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281
Heroes of the Telegraph
·
John Munro
270
These
and
other
inventions
in
the
space
of
six
years
are
a
striking
testimony
to
the
fertility
of
Bain's
imagination
at
this
period.
But
after
this
extraordinary
outburst
he
seems
to
have
relapsed
into
sloth
and
the
dissipation
of
his
powers.
We
have
been
told,
and
indeed
it
is
plain
that
he
received
a
considerable
sum
for
one
or
other
of
his
inventions,
probably
the
chemical
telegraph.
But
while
he
could
rise
from
the
ranks,
and
brave
adversity
by
dint
of
ingenuity
and
labour,
it
would
seem
that
his
sanguine
temperament
was
ill-fitted
for
prosperity.
He
went
to
America,
and
what
with
litigation,
unfortunate
investment,
and
perhaps
extravagance,
the
fortune
he
had
made
was
rapidly
diminished.
Whether
his
inventive
genius
was
exhausted,
or
he
became
disheartened,
it
would
be
difficult
to
say,
but
he
never
flourished
again.
The
rise
in
his
condition
may
be
inferred
from
the
preamble
to
his
patent
for
electric
telegraphs
and
clocks,
dated
May
29,
1852,
wherein
he
describes
himself
as
'Gentleman,'
and
living
at
Beevor
Lodge,
Hammersmith.
After
an
ephemeral
appearance
in
this
character
he
sank
once
more
into
poverty,
if
not
even
wretchedness.
Moved
by
his
unhappy
circumstances,
Sir
William
Thomson,
the
late
Sir
William
Siemens,
Mr.
Latimer
Clark
and
others,
obtained
from
Mr.
Gladstone,
in
the
early
part
of
1873,
a
pension
for
him
under
the
Civil
List
of
L80
a
year;
but
the
beneficiary
lived
in
such
obscurity
that
it
was
a
considerable
time
before
his
lodging
could
be
discovered,
and
his
better
fortune
take
effect.
The
Royal
Society
had
previously
made
him
a
gift
of
L150.
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