on to the
developing of a storage battery which did not use lead and sulphuric
acid. So these two lines of work were taken up by Mr. Edison with just
as much enthusiasm and energy as is usual with him, the commercial
failure of the concentrating plant seeming not to affect his spirits
in any way. In fact, I have often been impressed strongly with the fact
that, during the dark days of the concentrating problem, Mr. Edison's
desire was very strong that the creditors of the Concentrating Works
should be paid in full; and only once did I hear him make any reference
to the financial loss which he himself made, and he then said: 'As
far as I am concerned, I can any time get a job at $75 per month as
a telegrapher, and that will amply take care of all my personal
requirements.' As already stated, however, he started in with the
maximum amount of enthusiasm and ambition, and in the course of about
three years we succeeded in paying off all the indebtedness of the
Concentrating Works, which amounted to several hundred thousand dollars.

"As to the state of Mr. Edison's mind when the final decision was
reached to close down, if he was specially disappointed, there was
nothing in his manner to indicate it, his every thought being for the
future, and as to what could be done to pull us out of the financial
situation in which we found ourselves, and to take advantage of the
knowledge which we had acquired at so great a cost."

It will have been gathered that the funds for this great experiment
were furnished largely by Edison. In fact, over two million dollars were
spent in the attempt. Edison's philosophic view of affairs is given in
the following anecdote from Mr. Mallory: "During the boom times of 1902,
when the old General Electric stock sold at its high-water mark of about
$330, Mr. Edison and I were on our way from the cement plant at New
Village, New Jersey, to his home at Orange. When we arrived at Dover,
New Jersey, we got a New York newspaper, and I called his attention to
the quotation of that day on General Electric. Mr. Edison then asked:
'If I hadn't sold any of mine, what would it be worth to-day?' and after
some figuring I replied: 'Over four million dollars.' When Mr. Edison
is thinking seriously over a problem he is in the habit of pulling his
right eyebrow, which he did now for fifteen or twenty seconds. Then his
face lighted up, and he said: 'Well, it's all gone, but we had a hell of
a good time spending it.'"