Page:Famous Living Americans, with Portraits.djvu/182

 THOMAS A. EDISON By Obobge Lawrence Schebgeb THOMAS A. EDISON is undoubtedly the most cele- brated and useful American of our day. He is consid- ered by all to be the greatest inventor of this, if not of any, age. He has made the entire human race his debtor. His inventions have revolutionized our life and civilization so that the world would seem a very dull place for us if we had to get along without theuL So much like a wizard does he seem to us that his most startling invention does not surprise us. Noth- ing seems impossible to him. He is the incarnation of the American genius for inventiveness and for this reason the American people are proud of him as being a typical Ameri- can. Americans are also proud of Edison because he is a self- made man. He was bom a poor boy and he rose by his own efforts through hard work. Although he seems to us one of the greatest geniuses who ever lived, he himself defines genius as two i>er cent inspiration and ninety-eight per cent perspira- tion. Although comparatively old today, he is still one of the hardest working men in the world. His mind is continually seething with problems. He is a dynamic force of the highest voltage. His i>erseverance is boundless. He spent ten years working on his storage battery, making fifty thousand exx)er- iments before he was satisfied with it. He worked at the mov- ing picture machine for thirty-four years. Thomas A. Edison was bom in the little town of Milan, Ohio, February 11, 1847. His father had emigrated to this place from Canada in 1838, having been practically compelled to leave that country because he had taken an active part in the rebellion against the British Government Here he mar- ried a school teacher named Nancy Elliot, with whom he had been acquainted in Canada. It seemed at that time that Milan had a great future, but these hopes came to naught. A new railway line was constructed near by but did not pass through