their greater achievements, are entitled
to be included in both classes. Of these latter, Thomas Alva Edison is
one, but in the pages of history he stands conspicuously pre-eminent--a
commanding towering figure, even among giants.

The activities of Edison have been of such great range, and his
conquests in the domains of practical arts so extensive and varied, that
it is somewhat difficult to estimate with any satisfactory degree of
accuracy the money value of his inventions to the world of to-day, even
after making due allowance for the work of other great inventors and
the propulsive effect of large amounts of capital thrown into the
enterprises which took root, wholly or in part, through the productions
of his genius and energies. This difficulty will be apparent, for
instance, when we consider his telegraph and telephone inventions. These
were absorbed in enterprises already existing, and were the means of
assisting their rapid growth and expansion, particularly the telephone
industry. Again, in considering the fact that Edison was one of the
first in the field to design and perfect a practical and operative
electric railway, the main features of which are used in all electric
roads of to-day, we are confronted with the problem as to what
proportion of their colossal investment and earnings should be ascribed
to him.

Difficulties are multiplied when we pause for a moment to think of
Edison's influence on collateral branches of business. In the public
mind he is credited with the invention of the incandescent electric
light, the phonograph, and other widely known devices; but how few
realize his actual influence on other trades that are not generally
thought of in connection with these things. For instance, let us note
what a prominent engine builder, the late Gardiner C. Sims, has said:
"Watt, Corliss, and Porter brought forward steam-engines to a high
state of proficiency, yet it remained for Mr. Edison to force better
proportions, workmanship, designs, use of metals, regulation, the
solving of the complex problems of high speed and endurance, and the
successful development of the shaft governor. Mr. Edison is preeminent
in the realm of engineering."

The phenomenal growth of the copper industry was due to a rapid and
ever-increasing demand, owing to the exploitation of the telephone,
electric light, electric motor, and electric railway industries. Without
these there might never have been the romance of "Cop