“Yes, it was an ingenious thing. Votes were clearly pointed and shown on a roll of paper, by a small machine attached to the desk of each member. I was made to learn that such an innovation was out of the question, but it taught me something.” “And that was?” “To be sure of the practical need of, and demand for, a machine, before expending time and energy on it.” “Is that one of your maxims of success?” “It is.” In this same year, Edison came from Boston to New York, friendless and in debt on account of the expenses of his experiment. For several weeks he wandered about the town with actual hunger staring him in the face. It was a time of great financial excitement, and with that strange quality of Fortunism, which seems to be his chief characteristic, he entered the establishment of the Law Gold Reporting Company just as their entire plant had shut down on account of an accident in the machinery that could not be located. The heads of the firm were anxious and excited to the last degree, and a crowd of the Wall street fraternity waited about for the news which came not. The shabby stranger put his finger on the difficulty at once, and was given lucrative employment. In the rush of the metropolis, a man finds his true level without delay, especially when his talents are of so practical and brilliant a nature as were this young telegrapher’s. It would be an absurdity to imagine an Edison hidden in New York. Within a short time, he was presented with a check for $40,000, as his share of a single invention—an improved stock printer. From this time, a national reputation was assured him. He was, too, now engaged upon the duplex and quadruplex systems—systems for sending two and four messages at the same time over a single wire,—which were to inaugurate almost a new era in telegraphy. POVERTY AS AN INCENTIVE TO EFFORT. Recalling the incident of the Law Gold Reporting Company, I inquired: “Do you believe want urges a man to greater efforts and so to greater success?” “It certainly makes him keep a sharp lookout. I think it does push a man along.” “Do you believe that invention is a gift, or an acquired ability?” “I think it’s born in a man.” “And don’t you believe that familiarity with certain mechanical conditions and defects naturally suggest improvements to any one?” “No. Some people may be perfectly familiar with a machine all their days, knowing it inefficient, and never see a way to improve it.” “What do you think is the first requisite for success in your field, or any other?” “The ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem incessantly without growing weary.” “Do you have regular hours, Mr. Edison?” I asked. “Oh,” he said, “I do not work hard now. I come to the laboratory about eight o’clock every day and go home to tea at six, and then I study or work on some problem until eleven, which is my hour for bed.” “Fourteen or fifteen hours a day can scarcely be called loafing,” I suggested.