uitable
engine indicator to indicate it--the Tabor. He obtained the desired
speed and load with a friction brake; also regulator of speed; but
waited for an indicator to verify it. Then again there was no known way
to lubricate an engine for continuous running, and Mr. Edison informed
me that as a marine engine started before the ship left New York and
continued running until it reached its home port, so an engine for his
purposes must produce light at all times. That was a poser to me, for a
five-hours' run was about all that had been required up to that time.

"A day or two later Mr. Edison inquired: 'How far is it from here to
Lawrence; it is a long walk, isn't it?' 'Yes, rather.' He said: 'Of
course you will understand I meant without oil.' To say I was deeply
perplexed does not express my feelings. We were at the machine works,
Goerck Street. I started for the oil-room, when, about entering, I saw a
small funnel lying on the floor. It had been stepped on and flattened. I
took it up, and it had solved the engine-oiling problem--and my walk to
Lawrence like a tramp actor's was off! The eccentric strap had a round
glass oil-cup with a brass base that screwed into the strap. I took it
off, and making a sketch, went to Dave Cunningham, having the funnel
in my hand to illustrate what I wanted made. I requested him to make a
sheet-brass oil-cup and solder it to the base I had. He did so. I then
had a standard made to hold another oil-cup, so as to see and regulate
the drop-feed. On this combination I obtained a patent which is now
universally used."

It is needless to say that in due course the engine builders of
the United States developed a variety of excellent prime movers for
electric-light and power plants, and were grateful to the art from which
such a stimulus came to their industry; but for many years one never saw
an Edison installation without expecting to find one or more Armington
& Sims high-speed engines part of it. Though the type has gone out of
existence, like so many other things that are useful in their day and
generation, it was once a very vital part of the art, and one more
illustration of that intimate manner in which the advances in different
fields of progress interact and co-operate.

Edison had installed his historic first great central-station system
in New York on the multiple arc system covered by his feeder and main
invention, which resulted in a notable saving in the cost of conductors
a