Some things it would be difficult to reproduce in any picture of the art and the times. One of the greatest delusions8 of the public in regard to any notable invention is the belief that the world is waiting for it with open arms and an eager welcome. The exact contrary is the truth. There is not a single new art or device the world has ever enjoyed of which it can be said that it was given an immediate9 and enthusiastic reception. The way of the inventor is hard. He can sometimes raise capital to help him in working out his crude conceptions, but even then it is frequently done at a distressful10 cost of personal surrender. When the result is achieved the invention makes its appeal on the score of economy of material or of effort; and then "labor11" often awaits with crushing and tyrannical spirit to smash the apparatus12 or forbid its very use. Where both capital and labor are agreed that the object is worthy14 of encouragement, there is the supreme15 indifference16 of the public to overcome, and the stubborn resistance of pre-existing devices to combat. The years of hardship and struggle are thus prolonged, the chagrin17 of poverty and neglect too frequently embitters18 the inventor's scanty19 bread; and one great spirit after another has succumbed20 to the defeat beyond which lay the procrastinated21 triumph so dearly earned. Even in America, where the adoption22 of improvements and innovations is regarded as so prompt and sure, and where the huge tolls23 of the Patent Office and the courts bear witness to the ceaseless efforts of the inventor, it is impossible to deny the sad truth that unconsciously society discourages invention rather than invites it. Possibly our national optimism as revealed in invention—the seeking a higher good—needs some check. Possibly the leaders would travel too fast and too far on the road to perfection if conservatism did not also play its salutary part in insisting that the procession move forward as a whole.
Edison and his electric light were happily more fortunate than other men and inventions, in the relative cordiality of the reception given them. The merit was too obvious to remain unrecognized. Nevertheless, it was through intense hostility24 and opposition25 that the young art made its way, pushed forward by Edison's own strong personality and by his unbounded, unwavering faith in the ultimate success of his system. It may seem strange that great effort was required to introduce a light so manifestly convenient, safe, agreeable, and advantageous26, but the facts are matter of record; and to-day the recollection of some of the episodes brings a fierce glitter into the eye and keen indignation into the voice of the man who has come so victoriously27 through it all.
It was not a fact at any time that the public was opposed to the idea of the electric light. On the contrary, the conditions for its acceptance had been ripening28 fast. Yet the very vogue29 of the electric arc light made harder the arrival of the incandescent. As a new illuminant for the streets, the arc had become familiar, either as a direct substitute for the low gas lamp along the sidewalk curb30, or as a novel form of moonlight, raised in groups at the top of lofty towers often a hundred and fifty feet high. Some of these lights were already in use for large indoor spaces, although the size of the unit, the deadly pressure of the current, and the sputtering32 sparks from the carbons made them highly objectionable for such purposes. A number of parent arc-lighting companies were in existence, and a great many local companies had been called into being under franchises33 for commercial business and to execute regular city contracts for street lighting. In this manner a good deal of capital and the energies of many prominent men in politics and business had been rallied distinctively34 to the support of arc lighting. Under the inventive leadership of such brilliant men as Brush, Thomson, Weston, and Van Depoele—there were scores of others—the industry had made considerable progress and the art had been firmly established. Here lurked35, however, very vigorous elements of opposition, for Edison predicted from the start the superiority of the small electric unit of light, and devoted36 himself exclusively to its perfection and introduction. It can be readily seen that this situation made it all the more difficult for the Edison system to secure the large sums of money needed for its exploitation, and to obtain new franchises or city ordinances37 as a public utility. Thus in a curious manner the modern art of electric lighting was in a very true sense divided against itself, with intense rivalries38 and jealousies39 which were none the less real because they were but temporary and occurred in a field where ultimate union of forces was inevitable40. For a long period the arc was dominant41 and supreme in the lighting branch of the electrical industries, in all respects, whether as to investment, employees, income, and profits, or in respect to the manufacturing side. When the great National Electric Light Association was formed in 1885, its organizers were the captains of arc lighting, and not a single Edison company or licensee could be found in its ranks, or dared to solicit43 membership. The Edison companies, soon numbering about three hundred, formed their own association—still maintained as a separate and useful body—and the lines were tensely drawn44 in a way that made it none too easy for the Edison service to advance, or for an impartial45 man to remain friendly with both sides. But the growing popularity of incandescent lighting, the flexibility46 and safety of the system, the ease with which other electric devices for heat, power, etc., could be put indiscriminately on the same circuits with the lamps, in due course rendered the old attitude of opposition obviously foolish and untenable. The United States Census47 Office statistics of 1902 show that the income from incandescent lighting by central stations had by that time become over 52 per cent. of the total, while that from arc lighting was less than 29; and electric-power service due to the ease with which motors could be introduced on incandescent circuits brought in 15 per cent. more. Hence twenty years after the first Edison stations were established the methods they involved could be fairly credited with no less than 67 per cent. of all central-station income in the country, and the proportion has grown since then. It will be readily understood that under these conditions the modern lighting company supplies to its customers both incandescent and arc lighting, frequently from the same dynamo-electric machinery48 as a source of current; and that the old feud49 as between the rival systems has died out. In fact, for some years past the presidents of the National Electric Light Association have been chosen almost exclusively from among the managers of the great Edison lighting companies in the leading cities.
The other strong opposition to the incandescent light came from the gas industry. There also the most bitter feeling was shown. The gas manager did not like the arc light, but it interfered50 only with his street service, which was not his largest source of income by any means. What did arouse his ire and indignation was to find this new opponent, the little incandescent lamp, pushing boldly into the field of interior lighting, claiming it on a great variety of grounds of superiority, and calmly ignoring the question of price, because it was so much better. Newspaper records and the pages of the technical papers of the day show to what an extent prejudice and passion were stirred up and the astounding51 degree to which the opposition to the new light was carried.
Here again was given a most convincing demonstration52 of the truth that such an addition to the resources of mankind always carries with it unsuspected benefits even for its enemies. In two distinct directions the gas art was immediately helped by Edison's work. The competition was most salutary in the stimulus53 it gave to improvements in processes for making, distributing, and using gas, so that while vast economies have been effected at the gas works, the customer has had an infinitely54 better light for less money. In the second place, the coming of the incandescent light raised the standard of illumination in such a manner that more gas than ever was wanted in order to satisfy the popular demand for brightness and brilliancy both indoors and on the street. The result of the operation of these two forces acting55 upon it wholly from without, and from a rival it was desired to crush, has been to increase enormously the production and use of gas in the last twenty-five years. It is true that the income of the central stations is now over $300,000,000 a year, and that isolated56-plant lighting represents also a large amount of diverted business; but as just shown, it would obviously be unfair to regard all this as a loss from the standpoint of gas. It is in great measure due to new sources of income developed by electricity for itself.
A retrospective survey shows that had the men in control of the American gas-lighting art, in 1880, been sufficiently57 far-sighted, and had they taken a broader view of the situation, they might easily have remained dominant in the whole field of artificial lighting by securing the ownership of the patents and devices of the new industry. Apparently58 not a single step of that kind was undertaken, nor probably was there a gas manager who would have agreed with Edison in the opinion written down by him at the time in little note-book No. 184, that gas properties were having conferred on them an enhanced earning capacity. It was doubtless fortunate and providential for the electric-lighting art that in its state of immature59 development it did not fall into the hands of men who were opposed to its growth, and would not have sought its technical perfection. It was allowed to carve out its own career, and thus escaped the fate that is supposed to have attended other great inventions—of being bought up merely for purposes of suppression. There is a vague popular notion that this happens to the public loss; but the truth is that no discovery of any real value is ever entirely60 lost. It may be retarded61; but that is all. In the case of the gas companies and the incandescent light, many of them to whom it was in the early days as great an irritant as a red flag to a bull, emulated62 the performance of that animal and spent a great deal of money and energy in bellowing63 and throwing up dirt in the effort to destroy the hated enemy. This was not long nor universally the spirit shown; and to-day in hundreds of cities the electric and gas properties are united under the one management, which does not find it impossible to push in a friendly and progressive way the use of both illuminants. The most conspicuous64 example of this identity of interest is given in New York itself.
So much for the early opposition, of which there was plenty. But it may be questioned whether inertia65 is not equally to be dreaded66 with active ill-will. Nothing is more difficult in the world than to get a good many hundreds of thousands or millions of people to do something they have never done before. A very real difficulty in the introduction of his lamp and lighting system by Edison lay in the absolute ignorance of the public at large, not only as to its merits, but as to the very appearance of the light, Some few thousand people had gone out to Menlo Park, and had there seen the lamps in operation at the laboratory or on the hillsides, but they were an insignificant67 proportion of the inhabitants of the United States. Of course, a great many accounts were written and read, but while genuine interest was aroused it was necessarily apathetic68. A newspaper description or a magazine article may be admirably complete in itself, with illustrations, but until some personal experience is had of the thing described it does not convey a perfect mental picture, nor can it always make the desire active and insistent69. Generally, people wait to have the new thing brought to them; and hence, as in the case of the Edison light, an educational campaign of a practical nature is a fundamental condition of success.
Another serious difficulty confronting Edison and his associates was that nowhere in the world were there to be purchased any of the appliances necessary for the use of the lighting system. Edison had resolved from the very first that the initial central station embodying70 his various ideas should be installed in New York City, where he could superintend the installation personally, and then watch the operation. Plans to that end were now rapidly maturing; but there would be needed among many other things—every one of them new and novel—dynamos, switchboards, regulators, pressure and current indicators71, fixtures72 in great variety, incandescent lamps, meters, sockets73, small switches, underground conductors, junction-boxes, service-boxes, manhole-boxes, connectors, and even specially74 made wire. Now, not one of these miscellaneous things was in existence; not an outsider was sufficiently informed about such devices to make them on order, except perhaps the special wire. Edison therefore started first of all a lamp factory in one of the buildings at Menlo Park, equipped it with novel machinery and apparatus, and began to instruct men, boys, and girls, as they could be enlisted76, in the absolutely new art, putting Mr. Upton in charge.
With regard to the conditions attendant upon the manufacture of the lamps, Edison says: "When we first started the electric light we had to have a factory for manufacturing lamps. As the Edison Light Company did not seem disposed to go into manufacturing, we started a small lamp factory at Menlo Park with what money I could raise from my other inventions and royalties77, and some assistance. The lamps at that time were costing about $1.25 each to make, so I said to the company: 'If you will give me a contract during the life of the patents, I will make all the lamps required by the company and deliver them for forty cents.' The company jumped at the chance of this offer, and a contract was drawn up. We then bought at a receiver's sale at Harrison, New Jersey78, a very large brick factory building which had been used as an oil-cloth works. We got it at a great bargain, and only paid a small sum down, and the balance on mortgage. We moved the lamp works from Menlo Park to Harrison. The first year the lamps cost us about $1.10 each. We sold them for forty cents; but there were only about twenty or thirty thousand of them. The next year they cost us about seventy cents, and we sold them for forty. There were a good many, and we lost more money the second year than the first. The third year I succeeded in getting up machinery and in changing the processes, until it got down so that they cost somewhere around fifty cents. I still sold them for forty cents, and lost more money that year than any other, because the sales were increasing rapidly. The fourth year I got it down to thirty-seven cents, and I made all the money up in one year that I had lost previously79. I finally got it down to twenty-two cents, and sold them for forty cents; and they were made by the million. Whereupon the Wall Street people thought it was a very lucrative80 business, so they concluded they would like to have it, and bought us out.
"One of the incidents which caused a very great cheapening was that, when we started, one of the important processes had to be done by experts. This was the sealing on of the part carrying the filament81 into the globe, which was rather a delicate operation in those days, and required several months of training before any one could seal in a fair number of parts in a day. When we got to the point where we employed eighty of these experts they formed a union; and knowing it was impossible to manufacture lamps without them, they became very insolent82. One instance was that the son of one of these experts was employed in the office, and when he was told to do anything would not do it, or would give an insolent reply. He was discharged, whereupon the union notified us that unless the boy was taken back the whole body would go out. It got so bad that the manager came to me and said he could not stand it any longer; something had got to be done. They were not only more surly; they were diminishing the output, and it became impossible to manage the works. He got me enthused on the subject, so I started in to see if it were not possible to do that operation by machinery. After feeling around for some days I got a clew how to do it. I then put men on it I could trust, and made the preliminary machinery. That seemed to work pretty well. I then made another machine which did the work nicely. I then made a third machine, and would bring in yard men, ordinary laborers83, etc., and when I could get these men to put the parts together as well as the trained experts, in an hour, I considered the machine complete. I then went secretly to work and made thirty of the machines. Up in the top loft31 of the factory we stored those machines, and at night we put up the benches and got everything all ready. Then we discharged the office-boy. Then the union went out. It has been out ever since.
"When we formed the works at Harrison we divided the interests into one hundred shares or parts at $100 par13. One of the boys was hard up after a time, and sold two shares to Bob Cutting. Up to that time we had never paid anything; but we got around to the point where the board declared a dividend84 every Saturday night. We had never declared a dividend when Cutting bought his shares, and after getting his dividends85 for three weeks in succession, he called up on the telephone and wanted to know what kind of a concern this was that paid a weekly dividend. The works sold for $1,085,000."
Incidentally it may be noted86, as illustrative of the problems brought to Edison, that while he had the factory at Harrison an importer in the Chinese trade went to him and wanted a dynamo to be run by hand power. The importer explained that in China human labor was cheaper than steam power. Edison devised a machine to answer the purpose, and put long spokes87 on it, fitted it up, and shipped it to China. He has not, however, heard of it since.
For making the dynamos Edison secured, as noted in the preceding chapter, the Roach Iron Works on Goerck Street, New York, and this was also equipped. A building was rented on Washington Street, where machinery and tools were put in specially designed for making the underground tube conductors and their various paraphernalia88; and the faithful John Kruesi was given charge of that branch of production. To Sigmund Bergmann, who had worked previously with Edison on telephone apparatus and phonographs, and was already making Edison specialties89 in a small way in a loft on Wooster Street, New York, was assigned the task of constructing sockets, fixtures, meters, safety fuses, and numerous other details.
Thus, broadly, the manufacturing end of the problem of introduction was cared for. In the early part of 1881 the Edison Electric Light Company leased the old Bishop90 mansion91 at 65 Fifth Avenue, close to Fourteenth Street, for its headquarters and show-rooms. This was one of the finest homes in the city of that period, and its acquisition was a premonitory sign of the surrender of the famous residential92 avenue to commerce. The company needed not only offices, but, even more, such an interior as would display to advantage the new light in everyday use; and this house with its liberal lines, spacious93 halls, lofty ceilings, wide parlors94, and graceful95, winding96 stairway was ideal for the purpose. In fact, in undergoing this violent change, it did not cease to be a home in the real sense, for to this day many an Edison veteran's pulse is quickened by some chance reference to "65," where through many years the work of development by a loyal and devoted band of workers was centred. Here Edison and a few of his assistants from Menlo Park installed immediately in the basement a small generating plant, at first with a gas-engine which was not successful, and then with a Hampson high-speed engine and boiler97, constituting a complete isolated plant. The building was wired from top to bottom, and equipped with all the appliances of the art. The experience with the little gas-engine was rather startling. "At an early period at '65' we decided98," says Edison, "to light it up with the Edison system, and put a gas-engine in the cellar, using city gas. One day it was not going very well, and I went down to the man in charge and got exploring around. Finally I opened the pedestal—a storehouse for tools, etc. We had an open lamp, and when we opened the pedestal, it blew the doors off, and blew out the windows, and knocked me down, and the other man."
For the next four or five years "65" was a veritable beehive, day and night. The routine was very much the same as that at the laboratory, in its utter neglect of the clock. The evenings were not only devoted to the continuance of regular business, but the house was thrown open to the public until late at night, never closing before ten o'clock, so as to give everybody who wished an opportunity to see that great novelty of the time—the incandescent light—whose fame had meanwhile been spreading all over the globe. The first year, 1881, was naturally that which witnessed the greatest rush of visitors; and the building hardly ever closed its doors till midnight. During the day business was carried on under great stress, and Mr. Insull has described how Edison was to be found there trying to lead the life of a man of affairs in the conventional garb99 of polite society, instead of pursuing inventions and researches in his laboratory. But the disagreeable ordeal100 could not be dodged101. After the experience Edison could never again be tempted102 to quit his laboratory and work for any length of time; but in this instance there were some advantages attached to the sacrifice, for the crowds of lion-hunters and people seeking business arrangements would only have gone out to Menlo Park; while, on the other hand, the great plans for lighting New York demanded very close personal attention on the spot.
As it was, not only Edison, but all the company's directors, officers, and employees, were kept busy exhibiting and explaining the light. To the public of that day, when the highest known form of house illuminant was gas, the incandescent lamp, with its ability to burn in any position, its lack of heat so that you could put your hand on the brilliant glass globe; the absence of any vitiating effect on the atmosphere, the obvious safety from fire; the curious fact that you needed no matches to light it, and that it was under absolute control from a distance—these and many other features came as a distinct revelation and marvel103, while promising104 so much additional comfort, convenience, and beauty in the home, that inspection105 was almost invariably followed by a request for installation.
The camaraderie106 that existed at this time was very democratic, for all were workers in a common cause; all were enthusiastic believers in the doctrine107 they proclaimed, and hoped to profit by the opening up of the new art. Often at night, in the small hours, all would adjourn108 for refreshments109 to a famous resort nearby, to discuss the events of to-day and to-morrow, full of incident and excitement. The easy relationship of the time is neatly110 sketched111 by Edison in a humorous complaint as to his inability to keep his own cigars: "When at '65' I used to have in my desk a box of cigars. I would go to the box four or five times to get a cigar, but after it got circulated about the building, everybody would come to get my cigars, so that the box would only last about a day and a half. I was telling a gentleman one day that I could not keep a cigar. Even if I locked them up in my desk they would break it open. He suggested to me that he had a friend over on Eighth Avenue who made a superior grade of cigars, and who would show them a trick. He said he would have some of them made up with hair and old paper, and I could put them in without a word and see the result. I thought no more about the matter. He came in two or three months after, and said: 'How did that cigar business work?' I didn't remember anything about it. On coming to investigate, it appeared that the box of cigars had been delivered and had been put in my desk, and I had smoked them all! I was too busy on other things to notice."
It was no uncommon113 sight to see in the parlors in the evening John Pierpont Morgan, Norvin Green, Grosvenor P. Lowrey, Henry Villard, Robert L. Cutting, Edward D. Adams, J. Hood114 Wright, E. G. Fabbri, R. M. Galloway, and other men prominent in city life, many of them stock-holders and directors; all interested in doing this educational work. Thousands of persons thus came—bankers, brokers115, lawyers, editors, and reporters, prominent business men, electricians, insurance experts, under whose searching and intelligent inquiries116 the facts were elicited117, and general admiration118 was soon won for the system, which in advance had solved so many new problems. Edison himself was in universal request and the subject of much adulation, but altogether too busy and modest to be spoiled by it. Once in a while he felt it his duty to go over the ground with scientific visitors, many of whom were from abroad, and discuss questions which were not simply those of technique, but related to newer phenomena119, such as the action of carbon, the nature and effects of high vacua; the principles of electrical subdivision; the value of insulation120, and many others which, unfortunate to say, remain as esoteric now as they were then, ever fruitful themes of controversy121.
Speaking of those days or nights, Edison says: "Years ago one of the great violinists was Remenyi. After his performances were over he used to come down to '65' and talk economics, philosophy, moral science, and everything else. He was highly educated and had great mental capacity. He would talk with me, but I never asked him to bring his violin. One night he came with his violin, about twelve o'clock. I had a library at the top of the house, and Remenyi came up there. He was in a genial122 humor, and played the violin for me for about two hours—$2000 worth. The front doors were closed, and he walked up and down the room as he played. After that, every time he came to New York he used to call at '65' late at night with his violin. If we were not there, he could come down to the slums at Goerck Street, and would play for an hour or two and talk philosophy. I would talk for the benefit of his music. Henry E. Dixey, then at the height of his 'Adonis' popularity, would come in in those days, after theatre hours, and would entertain us with stories—1882-84. Another visitor who used to give us a good deal of amusement and pleasure was Captain Shaw, the head of the London Fire Brigade. He was good company. He would go out among the fire-laddies and have a great time. One time Robert Lincoln and Anson Stager, of the Western union, interested in the electric light, came on to make some arrangement with Major Eaton, President of the Edison Electric Light Company. They came to '65' in the afternoon, and Lincoln commenced telling stories—like his father. They told stories all the afternoon, and that night they left for Chicago. When they got to Cleveland, it dawned upon them that they had not done any business, so they had to come back on the next train to New York to transact123 it. They were interested in the Chicago Edison Company, now one of the largest of the systems in the world. Speaking of telling stories, I once got telling a man stories at the Harrison lamp factory, in the yard, as he was leaving. It was winter, and he was all in furs. I had nothing on to protect me against the cold. I told him one story after the other—six of them. Then I got pleurisy, and had to be shipped to Florida for cure."
The organization of the Edison Electric Light Company went back to 1878; but up to the time of leasing 65 Fifth Avenue it had not been engaged in actual business. It had merely enjoyed the delights of anxious anticipation124, and the perilous125 pleasure of backing Edison's experiments. Now active exploitation was required. Dr. Norvin Green, the well-known President of the Western union Telegraph Company, was president also of the Edison Company, but the pressing nature of his regular duties left him no leisure for such close responsible management as was now required. Early in 1881 Mr. Grosvenor P. Lowrey, after consultation126 with Mr. Edison, prevailed upon Major S. B. Eaton, the leading member of a very prominent law firm in New York, to accept the position of vice-president and general manager of the company, in which, as also in some of the subsidiary Edison companies, and as president, he continued actively127 and energetically for nearly four years, a critical, formative period in which the solidity of the foundation laid is attested128 by the magnitude and splendor129 of the superstructure.
The fact that Edison conferred at this point with Mr. Lowrey should, perhaps, be explained in justice to the distinguished130 lawyer, who for so many years was the close friend of the inventor, and the chief counsel in all the tremendous litigation that followed the effort to enforce and validate131 the Edison patents. As in England Mr. Edison was fortunate in securing the legal assistance of Sir Richard Webster, afterward132 Lord Chief Justice of England, so in America it counted greatly in his favor to enjoy the advocacy of such a man as Lowrey, prominent among the famous leaders of the New York bar. Born in Massachusetts, Mr. Lowrey, in his earlier days of straitened circumstances, was accustomed to defray some portion of his educational expenses by teaching music in the Berkshire villages, and by a curious coincidence one of his pupils was F. L. Pope, later Edison's partner for a time. Lowrey went West to "Bleeding Kansas" with the first Governor, Reeder, and both were active participants in the exciting scenes of the "Free State" war until driven away in 1856, like many other free-soilers, by the acts of the "Border Ruffian" legislature. Returning East, Mr. Lowrey took up practice in New York, soon becoming eminent133 in his profession, and upon the accession of William Orton to the presidency134 of the Western union Telegraph Company in 1866, he was appointed its general counsel, the duties of which post he discharged for fifteen years. One of the great cases in which he thus took a leading and distinguished part was that of the quadruplex telegraph; and later he acted as legal adviser135 to Henry Villard in his numerous grandiose136 enterprises. Lowrey thus came to know Edison, to conceive an intense admiration for him, and to believe in his ability at a time when others could not detect the fire of genius smouldering beneath the modest exterior137 of a gaunt young operator slowly "finding himself." It will be seen that Mr Lowrey was in a peculiarly advantageous position to make his convictions about Edison felt, so that it was he and his friends who rallied quickly to the new banner of discovery, and lent to the inventor the aid that came at a critical period. In this connection it may be well to quote an article that appeared at the time of Mr. Lowrey's death, in 1893: "One of the most important services which Mr. Lowrey has ever performed was in furnishing and procuring138 the necessary financial backing for Thomas A. Edison in bringing out and perfecting his system of incandescent lighting. With characteristic pertinacity139, Mr. Lowrey stood by the inventor through thick and thin, in spite of doubt, discouragement, and ridicule140, until at last success crowned his efforts. In all the litigation which has resulted from the wide-spread infringements141 of the Edison patents, Mr. Lowrey has ever borne the burden and heat of the day, and perhaps in no other field has he so personally distinguished himself as in the successful advocacy of the claims of Edison to the invention of the incandescent lamp and everything 'hereunto pertaining142.'"
This was the man of whom Edison had necessarily to make a confidant and adviser, and who supplied other things besides the legal direction and financial alliance, by his knowledge of the world and of affairs. There were many vital things to be done in the exploitation of the system that Edison simply could not and would not do; but in Lowrey's savoir faire, ready wit and humor, chivalry143 of devotion, graceful eloquence144, and admirable equipoise of judgment145 were all the qualities that the occasion demanded and that met the exigencies146.
We are indebted to Mr. Insull for a graphic147 sketch112 of Edison at this period, and of the conditions under which work was done and progress was made: "I do not think I had any understanding with Edison when I first went with him as to my duties. I did whatever he told me, and looked after all kinds of affairs, from buying his clothes to financing his business. I used to open the correspondence and answer it all, sometimes signing Edison's name with my initial, and sometimes signing my own name. If the latter course was pursued, and I was addressing a stranger, I would sign as Edison's private secretary. I held his power of attorney, and signed his checks. It was seldom that Edison signed a letter or check at this time. If he wanted personally to send a communication to anybody, if it was one of his close associates, it would probably be a pencil memorandum148 signed 'Edison.' I was a shorthand writer, but seldom took down from Edison's dictation, unless it was on some technical subject that I did not understand. I would go over the correspondence with Edison, sometimes making a marginal note in shorthand, and sometimes Edison would make his own notes on letters, and I would be expected to clean up the correspondence with Edison's laconic149 comments as a guide as to the character of answer to make. It was a very common thing for Edison to write the words 'Yes' or 'No,' and this would be all I had on which to base my answer. Edison marginalized documents extensively. He had a wonderful ability in pointing out the weak points of an agreement or a balance-sheet, all the while protesting he was no lawyer or accountant; and his views were expressed in very few words, but in a characteristic and emphatic150 manner.
"The first few months I was with Edison he spent most of the time in the office at 65 Fifth Avenue. Then there was a great deal of trouble with the life of the lamps there, and he disappeared from the office and spent his time largely at Menlo Park. At another time there was a great deal of trouble with some of the details of construction of the dynamos, and Edison spent a lot of time at Goerck Street, which had been rapidly equipped with the idea of turning out bi-polar dynamo-electric machines, direct-connected to the engine, the first of which went to Paris and London, while the next were installed in the old Pearl Street station of the Edison Electric Illuminating151 Company of New York, just south of Fulton Street, on the west side of the street. Edison devoted a great deal of his time to the engineering work in connection with the laying out of the first incandescent electric-lighting system in New York. Apparently at that time—between the end of 1881 and spring of 1882—the most serious work was the manufacture and installation of underground conductors in this territory. These conductors were manufactured by the Electric Tube Company, which Edison controlled in a shop at 65 Washington Street, run by John Kruesi. Half-round copper152 conductors were used, kept in place relatively153 to each other and in the tube, first of all by a heavy piece of cardboard, and later on by a rope; and then put in a twenty-foot iron pipe; and a combination of asphaltum and linseed oil was forced into the pipe for the insulation. I remember as a coincidence that the building was only twenty feet wide. These lengths of conductors were twenty feet six inches long, as the half-round coppers154 extended three inches beyond the drag-ends of the lengths of pipe; and in one of the operations we used to take the length of tubing out of the window in order to turn it around. I was elected secretary of the Electric Tube Company, and was expected to look after its finance; and it was in this position that my long intimacy155 with John Kruesi started."
At this juncture156 a large part of the correspondence referred very naturally to electric lighting, embodying requests for all kinds of information, catalogues, prices, terms, etc.; and all these letters were turned over to the lighting company by Edison for attention. The company was soon swamped with propositions for sale of territorial157 rights and with other negotiations158, and some of these were accompanied by the offer of very large sums of money. It was the beginning of the electric-light furor159 which soon rose to sensational160 heights. Had the company accepted the cash offers from various localities, it could have gathered several millions of dollars at once into its treasury161; but this was not at all in accord with Mr. Edison's idea, which was to prove by actual experience the commercial value of the system, and then to license42 central-station companies in large cities and towns, the parent company taking a percentage of their capital for the license under the Edison patents, and contracting also for the supply of apparatus, lamps, etc. This left the remainder of the country open for the cash sale of plants wherever requested. His counsels prevailed, and the wisdom of the policy adopted was seen in the swift establishment of Edison companies in centres of population both great and small, whose business has ever been a constant and growing source of income for the parent manufacturing interests.
From first to last Edison has been an exponent162 and advocate of the central-station idea of distribution now so familiar to the public mind, but still very far from being carried out to its logical conclusion. In this instance, demands for isolated plants for lighting factories, mills, mines, hotels, etc., began to pour in, and something had to be done with them. This was a class of plant which the inquirers desired to purchase outright163 and operate themselves, usually because of remoteness from any possible source of general supply of current. It had not been Edison's intention to cater164 to this class of customer until his broad central-station plan had been worked out, and he has always discouraged the isolated plant within the limits of urban circuits; but this demand was so insistent it could not be denied, and it was deemed desirable to comply with it at once, especially as it was seen that the steady call for supplies and renewals165 would benefit the new Edison manufacturing plants. After a very short trial, it was found necessary to create a separate organization for this branch of the industry, leaving the Edison Electric Light Company to continue under the original plan of operation as a parent, patent-holding and licensing166 company. Accordingly a new and distinct corporation was formed called the Edison Company for Isolated Lighting, to which was issued a special license to sell and operate plants of a self-contained character. As a matter of fact such work began in advance of almost every other kind. A small plant using the paper-carbon filament lamps was furnished by Edison at the earnest solicitation167 of Mr. Henry Villard for the steamship168 Columbia, in 1879, and it is amusing to note that Mr. Upton carried the lamps himself to the ship, very tenderly and jealously, like fresh eggs, in a market-garden basket. The installation was most successful. Another pioneer plant was that equipped and started in January, 1881, for Hinds169 & Ketcham, a New York firm of lithographers and color printers, who had previously been able to work only by day, owing to difficulties in color-printing by artificial light. A year later they said: "It is the best substitute for daylight we have ever known, and almost as cheap."
Mr. Edison himself describes various instances in which the demand for isolated plants had to be met: "One night at '65,'" he says, "James Gordon Bennett came in. We were very anxious to get into a printing establishment. I had caused a printer's composing case to be set up with the idea that if we could get editors and publishers in to see it, we should show them the advantages of the electric light. So ultimately Mr. Bennett came, and after seeing the whole operation of everything, he ordered Mr. Howland, general manager of the Herald170, to light the newspaper offices up at once with electricity."
Another instance of the same kind deals with the introduction of the light for purely171 social purposes: "While at 65 Fifth Avenue," remarks Mr. Edison, "I got to know Christian172 Herter, then the largest decorator in the United States. He was a highly intellectual man, and I loved to talk to him. He was always railing against the rich people, for whom he did work, for their poor taste. One day Mr. W. H. Vanderbilt came to '65,' saw the light, and decided that he would have his new house lighted with it. This was one of the big 'box houses' on upper Fifth Avenue. He put the whole matter in the hands of his son-in-law, Mr. H. McK. Twombly, who was then in charge of the telephone department of the Western union. Twombly closed the contract with us for a plant. Mr. Herter was doing the decoration, and it was extraordinarily173 fine. After a while we got the engines and boilers174 and wires all done, and the lights in position, before the house was quite finished, and thought we would have an exhibit of the light. About eight o'clock in the evening we lit up, and it was very good. Mr. Vanderbilt and his wife and some of his daughters came in, and were there a few minutes when a fire occurred. The large picture-gallery was lined with silk cloth interwoven with fine metallic175 thread. In some manner two wires had got crossed with this tinsel, which became red-hot, and the whole mass was soon afire. I knew what was the matter, and ordered them to run down and shut off. It had not burst into flame, and died out immediately. Mrs. Vanderbilt became hysterical176, and wanted to know where it came from. We told her we had the plant in the cellar, and when she learned we had a boiler there she said she would not occupy the house. She would not live over a boiler. We had to take the whole installation out. The houses afterward went onto the New York Edison system."
The art was, however, very crude and raw, and as there were no artisans in existence as mechanics or electricians who had any knowledge of the practice, there was inconceivable difficulty in getting such isolated plants installed, as well as wiring the buildings in the district to be covered by the first central station in New York. A night school was, therefore, founded at Fifth Avenue, and was put in charge of Mr. E. H. Johnson, fresh from his successes in England. The most available men for the purpose were, of course, those who had been accustomed to wiring for the simpler electrical systems then in vogue—telephones, district-messenger calls, burglar alarms, house annunciators, etc., and a number of these "wiremen" were engaged and instructed patiently in the rudiments177 of the new art by means of a blackboard and oral lessons. Students from the technical schools and colleges were also eager recruits, for here was something that promised a career, and one that was especially alluring178 to youth because of its novelty. These beginners were also instructed in general engineering problems under the guidance of Mr. C. L. Clarke, who was brought in from the Menlo Park laboratory to assume charge of the engineering part of the company's affairs. Many of these pioneer students and workmen became afterward large and successful contractors179, or have filled positions of distinction as managers and superintendents180 of central stations. Possibly the electrical industry may not now attract as much adventurous181 genius as it did then, for automobiles182, aeronautics183, and other new arts have come to the front in a quarter of a century to enlist75 the enthusiasm of a younger generation of mercurial184 spirits; but it is certain that at the period of which we write, Edison himself, still under thirty-five, was the centre of an extraordinary group of men, full of effervescing185 and aspiring186 talent, to which he gave glorious opportunity.
A very novel literary feature of the work was the issuance of a bulletin devoted entirely to the Edison lighting propaganda. Nowadays the "house organ," as it is called, has become a very hackneyed feature of industrial development, confusing in its variety and volume, and a somewhat doubtful adjunct to a highly perfected, widely circulating periodical technical press. But at that time, 1882, the Bulletin of the Edison Electric Light Company, published in ordinary 12mo form, was distinctly new in advertising187 and possibly unique, as it is difficult to find anything that compared with it. The Bulletin was carried on for some years, until its necessity was removed by the development of other opportunities for reaching the public; and its pages serve now as a vivid and lively picture of the period to which its record applies. The first issue, of January 12, 1882, was only four pages, but it dealt with the question of insurance; plants at Santiago, Chili188, and Rio de Janeiro; the European Company with 3,500,000 francs subscribed189; the work in Paris, London, Strasburg, and Moscow; the laying of over six miles of street mains in New York; a patent decision in favor of Edison; and the size of safety catch wire. By April of 1882, the Bulletin had attained190 the respectable size of sixteen pages; and in December it was a portly magazine of forty-eight. Every item bears testimony191 to the rapid progress being made; and by the end of 1882 it is seen that no fewer than 153 isolated Edison plants had been installed in the United States alone, with a capacity of 29,192 lamps. Moreover, the New York central station had gone into operation, starting at 3 P.M. on September 4, and at the close of 1882 it was lighting 225 houses wired for about 5000 lamps. This epochal story will be told in the next chapter. Most interesting are the Bulletin notes from England, especially in regard to the brilliant exhibition given by Mr. E. H. Johnson at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham, visited by the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, twice by the Dukes of Westminster and Sutherland, by three hundred members of the Gas Institute, and by innumerable delegations192 from cities, boroughs193, etc. Describing this before the Royal Society of Arts, Sir W. H. Preece, F.R.S., remarked: "Many unkind things have been said of Mr. Edison and his promises; perhaps no one has been severer in this direction than myself. It is some gratification for me to announce my belief that he has at last solved the problem he set himself to solve, and to be able to describe to the Society the way in which he has solved it." Before the exhibition closed it was visited by the Prince and Princess of Wales—now the deceased Edward VII. and the Dowager Queen Alexandra—and the Princess received from Mr. Johnson as a souvenir a tiny electric chandelier fashioned like a bouquet194 of fern leaves and flowers, the buds being some of the first miniature incandescent lamps ever made.
The first item in the first Bulletin dealt with the "Fire Question," and all through the successive issues runs a series of significant items on the same subject. Many of them are aimed at gas, and there are several grim summaries of death and fires due to gas-leaks or explosions. A tendency existed at the time to assume that electricity was altogether safe, while its opponents, predicating their attacks on arc-lighting casualties, insisted it was most dangerous. Edison's problem in educating the public was rather difficult, for while his low-pressure, direct-current system has always been absolutely without danger to life, there has also been the undeniable fact that escaping electricity might cause a fire just as a leaky water-pipe can flood a house. The important question had arisen, therefore, of satisfying the fire underwriters as to the safety of the system. He had foreseen that there would be an absolute necessity for special devices to prevent fires from occurring by reason of any excess of current flowing in any circuit; and several of his earliest detail lighting inventions deal with this subject. The insurance underwriters of New York and other parts of the country gave a great deal of time and study to the question through their most expert representatives, with the aid of Edison and his associates, other electric-light companies cooperating; and the knowledge thus gained was embodied195 in insurance rules to govern wiring for electric lights, formulated196 during the latter part of 1881, adopted by the New York Board of Fire Underwriters, January 12, 1882, and subsequently endorsed197 by other boards in the various insurance districts. Under temporary rulings, however, a vast amount of work had already been done, but it was obvious that as the industry grew there would be less and less possibility of supervision198 except through such regulations, insisting upon the use of the best devices and methods. Indeed, the direct superintendence soon became unnecessary, owing to the increasing knowledge and greater skill acquired by the installing staff; and this system of education was notably199 improved by a manual written by Mr. Edison himself. Copies of this brochure are as scarce to-day as First Folio Shakespeares, and command prices equal to those of other American first editions. The little book is the only known incursion of its author into literature, if we except the brief articles he has written for technical papers and for the magazines. It contained what was at once a full, elaborate, and terse200 explanation of a complete isolated plant, with diagrams of various methods of connection and operation, and a carefully detailed201 description of every individual part, its functions and its characteristics. The remarkable202 success of those early years was indeed only achieved by following up with Chinese exactness the minute and intimate methods insisted upon by Edison as to the use of the apparatus and devices employed. It was a curious example of establishing standard practice while changing with kaleidoscopic203 rapidity all the elements involved. He was true to an ideal as to the pole-star, but was incessantly204 making improvements in every direction. With an iconoclasm that has often seemed ruthless and brutal205 he did not hesitate to sacrifice older devices the moment a new one came in sight that embodied a real advance in securing effective results. The process is heroic but costly206. Nobody ever had a bigger scrap-heap than Edison; but who dare proclaim the process intrinsically wasteful207 if the losses occur in the initial stages, and the economies in all the later ones?
With Edison in this introduction of his lighting system the method was ruthless, but not reckless. At an early stage of the commercial development a standardizing208 committee was formed, consisting of the heads of all the departments, and to this body was intrusted the task of testing and criticising all existing and proposed devices, as well as of considering the suggestions and complaints of workmen offered from time to time. This procedure was fruitful in two principal results—the education of the whole executive force in the technical details of the system; and a constant improvement in the quality of the Edison installations; both contributing to the rapid growth of the industry.
For many years Goerck Street played an important part in Edison's affairs, being the centre of all his manufacture of heavy machinery. But it was not in a desirable neighborhood, and owing to the rapid growth of the business soon became disadvantageous for other reasons. Edison tells of his frequent visits to the shops at night, with the escort of "Jim" Russell, a well-known detective, who knew all the denizens209 of the place: "We used to go out at night to a little, low place, an all-night house—eight feet wide and twenty-two feet long—where we got a lunch at two or three o'clock in the morning. It was the toughest kind of restaurant ever seen. For the clam210 chowder they used the same four clams211 during the whole season, and the average number of flies per pie was seven. This was by actual count."
As to the shops and the locality: "The street was lined with rather old buildings and poor tenements212. We had not much frontage. As our business increased enormously, our quarters became too small, so we saw the district Tammany leader and asked him if we could not store castings and other things on the sidewalk. He gave us permission—told us to go ahead, and he would see it was all right. The only thing he required for this was that when a man was sent with a note from him asking us to give him a job, he was to be put on. We had a hand-laborer foreman—'Big Jim'—a very powerful Irishman, who could lift above half a ton. When one of the Tammany aspirants213 appeared, he was told to go right to work at $1.50 per day. The next day he was told off to lift a certain piece, and if the man could not lift it he was discharged. That made the Tammany man all safe. Jim could pick the piece up easily. The other man could not, and so we let him out. Finally the Tammany leader called a halt, as we were running big engine lathes214 out on the sidewalk, and he was afraid we were carrying it a little too far. The lathes were worked right out in the street, and belted through the windows of the shop."
At last it became necessary to move from Goerck Street, and Mr. Edison gives a very interesting account of the incidents in connection with the transfer of the plant to Schenectady, New York: "After our works at Goerck Street got too small, we had labor troubles also. It seems I had rather a socialistic strain in me, and I raised the pay of the workmen twenty-five cents an hour above the prevailing215 rate of wages, whereupon Hoe & Company, our near neighbors, complained at our doing this. I said I thought it was all right. But the men, having got a little more wages, thought they would try coercion216 and get a little more, as we were considered soft marks. Whereupon they struck at a time that was critical. However, we were short of money for pay-rolls; and we concluded it might not be so bad after all, as it would give us a couple of weeks to catch up. So when the men went out they appointed a committee to meet us; but for two weeks they could not find us, so they became somewhat more anxious than we were. Finally they said they would like to go back. We said all right, and back they went. It was quite a novelty to the men not to be able to find us when they wanted to; and they didn't relish217 it at all.
"What with these troubles and the lack of room, we decided to find a factory elsewhere, and decided to try the locomotive works up at Schenectady. It seems that the people there had had a falling out among themselves, and one of the directors had started opposition works; but before he had completed all the buildings and put in machinery some compromise was made, and the works were for sale. We bought them very reasonably and moved everything there. These works were owned by me and my assistants until sold to the Edison General Electric Company. At one time we employed several thousand men; and since then the works have been greatly expanded.
"At these new works our orders were far in excess of our capital to handle the business, and both Mr. Insull and I were afraid we might get into trouble for lack of money. Mr. Insull was then my business manager, running the whole thing; and, therefore, when Mr. Henry Villard and his syndicate offered to buy us out, we concluded it was better to be sure than be sorry; so we sold out for a large sum. Villard was a very aggressive man with big ideas, but I could never quite understand him. He had no sense of humor. I remember one time we were going up on the Hudson River boat to inspect the works, and with us was Mr. Henderson, our chief engineer, who was certainly the best raconteur218 of funny stories I ever knew. We sat at the tail-end of the boat, and he started in to tell funny stories. Villard could not see a single point, and scarcely laughed at all; and Henderson became so disconcerted he had to give it up. It was the same way with Gould. In the early telegraph days I remember going with him to see Mackay in 'The Impecunious219 Country Editor.' It was very funny, full of amusing and absurd situations; but Gould never smiled once."
The formation of the Edison General Electric Company involved the consolidation220 of the immediate Edison manufacturing interests in electric light and power, with a capitalization of $12,000,000, now a relatively modest sum; but in those days the amount was large, and the combination caused a great deal of newspaper comment as to such a coinage of brain power. The next step came with the creation of the great General Electric Company of to-day, a combination of the Edison, Thomson-Houston, and Brush lighting interests in manufacture, which to this day maintains the ever-growing plants at Harrison, Lynn, and Schenectady, and there employs from twenty to twenty-five thousand people.
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narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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incandescent
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| adj.遇热发光的， 白炽的，感情强烈的 | |
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lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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chronologically
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| ad. 按年代的 | |
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concurrent
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| adj.同时发生的，一致的 | |
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recapitulate
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| v.节述要旨，择要说明 | |
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delusions
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| n.欺骗( delusion的名词复数 )；谬见；错觉；妄想 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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distressful
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| adj.苦难重重的，不幸的，使苦恼的 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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par
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| n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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chagrin
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| n.懊恼；气愤；委屈 | |
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embitters
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| v.使怨恨，激怒( embitter的第三人称单数 ) | |
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scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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succumbed
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| 不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死 | |
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procrastinated
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| 拖延，耽搁( procrastinate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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adoption
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| n.采用，采纳，通过；收养 | |
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tolls
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| （缓慢而有规律的）钟声( toll的名词复数 )； 通行费； 损耗； （战争、灾难等造成的）毁坏 | |
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hostility
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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advantageous
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| adj.有利的；有帮助的 | |
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victoriously
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| adv.获胜地，胜利地 | |
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ripening
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| v.成熟，使熟( ripen的现在分词 )；熟化；熟成 | |
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Vogue
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curb
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loft
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sputtering
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| n.反应溅射法；飞溅；阴极真空喷镀；喷射v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的现在分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出 | |
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franchises
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| n.（尤指选举议员的）选举权( franchise的名词复数 )；参政权；获特许权的商业机构（或服务）；（公司授予的）特许经销权v.给…以特许权，出售特许权( franchise的第三人称单数 ) | |
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distinctively
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| adv.特殊地，区别地 | |
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lurked
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| vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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ordinances
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rivalries
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| n.敌对，竞争，对抗( rivalry的名词复数 ) | |
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jealousies
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| n.妒忌( jealousy的名词复数 )；妒羡 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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dominant
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| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
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license
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| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
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solicit
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| vi.勾引；乞求；vt.请求，乞求；招揽(生意) | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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impartial
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| adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的 | |
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flexibility
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| n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性 | |
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census
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| n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查 | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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49
feud
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| n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇 | |
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50
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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51
astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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52
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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53
stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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54
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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55
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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56
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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57
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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58
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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59
immature
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| adj.未成熟的，发育未全的，未充分发展的 | |
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60
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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61
retarded
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| a.智力迟钝的，智力发育迟缓的 | |
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62
emulated
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| v.与…竞争( emulate的过去式和过去分词 )；努力赶上；计算机程序等仿真；模仿 | |
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63
bellowing
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的现在分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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64
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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65
inertia
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| adj.惰性，惯性，懒惰，迟钝 | |
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66
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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67
insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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68
apathetic
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| adj.冷漠的，无动于衷的 | |
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69
insistent
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| adj.迫切的，坚持的 | |
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70
embodying
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| v.表现( embody的现在分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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71
indicators
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| （仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号 | |
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72
fixtures
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| （房屋等的）固定装置( fixture的名词复数 )； 如（浴盆、抽水马桶）； 固定在某位置的人或物； （定期定点举行的）体育活动 | |
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73
sockets
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| n.套接字，使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 )；孔( socket的名词复数 )；（电器上的）插口；托座；凹穴 | |
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74
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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75
enlist
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| vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍 | |
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76
enlisted
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| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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77
royalties
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| 特许权使用费 | |
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78
jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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79
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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80
lucrative
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| adj.赚钱的，可获利的 | |
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81
filament
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| n.细丝；长丝；灯丝 | |
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82
insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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83
laborers
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| n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工 | |
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84
dividend
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| n.红利，股息；回报，效益 | |
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85
dividends
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| 红利( dividend的名词复数 )； 股息； 被除数； （足球彩票的）彩金 | |
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86
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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87
spokes
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| n.（车轮的）辐条( spoke的名词复数 )；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 | |
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88
paraphernalia
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| n.装备；随身用品 | |
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89
specialties
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| n.专门，特性，特别；专业( specialty的名词复数 )；特性；特制品；盖印的契约 | |
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90
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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91
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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92
residential
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| adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的 | |
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93
spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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94
parlors
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| 客厅( parlor的名词复数 )； 起居室； （旅馆中的）休息室； （通常用来构成合成词）店 | |
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95
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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96
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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97
boiler
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| n.锅炉；煮器(壶，锅等) | |
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98
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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99
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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100
ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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101
dodged
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| v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避 | |
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102
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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103
marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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104
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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105
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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106
camaraderie
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| n.同志之爱，友情 | |
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107
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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108
adjourn
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| v.（使）休会，（使）休庭 | |
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109
refreshments
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| n.点心,便餐;(会议后的)简单茶点招 待 | |
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110
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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111
sketched
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| v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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112
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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113
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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114
hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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115
brokers
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| n.（股票、外币等）经纪人( broker的名词复数 )；中间人；代理商；（订合同的）中人v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的第三人称单数 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排… | |
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116
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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117
elicited
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| 引出，探出( elicit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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118
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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119
phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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120
insulation
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| n.隔离；绝缘；隔热 | |
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121
controversy
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| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
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122
genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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123
transact
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| v.处理；做交易；谈判 | |
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124
anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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125
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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126
consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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127
actively
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| adv.积极地，勤奋地 | |
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128
attested
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| adj.经检验证明无病的，经检验证明无菌的v.证明( attest的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓 | |
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129
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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130
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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131
validate
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| vt.（法律）使有效，使生效 | |
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132
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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133
eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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134
presidency
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| n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期) | |
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135
adviser
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| n.劝告者，顾问 | |
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136
grandiose
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| adj.宏伟的，宏大的，堂皇的，铺张的 | |
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137
exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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138
procuring
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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139
pertinacity
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| n.执拗，顽固 | |
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140
ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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141
infringements
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| n.违反( infringement的名词复数 )；侵犯，伤害 | |
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142
pertaining
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| 与…有关系的，附属…的，为…固有的(to) | |
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143
chivalry
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| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
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144
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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145
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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146
exigencies
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| n.急切需要 | |
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147
graphic
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| adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的 | |
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148
memorandum
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| n.备忘录，便笺 | |
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149
laconic
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| adj.简洁的；精练的 | |
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150
emphatic
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| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
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151
illuminating
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| a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的 | |
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152
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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153
relatively
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| adv.比较...地，相对地 | |
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154
coppers
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| 铜( copper的名词复数 )； 铜币 | |
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155
intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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156
juncture
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| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
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157
territorial
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| adj.领土的，领地的 | |
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158
negotiations
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| 协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过 | |
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159
furor
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| n.狂热；大骚动 | |
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160
sensational
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| adj.使人感动的，非常好的，轰动的，耸人听闻的 | |
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161
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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162
exponent
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| n.倡导者，拥护者；代表人物；指数，幂 | |
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163
outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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164
cater
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| vi.(for/to)满足，迎合；(for)提供饮食及服务 | |
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165
renewals
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| 重建( renewal的名词复数 )； 更新； 重生； 合同的续订 | |
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166
licensing
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| v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的现在分词 ) | |
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167
solicitation
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| n.诱惑；揽货；恳切地要求；游说 | |
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168
steamship
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| n.汽船，轮船 | |
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169
hinds
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| n.（常指动物腿）后面的( hind的名词复数 )；在后的；（通常与can或could连用）唠叨不停；滔滔不绝 | |
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170
herald
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| vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎 | |
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171
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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172
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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173
extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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174
boilers
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| 锅炉，烧水器，水壶( boiler的名词复数 ) | |
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metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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176
hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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177
rudiments
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| n.基础知识，入门 | |
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alluring
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| adj.吸引人的，迷人的 | |
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179
contractors
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| n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 ) | |
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180
superintendents
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| 警长( superintendent的名词复数 )； （大楼的）管理人； 监管人； （美国）警察局长 | |
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181
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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182
automobiles
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| n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 ) | |
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183
aeronautics
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| n.航空术，航空学 | |
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184
mercurial
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| adj.善变的，活泼的 | |
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185
effervescing
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| v.冒气泡，起泡沫( effervesce的现在分词 ) | |
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aspiring
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| adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求 | |
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187
advertising
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| n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的 | |
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188
chili
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| n.辣椒 | |
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189
subscribed
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| v.捐助( subscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；签署，题词；订阅；同意 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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191
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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192
delegations
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| n.代表团( delegation的名词复数 )；委托，委派 | |
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boroughs
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| （尤指大伦敦的）行政区( borough的名词复数 )； 议会中有代表的市镇 | |
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194
bouquet
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| n.花束，酒香 | |
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195
embodied
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| v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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196
formulated
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| v.构想出( formulate的过去式和过去分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示 | |
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197
endorsed
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| vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品 | |
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198
supervision
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| n.监督，管理 | |
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199
notably
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| adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地 | |
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200
terse
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| adj.(说话，文笔)精炼的，简明的 | |
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201
detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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202
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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203
kaleidoscopic
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| adj.千变万化的 | |
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204
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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205
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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206
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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207
wasteful
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| adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的 | |
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208
standardizing
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| 使合乎规格，使标准化( standardize的现在分词 )； 规格化 | |
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209
denizens
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| n.居民，住户( denizen的名词复数 ) | |
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210
clam
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| n.蛤，蛤肉 | |
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211
clams
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| n.蛤；蚌，蛤( clam的名词复数 )v.（在沙滩上）挖蛤( clam的第三人称单数 ) | |
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212
tenements
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| n.房屋，住户，租房子( tenement的名词复数 ) | |
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213
aspirants
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| n.有志向或渴望获得…的人( aspirant的名词复数 )v.渴望的，有抱负的，追求名誉或地位的( aspirant的第三人称单数 )；有志向或渴望获得…的人 | |
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214
lathes
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| 车床( lathe的名词复数 ) | |
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215
prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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216
coercion
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| n.强制，高压统治 | |
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217
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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218
raconteur
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| n.善讲故事者 | |
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219
impecunious
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| adj.不名一文的，贫穷的 | |
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220
consolidation
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| n.合并,巩固 | |
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