"Let us just suppose," said the scientist, "that we are standing on a building site in some pretty suburb of a great city. We will also suppose that an Edison poured house is to be erected there. Plans are drawn beforehand for a small house of simple arrangement and a set of steel moulds in convenient sizes are turned out. These moulds all have connections so they can be set up and joined together in one piece. First, we see that a solid concrete cellar floor, called the 'footing', has been laid down just the size and shape of the house. A crowd of skilled workmen quickly set up the moulds on this footing and lock them together. The moulds make one complete shell of the house, from cellar to roof, just as it will appear when completed. Reinforcing rods are placed in the mould so that they will be left in the concrete walls, floors, etc., of the house after the steel shell is taken away. "Nearby we see a few more skilled workmen mixing the concrete in great vats. When the mould and the material are ready we see the concrete taken to a tank on the roof and poured into troughs which carry the stuff to a number of different holes through which it flows into the mould. We hear it splash, splash, splash as it gradually fills every space in the shell, and finally after six hours or so it overflows at the roof. The main part of the work is now done and we can go away for a few days while the liquid in the shell sets, or turns to the hardest kind of stone. "After about six days we return to see the moulds unlocked, taken down and the complete house standing ready with walls, floors, stairways, chimneys, bathtubs, stationary tubs in the cellar, electric-wire conduits, water, gas and heating pipes all complete. In making the moulds the spaces for bathtubs, wash-tubs, electric wiring and piping for gas, water, and heat, are just as carefully arranged as walls and floors. The only work necessary after the concrete has set is to put in the doors and windows, install the furnace and necessary fixtures for heating, lighting and plumbing and connect them up ready for use. No plaster is used in these houses, but the walls can be tinted or decorated just as the landlord or occupant desires." The boy's friend went on to say that one might think that this was about as far as science could carry the use of concrete, but Edison said to himself: "If we can make houses, why can't we make furniture?" and he set about experimenting with poured furniture. He obtained some wonderful results with this newest use of concrete, and in his Orange laboratory he has several cabinets, chairs, and other articles of furniture that are every bit as attractive to look at as wooden furniture and that are practically indestructible.