Dramatic Moments.

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 122, 16 February 1935, Page 13

Dramatic Moments.

EDISON’S FIRST CHEQUE Of the many stories Edison loved to tell in his last years, not one'delighted him or those who listened, more than the tale of his’first cheque.

From his earliest days Edison had been passionately fond of experimenting, but he had always been hampered by poverty, and lack of time. Often his genius for experimenting made trouble for him—as when he nearly set a train on fire,'and was thrown "out by an irate guard/ But at last he had invented a new type of tape-machine for use on the electric telegraph, and the machine was so efficient that a company wished to. buy his patent. Young Edison—little more than a boy —wondered if he should dare to ask 3000 dollars for it,.. The; manager offered him 40,000 .dollars, : Edison, trying not to betray his astonishment and delight, accepted, and the cheque was duly paid.

Then came the greatest moment he had known. Wearing an old overcoat, the young inventor walked into a bank for the* first time in his life, presented his cheque, .and stared about him. There was a little excitement behind the counter, and a clerk had to make, sure that the rather disreputable individual was really. Thomas Alva Edison. Then Edison had to’be shown where to write his name—he had never endorsed a cheque before; and when everything was in order, the sum of 40,000 dollars was paid to him in notes.

He had no idea how great their bulk would be. He took a bundle and pushed it in a pocket. Then another in another pocket. Then half a dozen wads in other pockets. Then he stuffed rolls of notes into his trousers’ pockets, and into the pockets of his overcoat; and at last, bulging everywhere, he walked out of the bank with more money to spend than he had ever dreamed of possessing. At last he could afford to experiment to his heart’s content.