Dowager Queen Alexandra--and
the Princess received from Mr. Johnson as a souvenir a tiny electric
chandelier fashioned like a bouquet 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 embodied in insurance rules to govern wiring for electric lights,
formulated during the latter part of 1881, adopted by the New York Board
of Fire Underwriters, January 12, 1882, and subsequently endorsed
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 supervision 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 notably improved by a manual written by Mr.
Edison himself. Copies of this brochure are as scarce to-day as Firs