Reporting
Telegraph
Company
while
the
instrument
which
Mr.
Laws
had
invented
to
report
the
fluctuations
of
the
money
market
had
broken
down.
No
one
could
set
it
right;
there
was
a
fever
in
the
market,
and
Mr.
Laws,
we
are
told,
was
in
despair.
Edison
volunteered
to
set
it
right,
and
though
his
appearance
was
unpromising,
he
was
allowed
to
try.
The
insight
of
the
born
mechanic,
the
sleight
of
hand
which
marks
the
true
experimenter,
have
in
them
something
magical
to
the
ignorant.
In
Edison's
hands
the
instrument
seemed
to
rectify
itself.
This
was
his
golden
opportunity.
He
was
engaged
by
the
company,
and
henceforth
his
career
as
an
inventor
was
secure.
The
Gold
Indicator
Company
afterwards
gave
him
a
responsible
position.
He
improved
their
indicator,
and
invented
the
Gold
and
Stock
Quotation
Printer,
an
apparatus
for
a
similar
purpose.
He
entered
into
partnership
with
Mr.
Pope
and
Mr.
Ashley,
and
introduced
the
Pope
and
Edison
Printer.
A
private
line
which
he
established
was
taken
over
by
the
Gold
and
Stock
Telegraph
Company,
and
soon
their
system
was
worked
almost
exclusively
with
Edison's
invention.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
