n 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 advertising 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, Chili, and Rio de
Janeiro; the European Company with 3,500,000 francs subscribed; 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 attained
the respectable size of sixteen pages; and in December it was a portly
magazine of forty-eight. Every item bears testimony 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 delegations from cities, boroughs,
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