Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 25, 1898)
TILE OMAHA DAILY BEE : SUNDAY , DECEMBER 25 , 18H8. 13 © ® ® SG ® ® © ® EDISON AND NICODEMUS. Stories of the Great Inventor as a Train Boy , W & ® < XiSS ) ® < ; ) G ) < One day recently Thomas A. Edison was I Bitting In tils little office on Mount Mus- conctcory , where his Iron mine Is located. Ho was talking to several business ocqualnt- anccs and In tbu course of the conversation one of the men present stated that he once hail been a train boy , "Were you ? " Bald Mr. Edison , char acteristically plunging Into this new subject. "I was one , you know. What road did you run on ? " "Grand Trunk , out of Port Huron. " "Did you ? Why , so did 1. Hut I wns be fore your time. I say , do you lemomber the peanut trick ? " "Indeed 1 do. Wasm't It the very first thing they taught tin beforu they tuniod ui foofle ? Everybody knew that. Why It doubled the output. I remember once I didn't jam them tight enough and they fell through just as I wan about to turn them Into the pocket of a countryman. Oh , wasn't ho mad ! Wouldn't buy the nuts and cautioned every one on the car against me. Bnlii 1 was a sharper and routed things gen erally. " The peanut trick of the old tlruo train boy was executed as follons : The tin measures ' * i , ( in1 " -o rnrr nnd r" * fnv They tapered gradually , being slightly mailer at the top than at the bottom. In Ullii. , , . , , . .i us ] tiOLJlU | iudh 1. any , whereupon he grabbed the basket out of my hands and dumped the nuts and ap ples out of the window. 'Here's > our bas ket , ' ho said , handing It to me. For a moment 1 was too surprised to speak. Then I yelled at him In a way that made every body Jump around. 1 did not eay any thing 1 just yelled at him on genural principles. " 'What's the matter , boy ? ' he snld when I stopped. Some of the passengers laughed ; others were Indignant , and some wbo had not seen his action simply looked nt me In amaremcnt. One man turned around and said : 'My stars , whera have they gone ? ' I suppose ho meant the peanuts. Chun 1 protested. " 'Look here , boy , ' said the young man , how much were they worth ? ' "Oh , about a dollar , I guess , ' mid I. "Ho turned to the n gro on the next seat. 'Nlcodumus , ' ho said , 'give this boy a del lar. ' "Tho negro grinned and turning to the be.x beside him ho opened It. It was really full of money and valuables , lie took out a dollar and gave It to me. I took It and walked up the car. I was still surprised. At the door I looked back at them , and everybody laughed at me for some reason all except the young men ; that Is , they amused , half regretful smile at this vision of his trnlnboy days. WOMIKIIS OK SIIOUM.VKEIIS' WAX. Mure ! ncmiltft of Hxiirrlmciitu rrltli a C < > in in ( i n Muliitnnuc. One of the most apt Illustrations ever made by Lord Kelvin was hU likening the lumenlfcrous ether to a mass of shoemakers' wax. What Lord Kelvin said of shoemakers' wax may be tested by any boy In a manner that will astonish his playmates. First let I It be said that the ether penetrates all space. It Is as rigid as steel and yet so flexible that It does not retard the paseago of planets through space In the least. It Is an Invisible substance which travels In waves through all things. Now to Illustrate the nature of such a piradoxlcal material Lord Kelvin searched everywhere , and at last concluded that shoemakers' wax repre sented It best. He made teats and this Is what he found : He melted some wax In a common gloss tumbler. After It had haidened he tried to thrust a lead pencil through It. It would not go , Then he placed a coin on the sur face of the wax , and left It for several days. When he again visited It the coin had sunk to the bottom of the class. The wax had closed over It and by lifting up 'the glass | and leaking through the bottom he could i tice the coin lylnc there. Had the wax been as deep as a well the coin would have gone on sinking until It had reached the bottom. This proved that the wax would conform only to very slow movements. If ho had tried to push It too fast It would have resisted him. An Idea struck the scientist. It the wax acted i'lko this toward the coin , how would OUT WENT EDISON'S PRIZE PACKAGES. rapldry through , the peanuts ID the open basket. A few nuts would rattle Inside , but almost Immediately a dozen or two would jam or' wedge In the narrow mouth of the measure. When lifted up , the measure would appear to be full , and , as the trick wouM bo performed In full view of the pur chaser , the latter would suspect nothing and allow the boy to dump the contents of the half empty can Into his pockets , when , of course , alt trace of the deception would be lost. lost.Mr. Mr. Edison laughed heartily flt the re membrance of the trick and with the In- ccntlvo thus given , stories of train-boy life flew back and forth. The two men , for the time , became train boys again. They forgot - got the triumphs and carea of their after Ilvca and the rest of the company present listened ellently and cnjoyably to the remi niscences of the days when the greatest Inventor In the world sold newspapers and peanut * Some of the atorlce told by Edison have been pubNshed , but the following one lias never before Appeared In print. The "Stlfflen. " " Curloue bow these things come back to you , " wld Mr. Edison. "I remember a funny thing that occurred on one of the \ old three-car trains. In my day , you know , they used to run trains made up of three coaches a baggage car , a smoking car and what wo called the women's car. The women's car waa always last In the string. Well , one day I was carrying my basket of nuts and apples through the women's car I hadn't sold a thing eo far when I 'noticed two young fellows sitting near the rear end of the car. They were dandles , what might be called dudce now , but we called them 'slimes' In those days. They were young southerners up north on a lark , as I found out afterward. Behind them sat a negro valet , who had a large Iron bound box bcsldo him on the scat. Probably ho was an old family slave. HP was dressed In as many colors as an English flunky. "Tho young men were complaining of the dullness of things. They stopped when they saw me. I came along wabbling my basket from side to side as I asked each passenger If he wanted to buy anything. When I reached the southerners I asked them If they wanted pome. 'No ! ' replied the fellow nearest to me. 'Wo do not , and furthermore wo are not going to have OVER A BULLION Dr. Hilton's Specific - cific No. 3 Ib the fi r s t R c in e ily ever offered to the Ir. ) Hilton's public to Cure n Cold , the Grip. and PUKM5NT PNEUMONIA , and it is the ONLY remedy to day that can do it. It w.is first ( ulver- ti.ed January , 1891. Since then over a million bottle tle s have been sold. What bet ter testimonial ns to the efficacy of this renifdv could The Crip we ha\e ? If } onr druggist doesn't ha\c itscmljocts. ami in P. O. slumps or money order to DR. llILTON , PREVENTS Lo\\cllMass.and receive a bottle by return mail. Pnciimonin. We have a fresh stock of Hilton a No. 3. Order of us. KHUKMAN & M'CONNELL UHUQ CO. , Omaha , Neb. never even smiled during the whole per formance. "Well , I filled up my basket with prize packages and came back through the train. Nobody bought any of them. When 1 reached the southerner , however , he said , 'Excuse me , sir , ' and grabbing the basket again ho sent the prize packages after the peanuts. Ho banded me my basket and sat keck without a emlle , 'but everybody else laughed again. I did not yell this tlme.j I simply said , 'Look here , mister , do you know how much those are worth ? ' " 'No , ' said he ; 'how much ? ' "Well , there were three dozen and four at 10 cents for each one , not to mention the prizes In some of them. ' " 'Oh , ' he said ; 'Nlcodemus , count up how much the boy ought 'to have and give It to him. ' "The negro opened hla box and gave me $4 , and again I went away with the empty basket , while the passengers laughed. "Next I brought In some morning papers and nobody bought these either. Somehow the passengers had caught the spirit of the thing , and as It cost them nothing they apparently did not wish to deprive those southerners of their fun. I was watchful when I came to the young bloods this time and I carried the papers so they could grab thorn easily. Sure enough , the nearest one throw them out of the window after the other things. I sat on the edge of a seat and laughed myself. 'Oh , you settle with Nlcodemus , ' he said , and Nlcodernus settled up. A Job Lot. "Then I bad an idea. I went Into the baggage car and got every paper I could find. I had a lot of that day's stock and over a hundred returns of the day before which I was going to turn In at the end of the run. The whole lot was BO heavy that I eould just manage to carry It on my ehoul- der. When I staggered Into the ladies' car and called Taper ! ' In the usual drawling- way the passengers fairly shrieked with laughter. I thought the soutLjrner would back down , but he never flinched. He just grabbed those papers and hurled them out of the window by the armful. Wo could sea them flying behind the train like great white birds you know wo had blanket sheets then and they spread themselves out over the landscape In a way that must have startled the rural population of the district. I got $10 for all my papers. "That dandy was game. 'Look here , boy , ' he said , when the passengers had seen the last of those papers float around a curve ; 'have you anything else on board ? ' " 'Nothing except the basket and my box , ' I replied. " 'Well , bring In those , too.1 , "You remember the big three by four boxes they used to give us to keep our goods In ? Well , I put the basket In the box and turned It over and over down the aisle of the carte to where the fellow cat. He threw the basket out of the window , but the box was too big to go that way. So he ordered Nlcodemus to throw It off the rear platform. I charged him S3 for that box. When it had gone be turned to me and said : " 'How much money have you made to day ? ' "I counted up over 125 Nlcodemus bad given me. " 'Now , ' he said , 'are you sure you have nothing more to sell ? ' "I would have brought In the smoking car itove If It had not been hot , nut I was com * polled to say there was really nothing more. " 'Very welt I * and then with a change In his tone he turned to the negro and said : 'Nlcodemus , throw this boy out of the win dow ! ' "The passengers shrieked with laughter , but I got out of that car pretty quick I can tell you. That fellow was a thoroughbred and I believe he would have done It , even If hii ! nigger had refused , which was not likely. " And the face of the Inventor wore half it treat an object which floated ? He accord ingly placed a cork In tumbler and pourncd hot shoemaker's wax upon It. The wax hardened with the cork at the bottom. Yet i when Lord Kelvin looked at the bottom of the glass In a day or two he found the cork had disappeared. It was somewhere In the mass of wax , and probably rising very slowly but surely toward the top. Sure enough , after a given perioa of time the cork peeped above the surface of the hard wax and finally it rose to a point where It remained half i Imbedded In the wax , Just as It would have I done In a glass of water. It rose no higher than this , however , and , corkscrew prob ably would not have pulled It from the wax. I Yet Its own buoyancy had raised It up from the bottom , through what eeeraed an Im penetrable mass of wax. I This , In fact , Is the peculiarity of shoe maker's wax , that It resists all sudden or quick movements , but Is highly susceptible to very slow and prolonged pressure. If you pressed a flatlron hard down on a lump of wax on a table It is probable you wouM make no Impression on It , but If you left that Iron resting on the wax for a < lay or two , you would find the lump flattened out under the Iron. So curious Is this property of the wax that tuning forks have been cast from pieces of It. These forks were capable of vibration , giving a musical note and be ing set going by vibration from another tuning fork , yet when one of them was laid acrors the open mouth of a Jar It slowly col lapsed and fell Into the Jar In a shapeless , . sticky mass. Any boy may perform these j experiments and the Iteson In physics to be got therefrom Is no less valuable than the amusement which the performance affords. ILEA FOIl SANTA GLAUS. By C. H. S. Santa Claus down the chimney has coma He a filled our stocking , and gone off home. Where IP his home , say , can you tell ? 1 vo often wondered , I'm afraid Its a sell. Jsot c-e-l-l where bad men stay. But a Joke , that lives In a good fashioned way. Howe'er It may be , I believe just the same As the first time , to me. he lovingly came. Call him a myth , whatever you will , To me , tho' In years , he's Santa Claus still. I wouldn't banish him , for any staid preacher , Who essays to bo the world's only teacher. I'd teach my children to wait for the tread Of hlo relnde r , hitched to hla well laden sled. Others , the Devil may prefer to obtrude , nut my happy spirit repels such a mood. Our fathers and mothers were better than they Who'd shatter these pleasures of a bye- gone day. I'd burn n philosophy , and plead no cause. That would leave this world without Santa Clans. , When 1 pet so old. and I get so wise , Let the Goad Lord take me right off to the Hkle ? . For Id rather be dead than murder the Joys That Santa Claus brings to our dear girls and boys. MUSICAL PINS. A Slniplr Yet Hrlrntlflc Amuartncnt That Kvrryone Can Try. A common pin Is not generally regarded as a musical Instrument , yet anybody with a bit of common , soft deal board an Inch thick , a few score of pins and a fair stock of patience can get an amount of music out of these materials that Is simply aston- tshlng. All that you have to do Is to first select the tune that the Instrument Is to play , and get It thoroughly fixed In your brain. Then drive a pin Into the beard and keep trying It with the finger nail till It sounds lllio the first note. Drive another for the next note , and so on. The further a pin Is driven In the higher the note It produces , and , of course , for the low notes the pins eland out higher. To regulate the length of a note , one must regulate the distance of too pins apart ; set them closely for quick music and wider apart for slow. The tune should be set up In a straight line , and played by running an Ivory toothpick or a long bonnet pin along tba line. There la no end of fun getting the thing , started , and the music always proves surprise and delight. IMIATTM : OF TIIK vouNosmns. Little Mildred Say , Tommy , do you know what a category Is ? Little Tommy Course ! It's the place where the cats goes to when they die. Fond Grandmamma Gcordle , tell the lady what Oeorgo Washington never did. Gcordle He never said a blamed word. "My doll can shut her eyes and go to sleep Just lovely. " "Huh ! My doll never goes to sleep at all ; she's got Inaomnlcr. " Discerning Child ( who has heard some re marks by hla father ) Are you our new nurse ? , Nurse Yes , dear. I Child Well , then , I am one of those boys who can only be managed by kindness , so you had better get some sponge cake and candy at once , I ' The Philadelphia Record tells of a teacher who had just finished explaining the use of the ditto marks , when she noticed one of her , young searchers for knowledge searching for j It In a half-dime novel. So she made him stay nfter school and told him to write the sentence "Always pay attention" a hundred times. In a very short tlinc ho gave a glad about : "I've did 111" "What kind of langugage Is that ? " sh remarked ( severely ; "ana you surely haven't had time to do It. " "Well , I'm done It , then anyhow , here It is. " He held up his paper. The sentence was written once at the top and the remaining surface was covered with dots. "Hut you haven't done It ! " she exclaimed. He gazed at her scornfully. " 'Course I have them'a ditto marks made 'era ninety-nine times they're good things. " What else was there to do but to let him go at once , which che did ? ThoiiMUiil Could not express the raptuie of Annie E. Springer of 11J5 ! Howard street , Philadelphia , Pa. , when she found that Ur. King's Now Discovery for Consumption had completely cured her of a hacking cough that for many years had made llfo a burden. All other remedies and doctors could give her no help , but she says of this Iloyal Cure : "It soon removed the pain In my chest and 1 can now sleep soundly , something I can scarcely remember doing before. I feel like sounding Us praises throughout the universe. " So will every one who tries Dr. King's New Dis covery for any trouble of the Throat , Chester or Lungs. Price bOc and $1.00. Trial bottles free nt Kuhn & Co.'s drug store ; every bottle guaranteed. TOLD OUT OP COIWT. "That lawyer Is such a great friend of yours , " said one business man to another , "that 1 presume he charged you only a nominal fee ? " "Yes , oh , yea. Phenomenal ; bigger than the Infernal verdict "Hold up your hands ! " At this startling command every one of the six or eight stalwart men , taken by sur prise , mechanically compiled. Then the voice waa heard again , droning out these words : "You and each of you do solemnly awear that the evidence you shall give In the case now In bearing shall be the truth , the whole truth , " etc. She So you have decided to be a lawyer and are enthusiastic at the prospect. They say that love of a profession and love of a woman conflict. He Not necessarily. In love and law there Is a difference , but not a vital one. It goes to form rather than substance. In love the attachment precedes the declara tion , while In taw the declaration comes before the attachment. In your case , for Instance. I have long held the attachment. I now file the declaration. A justice of the peace In Texas , on the fourth trial of a petty but tenaciously fought case in which no appeal could be had , al lowed the witnesses on cross-examination to suit themselves about answering questions. A witness would say , "I won't answer no such g d fool questions as that , " and the Justice , with similar emphasis , would nay , "That's right. " There was a fight be tween the attorneys because one of them tried to stem the rushing , roaring tide of the other' * eloquence to the jury by calling him a liar. These amenities were appar ently regarded as proper incidents of the trial , but on complaint made against the orator for "using loud and vociferous lan guage In a public place , to-wlt , the court house , " ho wen convicted by the justice and fined $15. The justice seems to have a new version of Dr. Watts , which says : "Let lawyers delight to scrap and fight , for 'tis their nature to ; but to yell like fury when addressing the Jury , only Imps of satan will do. " Not long since the notice , "Court Ad journed Sine Die , " was posted on the door of the suprem court In Brooklyn nm gentleman with an artistic and highly trained sense of humor added a "d" to the word "die" and went on his war rejoicing. Next day a person who makes a practice ot haunting the public buildings in Brooklyn and professes acquaintance with every well known man In the vicinity , dropped Into the clerk's office. "See here , " he said , "when did Sln paai In his checks ? " "What's that ? " demanded the astonished clerk. "When did Sine die ? I see the courts are closed on account of It , " "Oh , " said the clerk , pulling himself to gether , "he died yesterday. Did you know him ? " "Know him ? I should say I did. Knew his father before him. Too bad , ain't It ? " And Sine's bereaved friend passed out with his burden of sorrow. BAD BLOOD "CABCAttCTS rio nil ctataed fbr Una Dd r atrulr wonderful oedlclnt. ItWTtofMn wlibjd for nnt1lclne pleut4i > tlo take and at lut h T fouDdltlnC so ret - - nt. PaUublt. Ptwat , Tut Good. ertr Sicken. Wn&ea. or Grl.10cUc.e ( CURE CONSTIPATION. . . . uj , CH K . i.ittwl. tw T rt. Itt soldtnd rnirRnteed ty all draz- ' < 'KJJ ' Tobacco H * IT rrvvm % m % mjna M ir % m4xrvm/my % k/m/4rm mrm h.Ti Nothin" Saceeec/s Like Success w The Bee has secured for publication in its Sunday issues a noteworthy and in teresting series of articles dealing with the dominating American idea of success. It provides a most attractive adaptation of this idea in the form of STORIES OF SUCCESSFUL MEN who have worked their way to the top by their own exertions men whose names are familiar to newspaper readers everywhere as the heads of.great businesses , as leaders in the professions , or as masters and makers of great fortunes. These life stories of prominent men are TOLD BY THEMSELVES .Each one presents in his own language his own opinions as to the influences , circumstances or events which have led to his success. The realities of life are clothed with as deep an interest as the most stirring recitals of Action in these ac counts of the turning points in great careers. Among those who will contribute to this series are the following : 4 > x < 5 > xJ $ > xj > ' | 'vxj > > < jK8xj > < S > < j > Kx < jxj j > < jK § J > > 3xS > < j > < S > < < $ * S > < 3 > < § > 'S Andrew Carnegie The Scotch bobbin boy , tells in his own words of his early struggle for a livelihood ; how he earned his first money , what was his first investment , and I how he climbed the first rugged rounds of the ladder of success , which has led | him to the head of one of the largest manufacturing concerns in the world. * $ & & & & $ > 3 > < § > & $3 > $ > &S < < Senator Thomas C. Platt Kelates a highly interesting story under the title "How I Came to Go Into Politics" in which he speaks from ripe experience. Jacob Gould Schurman The President of Cornell , gives the story of his advancement from the place of grocer's boy in an obscure Nova Scotia town to the head of one of the greatest universities in the country. Stuart Robson The veteran actor , who learned his profession in company with Forrest and Booth , recalls the happy inspiration which saved him from discharge in an early engagement and started him on his successful stage career. 3 > < 5S > < S > < S' < S > 3 > 3 > < 3 > ' $ > Thomas A. Edison Tells how he earned the first large sum of money that he possessed by a remarkable sale of papers on a train running out of Detroit. The manner in which he did it made him resolve to become a telegraph operator , and so < | started him on his wonderful career of invention. < | > w Frank Thomson President of the Pennsylvania railroad , tells the Btory of his rise from the machine shops of the road to the president's office. Dr. Lewis A. Sayre Ex-President of the American Medical Association , tells how his success dates from a difficult operation performed in a new way in an emergency case. John Claflin The head of the house of Claflin & Co. , the largest dry goods merchants f | in the world , relates the romantic story of his first success and founding of his f ; ; house as a rival to A. T. Stewart , then the great merchant prince of America , y * t * This series will be extended by the addition of other equally notable names. Each article will be accompanied by the most r ecent and accurate portrait of the person who forms its subject. THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE. Read It. Subscribe for It.