n gang aft
agley." The discovery of great deposits of rich Bessemer ore in the
Mesaba range of mountains in Minnesota a year or two previous to the
completion of his work had been followed by the opening up of those
deposits and the marketing of the ore. It was of such rich character
that, being cheaply mined by greatly improved and inexpensive methods,
the market price of crude ore of like iron units fell from about
$6.50 to $3.50 per ton at the time when Edison was ready to supply his
concentrated product. At the former price he could have supplied the
market and earned a liberal profit on his investment, but at $3.50 per
ton he was left without a reasonable chance of competition. Thus was
swept away the possibility of reaping the reward so richly earned by
years of incessant thought, labor, and care. This great and notable
plant, representing a very large outlay of money, brought to completion,
ready for business, and embracing some of the most brilliant and
remarkable of Edison's inventions and methods, must be abandoned by
force of circumstances over which he had no control, and with it must
die the high hopes that his progressive, conquering march to success had
legitimately engendered.

The financial aspect of these enterprises is often overlooked and
forgotten. In this instance it was of more than usual import and
seriousness, as Edison was virtually his own "backer," putting into the
company almost the whole of all the fortune his inventions had brought
him. There is a tendency to deny to the capital that thus takes
desperate chances its full reward if things go right, and to insist that
it shall have barely the legal rate of interest and far less than the
return of over-the-counter retail trade. It is an absolute fact that the
great electrical inventors and the men who stood behind them have had
little return for their foresight and courage. In this instance, when
the inventor was largely his own financier, the difficulties and perils
were redoubled. Let Mr. Mallory give an instance: "During the latter
part of the panic of 1893 there came a period when we were very hard
up for ready cash, due largely to the panicky conditions; and a large
pay-roll had been raised with considerable difficulty. A short time
before pay-day our treasurer called me up by telephone, and said: 'I
have just received the paid checks from the bank, and I am fearful
that my assistant, who has forged my name to some of the checks, has
ab