s in
modern electrical parlance owe their origin to him. Even the "call-word"
of the telephone, "Hello!" sent tingling over the wire a few million
times daily was taken from Menlo Park by men installing telephones
in different parts of the world, men who had just learned it at
the laboratory, and thus made it a universal sesame for telephonic
conversation.

It is hard to determine where to begin with Edison's miscellaneous
inventions, but perhaps telegraphy has the "right of line," and Edison's
work in that field puts him abreast of the latest wireless developments
that fill the world with wonder. "I perfected a system of train
telegraphy between stations and trains in motion whereby messages could
be sent from the moving train to the central office; and this was the
forerunner of wireless telegraphy. This system was used for a number of
years on the Lehigh Valley Railroad on their construction trains. The
electric wave passed from a piece of metal on top of the car across
the air to the telegraph wires; and then proceeded to the despatcher's
office. In my first experiments with this system I tried it on the
Staten Island Railroad, and employed an operator named King to do the
experimenting. He reported results every day, and received instructions
by mail; but for some reason he could send messages all right when the
train went in one direction, but could not make it go in the contrary
direction. I made suggestions of every kind to get around this
phenomenon. Finally I telegraphed King to find out if he had any
suggestions himself; and I received a reply that the only way he could
propose to get around the difficulty was to put the island on a pivot
so it could be turned around! I found the trouble finally, and the
practical introduction on the Lehigh Valley road was the result. The
system was sold to a very wealthy man, and he would never sell any
rights or answer letters. He became a spiritualist subsequently, which
probably explains it." It is interesting to note that Edison became
greatly interested in the later developments by Marconi, and is an
admiring friend and adviser of that well-known inventor.

The earlier experiments with wireless telegraphy at Menlo Park were
made at a time when Edison was greatly occupied with his electric-light
interests, and it was not until the beginning of 1886 that he was
able to spare the time to make a public demonstration of the system
as applied to moving trains. Ezra T. Gilli