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281
Heroes of the Telegraph
·
John Munro
197
Mr.
Johnson,
one
of
his
assistants,
informs
us
that
for
ten
years
he
worked
on
an
average
eighteen
hours
a
day,
and
that
he
has
been
known
to
continue
an
experiment
for
three
months
day
and
night,
with
the
exception
of
a
nap
from
six
o'clock
to
nine
of
the
morning.
In
the
throes
of
invention,
and
under
the
inspiration
of
his
ideas,
he
is
apt
to
make
no
distinction
between
day
and
night,
until
he
arrives
at
a
result
which
he
considers
to
be
satisfactory
one
way
or
the
other.
His
meals
are
brought
to
him
in
the
laboratory,
and
hastily
eaten,
although
his
dwelling
is
quite
near.
Long
watchfulness
and
labour
seem
to
heighten
the
activity
of
his
mind,
which
under
its
'second
wind,'
so
to
speak,
becomes
preternaturally
keen
and
suggestive.
He
likes
best
to
work
at
night
in
the
silence
and
solitude
of
his
laboratory
when
the
noise
of
the
benches
or
the
rumble
of
the
engines
is
stilled,
and
all
the
world
about
him
is
asleep.
Fortunately,
he
can
work
without
stimulants,
and,
when
the
strain
is
over,
rest
without
narcotics;
otherwise
his
exhausted
constitution,
sound
as
it
is,
would
probably
break
down.
Still,
he
appears
to
be
ageing
before
his
time,
and
some
of
his
assistants,
not
so
well
endowed
with
vitality,
have,
we
believe,
overtaxed
their
strength
in
trying
to
keep
up
with
him.
At
this
period
he
devised
his
electric
pen,
an
ingenious
device
for
making
copies
of
a
document.
It
consists
essentially
of
a
needle,
rapidly
jogged
up
and
down
by
means
of
an
electro-magnet
actuated
by
an
intermittent
current
of
electricity.
The
writing
is
traced
with
the
needle,
which
perforates
another
sheet
of
paper
underneath,
thus
forming
a
stencil-plate,
which
when
placed
on
a
clean
paper,
and
evenly
inked
with
a
rolling
brush,
reproduces
the
original
writing.
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