BY ROBERT CLEVELAND GIFT OF Class of 1887 ELMER BURLINGAME What BURLINGAME Did A True Story of a Young Electrician by Robert Cleveland SAN FRANCISCO 1908 Copyright 1903 by The Burlingame Underwriters TO THAT TYPE OF INDIVIDUAL who is willing to investigate be- fore passing judgment, who an- alyzes carefully that his con- clusions may be sound, who has the foresight to see what the future will bring forth, who is willing to stand by the courage of his convictions and back them, with his money, if necessary, this book is RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 813229 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter I The Evolution of an Idea 11 Chapter II The Crystallization of an Idea . . . .19 Chapter III A New System of Telegraphy . . . .31 Chapter IV The Uses for the Burlingame System of Teleg- raphy 47 Chapter V The History of Other Labor and Thought Saving Inventions . . . .73 ILLUSTRATIONS Elmer Burlingame, Portrait . Frontispiece Burlingame Telegraphing Appa- ratus attached to a " Stearns" Typewriter . . . .26 Burlingame Telegraphing Appa- ratus attached to an "L. C. Smith" Typewriter . . 50 The Burlingame Relay for Long Distance Transmission of Messages . . . .66 THE EVOLUTION OF AN IDEA CHAPTER I THE EVOLUTION OF AN IDEA JUST above me as I write this little story of Elmer Burlingame is a small elec- tric bulb diffusing light which enables me to see the keyboard of the typewriter. One day that bulb existed in the brain of man. And today there are bulbs like it all over the world, "from Greenland's icy mountains to India's coral strand." The typewriter on which the Growth story is being written, was only jj e a " an idea but a few years ago — a belief in the mind of a human being. And while I write I WHAT BURLINGAME DID know that the keys on millions of other typewriters in every quarter of the universe are tick- ing in unison. When I have finished the manuscript it will be given to a printer in whose shop the type will be set up on a lino- type machine and the story will be put into imperishable form just as you have it before you in this little book. The linotype, only a few years ago was going through the process of evolution by a series of suc- cessive thoughts in the brain of the inventor. Those thoughts have been crystallized. There is not a well equipped news- 12 WHAT BURLINGAME DID paper or printing plant in ex- istence but has one or more of these wonderful labor-saving devices. A few minutes ago I was interrupted by a call to the telephone. As I hung up the receiver I reflected on the achievement of Alexander Bell and said to myself, " Just think, twenty-five years ago that mes- sage would have been sent to me by a messenger boy, yet I transacted the business in the short time of twelve seconds." In this busy world of ours we ^^ have gotten so accustomed to "horseless" carriages, "girlless" telephones, "brainless" adding 13 World WHAT BURLINGAME DID machines and other labor and thought saving devices that we accept these inventions that figure in our daily lives with but little thought of the interesting stages they go through from the first idea in the brain of the in- ventor to the finished product. Each is a story of absorbing interest when the facts are brought to our attention. The concentrated thought on the part of the inventor, his first crude model, his original finished model and the acceptance of his product by the public, form A ^ f ory a story of evolution far more Interest entertaining than was ever penned by the most imaginative 14 WHAT BURLINGAME DID writer. The true story has a real flesh and blood being as its central figure, and his early struggles, his disappointments, his achievement, his triumph tug at our heart strings and appeal to our emotions. We profit by a study of the lives of others and particularly those who attain success solely through their own efforts, over- coming every obstacle that con- fronts them. The story of Elmer Bur- lingame is an inspiration to the man who wants to get on Togeton in this world, a guiding star to work! the individual who wants to do things, a stimulus to the person 15 WHAT BURLINGAME DID who wants to learn more, earn more and round out life's journey in ease and comfort. 16 THE CRYSTALLIZATION OF AN IDEA CHAPTER II THE CRYSTALLIZATION OF AN IDEA IN THE autumn of 1832, Professor Samuel F. B. Morse first conceived his idea of telegraphy. After ex- perimenting with electro-mag- nets, it occurred to him that it might be possible to send a series of electrical impulses over a wire and if so why could not these impulses be made to con- vey a meaning. Accordingly he acted on this belief and five years later, in 1837, gave a public demon- System for ° x 70 Years stration of telegraphy, using the same system that is in vogue today, namely, dots and dashes 19 Same Old WHAT BURLINGAME DID to represent letters, numerals, punctuation marks and char- acters. All are familiar with what Morse has done for civili- zation, but few know that in all these seventy odd years since the invention of the telegraph, but little improvement has been made. Practically speaking, the only improvement is the development of multiple teleg- raphy. A system has been de- vised by which four messages can be sent at one time, two each way, over a single wire, but the principle as laid down by Morse is identically the same. This was the situation that confronted Elmer Burlingame 20 WHAT BURLINGAME DID when he took up the study of electricity. He wondered at it when but a boy in his "teens." Human effort could not be im- proved upon; and the mechan- ical side of telegraphy seemed to have about reached the limit with the present system. He thought, and studied the question from every angle. He had a talent for electrical ex- periments. When only a boy of fourteen years of age he had successfully installed according to contract, a burglar alarm system, in a large flour mill in his home town. In 1898 while attending high school he got his idea. Why 21 A New Idea WHAT BURLINGAME DID not devise a means for sending a Roman letter over a wire in- a stead of the usual dots and Lett" dashes which represent a letter and which only an expert can interpret? Why could not two ordinary typewriters be con- nected with a wire so that when the letter " A" was struck on the keyboard of the sending ma- chine, the same letter would strike on the receiving type- writer? Here was his cue. He was only nineteen and was without funds for experimental purposes. So he waited. A year later upon graduation he secured employment from the local telephone company and 22 WHAT BURLINGAME DID acted in the capacity of "trouble man" — he who re- sponded to complaints and re- paired the offending instrument. He was advanced from time to time during his eight years of telephone work, and upon sever- ing his connection occupied the position of toll line wire chief, and was substantially the man- ager of all long distance wires. Through these years of em- ployment he kept up his exper- iments, denying himself every Denial entertainment and luxury that he might have money for the necessary electrical supplies for conducting his investigation. Only he knows how he plodded 23 WHAT BURLINGAME DID and worked when off duty. And many a night he was in his little home laboratory until the wee hours of the morning. Pluck Perseverance and pluck won. He overcame every obstacle and in 1905 success crowned his efforts. He had not sufficient money to purchase a type- writer, so made a keyboard of wood, crude in the extreme but capable of serving the purpose. He had become familiar with the principles governing wireless telegraphy so decided to apply it to his invention. He built a coil by hand that threw an eighteen inch spark, and erected 24 WHAT BURLINGAME DID two poles thirty miles apart — one in La Porte, the other in c A South Bend, Indiana. Upon success ' * completion of his apparatus he sent seven letters of the alphabet over this distance and they were recorded exactly on the receiving machine. He had witnesses to note his achieve- ment. Soon the community was apprised of what had oc- curred. The La Porte Herald and The Indianapolis Star gave many World columns to the project and the Notice electrical world was at once astounded. Papers all over published the news and Bur- lingame was started on the 25 WHAT BURLINGAME DID road to fame. That concen- tration of thought, those times of self-denial, those days and nights of study and work had earned him a reward. He succeeded in securing a typewriter and though he still used his original wooden keys for sending, he successfully transmitted oyer the distance in 1907 several other letters of the alphabet, together with some of the numerals, char- acters and punctuation marks, just as they are used on the keyboard of all typewriters. Here was the birth of the telegraphing typewriter. Bur- lingame had taken up the work Burlingame Telegraphing Apparatus Attached To a "Stearns" Typewriter WHAT BURLINGAME DID where Morse left off and offered to the world a new and better system, a system that needed no human receiver, a system so simple in its operation that anyone understanding the A B C's could send a message or read one at the receiving end as fast as it came from the machine. The publicity given the in- vention particularly by scien- tific and technical journals attracted the attention of a number of San Francisco busi- ness men who formed a company and supplied young Burlingame with a complete experimental shop where he could make a few sets of machines. 27 WHAT BURLINGAME DID Recently a set of these ma- chines was exhibited in San Francisco, Stockton, Los Angeles, New Orleans and Kan- sas City, where they were put to a test by some of the best known electrical experts in the United States. Their opinions were unanimous that Burlin- game had reached the goal which has been the dream of inventors for years. 28 NEW SYSTEM OF TELEGRAPHY CHAPTER III A NEW SYSTEM OF TELEGRAPHY THE pulsations of the com- mercial world are re- corded in messages. Every piece of intelligence, every article of news, every communication that is trans- mitted from one place to an- other is a message. Stop the messages of the world for even a day and think what would happen to governments, to rail- roads, to the shipping and financial interests. Unques- tionably the stopping of mes- Me8 ° f ages sages would seriously affect practically every person on earth. 31 A World WHAT BURLINGAME DID Think also what it will mean to all these interests if the present system of messages can be improved upon by an in- vention that will mean greater speed, more accuracy and less expense. Millions of dollars are paid for the sending cf messages every month. Thus every frac- tion saved on a single message will mean in the aggregate a saving of millions of dollars in the course of a year. You can readily see that the world stands waiting for an improvement in the sending and receiving of messages. What Burlingame has done 32 WHAT BURLINGAME DID for posterity can not be measured by dollars and cents; neither is it within the pale of human imagination. We can, however, see its practicability by noting its many uses. But first let us become more famil- iar with the operation of Bur- lingame's invention. He takes two ordinary type- writers of standard make, such as the Stearns, L. C. Smith, Underwood or Monarch. The two that the writer observed were the "Stearns," and they were the same machines that one would buy in the market for office use. Each was equipped with the electrical 33 WHAT BURLINGAME DID apparatus to set the electrical waves in motion and record them at the other end. The operator sits at the send- ing typewriter and operates the machine just as the ordinary stenographer types letters. The message is recorded on the re- ceiving instrument as perfectly as though it were a carbon copy of the original. Likewise the sending machine makes a copy of the message just as it is sent. The system is a send- ing, receiving and recording operation, all in one. Each letter on the keyboard, as well as the characters, numer- als and punctuation marks, 34 WHAT BURLINGAME DID has its own individual com- bination of electrical impulses. By magnetic attraction the type bars on the receiving machine are attracted toward the roller where the paper rests. When the letter "A", for example, is struck on the key of the sending machine, a set of electrical impulses is set in motion over the wire which releases the letter "A" on the receiving machine and the type ^h"' 8 prints the letter on the paper Message roll. So on through the whole keyboard the operation is the same. In like manner the shift key, the device for changing from capitals to small letters 35 WHAT BURLINGAME DID and vice versa, the spacing between words, the return of the carriage and the spacing for the next line, all are oper- ated automatically in simultane- ous action with the movements of the sending machine. Thus anyone familiar with the letters on the keyboard of any type- writer can send a message just as easily as he or she would typewrite a letter; and the mes- sage is recorded on the receiving machine in page form, corre- sponding to the usual type- written business communication. There is .no chance for mis- takes, through careless sending or faulty hearing. The machine 36 WHAT BURLINGAME DID takes down the message just as sent. There is no human "re- ceiver" to make a mistake by faulty hearing, carelessness or neglect as is the case with the present Morse system of dots and dashes in use all over the world today on every telegraph line or with the various wire- less systems. Let us compare the Bur- lingame and Morse systems of telegraphy, taking the word "San Francisco" for example. The Morse System SAN FRANCISCO Thus the "S" is represented 37 WHAT BURLINGAME DID by three dots, the "A" by a dot and a dash, the "N" by a dash and a dot, and so forth. A dash is equal in time to two dots. An interval of time equal to three dots must be allowed between letters, and time equal to six dots between words. Therefore the word "San Fran- cisco" requires as much time A to send by the Morse system Comparison ag wou id De necessary to send a succession of seventy-five dots. The Burlingame System SAN FRANCISCO By the Burlingame system, two impulses pass over the 38 WHAT BURLINGA ME DID wire as the letter is being struck on the keyboard. Then there is a pause in time equal to a dot to enable the printing mech- anism to operate. Each letter and the space after it are sent as quickly as three dots. Thus the sending of each letter and the spacing between each letter occupy an interval of time equal to three dots. The spac- ing between words takes no longer time than the sending of a letter. The sending of the word "San Francisco" by wJ* the Burlingame system re- quires in time what would be necessary to send thirty-eight dots. The Burlingame system 39 Ti ime WHAT BURLINGAME DID is two times quicker than the Morse; or in other words the operator could send the word twice by the Burlingame meth- od, while the Morse operator was sending it once. In sending a news article the Burlingame system will receive and record automatically two words to every one sent by the Morse principle. And when the message is completed, there it is in the Burlingame machine plainly written out, standing as an indisputable fact that the message was recorded just as sent. The Morse operator on the other hand is compelled to listen to the ticking of the dots 40 WHAT BURLINGAME DID and dashes on the sounding key, then determine what the words are, and finally write them out on paper. He has no record to consult, no proof of what was sent. He is guided only by his hearing. The Burlingame system re- quires no person to receive the message; and if for instance there is no one in the office or no one near the machine, the message is printed out in full just the same; whereas the H^man Morse operator would have to keep calling and calling the receiver to take his place and listen. Look at the time lost by the Morse system, in the 41 Receiver WHAT BURLINGAME DID holding of the wire and the useless calling of the operator. Anything that depends on human endeavor or effort is subject to occasional mistakes. "To err is human." The Bur- lingame telegraphing type- writer, being entirely mechan- ical at the receiving end and practically so at the sending end will make no mistakes. A large mercantile concern in New Orleans once wired by the Morse system to their New York correspondent: "Protect our draft." The message de- livered to the correspondent read: "Protest our draft," 42 WHAT BURLINGAME DID which of course has a very dif- ferent meaning. The mistake arose because of the small difference between the letter "C" and the letter "S." In the word "San Francisco" noted before you will observe that the two letters in question are each represented by three dots, only the letter "C" has Mistake a space between the second and third dot. By the Burlingame system a "C" is always sent and received as a "C." At least the message is received exactly as it is sent even to the punctuation. Because of its simplicity and accuracy, requiring no expert 43 WHAT BURLINGAME DID to send a message and no one at all to receive it, several of W hat the foremost electrical engin- °Say rs eers > government signal service officers, expert telegraphers and other men prominent in the business circles of the coast cities, state emphatically that the Burlingame invention will shortly supplant the Morse system everywhere. What a triumph is in store for young Burlingame, right in the dawn of life, even before he has passed the thirtieth milestone! 44 THE USES FOR THE BURLINGAME SYSTEM OF TELEGRAPHY CHAPTER IV THE USES FOR THE BUR- LINGAME SYSTEM OF TELEGRAPHY IF Burlingame did nothing more than replace the Morse system in the send- ing of messages and press dis- patches the world would owe him a debt of gratitude; but his invention opens up new fields which are beyond the achieve- ments possible with all other telegraphic machines. The trolley not only replaced the horse and cable cars in cities, but it has developed suburban travel. It enables a 0pens man to reside many miles from p^ s his place of business and still 47 WHAT BURLINGAME DID be able to reach it quickly. It is through opening up a new field that the trolley invention has made so much money for its backers. And so on might be mentioned many other inventions that not only fulfilled the primary pur- poses for which they were made, but created new fields for their use. Each and every one of the inventions of this character has been a great money maker because of the increasing demand developed by exploring broader territories. This is the remarkable part of the Burlingame invention. 48 WHAT BURLINGAME DID It supplants another system and creates many new uses for the machine by supplying the world with a service which it has long wanted but which other inven- tions have been unable to fur- nish. A cursory glance at the many practical uses for the telegraph- ing typewriter readily shows that Burlingame has reached a goal not only beyond his fondest hopes, but what might be ex- pected in this progressive, quick-moving age of ours where we accomplish in minutes what required hours for our grand- fathers to perform. Of all the uses described by 49 The WHAT BURLINGAME DID Burlingame to the writer the most interesting and practical in utility and service to the public is what he terms "the news ticker service." Subsidiary companies using News hi s machines will be formed Ticker in each city and town. There will be a central news station in each community run in con- nection with a newspaper, or the Associated Press. In the places of business and homes of subscribers will be little re- ceiving instruments weighing only five pounds. Each in- strument will be leased just "as the telephone is, for a nominal sum monthly. Commencing 50 Burlingame Telegraphing Apparatus Attached To an "L. C. Smith" Typewriter Nirfht WHAT BURLINGAME DID early in the morning, and con- tinuing all day long and into the hours of the evening, the news of the world will be sent to these business houses and homes all over the city. The Dayjmd little receiver or ticker will print the news in page form on a roll of paper that unreels from the instrument. The news will be very brief, just enough to give the gist of the matter. The detailed account will be given to the public in the usual manner through the newspapers. For example, the machines will give the telegraphic news for two hours in the morning. Whatever happens anywhere, 51 WHAT BURLINGAME DID just as soon as the news is gathered, it will be sent on these machines. Imagine the satisfaction the subscriber will derive in getting the news so quickly and concisely. And we must admit that we Ameri- cans are "news crazy." The financial news will then be given for two hours, followed by the sporting news and local news for an equal period. Then general news will be sent out the remainder of the evening and night. Electrical experts, newspaper men and business men who have investigated Burlingame's invention say that there will be 52 News Crazy WHAT BURLINGAME DID more "news tickers" in use with- in two years than there were tele- phones in the first fifteen years, and later there will be more news tickers installed than all the telephones combined. A moment's reflection on the won- derful achievements in the world of invention during the past few years quickly conveys to one the positive assurance that such will be the case. Burlingame has proven he can do it, and it is only a ques- tion of developing the idea with sufficient capital to carry it out. History shows that capital has responded to per- petuate every practical inven- 53 WHAT BURLINGAME DID tion that gives the world what it has been waiting for. And the men who have had the courage of their convictions to back their judgment with their money are the ones who have reaped fortunes by going in where ' 'doubting Thomases" have not dared to tread. Another use of the telegraph- ing typewriter of almost equal importance is in connection with the sending and receiving of press dispatches to newspapers. Aid to The Burlingame machine will News- papeis be built with the same keyboard as the linotype on which the type of all large newspapers is set. The operator sending the 54 WHAT BURLINGAME DID message is in reality setting the type on the linotype in the news- paper offices, thus dispensing with a receiving operator and a linotype operator. Immediately upon receipt of the completed message, the type is all ready to make up into page form for going to press. Just think of the saving of time, labor and money. There are published in the United States and Canada today 2500 daily newspapers, all of which will eventually receive Add to the J Use of the . their telegraphic news in this Telephone manner. One exceedingly practical use for the Burlingame invention 55 WHAT BURLINGAME DID is in conjunction with the tele- phone as a sending and record- ing device for important com- munications that it is necessary to preserve. Today after a telephone receiver is hung up the preceding conversation is entirely obliterated. It is sim- ply one man's word against another's as to what was said. With the Burlingame machine attached to a telephone, the person desiring to convey a message can have any part of Matter it recorded by simply connecting Record the sending device with the wire. The receiving machine being connected likewise will receive and record whatever part of the 56 A WHAT BURLINGAME DID message it is desirable to pre- serve. All the sender does is to strike the keys on his type- BilSk" writer instead of speaking into whfte the transmitter. By this method no dispute can arise. There it is in black and white just as sent. Should a person ring up another on the telephone and find that the party was not in his office or home as the case might be, he would simply con- nect his telegraphing type- writer with the wire and transmit the message. Upon the return of the party the message would be in the machine ready for him to learn who had rung him 57 WHAT BURLINGAME DID up and what was the nature of the business. Time is the essence of business. That is why the public has welcomed |^ c e 8 every time-saving device with open arms. You can already see the demand that awaits Burlingame's invention. The miscellaneous uses of this new system of telegraphy are so many that it would take a dozen books like this to merely tfieV describe them without going into details. Mention can be made of a few to show the prac- ticability of the Burlingame invention, when applied to accomplish a certain purpose. The police department in 58 WHAT BURLINGAME DID every large city has telephones installed along the several " beats." The officer rings up the central office at stated in- tervals to get instructions. But it is almost impossible for the central office to get him with the present system. Besides it would require a great amount of time to ring up each officer and convey to him any instruc- tions. Burlingame proposes to install one of his machines on every "beat" in conjunction with a signal system. All machines are on the same wire and are connected with the central office. Above each machine is 59 WHAT BURLINGAME DID a long arm like a railroad semaphore for use in daytime and a red light for night. Say that a crime has been committed and a description of the culprit secured. The officer securing this information goes to the nearest machine and by a switch transforms it into a send- ing instrument. He conveys the intelligence to headquarters and then the central operator in turn sends the description to every officer in the city together Criminals with the necessary instructions. Whether there be a dozen or a hundred instruments scattered about the city, each and every one types the message clearly, WHAT BURLINGAME DID as perfectly as the type you are reading in this book. When the central operator begins the message, the red arm or red light signifies it as the case may be and no matter at what distance the officer on watch is from the machine, he knows by observing that a message is being sent him. He goes to the machine and likely before he even reaches it, there is the message printed out in full. He has but to remove it from the machine, read and act. Can you conceive of what this would mean to every mu- nicipality and how anxious the police would be to have such a WHAT BURLINGAME DID system installed? And can you further conceive of the number of machines that would be re- quired all over the world in Cities n Will civilized communities? Want it The system would also be of great service to the fire depart- ment. Each alarm brings out only a certain number of en- gines, hose carts and crews with- in a certain proximity to the fire. Suppose that the chief desired some apparatus in some other station. He would simply go to a machine and telegraph for the equipment desired. The present system of fire alarm boxes would also be used but 62 WHAT BURLINGAME DID the Burlingame invention would greatly supplement it. Scarcely a day passes without a railroad accident somewhere because of messages that are misunderstood. For example, in the Morse system the figures "2" and "3" are similar. The "2" is represented by two dots, a dash and two dots; the "3" by three dots, a dash and a dot. A message reading, ''Take siding- No. 2," could through careless- ness or faulty hearing on the part of the operator be interpreted, "Take siding No. 3." The mis- take is possible; and after it is sent what proof is there that the message was sent with a "2" 63 WHAT BURLINGAME DID and not "3"; and how could the responsibility be placed where it belonged? The Burlingame machine re- cords at each end of the line, Matter tne message just as sent. If the Record operator strikes a "2," the receiving machine types a figure "2" on the paper. Mistakes are thus obviated, and wrecks pre- vented. The railroad stands waiting today for the new and improved system; it is but a matter of a short time when they will be equipped with the Bur- lingame system of telegraphy. The same principle that governs the electrical impulses of the telegraphing typewriter 64 WHAT BURLINGAME DID can be used to further perfect the block signal system of sema- phores used by the railroads, and make their operation more effi- cient. Furthermore a conductor could telegraph from any siding along the road where a machine was installed; and it would not require an operator in constant attendance. For business purposes the telegraphing typewriter will be indispensable. Wherever it is desirable to convey or transmit messages there is a demand for the Burlingame machine. To enumerate the uses is beyond the conception of any man, for every business needs this in- 65 WHAT BURLINGAME DID vention for one purpose or another. Suppose for example a bank were equipped with the ma- chines. The paying teller would have an instrument on his coun- ter. In would come a man with a check and the teller might have some doubt about cashing it. He would write on his machine, "Is John Jones' check good for $125?" The machine at the bookkeeper's desk would record the message. After consulting his books, the bookkeeper would ^<> ■ switch his machine over to a sending instrument and pos- sibly reply, "No. Already over- drawn." This would require but 66 Value The Burlingame Relay For Long Distance Transmission Of Messages • %•• Govern- ment WHAT BURLINGAME DID a few moments and the trans- action would be done secretly. The advantage of such a system is evident, •fhe Consider if you will the value of Burlingame's invention for the Government in war or at peace, on shore or afloat. The sys- tem will work either by wire or wireless. Communications be- tween battleships at sea should be a matter of record of every message sent and received. This is not possible with the wireless telephone or the wire- less telegraph using the Morse system. With the Burlingame system, no dispute can arise about orders for everyone is WHAT BURLINGAME DID faithfully recorded on the ship sending and the ship or ships receiving the message. Remem- ber a voice can be misunderstood, a spoken word is gone forever without a record of it. The ticking of an instrument leaves no impression except on the memory of the man who heard it. A message in writing stands imperishable and unimpeach- able. In comparing the Burlingame telegraphing typewriter with all other forms of transmitting messages by wire or wireless it narrows down to a sound from an instrument or a human voice versus a mechanical action. 68 WHAT BURLINGAME DID The former is subject to mistakes and does not stand as a matter of record after the message has been sent. The latter method is infallible as the recorded message always serves as in- disputable proof. You, patient reader, can let your imagination carry you to every nook and corner of this wonderful world of ours; you can think of every kind of message that is transmitted by every kind of system from Morse's invention to date; you can even delve into the future and ponder on the needs of the commercial world in the years to come; and wherever your 69 WHAT BURLINGAME DID imagination carries you, there you will find urgent use for the invention that Burlingame has given to civilization. 70 THE HISTORY OF OTHER LABOR AND THOUGHT SAVING INVENTIONS CHAPTER V THE HISTORY OF OTHER LABOR AND THOUGHT SAVING INVENTIONS A HUNDRED years ago when a man invented some wonderful device or piece of mechanism he was looked upon with suspicion, re- garded as a menace to society and credited with having super- natural powers. Often he was imprisoned. Gradually enlightenment through education replaced ignorance and superstition, and while the public did not mis- trust the inventor or accuse him Hundred of witchery they doubted the Ago* possibilities of each invention 73 WHAT BURLINGAME DID until it was proven to the satis- faction of all that it was a practi- cal device. ?*°H2ra U a b n Even today, in the age of wonderful inventions that are now in constant use, a certain class is always prejudiced against any new device until forced to accept it through public recognition. This principle of doubting is not confined to people of small education or influence either, but is as often a char- acteristic of intelligent and wealthy individuals as of those who have but little of this world's goods. That is the very reason why so 74 WHAT BURLINGAME DID many men born with improvi- dent surroundings frequently acquire great wealth on small investments. They investigate, believe their own eyes and have faith in their judgment. We are all familiar with the early struggles of Alexander ^ Bell when he invented the tele- £\l m phone. We know how the public phone a t i ar g e ridiculed his invention and how he was compelled to give stock in his newly formed com- pany in return for life's necessi- ties. But wise were those who accepted his proposition. Ottmar Mergenthaler worked for many years on the linotype before he could get backers to 75 WHAT BURLINGAME DID finance his enterprise. Today the company has paid over $20,000,000 in dividends and is paying its stockholders over $1,500,000 annually. A story is told of George Westinghottse and his air-brake. He had tried time and again to get an interview with Commo- dore Vanderbilt who at that period was general manager of the New York Central Lines. Each effort had been unsuccess- ful. Finally through influential friends an interview was granted. The Young Westinghouse was Brake ushered into the Commodore's private office. The latter glared at the young inventor and re- 76 WHAT BURLINGAME DID marked: " Young man, as I understand your proposition, you intend to stop a train of cars with some bottled wind. Is that right?" Westinghouse partially admitted that such was the case and went on to explain. He was cut short with the re- mark: "Well, I have no time to talk to cranks. There's the door." What a transformation later! Westinghouse succeeded through perseverance in getting another road to give the air-brake a trial. Commodore Vanderbilt had to accept the Westinghouse inven- tion. The sequel we know. There is not a railroad, steam or 77 WHAT BURLINGAME DID electric, anywhere, but is equipped with the Westinghouse air-brake. The men who backed Westinghouse made mil- lions through their ability to TJ?" look into the future and realize Who Profited the possibilities of the invention that was laid before them. The Westinghouse Air-Brake Com- pany has paid as high as forty per cent dividends on the par value of its stock. Thirty-five years ago had a man told you that it would be possible to record spoken words and reproduce them even after the death of the speaker, you would have told the prophesier, that he was a fit candidate for a 78 WHAT BURLINGAME DID padded cell. Today the Ameri- can Graphophone Company is capitalized for $5,000,000 and has paid over one million dollars in dividends to its fortunate stockholders who were keen enough to take Edison at his word and put up the necessary money to promote a company to manufacture the machine for the waiting world. Had a man told your father when he was a boy that some day little glass bulbs containing a tiny filament would replace can- dles and oil lamps for lighting homes, stores and offices, your sire would have gone home and told about seeing a man who 79 WHAT BURLINGAME DID ought to be locked up. But look what has happened. Edison Electric shares that sold at $100 within a year brought $4,000. The shareholders in the Edison Illuminating Company realized thousands of dollars on their investment. The life story of Elias Howe a "dThe rea( ^ s like a fairy tale. After Sewing ne h a d invented the sewing Machine ° machine, he was so coldly treated in America that he sailed for England only to receive more re- buffs. He came back to America, became connected with men of foresight and some money. Howe amassed a fortune, esti- mated at over $2,000,000, a 80 WHAT BURLINGAME DID mighty sum in his day. During the Civil war when the payment of the troops was delayed by the government he advanced the necessary money. Each $1,000 invested origi- nally in the Singer Manufactur- ing Company at its incorpora- tion bought shares that are today worth over $100,000, and each share has made for its owner a fortune in dividends alone. In 1878 a company was formed by Gordon McKay to manu- facture an improved machine for making boots and shoes. He Making knew he had the invention but Ma <*ine to convince others was a diffi- cult task. He peddled his stock 81 WHAT BURLINGAME DID among acquaintances in Lowell, New Bedford and other Mas- sachusetts cities. Those men who helped McKay get started by putting up a very little money eventually became millionaires. The United Shoe Machinery Cor- poration which has since ab- sorbed the original McKay Com- pany is capitalized for fifty million dollars. What a sorrowful lesson for those skeptics who scorned McKay and failed to heed his advice. Happy is the man who can say, "I told you so," when he has made enough money to warrant the expression. The writer might go on at 82 WHAT BURLINGAME DID length and tell of a hundred more examples but all have the same moral. A brief mention of a few is evident proof. The Dunlop Tire Company originally started business with $112,000. Within a few years the stockholders had realized $3,000,000 in dividends; shortly after this the business, including the valuable patents on a pneu- matic tire sold for $15,000,000. The Burroughs Adding Ma- chine Company, owner of a pat- ent that was only a few years ago merely an idea, has a capi- tal stock of $5,000,000. No won- der. They have over 30,000 machines in use and every one 83 WHAT BURLINGAME DID is ticking dividends at the same time it is adding a. column of figures. Little did McCormick think when he helped to perfect the combined harvester that his sons would be the controlling interest in a $130,000,000 cor- poration with eighteen million- aires on the board of directors. John Patterson, president of the National Cash Register Com- pany, was at one time a small country merchant. Today he is the head of a company em- ploying 5100 men in the factory, 7500 salesmen working in every corner of the globe, a company that makes 6000 machines a 84 WHAT BURLINGAME DID year valued at $16,000,000. There are over a half million cash registers in use and the profit on them has paid thou- sands and thousands of dollars to the men who put their shoulders to the wheel with Patterson. One can run the gamut of com- paratively recent inventions from a little parlor match to a mighty locomotive and the story is the same. First the inven- c T he same tion, later its development by Story those who financed the project and finally a succession of divi- dends to those men who had the intuition, the foresight, the judgment to invest their money 85 WHAT BURLINGAME DID in promoting the sale of some- thing that fills a human need. An industrial enterprise deal- ing with a public necessity always has been and always will be a big money maker. Two decades ago the people said that the last word in in- ventions had been spoken. They were overwhelmed with the many inventions and thought that the limit had been reached. But the world moves. There will be just as many examples in the next twenty years and each and every one will have to go through the same evolution. The inventor will develop the idea, a few people 86 WHAT BURLINGAME DID will have courage enough to back him and the reward will be theirs while the public at large will only have something to do with the invention after all the preliminary work has been done, their opportunity lost for big returns on a small investment. So will it be with the Bur- lingame telegraphing typewriter. Today it is going through the second process in its develop- ment. Now is the time when The Way a small investment blazes the Fortune way for a fortune. Fortunate the man who joins Elmer Burlingame and gives the world a machine it has been 87 WHAT BURLINGAME DID waiting for all these years; in fact ever since the rapid ex- pansion of the commercial world has been calling for devices that will help it transact business quicker, with more accuracy and less expense! When one reviews the great successes made by inventions, learns of their development and realizes the enormous sums of money that have gone to those who financed the various enter- prises, will he not agree with the famous philosopher, Herbert Spencer who has said: "There is a principle which is a bar against all infor- mation, which is proof 88 WHAT BURLINGAME DID against all argument and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ig- norance; this principle is contempt, prior to exam- ination." In Concluding this Story Of Conclusion Elmer Burlingame the writer hopes that he has done justice to the young electrician who has given the world so much ; and he wonders who will be the doubters that will only accept the truth when it is forced upon them by seeing messages actu- ally being sent by the new sys- tem here, there and everywhere; and he further wonders who will 89 WHAT BURLINGAME DID be the fortunate ones that will answer to the call of opportunity that is rapping at their door. 90 VA 01744 813229 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY