,the ,mentor1 ,no4 #bi1 ,great ,american
 ,inventors          ,,the ,,mentor     
8,a ,wise and ,faithful ,guide and      
,friend0        ,,vol4 #a         ,,no4 
#bi          ,,great ,,american         
,,inventors        ,,eli ,,whitney      
#agfe-ahbe        ,,robert ,,fulton     
#agfe-ahae        ,,elias ,,howe        
#ahai-ahfg        ,s4 ,f4 ,b4 ,,morse   
#agia-ahgb        ,,alex4 ,,graham      
,,bell      #ahdg-        ,,thomas      
,,alva ,,edison      #ahdg-             
,illustration    ,by ,h4 ,,addington    
,,bruce      ,anyone who reads the      
history of the ,united ,states must be  
impressed  with the supremely important 
part played by the inventor in the      
evolution of the nation4 ,the explorer  
and pioneer1 the statesman1  diplomat1  
and soldier1--all these have            
contributed1 and contributed  notably1  
to the upbuilding of the mighty republic
 of today4 ,but it is  beyond dispute   
that in the long run their efforts would
 have counted  for comparatively little 

had it not been for the genius of those 
who  have bent their energies to the    
devising of means for the development   
of the country's marvelously rich       
resources1 and have still further  added
 to the national wealth by the creation 
of unsuspected channels  for the        
profitable employment of human          
enterprise and labor4    ,illustration3 
,,whitney',s ,,armory    ,in #agih the  
inventor of the cotton gin began the    
manufacture of  firearms near ,new      
,haven1 ,connecticut4    ,it was in the 
humble workshops of men like ,whitney1  
,fitch1 and ,fulton  that1 almost as    
soon as the independence of the ,united 
,states had  been won by the sword1 the 
foundations were laid for its rise to   
the  standing of a world power4 ,every  
invention these men made meant  a gain  
in the nation's strength1 and a wider   
opening of the door  of opportunity to  
all native-born ,americans1 and to the  
constantly  increasing host of newcomers
 from abroad4 ,the ,american inventors  

have  not simply astonished mankind2    
they have enhanced the prestige1 power1 
and prosperity of their country4        
,,the ,,cotton ,,gin    ,illustration3  
,,birthplace ,,of ,,whitney    ,in this 
house in ,westborough1 ,massachusetts1  
,eli ,whitney was born on  ,december #h1
 #agfe4    ,take1 for example1 the      
results that have flowed from a single  
invention1 that of the ,whitney cotton  
gin4 ,when the young ,yankee            
schoolmaster and law student1 ,eli      
,whitney1 was graduated from ,yale and  
settled in ,georgia in #agib1 the       
production of cotton in the ,southern   
,states was insignificant4 ,at that     
time1 indeed1 cotton was grown by the   
,southerners chiefly for decorative     
effect in gardens1 because of its       
handsome flowers4 ,its cultivation for  
commercial purposes was virtually  out  
of the question1 owing to the fact that 
no means were available for             
economically separating the lint from   
the seed4 ,this had to be done by  hand1

 and since it took ten hours for a quick
 worker to separate one  pound of lint  
from its three pounds of seed no        
adequate returns could  be had4    ,what
 was needed1 as his southern friends    
pointed out to ,whitney1 was  the       
invention of some apparatus for         
performing the work of separation       
cleanly and quickly4 ,the problem was   
one that appealed to him with  peculiar 
force4 ,even as a boy in ,massachusetts 
he had been fond of  tinkering with     
mechanical appliances4 ,at the early age
 of twelve he had  made a violin of     
fairly good tone2 a year later he was   
making excellent  knives2 and before he 
was fifteen he was recognized as the    
best  mechanic in his native town of    
,westborough4 ,it was therefore with    
real  enthusiasm that he set up a       
workshop in the basement of his ,georgia
  home1 and varied his law studies by   
experimenting in the manufacture of  a  
cotton gin4 ,within a few months he had 
successfully completed his  self-imposed

 task by the creation of a machine      
equipped with hundreds  of tiny metal   
fingers1 each of which did more work in 
quicker time than  the human hand could 
possibly do4    ,that same year 7#agic7 
fully five million pounds of cotton were
  harvested in the ,united ,states1 the 
product of a planting stimulated  solely
 by faith in the ,whitney gin4 ,by the  
year of ,whitney's death  7#ahbe7 cotton
 was indisputably king in the commercial
 life of the  nation1 the value of the  
cotton exports for that year being more 
than  #cf1jjj1jjj1 as against a         
valuation of barely #cj1jjj1jjj for all 
other ,american exports4 ,the eventual  
abolition of slavery served only  to    
accentuate the stupendous importance of 
the cotton gin4 ,under free  labor the  
production of cotton has steadily risen1
 until nowadays it  annually runs into  
the billions of pounds1 with a valuation
 of many  hundreds of millions of       
dollars1 and affords employment not only
 to an  enormous army of cultivators1   

but to a still greater army of workers  
in  factory1 office1 and store4         
,illustration3 ,,the ,,fulton           
,,homestead    ,the inventor purchased  
this farm in ,washington ,county1       
,pennsylvania1  when he was but         
twenty-one years of age4 ,here he left  
his mother when  he went to ,england to 
study art4    ,even of much greater     
importance have been the results of the 
labors  of another illustrious ,american
 inventor1 ,robert ,fulton4 ,born in    
,lancaster ,county1 ,pennsylvania1 in   
,november1 #agfe1 ,fulton1 by reason  of
 the astonishing number and variety of  
his inventions1 may well be  called the 
,edison of his time4      ,,robert      
,,fulton    ,illustration3 ,,robert     
,,fulton    ,fulton was tall1 and his   
face showed great intelligence4 ,he was 
refined1 and possessed grace and        
elegance of manner4    ,similar to all  
truly great inventors1 he was a man of  
broad vision and  keen imagination4     
,what he was most interested in was not 

immediate  consequences1 but ultimate   
effects1 and in working on the          
complicated  mechanical problems with   
which his mind was incessantly occupied 
he  kept steadily in view their         
significance to society as a whole4     
,thus1  one of his most ingenious       
creations--the famous ,fulton torpedo1  
crude  forerunner of the deadly         
submarine missiles of today--was        
inspired by  an ardent desire to produce
 something that would make war so       
terrible  as to impel mankind to        
universal peace4 ,and similarly it was  
with an  eye to increasing the welfare  
and happiness of society that he went to
  work on the invention with which his  
name will always be linked1--the        
steamboat4    ,he was not the first to  
whom the idea had occurred of applying  
the steam engine to purposes of water   
transportation4 ,already the            
,pennsylvanian1 ,william ,henry1 the    
,connecticut mechanic1 ,john ,fitch1 the
  ,new ,jersey inventor1 ,john ,stevens1

 and the ,scotsman1 ,william ,symington1
  had demonstrated more or less         
successfully the possibility of using   
steam as a motive power on the water2   
but it was left to ,fulton to  establish
 definitely the value of the steamboat  
as a medium for  passenger and freight  
traffic4 ,this he did with his historic 
,clermont1  built at ,new ,york in      
#ahjg1 partly with funds provided by    
,chancellor  ,livingston and partly by  
loans from reluctant and skeptical      
friends4    ,illustration3 ,,fulton',s  
,,first ,,experiment ,,with ,,paddle    
,,wheels    ,in the summer of #aggi     
,fulton first tried the method of       
propelling  a boat by means of paddle   
wheels on ,conestoga ,creek in eastern  
,pennsylvania4    ,the general          
impression was that ,fulton had         
undertaken a hopeless and  visionary    
task4 8,as ,i had occasion10 he himself 
has related1 8daily to  pass to and from
 the shipyard while my boat was in      
progress1 ,i often  loitered unknown    

near idle groups of strangers1 gathering
 in little  circles1 and heard various  
inquiries as to the object of this new  
vehicle4 ,the language was uniformly    
that of scorn1 sneer1 or ridicule4  ,the
 loud laugh often rose at my expense2   
the dry jest2 the wise  calculation of  
losses and expenditures2 the dull but   
endless repetition  of #8,fulton's      
,folly4'0    ,as everybody knows1 the   
,clermont did not sink or otherwise come
 to  grief when she started up the      
,hudson1 ,august #aa1 #ahjg1 for her    
maiden  voyage to ,albany4 ,on the      
contrary1 she made the journey1 against 
the  wind1 at an average rate of nearly 
five miles an hour2 and1 with  the wind 
again ahead1 returned to ,new ,york at  
about the same speed4  ,compared with   
the steaming powers of the modern ocean 
leviathan1  this was a sorry enough     
showing2 but1 with the continued success
  of the ,clermont and her sister boats1
 the ,raritan and the ,car of           
,neptune1--which together constituted   

the world's first regular line of       
steamboats1--it was sufficient to prove 
for all time that man had made  another 
superb advance in the mastery of the    
forces of ,nature4    ,illustration3    
,,model ,,of ,,robert ,,fulton',s       
,,first ,,steamboat1 ,,the ,,clermont   
,constructed for the ,hudson-,fulton    
celebration at ,new ,york in the fall   
of #aiji4      ,,inventor ,,of ,,the    
,,sewing ,,machine    ,illustration3    
,,birthplace ,,of ,,elias ,,howe        
,amid these humble surroundings the     
inventor of the sewing machine was  born
 at ,spencer1 ,massachusetts1 in #ahai4 
,illustration3 ,,before ,,the ,,war     
,a sewing machine of #ahea4    ,very    
different1 but also of great value1 was 
the service rendered by  ,elias ,howe of
 sewing machine fame4 ,there are two    
stories as to the  genesis of this      
wonderful labor-saving device4 ,one is  
that it was  suggested to ,howe by the  
chance remark of a visitor to the       
,boston  machine shop in which he was   

employed4 ,the other and more romantic  
story is that the idea of a machine for 
sewing garments originated  from a      
desire on ,howe's part to lighten the   
labor of his wife1 who1  when he was ill
 and out of work1 was obliged to take in
 sewing and toil  far into the night4   
,whichever version is correct1 it is    
certain that in #ahdc 7,howe was  then  
only twenty-four years old7 he set to   
work in the garret of his  father's home
 in ,cambridge1 and about a year later  
gave to the world  a sewing machine that
 embodied the principal features of the 
most  up-to-date models of the present  
day4 ,for long1 however1 the world was  
reluctant to accept this splendid       
invention4 ,the tailors of ,boston1  to 
whom he first offered it1 refused to    
adopt it1 on the ground that  it would  
ruin their business2 and later1 in ,new 
,york1 there were  anti-sewing machine  
demonstrations1 fomented by labor       
leaders1 who  failed to realize that in 
the end labor-saving devices of any real

  merit were always certain to increase1
 not decrease1 the demand and           
opportunities for the workingman and    
workingwoman4    ,illustration3 ,a      
,,sewing ,,machine ,,of #ahfj    8,it   
has stitched many hundred miles of seam1
 and is still in good  working order40  
,in the case of the sewing machine the  
truth of this has long since been       
demonstrated4 ,not only has it become a 
familiar household adjunct1  freeing    
millions of women from the slavery of   
the needle1 and thus most  effectively  
answering the piteous plea of ,hood's   
8,song of the ,shirt10  but it has also 
brought about a marvelous expansion of  
the clothing  industry4 ,it has in fact 
created an entirely new and most        
important  branch of that industry1--the
 ready-made clothing business1--giving  
employment to hundreds of thousands of  
people1 and providing well  patterned   
and well finished garments at prices    
undreamed of in other  days4 ,surely    
,howe1 no less than ,fulton and         

,whitney1 deserves to be  regarded as a 
benefactor of humanity4    ,so1 too1    
with ,samuel ,f4 ,b4 ,morse1 and        
,alexander ,graham ,bell1 the one  the  
father of the electric telegraph1 the   
other the inventor of the  telephone4   
,if anybody had told ,samuel ,morse in  
#ahaa1 when as a youth  of twenty he    
sailed from ,new ,york to ,liverpool to 
study painting under  ,benjamin ,west1  
that he would be known to posterity as  
an inventor  rather than as an artist1  
he would have laughed the prophecy to   
scorn4  ,but1 as has happened to other  
gifted men1 circumstances conspired to  
turn and fix the thoughts of this       
brilliant son of ,new ,england on       
problems unconnected with the routine of
 his daily life1 yet appealing  to him  
with such force as to change the whole  
course of his career4    ,illustration3 
,,the ,,first ,,bobbin ,,winder         
,,telegraph ,,and ,,telephone           
,illustration3 ,,birthplace ,,of ,s4 ,f4
 ,b4 ,,morse    ,the inventor of the    

telegraph was born at the foot of       
,breed's ,hill1  ,charlestown1          
,massachusetts4    ,illustration3 ,,the 
,,new ,,york ,,home ,,of ,s4 ,f4 ,b4    
,,morse    ,this house was located on   
,west ,twenty-second ,street near ,fifth
  ,avenue4    ,illustration3 ,,samuel   
,f4 ,b4 ,,morse    ,illustration3 ,,the 
,,first ,,telephone    ,illustration3   
,,the ,,first ,,telegraph ,,instrument  
,with ,morse the turning point was      
reached in #ahbg when1 some years  after
 his return from ,england1 he attended a
 course of lectures in ,new  ,york on   
the subject of electromagnetism4 ,what  
he then heard fired his  imagination1   
and led him1 during a second visit      
abroad1 to study more  closely the      
nature of electricity4 ,he specially    
became interested in  the possibility of
 utilizing this great natural force as a
 medium for  long-distance              
communication1 and when homeward bound1 
in the autumn of  #ahcb1 applied himself
 to this one problem to such good       

purpose that  before landing in ,new    
,york he was able to show to his fellow 
passengers  plans of the instrument that
 was to immortalize his name4           
,illustration3 8,,long ,,distance0      
,alexander ,graham ,bell opening the    
,new ,york-,chicago long distance       
telephone line1 ,october #ah1 #ahib4    
,it was not until five years afterward1 
however1 that ,morse made the  first    
working demonstration of his invention1 
which by most people was  regarded as a 
scientific toy rather than a creation of
 the highest  practical utility4 ,and a 
scientific toy it remained until1 after 
a  heartbreaking struggle to secure the 
necessary financial aid1 ,morse         
persuaded ,congress in #ahdc to         
appropriate #cj1jjj for the construction
  of a telegraph line between           
,washington and ,baltimore4 ,the first  
message  to be flashed over this line1  
,may #a1 #ahdd1 was the news of the     
nomination of ,henry ,clay for the      
presidency2 and with the sending of     

that message one of the greatest        
inventions in the history of mankind    
definitely gained recognition as an     
accomplished fact4    ,alexander ,graham
 ,bell1 experimenting in the same field 
of long-distance  communication by the  
aid of electricity1 was more fortunate  
in  securing early acknowledgment of the
 merits of his telephone1 a public      
demonstration of which was given at the 
,centennial ,exhibition in #ahgf4       
,connected with this invention a most   
interesting story is told4 ,bell1  it is
 said1 was experimenting with a device  
for multiplex telegraphy1  when the     
accidental snapping of a wire sent a    
sound vibrating through  another wire   
which had attached to it at each end a  
thin sheet-iron  disk a few inches in   
circumference4 ,at once ,bell asked     
himself if the  sound could be repeated4
 ,experiment showed that it could1 and  
the query  then suggested itself to him1
 ,could vocal sounds be thus            
transmitted8  ,forthwith he set himself 

to the task that resulted1 after many   
failures1 in the creation of the        
telephone4    ,but even in the case of  
this marvelous instrument it was for a  
long  time impossible to obtain the     
necessary financial support4 ,when1 in  
#ahgg1 ,bell took the telephone to      
,england1 he could find no purchaser    
for half the ,european rights at        
#aj1jjj1 and in this country a personal 
friend declined to advance #b1ejj for a 
half interest4 ,today1 so it  is stated1
 there are in use in the ,united ,states
 alone approximately  seven and a half  
million telephones4    ,illustration3   
,,alexander ,,graham ,,bell',s          
,,suburban ,,residence ,,at             
,,washington1 ,d4 ,c4      ,,edison1    
,,the ,,master ,,inventor               
,illustration3 ,,the ,,edison ,,house   
,,at ,,milan1 ,,ohio    ,here ,thomas   
,a4 ,edison was born on ,february #aa1  
#ahdg4    ,never has there been an      
,american inventor who has contributed  
more  abundantly than ,thomas ,alva     

,edison to the republic's industrial    
expansion1 nor one who has achieved     
greatness under a heavier handicap  of  
early disadvantages4 ,born 7#ahdg7 of a 
poor family in an obscure ,ohio  canal  
village1 ,edison began his career at the
 age of twelve in the  occupation of a  
railway newsboy4    ,illustration3 ,,the
 ,,first ,,phonograph    ,it was with   
this machine that ,edison in #ahgg      
originally demonstrated  the fact that  
sound could be recorded and reproduced4 
,it was as a telegrapher1 which he      
became at eighteen1 that his  inventive 
genius first displayed itself4 ,one     
after another various  devices for      
improving telegraphic service flowed    
from his fertile  mind1 until1 after his
 astonishing success in inventing a     
duplex and  quadruplex telegraph1 he was
 able to command the support of a group 
of  ,new ,york capitalists in carrying  
through a long series of experiments    
that finally resulted in the invention  
of the now familiar ,edison  electric   

light4    ,had it been for only this one
 invention ,edison's name would be      
gratefully remembered for all time4 ,but
 to strengthen his claims on the        
gratitude of his countrymen and of      
posterity there has since come from  his
 ,new ,jersey laboratory a succession of
 inventions1--to name only  a few1 the  
phonograph1 the kinetoscope1 the        
mimeograph1 the storage  battery1 and   
the 8talking moving pictures10--which   
have meant new  openings for capital1   
new opportunities for labor1 and an     
incalculable  enlargement of the        
resources of the human race4 ,whitney1  
,fulton1 ,howe1  ,morse1 ,bell1         
,edison1--clearly it is only simple     
historic justice to  rate these great   
inventors with the great statesmen1     
warriors1 and  pioneers who in days gone
 by have won undying fame as makers of  
the  ,american republic4                
,illustration3 ,,edison ,,listening ,,to
 ,,the ,,phonograph      ,,supplementary
 ,,reading    ,illustration             

,leading ,american ,inventors           
,george ,iles      ,inventors           
,p4 ,g4 ,hubert1 ,jr4      ,four        
,american ,inventors                    
,f4 ,m4 ,perry      ,edison--,his ,life 
and ,inventions     ,f4 ,l4 ,dyer and   
,t4 ,c4 ,martin      ,bell's ,electric  
,speaking ,telephone           ,george  
,b4 ,prescott      ,samuel ,finley      
,breese ,morse                          
,j4 ,trowbridge      ,life of ,robert   
,fulton                                 
,t4 ,w4 ,knox      ,memoir of ,eli      
,whitney                                
,d4 ,olmstead    ,illustration          
,,questions ,,answered    ,subscribers  
desiring further information concerning 
this subject can  obtain it by writing  
to    ,the ,mentor ,association    #cha 
,fourth ,avenue1 ,new ,york ,city       
,illustration3 ,,eli ,,whitney          
,,great ,,american ,,inventors    ,eli  
,whitney    ,,one      ,a machine said  
to have paid off the debts of the       
,south1 greatly  increased its capital1 

and trebled the value of its land1 was  
the  invention of ,eli ,whitney4 ,this  
machine was the cotton gin4 ,and1 like  
many another inventor1 ,whitney was     
rewarded with ingratitude4 ,he added    
hundreds of millions to the wealth of   
our country1 and in return had to       
endure humiliation and vexation of body 
and spirit4    ,eli ,whitney was born at
 ,westborough1 ,massachusetts1 on       
,december #h1  #agfe4 ,he early showed  
great mechanical ability1 and by the    
time he was  twenty-three years old had 
earned enough money to enable him to    
enter  ,yale4 ,after graduating he went 
to ,savannah1 ,georgia1 with the hope   
of becoming a teacher there4 ,he was    
disappointed in this2 but made  the     
acquaintance of ,mrs4 ,nathanael        
,greene1 widow of the ,revolutionary    
general1 and paid a visit to her        
plantation4    ,when he was there some  
men who were also visiting ,mrs4 ,greene
 happened  one day to lament the fact   
that there was no machine for cleaning  

the  staple cotton of its seeds4 ,this  
work had to be done by hand and was     
very slow4 ,separating one pound of the 
clean staple from the seed was a  day's 
work for a negro woman4    ,suddenly    
,mrs4 ,greene turned to them4           
8,gentlemen10 she said1 8apply to  my   
friend here1 ,mr4 ,whitney4 ,he can make
 anything40 ,and she showed them        
several contrivances the young          
,northerner had made4    ,whitney       
modestly said that he did not know how  
successful he would be1  but that he    
would try4 ,in a few weeks he produced a
 model1 consisting  of a wooden cylinder
 encircled by rows of slender spikes set
 half an  inch apart1 which extended    
between the bars of a grid set so       
closely  together that the seeds could  
not pass1 but the lint was pulled       
through  by the revolving spikes4 ,a    
revolving brush cleaned the spikes1 and 
the  seed fell into another compartment4
 ,this machine could clean fifty  pounds
 of cotton a day1 as compared with one  

pound a day cleaned by  hand4           
,whitney formed a partnership with      
,phineas ,miller1 who later married     
,mrs4 ,greene1 and they built a factory 
at ,new ,haven to make cotton gins4     
,this place was burned to the ground in 
,march1 #agie1 and the partners  were   
plunged into debt4 ,several             
infringements of their patent then      
appeared to discourage them still more1 
and it was not until #ahjg that         
,whitney's rights were established4     
,in the meanwhile1 however1 the inventor
 became disgusted with the  struggle and
 began manufacturing firearms for the   
government4 ,this  proved profitable1   
and he greatly improved the methods of  
making arms4  ,but from the cotton gin  
he received little revenue4    ,his last
 years were the happiest4 ,in #ahag he  
married ,henrietta ,edwards1  the       
youngest daughter of ,judge ,pierpont   
,edwards of ,connecticut4 ,they  had    
four children1 a son and three          
daughters4 ,whitney died in ,new ,haven 

on ,january #h1 #ahbe4        ,,prepared
 ,,by ,,the ,,editorial ,,staff ,,of    
,,the ,,mentor ,,association            
,,illustration ,,for ,,the ,,mentor1    
,,vol4 #a1 ,no4 #bi1 ,,serial ,no4 #bi  
,illustration3 ,,robert ,,fulton        
,,great ,,american ,,inventors          
,robert ,fulton    ,,two      ,robert   
,fulton was not the inventor of the     
steamboat4 ,he was1 however1  the first 
man to apply the power of the steam     
engine to the propulsion  of boats in a 
practical and effective manner4 ,born of
 poor parents at  ,little ,britain1 now 
,fulton1 ,lancaster ,county1            
,pennsylvania1 in #agfe1  he received   
only the scantiest education2 but early 
showed promise  of becoming an excellent
 artist4 ,at the age of seventeen he    
took up  painting seriously1 and        
supported himself thus in ,philadelphia 
until he  was twenty-one4    ,then he   
bought a farm in ,washington ,county2   
but soon after was  strongly advised to 
go to ,england for the purpose of       

studying art  under the ,american1      
,benjamin ,west4 ,there he met ,earl    
,stanhope1 ,duke of  ,bridgewater1 who  
interested him in engineering4 ,in #agid
 he took out an  ,english patent for    
superseding canal locks by inclined     
planes4 ,he also  invented about this   
time a new method for sawing marble1 a  
machine for  spinning flax1 and another 
for making ropes4    ,soon after this he
 went to ,paris1 and built a submarine1 
the  ,nautilus4 ,this boat was tried in 
,brest ,harbor in #ahja1 before a       
commission appointed by ,napoleon       
,bonaparte1 and ,fulton succeeded in    
blowing up a small vessel anchored there
 for that purpose4 ,two years  later1 at
 ,paris1 he was also successful in      
propelling a boat by steam  power4      
,fulton returned to ,america1 and in    
partnership with ,robert ,livingston    
constructed the first ,american         
steamboat1 the ,clermont4 ,this was     
launched in the spring of #ahjg1 and its
 success caused a great  sensation4 ,the

 principle of propelling boats by steam 
was now proved4  ,the ,clermont was soon
 established as a regular passenger boat
 between  ,new ,york and ,albany4       
,fulton built the ,demologos1 or ,fulton
 the ,first1 for the ,united  ,states   
government during the years #ahad and   
#ahae4 ,this was the first  steam       
battleship ever constructed4    ,in     
,february1 #ahae1 the inventor caught   
cold from exposure and rapidly  became  
worse4 ,on ,february #bd he died1       
mourned by everyone who had known  the  
man and his achievements4               
,,prepared ,,by ,,the ,,editorial       
,,staff ,,of ,,the ,,mentor             
,,association      ,,illustration ,,for 
,,the ,,mentor1 ,,vol4 #a1 ,no4 #bi1    
,,serial ,no4 #bi                       
,illustration3 ,,elias ,,howe           
,,great ,,american ,,inventors    ,elias
 ,howe    ,,three      ,it is a         
remarkable fact that some of the        
greatest and most useful  inventions    
have been bitterly opposed by the very  

persons whom  they were designed to     
help4 ,the bowmen of olden time resented
 the  introduction of guns2 the stage   
coach lines tried in every way to block 
the building of railways2 and ,elias    
,howe1 the inventor of one of the       
greatest labor saving devices in the    
world1 the sewing machine1 was          
ridiculed1 discouraged1 and denounced as
 an enemy of poor sewing women1  the    
ones whose toil he was seeking to       
lighten4 ,they imagined that with  the  
introduction of the sewing machine their
 occupation would be taken  away4       
,elias ,howe was born at ,spencer1      
,massachusetts1 on ,july #i1 #ahai1 one 
of  a family of eight children4 ,his    
father was a farmer and miller1 and     
,elias' early years were spent in the   
mill4 ,at the same time he managed  to  
pick up a smattering of education4      
,he went to ,lowell1 ,massachusetts1 in 
#ahce1 to work in a cotton mill4  ,two  
years later he obtained a place in a    
,cambridge machine shop1  in which his  

cousin1 ,nathaniel ,p4 ,banks1 afterward
 governor of  ,massachusetts1 was also  
employed4    ,howe married at the age of
 twenty-one and moved to ,boston4 ,it   
was there  that the first germs of his  
great idea became implanted in his      
brain4  ,to increase the family income  
his wife did sewing at night4 ,as ,howe 
watched her slowly and laboriously      
stitching a seam1 his inventive mind    
sought and sought for some way to       
decrease her toil4 ,he had a natural    
bent for mechanics1 and it was not long 
before he had constructed the  first    
crude sewing machine4    ,this was in   
,october1 #ahdd4 ,but1 although he now  
had his idea1 he lacked  money to prove 
its value4 ,however1 a man named ,fisher
 in ,cambridge  liked his invention1 and
 agreed to board ,howe and his family   
and to  advance #ejj in return for a    
half interest in the patent4 ,by the    
middle  of next ,may1 ,howe had         
constructed a machine which did sewing  
that  promised to outlast the cloth4    

,but the invention was opposed          
everywhere in ,america4 ,finally1 in    
#ahdf1  ,howe's brother ,amasa went to  
,england1 and managed to sell the       
,english  rights in the machine for     
#a1bej to a ,william ,thomas4 ,this man 
also  gave ,elias ,howe a place in his  
factory at #ae a week4 ,but he treated  
the inventor shamefully1 and ,howe threw
 up the situation4 ,he sent his  family 
back to ,america ahead of him1 and then 
returned himself4 ,he  landed in ,new   
,york with less than a dollar in his    
pocket1 and was met  with the news that 
his wife was dying of consumption at    
,cambridge4 ,he  managed to borrow some 
money1 and reached her side just before 
she  passed away4    ,these were ,howe's
 darkest days4 ,imitations of his       
machine were  infringing on his patent1 
and he had to begin several suits to    
establish his rights4 ,he and another   
man now began to manufacture  sewing    
machines in a small way4 ,it was during 
this time that the  8sewing machine     

riots0 took place2 but soon the real    
value of the  invention was seen1 and   
all opposition ceased4    ,brighter     
times began for the inventor4 ,he won   
his patent suits1 and  by #ahfc his     
royalties were estimated at #d1jjj a    
day6 ,at the ,paris  ,exposition of     
#ahfg he was awarded a gold medal and   
the ribbon of the  ,legion of ,honor4   
,his last years were happy ones4 ,he    
died on ,october #c1  #ahfg4            
,,prepared ,,by ,,the ,,editorial       
,,staff ,,of ,,the ,,mentor             
,,association      ,,illustration ,,for 
,,the ,,mentor1 ,,vol4 #a1 ,no4 #bi1    
,,serial ,no4 #bi                       
,illustration3 ,,samuel ,f4 ,b4 ,,morse 
,,great ,,american ,,inventors          
,samuel ,f4 ,b4 ,morse    ,,four        
,the story has been told that the first 
words that ever came over a  telegraph  
instrument were 8,what hath ,god        
,wrought60 and that they were  spelled  
out by ,samuel ,f4 ,b4 ,morse1 the      
inventor of the telegraphic  code4 ,this

 was supposed to have taken place in    
#ahdd in ,baltimore1 and  to have       
proclaimed the fact that ,morse's dream 
of telegraphy had become  a reality4 ,we
 are now told on good authority that    
this was not the  first message to be   
sent by telegraph1 nor was ,morse the   
sender of the  words4 ,instead1 it was  
sent by one of the committee who were   
debating  upon the proposal of ,morse1  
the inventor1 to string a telegraph line
  from ,baltimore to ,washington4       
,morse1 who wanted to end the discussion
  and at the same time demonstrate his  
invention1 strung a wire from the       
committee room to the top of the        
,capitol4 ,one of the committee1 who was
  opposed to ,president ,tyler1 wrote1  
8,tyler deserves to be hanged40 ,this   
was received by the man at the other end
 exactly as it was composed4    ,samuel 
,finley ,breese ,morse was born at      
,charlestown1 ,massachusetts1 on  ,april
 #bg1 #agia4 ,he was the son of the     
,rev4 ,jedediah ,morse1 and the         

great-grandson of ,samuel ,finley1 the  
second president of the ,college of     
,new ,jersey at ,princeton4    ,morse   
entered ,yale at the age of fourteen1   
which was not considered  extremely     
young in those days4 ,it was there that 
he first began the  study of            
electricity4 ,but his tastes led him    
more strongly toward art  than toward   
science1 and in #ahaa the young graduate
 became the pupil of  ,washington       
,allston and went with him to ,england4 
,here he remained four  years1          
distinguishing himself with his brush   
and making many friends4    ,during the 
next few years the young artist traveled
 about ,new ,england1  painting         
portraits for the sum of #ae apiece4    
,later he increased his  price to #fj a 
portrait1 doing an average of four a    
week4 ,by the money  thus earned he was 
enabled to marry ,miss ,lucretia ,p4    
,walker on ,october  #f1 #ahah4    ,in  
#ahbe ,morse was one of the founders of 
the ,national ,academy of  ,design1 and 

was its first president1 from #ahbf     
until #ahde4 ,he made a  second visit to
 ,europe in #ahbi1 and traveled about   
the ,continent for  three years before  
returning to ,new ,york4    ,during all 
this time1 however1 while he was working
 at his art1  ,morse's mind had also    
been occupied with another interest4    
,that was  electromagnetism1 and the    
possibility of communication between far
  distant places by means of it4    ,it 
was on board the ship ,sully1 in which  
he was returning to ,america1  that he  
said1 8,if the presence of electricity  
can be made visible in  any part of the 
circuit1 ,i see no reason why           
intelligence may not be  transmitted by 
electricity40 ,and in a few days he had 
finished some  rough plans of an        
apparatus to do this4    ,but it was a  
twelve years' struggle against poverty  
and discouragement  before he could get 
any apparatus that would work4 ,finally1
 however1  he was successful in this1   
and after taking out a patent applied to

  ,congress for money to experiment with
 the telegraph over a circuit of        
sufficient length to test its           
possibility and value4 ,after long delay
  he was at last granted this in #ahdc4 
,a line was built from ,baltimore  to   
,washington1 and on ,may #bd1 #ahdd1    
,miss ,ellsworth1 daughter of the       
,commissioner of ,patents1 sent the     
first message from the chamber of the   
,supreme ,court in ,washington to       
,baltimore4    ,three years later ,morse
 was compelled to defend his invention  
in the  courts1 and successfully proved 
his claim to be called the inventor of  
the electromagnetic recording telegraph4
 ,he married for the second time  in    
#ahdh4    ,in #ahga a bronze statue of  
,morse was erected in ,central ,park1   
,new ,york  ,city1 and the following    
year1 on ,april #b1 the great inventor  
died1  simple1 dignified1 and kindly to 
the end4        ,,prepared ,,by ,,the   
,,editorial ,,staff ,,of ,,the ,,mentor 
,,association      ,,illustration ,,for 

,,the ,,mentor1 ,,vol4 #a1 ,no4 #bi1    
,,serial ,no4 #bi                       
,illustration3 ,,alexander ,,graham     
,,bell          ,,great ,,american      
,,inventors    ,alexander ,graham ,bell 
,,five      ,one hot afternoon in ,june1
 about forty years ago1 a young man was 
standing in a grimy workshop by the side
 of a crude little machine  composed of 
a clock spring reed1 a magnet1 and a    
wire4 ,he was bending  over this queer  
machine listening intently4 ,suddenly he
 bent nearer1 a  startled look of       
excitement upon his face4 ,from the     
clock spring had  come a faint1 almost  
inaudible sound4 ,the young man         
straightened up  and ran into an        
adjoining room1 where another man stood 
near a second  instrument similar to the
 first4    8,snap that reed again60 he  
cried excitedly4    ,the assistant      
obeyed him1 and again came that faint   
twang from the  spring in the front     
room4 ,the telephone was born6    ,and  
the man who accomplished this wonder was

 a poor young professor of  elocution in
 ,boston1 ,alexander ,graham ,bell4 ,he 
was not an ,american by  birth4 ,he was 
born in ,edinburgh1 ,scotland1 on ,march
 #a1 #ahdg4 ,his father  was ,alexander 
,melville ,bell1 the inventor of a      
system by which the deaf  can read      
speech by observing the motion of the   
lips4    ,the ,bell family moved to     
,canada in #ahgj1 and ,alexander1 the   
younger1  took up teaching the deaf and 
dumb in ,boston4 ,he became instructor  
of phonetics1 or the science of         
articulate sound1 in ,monroe's ,school  
of ,oratory4 ,he was a hard worker1 but 
poor4 ,one time when he had  rheumatism 
his employer had to pay his hospital    
expenses4    ,it was about this time    
that ,bell began experimenting with the 
transmission of sound by electricity4   
,for a number of years other  people had
 been trying to do this4 ,sir ,charles  
,wheatstone in ,england  had discovered 
that wires charged with electricity     
often carried noises  in a curious way4 

,in #ahfi ,reis1 a ,german professor1   
constructed an  instrument that sent a  
series of clicks along an electric wire 
to an  electromagnetic receiver at the  
other end4 ,and others were turning     
their attention to this interesting     
phase of telegraphy4    ,but it was     
,alexander ,graham ,bell who first      
succeeded in grasping the  correct idea4
 ,a few months after the incident       
described above1 on a day  in ,january1 
#ahgf1 he called some of his pupils into
 a room and showed  them an instrument  
that transmitted singing from the cellar
 of the  building to where they were on 
the fourth floor4    ,people were at    
first slow to appreciate the importance 
of this great  invention3 but gradually 
they came to see its value1 and today   
there  are over seven million telephones
 in use in the ,united ,states alone4   
,money and honors have poured in upon   
the inventor1 who still lives  to enjoy 
his triumph4 ,his income is said to be  
more than #a1jjj1jjj  a year4 ,in #ahhj 

the ,french government awarded him the  
,volta prize of  #aj1jjj1 and two years 
later he received from the same country 
the  ribbon of the ,legion of ,honor4   
,,prepared ,,by ,,the ,,editorial       
,,staff ,,of ,,the ,,mentor             
,,association      ,,illustration ,,for 
,,the ,,mentor1 ,,vol4 #a1 ,no4 #bi1    
,,serial ,no4 #bi                       
,illustration3 ,,thomas ,a4 ,,edison    
,,great ,,american ,,inventors          
,thomas ,alva ,edison    ,,six      ,the
 scene--the ,boston office of a great   
telegraph company4 ,the  time--a half   
century ago4 ,enter a tall young man    
wearing a slouchy1  broad-brimmed hat   
and a wet duster clinging to his legs1  
who marches  into the superintendent's  
office1 and says3 8,here ,i am40 ,the   
superintendent gazes at him4 8,who are  
you80 he finally asks4    8,tom         
,edison40    8,and who on earth might   
,tom ,edison be80    ,the young man     
explains that he has been ordered to    
report for duty at  the ,boston office4 

,he is told to sit down and wait4 ,a    
little while  later a ,new ,york sender1
 who is one of the most rapid in the    
telegraph  business at the time1 calls  
up4    ,all the operators are busy4     
8,let that new fellow try him10 says the
 chief4    ,edison sits down and for    
four and one-half hours takes the speedy
  messages4 ,the faster the instrument  
clicks1 the faster he writes the  words4
 ,at the end ,new ,york calls3          
8,hello60    8,hello yourself60 ,edison 
flashes back4    8,who the dickens are  
you80 asks the ,new ,york operator4     
8,tom ,edison40    8,you are the first  
man in the country1 that could ever take
 me at my  fastest10 clicks out ,new    
,york1 8and the only one who could ever 
sit at  the other end of my wire for    
more than two hours and a half4 ,i'm    
proud  to know you40    ,this little    
story of ,thomas ,alva ,edison shows    
that even as a young man  he exhibited  
unusual ability4 ,he was born on        
,february #aa1 #ahdg1 at  ,milan1 ,erie 

,county1 ,ohio4 ,his family moved to    
,port ,huron1 ,michigan1  when the boy  
was seven1 and when he was only twelve  
years old ,edison  became a train       
newsboy on the railway to ,detroit4 ,it 
was during this  time that he rigged up 
apparatus in the baggage car and        
experimented  with chemistry and        
telegraphy4    ,he was but fifteen when 
he became a telegraph operator4 ,but his
  studies and experiments interfered so 
much with his duties that he was        
discharged many times4 ,he worked in a  
number of cities of the ,united  ,states
 and ,canada4 ,at the age of twenty-one 
he had built an automatic  repeater1 by 
which a telegraphic message could be    
transferred from  one wire to another   
without the aid of an operator4 ,by     
means of this  messages could be sent   
direct to a much greater distance than  
formerly4    ,edison finally went to    
,boston1 as related herein1 and thence  
to ,new  ,york1 in #ahfi4 ,there he     
invented an improved printing telegraph 

for  stock quotations1 the ticker4 ,for 
this he received #dj1jjj4    ,then he   
built a laboratory at ,newark1 ,new     
,jersey2 but four years later  moved to 
,menlo ,park1 and later to ,west        
,orange1 ,new ,jersey4 ,all the time  he
 continued his experiments and          
inventions4 ,he lives now at ,orange1   
and is as hard a worker as he was when a
 young man4    ,among ,edison's more    
important inventions are his system of  
multiplex  telegraphy2 the carbon       
telephone transmitter2 the phonograph2  
the incandescent lamp and light system2 
the kinetoscope2 and the                
talking-moving-picture4 ,in all he has  
had seven hundred patents granted  to   
him4    ,in #ahgh ,edison was made      
,chevalier and afterward ,commander of  
the ,legion  of ,honor by the ,french   
government4        ,,prepared ,,by ,,the
 ,,editorial ,,staff ,,of ,,the ,,mentor
 ,,association      ,,illustration ,,for
 ,,the ,,mentor1 ,,vol4 #a1 ,no4 #bi1   
,,serial ,no4 #bi