CENTIMETERS

A SELECTIVE MICROFILM EDITION PARTY (1911-1919)

Thomas E. Jeffrey Senior Editor

Brian C. Shipley Theresa M. Collins Linda E. Endersby Editors

David A. Ranzan Indexing Editor

Janette Pardo Richard Mizclle Peter Mikulas Indexers

Paul B. Israel Director and General Editor

Sponsors

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey National Park Service, Edison National Historic Site New Jersey Historical Commission Smithsonian Institution

A UPA Collection from

Up LexisNexis*

7500 Old Georgetown Rond • Bctliesda, MD 20814-6126 lidison signature used with permission of McGnnv-Edison Company

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey endorsed by

National Historical Publications and Records Commission 18 June 1981

All rights reserved. No part of this publication including any portion of the guide and index or of the microfilm may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means — graphic, electronic, mechanical, or chemical, including photocopying, recording or taping, or information storage and retrieval systems — without written permission of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey.

The original documents in this edition are from the archives at the Edison National Historic Site at West Orange, New Jersey.

ISBN 978-0-88692-887-2

THOMAS A. EDISON PAPERS STAFF (2007)

Director and General Editor Paul Israel

Senior Editor Thomas Jeffrey

Associate Editors Louis Carlat Theresa Collins

Assistant Editor David Hochfelder

Indexing Editor David Ranzan

Consulting Editor Linda Endersby

Visiting Editor Amy Flanders

Editorial Assistants Alexandra Rimer Kelly Enright Eric Barry

Outreach and Development (Edison Across the Curriculum)

Theresa Collins

Business Manager Rachel Wcisscnburgcr

BOARD OF SPONSORS (2007)

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey National Park Service

Richard L. McCormick Maryanne Gerbauckas

Ziva Galili Michelle Ortwein

Ann Fabian

Paul Clemens Smithsonian Institution

Harold Wallace

New Jersey Historical Commission Marc Mappen

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD (2007)

Robert Friedel, University of Mary land Louis Galambos, Johns Hopkins University Susan Hockey, Oxford University Thomas P. Hughes, University of Pennsylvania Ronald Kline, Cornell University Robert Rosenberg, John Wiley & Sons Marc Rothenberg, Joseph Henry Papers, Smithsonian Institution Philip Scranton, Rutgers University/Hagley Museum Merritt Roe Smith, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTORS

We thankfully acknowledge the vision and support of Rutgers University and the Thomas A. Edison Papers Board of Sponsors.

This edition was made possible by grant funds provided from the New Jersey Historical Commission, National Historical Publications and Records Commission, and The National Endowment for the Humanities. Major underwriting has been provided by the Barkley Fund, through the National Trust for the Humanities, and by The Charles Edison Foundation.

Wc are grateful for the generous support of the IEEE Foundation, the Hyde & Watson Foundation, the Martinson Family Foundation, and the GE Foundation. We acknowledge gifts from many other individuals, as well as an anonymous donor; the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies; and the Edison Electric Institute. For the assistance of all these organizations and individuals, as well as for the indispensable aid of archivists, librarians, scholars, and collectors, the editors are most grateful.

A Note on the Sources The pages which have been filmed are the best copies available. Every technical effort possible has been made to ensure legibility.

PUBLICATION AND MICROFILM COPYING RESTRICTIONS

Reel duplication of the whole or of any part of this film is prohibited. In lieu of transcripts, however, enlarged photocopies of selected items contained on these reels may be made in order to facilitate research.

EDISON GENERAL FILE SERIES

1916

Edison General File Series 1916. Motion Pictures (E-16-58)

This folder contains correspondence and other documents relating to the technical and commercial development of motion pictures in the United States and other countries. Many of the documents for 1 91 6 pertain to Edison’s decision to retire from the motion picture business "on account of the drastic competition." Included are communications from Carl H. Wilson, vice president of Thomas A. Edison, Inc., about the possible sale of the business to Paramount Pictures and from Walter Stevens, manager of the TAE Inc. Export Division, about the decision to close the London office of Thomas A. Edison, Ltd., and about the sale of old films to the Russian Red Cross and other foreign customers. Also included is a memorandum by George F. Scull, former vice president of the Motion Picture Patents Co., written shortly after the U.S. District Court ruled against that company for the second time in an antitrust suit.

In addition, there are items relating to film footage of Edison at work and on a camping trip; to comments published in the Philadelphia Public Ledger by Edison and by noted painter J. Carroll Beckwith on the use of stills from high¬ speed film; and to a patent infringement issue involving Edison's super kinetoscope, an improved projector developed in 1915. There are also many unsolicited letters about improvements in motion picture technology. A few of the suggested improvements were assessed for Edison by experimenters Selden G. Warner and Adolph F. Gall, but most of the letters contain notations by Edison stating that he had no further interest in motion pictures due to previous failures and the demands of other business.

The correspondents include investor and longtime Edison friend Arthur I. Clymer ; motion picture pioneers Carl Laemmle (whom Edison refers to as a "d- d patent thief') and Samuel Goldwyn; and Harvard lecturer and future efficiency expert Johnson O'Connor. There are also interoffice communications by Charles Edison, who oversaw some aspects of the motion picture business.

Approximately 40 percent of the documents have been selected. The unselected items consist primarily of unsolicited suggestions regarding color film, sound recording, flickerless projection, and three-dimensional photography, which merely received a form-letter reply. Also not selected is routine business correspondence of the Motion Picture Division, which was handled by Leonard W. McChesney.

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V Hew York, It .X Dear sir,

I have invented a method film that ia designed " . J *

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Jan, 4, 1916. a phonograph with a moving picture

x _ _ a method to synchronize! a pnoaoe* “ r, ’ * “ ^nv,

that is designed to ho used with standard projectors and I would like to <aow

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VX W. Hbrd bt. ("iasonlc xemple Bldg), this is the only real office which it has, the address, 1476 Bway. (Long Acre Bldg) being the office of Adam Aessel, the becy, and Ohas. u. Baumann, a director, which latter address is also the office of the Keystone Film Co, and the N. i. Motion picture

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'.Triangle Film Corp. is a §5,000,000 Colo, corporation, par value of its shares, $5.00 each, Harry is. Aitken, pres; Adam Kessel, bee; W. If. Se'ligsburg, 2reas; u. W. Griffith, Ohas. o. Baumann and mack bennett, Add.

Uirs.

She promoter of triangle film Co. is Harry is. Aitken, who has been in the promotion picture business in Haoine, Wis, 'Denver, Colo, Kansas City, Mo, bt. Louis, Mo, and finally Hew York, where we are told he has "pulled off" various unfair, i if not worse; deals with people who have been associated with him. His last act of selfishness wus practically the wrecking of the Mutual Film Corp, of which he was pres't & General Mgr, and the story, as we get it, is that the Mutual was praotioally looted, to enable him to form the triangle Film Corp.

i'he triangle Film Corp. we regard chiefly as a stock jobbing propo¬ sition. Aitken has issued fine sounding letters to the public, directing at¬ tention to the stook, which is listed on the Curb, the quotation yesterday on the Curb was $6.00 a share, the par value of this stock being $5.00 per share, and the highest point it ever reached on tho Curb was $9.00 about three months ago for two days.

We believe that the idea of Aitken and other insiders is to quietly unload the stock at the hiehest possible price.

The Triangle Film Oorp. has engaged a large number of stars to appear in pictures, and we understand that tttas a couple of studiois in or near ban Francisco, but that the pictures/are produced at the studio

of the Reliance iiotii

3 understand that the

s about on its "last legs" , w. The it. Y. office of the itelii

Picture Corp. is Hms 1701-2 Masonic Temple, on the door of which appears, "Keliance Motion ricture Oorp.", "mystic motion xicture Corp". and in small letters, in the corner. "W. *. belisberg", who is Treas . of the Wangle Film oorp. Aitken also makes his headquarters in these offices, and is not to be found at the regular offices of the Triangle Film oorp, hm 141b, 71 Vi. SSrd bt.

When .oiling Office of the kW MM <>«"• «'"« »»»

wh. ..... you to., yen. MWO yon .to ... toyone. and If

i, la learned that then. 1. real l.f.mitlon -anted ab.ot the ...potation.

It, assets, eto.. there 1. nothing doing- «« •••»«»• "** b*“

.hie to get any detail, oonoetnlng the real .tarn, of thi. oo.p.ny,

among the stars engaged hy the Ml- °«P- “• f0ll'”1“8'

golf copper . Kaymona alteheoox. Mill, rathe. Mats, .teaser, maty roland. J«li. lean, Manx ae.nto, oa.tin Parnu.. addle My. v.et.r a fields, and many others not quite so prominent.

Triangle MM oorp. ha. r.n.ad a number of the.tt.s in the largo oltiee; in 11. 1. city, tha bnioxerbooxer Theatre. At th... theatres their films or. prodno.l prices of seats rtoglng from am to 92.00. and it is Bold that the slexerbeoxer dees not pay. In addition to th. leasing of theatre., there 1. load talx of hnylne sites, bnilding pietnr.it play hen.es. and alao releasing the fiMa of the Triangle MM oorp. at exerbitant prises.

•Vie also understand that the pictures which it has produced have cost far too muoh money, in the opinion of those who claim to know. We also under¬ stand that when a Triangle picture is being shown at the njiiokeroooker Theatre, the same picture is shown that Same day, in other If. i . houses for IOjS to 2bfS. It is evident that there is something rotten in this camp, and just when the Triangle Film Gorp. will come to an end, we cannot predict, although it does not seem far off.

The so-called specialist on the Curb for the Triangle stock.

in this case, were you to sell the company anything which re quires an outlay of money, we feel that you should get a substantial cash payment aawn with order, and some additional guarantee aside from the company ‘s obligation, for the balance. We understand that *dam Vessel, the seoy, might be a fairly good guarantee, but not Aitken.

We understand that Thos . H. Ince, Mack sennett and b. W. iirii are interested in Triangle Film Gorp. only in the sense of producers, of whom are drawing a "fat1' salary. These three men are the ones who duced "The Birth of a Ration" picture, and by reason of that and the 1 tation they go, Aitken gathered them in, for the purpose of enabling 1 to unload stock on the uninquiring public.

BROUbFOOCS GOI.IUERC IAL AG13T0Y.

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Mr. Edison:

January 24, 1916.

At the Annual Meeting of the General Film Co. held at Portland on Jan. 18th, the proposed amendments (making the number of directors 10 instead of 9) were unanimously adopted, and the following were elected directors:

For Kalem Company- " Kleine- " hub in- Co.

" MelieB Co.

" Selig Co.

" Essanay Co.

" Vitagraph Co.

" Biograph Co.

" T.A.E.Inc.

As the 10th director.

Prank J. Marion George Kleine

Ferdinand V. Singhi (lubin's son-in-law)

Paul G. Melies

:7m. U. Selig

George K. Spoor

Albert E. Smith

Percival L. WaterB

Carl H. Wilson

J. A. BerBt.

At the meeting of these above new directors held at the General Film Company's office, Hew York, following the Annual Meeting at Portland, the following were elected officers for the ensuing year:

President,

Vice-Pres.

Treasurer,

Secretary,

George Kleine George K. Spoor Paul G. Melies Frank J. Marion.

Executive Committee

Albert E. Smith Frank J. Marion

The President, Mr. Kleine, is a member ex-officio.

After the election of officers, the question of salaries was taken up and decided upon as follows:

At the reciuest of the President, the question of his salary was left open until ’the next meeting, as he stated he did not want an exorbitant amount but wanted a little time to find out how much of his time the office would consume before deciding on what he would require or whether he could consistently aocept the salary that might be decided upon by the directors.

The Vice-President draws no salary, and never has.

The Treasurer ' s • salary up to the year 1915 was i?15 , 000 .

For the year 1915 it was reducedto §10,000; and for o^6 year

1916 it was made at the rate of §100 per week, or .*>5200 for the year.

Secretary- no salary.

Executive Committee-' Outside of the President, who cannot draw two salaries, §2,000 each. For the year 1914 it was *5, 000 each; for the year 1915 it was reduced to §3,000; and for the year 1916 it was brought down to §2,000.

' Mr. Edison- 2.

After the question of salaries had been completed, Beret handed in his resignation as a director, and nobody was elected to fill his place, and, I imagine, there will not be for some time at least. The By-laws say 10 directors must be elected, but there is no reason why the matter cannot be laid over from meeting to meeting or why the Board cannot disagree for an indefinite period on who the 10th director shall be.

The question of conducting the business in a more open way; that is, by having reports sent to the above directors from time to time showing the condition of the company as well as what transpires at the different meetings was then discussed and fully agreed to, and by the time the next meeting convenes Mr. Kleine is to have the policy to be conducted outlined so that he can lay it before the Board for approval.

There was no general Manager appointed, as Mr. Kleine wanted a little time to decide who would be the best man to appoint, but from my talk with Mr. Kleine I feel quite safe in saying he will be a practical man, and not a figure-head, as has perhaps been the case heretofore.

All things considered, I think the business will be run on a more businesslike basis under Mr. Elaine's management than it ever has been before, and if there is any opportunity or prospect of pulling the company together and again making it profitable, he is the man who will be able to do it.

CH17/IW

CC to Messrs. Charles Edison and Mambert.

January 25, 1916.

Yesterday (January 24th) the decree in the Government case was entered in Philadelphia, hut will not become effective until February 24th, this interval being given so that we can perfect our appeal and thus prevenjr the decree becoming effective as to its injunctive features urffcil the Supreme Court passes on the question.

The decree /as entered strikes down all of the license agreements with the Patents Company and the contract between the G. F, Co. and the individual manufacturers and forbids a continuation of the conspiracy in general terms. Mr. MacDonald, representing the preferred stockholders, made a vigorous attempt to get the Court to give them some consideration, but this was refused. There is nothing in the decree, even if it were now effeotive, to disturb in any way the business relations now existing. The Patents Company is specif¬ ically given the right to grant "normal and legal licenses" under its patents. ( I lefct before the clean copy was prepared, but will send copy tomorrow.

At the present time there are no "licensed" exhibitors, since none is paying his weekly royalties either directly or through the G. F. Most of the licenses to film manufacturers have been cancelled for failure to pay royalties. It is likely that the remaining licenses to film manufacturers will expire in a couple of weeks, because they will probably discontinue paying their royalties.

There is nothing left to the Patents Company except the possibilities under the Latham patent suit, which was decided against the Patents Company in the lower Court and which is now on appeal.

This appeal will probably he heard in the latter part of March or in April. This suit is an attempt to enforce the exhibitors' payment of royalties, and an exchange and a manufacturer are also defendants, on the theory that they are contributory infringers in supplying film to an exhibitor not licensed. The defense to this suit is (1) that the license restriction placed on the machine is illegal, and (2) that the patent is invalid. The real fight is on the first defense. If we succeed in this suit we will then be in a position to levy the royalty of 50i a week on each exhibitor, and possibly will also be in a position to dictate who shall and who shall not supply film for use on those machines. If this latter comes true, then the Patents Company will have considerable power in choosing the licensed exchanges and manufacturers.

The Patents Company v/ill probably continue to receive an income of §5 for each machine manufactured, although there are signs to indicate that the machine manufacturers are inclined to repudiate these licenses also. This amounts to about $20,000 a year, and these licenses v/ill oertainly be repudiated if the Court holds the Latham patent invalid.

Personally I see no reason why the Edison Company, if it

(2)

wishes, should not malce a business arrangement with any distributor it sees fit. Heretofore it has always been deemed advisable for the Edison and Biograph Companies to do nothing which tended to detract from the supposed power of the Patents Company and the strength of the patents so that the licensed manufacturers and the General Film Co would continue their licenses and the payment of royalties.

Since no royalties are now being paid this reason disappears. If the Patents Company wins its suit on the latham patent and is then in position to enforce the collection of weekly royalties, it of course ' can sue the Paramount Co. or any other distributing organization, and if need be, make the Edison Company a party to such a suit. The worst that could happen would be that the Edison Company might become liable for some of the royalties of the Paramount exhibitors; but the chance of collection of back royalties under such circumstances is negligible, and in any event the Edison Company would get back through the Pa’ tents Co. a part of what it would pay. I do not think there is the slightest chance of any such situation arising*

To sum up, I believe that the possibilities of obtaining future revenues through the Patents Co. would not be jeopardized in any way by the Edison Co. malting a distributing arrangement ith the Par amount ^or any other exchange, and that there is hardly a possibil¬ ity of any liability to the Edison Co. arising therefrom so far as the Patents Co. is concerned.

gps/iot

George F. Scull.

Gentlemen :-

In reply to your letter of Ootober 11th, 1915, in answer to mine to you, dated Ootoher 7th, 1915, I heg to advise that I have filed proper papers with the patent department at Washington, protecting the devioe ( sprooket ) this day sent for your inspection under separate oover. I am sending it, by registered, Speoial Deliv¬ ery. Av hin-c.C'-1'-'-*'

This 18 a rough model of a sprooket idea that I have worked out.

I believe that you oan readily see the advantages it has over the old style sprocket. This sprooket is made in two different styles. One being a oirole split on one side so that it oan be sprung over the shafts. The other is two half sections, as I stated before, which are slipped over two little pins.asxifcsxdx or more if desirable, on the drum. Both ideas are inoluded on the model I send you, one at

either end^ ^ two iaeaa on this same model for attaohing the col¬ lar to hold the sprooket to the drum. Tou will note that at one end the oollar is sorewed on while at the other end the oollar is put on with two little sorews. , ^ ^

This sprooket oan be put on by the operator in four to five min¬ utes without removeing the drum from the maohine shaft. This is an ad¬ vantage in that the moving pioture theatres in the smaller towns are hardly getting by any way, as I know from Beveral years experience.

And, too, the operator neglects to put on new sprookets when he should, oausing the films, in many instanoes, to be out by the sharpness of the old sprooketjj. Neoessarially the next theatre to reoeive the film gets it in a damaged oondition, sooner or later foroing an^therwise

good film off the oiroult. . . _

I send you the idea fully proteoted, as you suggested. If you oan use this I would be glad to have you do so, prefferably, on a royalty basis, as I want to reserve the right to use this sprooket idea on a maohine that I am working on that will make an absolutely fliokerless Jioture, that will move the film on one eighth to one tenth. Starting movement slow and plokingup,, which will make no more strain on the film than the present maohine that moves them on one fourth and one sixth.

Will take out Canadian patents in the near future.

Would be glad to hear from you at your oonvenienoe.

I am sending you photographs of sprooket.

E.W. Blythe.

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MOTION PICTURE BOARD OF TRADE

Janaary 28, 1916.

By dear Mr .Edison:

Year splendid message to those who were present at the first annual dinner of the Motion Picture Board of Trade of America received the applause it deserved. X am sure that the only regret in the hearts of all of us was that you were not personally present, as I Know you were in spirit.

On behalf of the officers and ' directors of the Motion Picture Board of Trade of America as well as Individually,

I thank: you. y

Executive Secretary.

Mr.Thomas A.Edison Orange N. J.

PATHE FR.ER.ES

J*

MOTION PICTURES

Be ar f'.ir , \ ^ M

V.'a have the pleasure of referring to1 your letter ^ of January 22nd relative to talcing pictures of Mr. Edison at work for our PATHE HEWS, February 12th. \ Vie trust that you will he able to arrange seme for ub and\appreciate very

t your early advice.

V ^ V*"',

EC/js£l?B

February 3, 1916

K7M:ASC

Jesse |_- [_asky Feature Play Qd-ing

Dear Mr. Edison: ^ -

t \\,c4r ' • J

You are cordially invited; to be a member of a committee consisting of friends of Mr. Daniel Protean in the recognition of whose years ser¬ vice for the betterment of the stage and the motion picture, in which field of late he has been very active, a dinner in his honor is to be given ai the Hotel Astor ball-room on Sunday evening, March 26.

Among the gentlemen who are enthusiastically interested in this testimonial as members of the committee are Messrs. David Belasco. A. L. r-rlang- er, Otto H. Kahn, Alexander Lambert, Joseph Brooks, Brander Matthews. Dudley Field Malone, J. Stuart Blaokton, Marc Klaw, John Drew, James K. Hackett, William Gillette, William A. Johnston, Alf Hnyman, Walter Damrosoh, Augustus Thomas. Ogden Reid, Charles B. Tilling ham, Adolph 3ukor, William Harris, Sr., George M. Cohan, William Courtleigh,

Sam H. Harris, John W. Rumsey and Samuel Goldfish.

An acknowledgement would he highly appreciated.

,. Edison, Esq..

motion firtnre Campaign

Arinra 3taii

SAMUEL GOLDFISH. ch»««»m

April 8th, 5-916.

Mr. L.W.MoChesney, Thoa . A .Edi aon, Inc . Fordham,N.Y.C.

My dear Mr. McCheaney:-

I am enoloaing to you under a®P^ate cover a latter for uee in the promotion woik of ?he ciplign Which we wish to have signed by Mr. Edison.

Hr. Rutgera of your office, to whom I spoke over the phone this morning,

I send this to you and you

to Mr. Edison. It would probably he be u ter for you to write the reque at for M si gna t,,TO If vou wish, you may redraft tne letter forVr. Edison to algn but the one sent embodies the idea we want to convey.

I believe you will readily appreciate the lalue to the Campaign of this document so aigned.

Of course, speed ie imperative with ua nov.

Hoping that it will be possible to arrange this matter, I am,

Very truly youra,

Publicity Committee. /

MOT I OH PICTURE CAMPAIGN '

FOR THE ACTORS' FUND.

MOTION PICTURE CAMPAIGN FOR THE ACTORS FUND

MAKE ALLCHECKS^PAYABLE TO^THE MOcktqn treasurer, locust AVENUE. BROOKLYN. N. Y.

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

Hr. Meadoworoft:

The attached letter from E. L. Harvey, Motion Picture Campaign for the Actors' Fund, I am sending you also a carbon of my reply.

Publicity Committee, is self-explanatory.

Mr. Edison is probably asked to sign this letter because, a X understand it, he is honorary chairman of the general committee.

LWMsASO

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

y(

CojvJ <o-t-cj'i^ J tJW

s. r t r f - Afr11 ]lth- 1916 •

Motion Picture Campaign for actors Fund,-. ^

SO East 42nd Street, Jp ,_<£/- & c£e<2t/4 Lwv

I!ew York City, VwfcGu-vtt<j tVxA. VUiflp KT /

Dear Sir: <Ut? “tjf CC,LVUtA>&t lT°^i/

Mr. L. V.:. McChesneyj Manager of our Motion Picture Division has sent mo your letter of the eighth , ins tint, together with the letter which you would 17 like to have Mr. Edison sign.

Mr. Edison is in Florida, and X will send letters down to him, asking him if it is agreeable him to sign such a letter as you have forwarded.

X fear, however, that you will be disappoint¬ ed as Mr. Edison wishes to refrain as much as possible from connecting himself- with affairs of a public nature especially when it concerns the signing of letters or statements which have a wide circulation. These things bring upon him on avalanche of mail, which adds to his already overheavy burdens.

I will communicate with you, further when I hear from him.

*ours very truly.

Assistant to Mr. Edison.

A?,/?, /-*/*-»> J? — (^<a Acr<~

lUnlteb States department of agriculture,

Bureau ot UMant UnOustrs.

^ Q/CW vfl ant mo 1 or\<jert wv-U-i.c.a£o. jmas A. Edison, . | / e ^ . .... i

p*-«r 5'/ T fj

East Orange, .. J. J^AiTlU

^40 <*■ Cd-ai- G-w-f f LUI- ^

For some months laet past, the writer has been engaged in a reful study of the problem of a color r ' *'<™

very full picture work.

it. I cannot afford to spend the money necessary to develop ay ideas a process on a commercial scale. I am not seeking financial baoking, tion of a different kind. In other words, I wish to become associated concern that would be interested in this matter and would continue the experiments at its plant under my direction. In order to carry on ™®®® ®*" periments it will be necessary to have the help of a very fully equipped laboratory al department.

would be willing to enter into an agreement by which anything that woulc would become the property of the company, I to receive a royalty or

nsation as might be mutually agreed upon. I think six months would

Mr. T.A.E., 5/3— #8

lie sufficient time in which to do the experimental work and build the apparatus for taking and showing the pictures.

I am taking this up with you in the belief that you will be interested and will probably see your way clear to accept my proposition.

Yours very respectfully,

1400 K St. N. TV.

MFP

A 17. 1916 , . V f

Sum

Ur. Thomas A. Edisoh, A - C .Of

East Orange, U. J- ( 2,0

Dear Sir:

X have an idea for an imprqJuFment in making *q t of v,«v4 motion pictures and want to get if off my mind, asked a local photographer if it were practical and vv^ he replied that only an Edison could tell tnat,

i taking the liberty of writing you.

«teco-W

The idea is to apply the principle of the ^ t 4. ,.ef stereoscope to the screen pictures. Instead of uaingW j

one camera, two cameras would be operated simultan¬ eously at a proper distance apart for the scene that is being taken. These would be thrown on the screen simultaneously in perfect time and register to show one picture exactly as at present, mechanical means for running these reels through so that they would exactly synchronise would have to be devised and the idea might not work on buildings and lines in receding perspective, but for certain scenes it would seem to me possible to take pictures in such manner as to pro¬ duce the appearance of rotundity and overcome the flatness noticeable in certain pictures#

I confess to an entire ignorance of the prin¬ ciples involved but know that you would be able to say instantly whether there is anything in the or n t .

If there is, I would be glad to see the idea worked out ana would like to correspond with you about it.

Yours very truly,

Advertising Mgr.

had, I would thank you heartily for a Hat to be sent to Mr. Robertson.

mJii

/

^ Mr Ttows A Edi^vi*.^' ’■ ^ ■/

y-^tU-^'rVnge , N.J.

^NDear Mr Edison f

Ufa j #hil3 I was in collegV I »&»

<Q asledi indirectly if I would work Cor you ^ 1 on^tsovies of scientific experiments.

~ - -Since, for four or five year?, I nave

been teaching astronomy at Harvard and at the same time been an assistant to Dr Bercival Lowell. I realise now nsor- than then how necessary such movies are to tb“ advance of the education of today. Has anything been done with astronomy and if so is it possible to get then, to use? 1 have been asked to speak next year before the Chicago Woman’s Club on Astronomy and would like to show movies.

If nothing has been lone is there anything which I could do? I would be glad to give all the time I have, including my summer vacation, if X could be of help with the astronomical part.

PUBLIC «&§§§! LEDGER

INDEPENDENCE SQUARE PHILADELPHIA

30th May 1916

CLvU* ctjh) YlAedxot* |»1^ C^-Vui-CO. tcL(<WCj. ifa

• tU

,-hiVjfaft-

t copies of correspondence

Thomas A. Edison, Esq.,

The laboratory,

Orange, K.J.

My dear Mr. Edison: -

As I c

notwithstanding your deolaraijj and as you are the "kind of i may I draw your attention to the 4 I have had with Carroll Beckwith, the painter, relating to a sub¬ ject which is entirely within your field?"

At the time I saw your ph^ffgraphic expert last winter, he told me that he regarded as quite feasible the idea of producing a camera which would permit of several instan¬ taneous exposures a second in order that pictures might be selected of persons in motion, which are more graoeful than those now ob¬ tained by the snap-shot men. Other matters were then pressing and the process of experiments necessary for the production of such

a camera could not be elaborated.

Ae the newspapers of this country are pub¬ lishing more" and more Rotogravure Supplements showing snap-shot photographs, this becomes a very practical question. If you can prodube a camera of the type that will yield more graceful photo¬ graphs' of moving persons and animals at a slightly added cost, the pictures to be of a better quality than those on the ordinary moving picture film, and larger, you can probably have a monopoly

of the world 4

picture business in the TJnited States and in the

What do you think of the proposition?

Cordially and sincerely yours,

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

Carroll Beckwith, Esq. ,

#67 West 45th Street,

New York City

My'odear Mr. Beckwith: -

Although we cannot use over again the printed articles which you sent to Mr. Spurgeon , ^-"remarks about the com¬ paratively correct representation of form ' whioh ia obligatory upon all pictorial art, suggest a question about photographic work which is to me of absorbing interest.

Snapshot photographs usually depict living and moving individuals in grotesque postures, failing in presenta¬ tion both of line and proportion that will meet with ttw approval and give pleasure to the cultivated eye and mind of the beholder.

The photograph of a running athlete is usually ungainly. Character¬ istic points of spring or poise in his running, if caught at the right instant, would reveal him in a graceful posture. Cannot this problem of photographic grace be solved through some adaptation of -#motion picture machine? I talked once with one of the experts of Mr. Edison's plant, who said that it was possible to devise a camera that would take ten or twelve pictures a second, with an ex¬ posure for each picture of a 120th of a second. With such a camera, photographs or pioturea of persons or animals in motion could be taker that would be pleasing to the eye and most instructive to the artist.

Have X made my point clear and am I cirrect in mv surmise about it? I am sure that whatever you might have to sav on this subject would be of high public interest and value and we should be disposed to publish it simultaneously in several important newspapers.

Cordially and sincerely yours,

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

P the Editor of the Public Ledger.

that instantaneous photography in ^e portrayal oftaaan action is „ftprl in erotesaue postures, is undeniably true-, ana yet, the less correct and truthful. But the answer to your civen in the following words, where you state that it P^0*131 ® w +n take with the improved camera "ten or twelve pictures a !iJ- ™d vou suggest that among these would be found movements

?ha? weie gracefuHnd bea^iful. making pictures that would "give

pl°sr?si? *S S'SSt eyJ.S! «„hSdi5»..

what is beautiful and graceful and in what is ugly and S^ote^e.

»~»‘y °» «“ «”e«d «<*”»•

The onlv way such an authority could be obtained is by mass and arrangement.

I and*' the ° e due at i onal

&S as°aesthetic°ta8te?Uthere^by contributing^to^the advance of our l ndvdltzntion: 1

(Signed-} Carroll Beckwith

May 20,1916

■ k ,/

EDISON KJOraaOPHONE COMPANY, Orange, N.J.

June 26, 1916

v/\

Dear Mr. Edison:

You are hereby notified that the annual meeting of the stockholders of Edison Kinetophone Company will be held at the office of the Company, Edison Laboratory, Valley Hoad

corner of Lakeside Avenue, West Orange, N.J., on Saturday,

July 1st, 1916 at ten o'olook in the forenoon for the election of directors and for such other business as may properly oome before the meeting.

Yours faithfully.

Eliciting j&jli&i ffie&ger

PUBLIC tSMi LEDGER

PUBLIC LEDGER COMPANY

INDEPENDENCE SQUARE PHILADELPHIA

28th June 1916

Thomas A. Edison, Esq,. ,

West Orange, M.J.

My dear Mr. Edison:-

Enolosed herewith is a clipping of our recent correspondence with you and with Carroll Beokwith, together with a paragraph of explanation of the invention whioh is needed to adjust motion picture machines to the business of news reproduction of

photographs.

We should be very grateful indeed if you can set your expertry^o work along the line in¬ dicated.

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

RDlrS°rDMdl5fto88ule

■SHMffiAS"

APK».4rthur D. I.Utle, Inc.

'SfifiKSk

V/M. COOPER^ PROCTER

E‘KdUS°»M?t?nnr leal nod

GEORGE D. ROSENG ARTEN Pres. Amcncnn Institute of

■S.S

• rs of Progress”— Wm. McKinley,

SECOND

NATIONAL EXPOSITION of CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES

GRAND CENTRAL PALACE NEW YORK CITY

WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 25th, 1916

Management! INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION CO.

ADRIAAN HAGELVOC

Mr. Thos. A. Orange, H. J.

Dear Mr. Edison: -

Dr. Jerome Alexander, who has probably ctCu***

done more work with the ultra-microscope than any one else in Amerioa, wishes to enlist the aid of the Edison Company in preparing motion pioturee of sub j eots under _theultra- miorosoope, these to be shown at the National Exposition of Chemical Industries week of September 35th.

I am writing to you direct with the hope that you may help him out.

Dr. Alexander is willing to prepare the ultra-mioroscope and carry on the experiments. . One very remarkable subject that he has demonstrated is the faot that a simple chemical analysis of various ^inds of milk gives no indication whatever of the value of the milk as a food, but under the ultra-mioroscope it is demonstrated vividly and clearly that by t ;he addition of any one of a possible hundred °°Hoidal afa

oow's milk may be made the equal of mo .her 's milk as a food, for infants. This oan only he seen with the ultra microscope, and it seems to me that if the Edison Company would make the pictures and Dr. Alexander Pr®P^e ^® 2

microscope and experiments, this would be a very valuable contribution to modern scientific researoh.

I would greatly appreciate hearing from vou in regard to this.

y B Very truly yours,

NATIONAL EXPOSITION OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES

ah/m

Manager

ing that their client, Mr. George Bennet Bowell of 31 Madeira Read, Margate, Kent, England, haa aeen the deeoription of your auper-dreadnaught kinetosoepe published in the issue of the Motion Pioture News dated December 18, 1915 and that Mr. Bowell con¬ siders that the film moving mechanism de¬ scribed in said issue of the Motion Pioture News infringes the claims of his Patent. Ho. 1,160,970, patented November 16, 1915.

We must accordingly warn you on behalf of Mr. Bowell not to undertake the manufacture of any more film moving • mechani am according

to the disclosure in his Patent before men¬ tioned and not to place on the market any such mechanism, or machines embodying such mechan¬ ism which have already been fully or partly constructed, until receiving Mr. Bov/ell 1 s per¬ mission.

It may be that Mr. Bcvvell will lioenae the holders of any maohines now in operation, or already wholly or partly con¬ structed, at a small royalty, but as to this we oannct say positively.

If you have any reason to advance as to why you believe your mechanism does not infringe the terms of Mr. Bcwell»s Patent aforesaid, we shall be glad to know your views on this point.

Yours very truly.

ASD/MER

Department, ycu will notice that the date cf Mr. Sowell' a Patent is quite recent and it is possible that this search wae made prior to the publication cf hie Patent.

We note that ycu have retired from the in¬ dustry. In this connection, if it is net too muoh trouble, -we beg that ycu write us in reply to this letter and let us know if the article in the Motion Pioture Hews referred to in cur previous letter, was the description of an apparatus manufactured by ycu.

It is of course possible that the article and apparatus referred to were put out by some cor¬ poration having the right to use your name, but which

is in fact a distinct entity.

Thanking ycu in advance, we

Ycurs very truly,

asd/mer

‘b-

July 26,1916. <-

KH. TH0HA8.A. EDI SON: -

In answer to your question of what I think of a biographical motion picture of yourself to be made by the Vitagraph Company, let me say that I think if anybody is to make such a picture, our own Company should do it. We have in our organization men who have known you for a great many years, such as Gall and others, and we could control absolutely ^every scene and every episode that went into this pioture if we made it ourselves. I, personally, have had such a picture in mind for a long time and have been collecting data from time to time, pictures and aneodotes, which would fit very readily into this picture, I think Mr. Blackton should be answered that we have been contemplating for some time suoh a picture made by our own Company, and have been gathering this data, so that there will be no question as to jwho evolved the idea when, or if we ever do, make such a jpioture, /I

CHARLES EDISON.

Thomas A. Edison Esq Menlo Park,N.J.

iLtq-

July 28th 1916. „ gs. Jbu-* *+

J-yhf

Dear Sir:- A SUGGESTION - 4sK\ftT SUltr.H.UOUsJ C_

I have understood that, for a long tine past, inventors /yourself among the number .have been endeavoring to synchronize the Roving picture film with the phonograph record. It is probably necessary, m order to effect this, that the taking must be synchronous. Now, inasmuch as the picture film is taken in a direct line, ribbon form, the sound record must be also. In other words.a strip like the tape in a broker’s ticker. But even though taken simultaneously the slightest error in adjustment would spoil the reproduction. Therefore it would bo necessary for both .records to be on the same Strip. Is it not possible for the sound indentations to be made on material suitable for photo negatives » And could not the record be made in a straight line on the margin of the picture negative by a machine contained in the same box and operated by the same winding , If this could be done it seems to me it would solve the problem.

This would only be feasible in picture dramas, and not in spectacular pictures. But look at the field

It ha. boon aussooted to that the foot of the aound. oo.lns fro, tho back of the houao would oonctltut. an objection. But Sk uolnB a aoubl. fll- ( one b, the .Ido of tbo oor.on) with ...banlc.l connection, would obvlato thin difficult,. Then think what a snide to the not. of speed of operation the voice would be

8; b&JWkJSar*'

August 7, 1916.

Replying to your rioueFion: /

"Do we have these on hpnd?"

on my memorandum of o^an^fiv^reSlpiotures^would’^now advise Jury on SO three, four and * 9 ? tureB on hand, inasmuch

Y.n«i tivna whioh me is to take from these negatives

r. js-r^as*^ s

help keep our positive film plant running.

if there is any further information you desire concerning thiB “iH, 3w to «u> it » wob*.

CO to Messrs. Stevens, Charles Edison and Mamhert.

The Great Belingwe Gold Mine.

vk

nas E. Edison, Esqr, ( If ^ L‘" ‘ ^ f I /\

^caU,x tki — ^

Memo Part, 'qX~l^, CL / ' IU..U-

Orange, New Jersey. ^ . _,

I have conceived an idea for synchronizing the phonograph with the cinematograph and. -herewith beg to o^Cer sane to you in con¬ sideration that I race ive'half the nett profits of the royalties,

. i jc ^s> ct~ *.A..**j ^^-^.4.4

V-/iv/^njC- /VvC-cr«6-< LASrC. V / ,

etc, derived from the patents of such invention, or I am prepared to receive a cash offer for same should you favourably consider the / invention worthy of consideration. iC *t J

Orange, New Jersey.

I have taken out provigipnal protection on sane and have’ enclosed herewith the provisional specification for] your personal perusal. My patent lawyer has advised ne to 3en^-fhif V0U*itbout drawings , as he considers that befl

much better able to decide the btst arrangements of the details for -<-r £■****

narrvinv out the invention in a practical! way , and that any draftings

Xttv-w^wft it cW-wte-A; -

uld be mere sketches and suggestions

and even in Johannesburg we cannot find an expert! in thi3 particular

Clas3 of draughtmanship.

Personally I think I have hit the right idea, and not only have I succeeded in synchronizing the cinematograph and phonograph, but I have also improved the latter so that it will give a much greater volume of sound than formally by using my tape record and multiple diaphragm sound box, by which means three or more groj/es^sound wave record can be cut at once and the equalivent of three^sound boxes can be made to reproduce the sounds with the multiple diaphragms, there

being a diaphragm for each groove so cut.

My invention is briefly to make the engraving or the cutting of the sound waves on or alongside the picture film as the latter is being taken, so that the picture and the soundwaves are practically photographed at the same time and can likewise be reproduced^ but instead of taking a single groove phono record have a number of grooves the recorder or reproducer to have an isolated vibrating diaphragm for each groove but all enclosed within one housing with a separate outlet for the sound waves for each diaphragm to the horn or horns.

I thought of using for the phono record a separate detachable band of aluminia attached to the side of the film, as it would be strong, durable and lifcht, but you would know which would be the best material for this purpose.

If you should think this lnv.ntlon northy of your oonsid.r- ation , I .ould bn pi.- « lou «ould kindly lot ~ Vno. as .arly ».

3.

possible to enable me to do something with it before the provisional protection expires, which is next March, if you could cable me your decision I would be glad.

In case of your taking up the matter and in regards to the world wide patents, I would prefer you to take them out, the cost of same to be derived from the first profits if you decide upon the half nett profit system, or in case of your making me a cash offer, you purchase the invention as it now stands and take out the patents after it has bean ceded to you.

Hoping that you will favourably consider this matter.

I beg to remain,

Yours faithfully

J W0to '•aw

Omaha, Meb. '

Thos. A. Edisoi Change.

N. Jt

Sept, ^j, 1916.

<^Lu \boJr 1

!

^ ^ uwrr^ UU"-H 1

K— * uti,M «4vi

I want to write to you regarding ;

or the multiple production and

I want to write to ydu regarding my "Twinoscope" or the multiple production and presentation of a single subiect in motion pictures, by means of a double screen, twice as large as those used at the present time, with a dividing line -in the center, end : apuhle

I have experimented very success- ] fully with the double presentation of separate^ subjects on a twin screen, which has proven , j ' - quite e novelty, but the ideal would be the making of a single subject for the purpose of presenting it on the double screen. It could possibly oe done on a single film providing that the new machines could be invented to J

take the pictures with separate scenes on a / single stock.

It could certainly be done by using two films and two separate cameras in taking the different scenes by synchronizing the films in the assembling of same. The machine could be a specially constructed machine, or a twin machine with variation speed for each.

You understand that instead of developing the production on a single screen as at the present time and taking the subject off the screen to insert titles and sub- titles, under the new way, the production vrould be unfolding itself on the screen continuously

on both sides of the center dividing line of the twin screen.

It is possible that one side of the twin screen could be used to unfold the drama without any stop what¬ ever until the end and that the left side would be used for the continuation and further. Qes

started on the one side, also for titles, sub-titles and flash-backs. Thus a six reel PT^hirit is^Sne unfolded i n exactly one half the time that it is con n)- the nresent time, and no doubt would be tne only great Novelty that could be found in the motion picture

business J^®o®npictures were first presented, one

p?esentntimeCr90$ S^thfproductions^that are on the

moment it appears, and two- scenes could be easily grasped instantly, just as easily as one, when it pertains to the same subject.

I have been experimenting for the last three years, from time to time, on this proposition and I beleive that the idea is a good ontfor big theatres a double screen could not be used in a small theatre.

I have consulted different patent attorneys but most of them defer their^opinion, as to whether ,h. id., i. to JTM. tMnljijg

you might be interested, and also knowing that your opinion will be based upon your great knowledge and

practicle experiment., posaibly^ don,

the* ide^to an, 3S5J m- »nufacturer. yet. and rill not until I hear from you.

Thanking you in advance for your kindness,

I beg to remain

Yours very truly,

LEDOUX

Mr. A. F. Wagner,

Manager, Thomas A. Edison, Limited, London, V., England.

Bear Mr. Wagners

Hr. Wilscn and X have had several conferences of late in roforonoo to the advisability of cloaing out Thomas A. Edison, Limited, London; this on ao count of the Motion pioture Biviaion having discontinued the issuance of films for general release.

It was decided that beforo prison ting the matter to Ur. Edison for his decision, to oonfer with the Executive Oommittee of Thomas A. Edison, Incorporated - Messrs. C.H.Wllson, Charles Edison and S.B.Honbart. At the oonferanoe it was the unanimous opinion of all present that in view of present conditions, there wae no alternative than to recomr.end to Hr. Edison that tho London Office ha oloood.

Tho doolnion of the Exeontive Committee was submitted to Hr. Edison by Hr. Wilson in the form of a memorandum and Mr.Edison returned tho menorsndun With the following natation thoreons

»I approve of closing tho London Offioe, retaining Hr. Wagner aa our representative. When I soy "closing1’ I mean the absolute closing, so wo only have rjr.Wagnor and a cheap Secretary. «

in ordor to comply with Mr. Edison's instructions, please sub-let that portion of tho building thioh you now occupy and take imnediata steps to reduoe your office foroo as rapidly as poaBlble.

It is possible that in sub-letting the premises, you may bo able to retain an offioe in the building, but if not, you could rent a small offioe, sufficiently lores for your needs, in another building. Fur¬ ther, you Bhould endeavor bb soon as possible to reduoe your expensos to a mlninnan.

In view of the very effioient manner in whioh you hove conducted the affairs of thB London Offioe, you are to be retained as our representative in Ore at Britain to look after our several interests in that territory and at the oloae of the present European war, we Bhall undoubtedly make use of your services in conneotlon

Mr. A. P. Wagner

Sopt. 7th, 1916.

with tha exploitation of the Edincn Diamond DiBO Phonographs and Records, and in other matters whioh may come op from time to time.

It would be quite impossible for us to issue detailed instructions at this end as to tho method of prooeedure you should follow in closing out tho London Office, but bearing in mind Ur. Edison's instructions, yb must necessarily depend on you to follow hiB instructions. After giving this matt or careful consideration, we would ask you to cominmi onto with ub outlining in detail what action you will take in tho matter of immediately reducing your working force and expenses, and wo are sure that you will render every possible assistance in following Ur. Edison's instructions.

At the present time Thomas A. Edlacn, Limitod, has sever¬ al agreements with the Jury Company to complete, and aside from that, you are obtaining sane film business covering back releases and fea¬

ture subjects. As, however, all positive prints aro supplied from Orange, we assume that very little help will be needed to oariy on the business.

We regret the necessity of issuing tho above instructions to you, but in view of conditions as existing in the film business at the present time and tho very little proepoots of our supplying films which vould bo available for general release in Groat Britain, in our judgemont it vould be poor buainos;. to maintain an offioe in Great Britain and run asmo at a loss.

Very truly yours.

Manager, Export Division.

C.C. to Mr. Edison, C.H.Wilson, Charles Edison and g.Bdiambert.

Lu»u«

.1 C/. . ifi-H .•‘•-v-Cv »

May I beg to ask a very personal, confidential favor of you, in view of . our business connection (E.S.E.Co.),„,,?

L.4- V hjiAA<nw»-£-A*t tiinavK'u.-U

Our netr/Jf. W. C. 6T building is just complied- ^ ^

and will be dedicated next *,1/"

them with an Edison phonograph- floetteE one than I can afford—

inif dw aift r€o°isi ifdyou twiiTeaut£oriz!cyour foca°l ajjeni, Bafyejt FMarni- ^

ture Co., Van Viert, Ohio, tojjetime hd'iey.&at Jibe wholesale price,

for the reason that it is foK^^C^'H. purely pbilanthropic * ~

institution and not a money-making concern ? Mr. Balyeat is a close. ^

personal friend of mine, very close-mouthed ana maxes no breaks. c_

If, however, you would prefer that the concession be known to absolutely no one but myself and your company, hew would it be for me to pay Me.

Ealyeat the full price without- question, and upon my mailing you a du¬ plicate of his recipt in full, you mail me your remittance covering the discount cf the amount of my curci-ase ? You could depend abso¬ lutely upon my destroying at once any correspondence in relation thereto and nothing further would be heard or known of it.

While a few choice families here have the Edison, the Victrola is in much larger use, owing bo its being first in the field.

Vfitfc a superior selection of records, such as I feel capable of making, after a lifetime of attention to music, I am sure tbe Edison would get. very large and favorable advertising, for this is the finest and most, complete County X. ? i. C. A. in the United States. I should be very glad to bear from you by return mail, if you can make it convenient, as I wish to act at once if at all, in time for the dedication, or very soon thereafter.

On next page, I will ask your advice in a matter of which I am quite ignorant from a technical standpoint, and I believe you will care to enlighten me in a word or two. If you will treat the two subjects (phonograph and motion pictures) on separate sheets,

I can destroy tbe former as soon as it shall have, served its private purpose.

jrved its private purpose.

, A. ft. iz

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(i«J ! not .vest -installed,

The Y. IS. C. A. have boughta motion picture machine, ana have had various advice as to purchasing a' compensarc for use in place of rheostat, to reduce the voltage and consumption of current, (60 to 80 percent ?) or, purchasing a motor-generator for the advan¬ tages of direct current, which are stated to be as follows : the flicker originating at the light source is eliminated to practically the last degree— the light' would be steadier, 40 to 50% brighter, the work of

the operator considerably reduced in the matter of maintaining a steady arc, the noise considerably less and current could be increased to get 40 amperes at the arc, in case of dark pictures. These

reasons are given, however, by a mfr. of motor-generators, one of which is listed at S217, a big extra cost for a Y.Vi.to pay, unless justified.

Most motion pictures given here (A.C. only) strain my eyes, and it would be a part of the humanitarian purposes of this institution to help people rather than harm them, so that if the advantages from D. C. are really very material I should advise the purchase of a motor- gBnerator. May I ask, also, if the cost of current would be greater than in using A. 0. with compensarc, and also if the mot. -gen. would be more expensive and troublesome to maintain than a compensarc ?

You Deed not. be told that you are the final authority on these subject. sand I shall appreciate your advice accordingly. Awaiting your valued reply with n;uch interest, I remain

gox 351 Very cordially yours.

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

September 28th. 1916.

Mr. Gall:

I am sending you the second sheet of a letter written by Mr. A. I. Clymer to Mr. Edison.

He asks some questions about a motion picture machine. Mr. Edison wishes you to send me a memo¬ randum which I can use to Answer his letter.

This gentleman is a personal friend, and Mr. Edison wants this letter replied to rery promptly, so will you please send me your memorandum by return mail without fail.

W. H. MEADOWCHOPT.

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

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1 MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY H*

TIMES BUILDING

NEW YORK

Mr. Y7. H. Ueadowcroft, Edison Laboratory, Orange, N. J.

Arrangements have been completed for a delegation repre-

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Clnb, West Orange, H. J. on Saturday next, the 7th inst., at

Ur. Everett Colby, representing the National Republican

the^latter to deliver the main address, outling the Association s position on the subject of censorship.

It is earnestly desiredJhat'Mr. Thomas A. ^ison, should . * ■Vl,_ tlmo mld i.-taSe pleasure in convoying this in- \ \/>

vitation on behalf of the-Association and Senator Colby in tli^Ijope vv jj / that Mr. Edison may £iii& it convenient to be presen . Jy' ^ j(

Trustin^to hear favorably from you, 1 / ‘4k i Yours , very trutty, \K . f <7 i

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October 9, 1916.

;a?'« Kennedy :

I' enclose herewith a memorandum from iir. l.V/. HcChesnoy, in regard to a piece of film covering some scones taken by Pa the j-’reros on ;'<r. Mison’s recent camp- inf-- trip- I have this film in the vottMfc.. ns you will see, iir. Edison would like to have -it run for him.

- At the same tii.io I think he would like to £oe the film showing the visit of the Old Kirae Solographors a xqt v clays ago* I boll vo *bhaJo iir • Jamicon iioo thic iiXxn* Will, you please obtain it from him then we can arrange to run both for «r. jidicon.- Plot so give i'r. Jamison a receipt for the film, as :.r. Miaou will want- to -keep it in the

Mr. Edison,

doing so should you for any reason of your own prefer that I should not. I had thought that I should like to include something like this, in our daily newspaper announcements :

“The fourteen hundred members of the Y. W. C. A. will be delighted to learn that Arthur 1. Clymer is arranging to present them with a splendid Edison phonograph and twenty-five of the choicest records. Mr. Edison has proposed to participate in this gift, by donating the dealer's profit on the sale, in compliment to his personal friend Mr. Clymer. The Edison Company’s rules in rgard to dealers adhering to the catalog price are exceed¬ ingly stringent, and Mr. Edison remits to the donor his personal check covering the amount of the Ealyeat Furniture Co.’s margin, independently of the sale as regularly made by them. This identification of Thomas A. Edison, the world's greatest inventive genius, with the Van Wert County Y. W. C. A. is indeed a proud honor and one that will be appreciated accordingly.”

Hot one word has been said or written to a soul regarding your generous proposal and even should the above announcement he consented to by you, the amount of the dealer’s profit shall never be known here by anyone save myself and the dealer (a splendid personal friend who would fee greatly interested to see your cheek.) I shall not bank it here, but directly with a Chicago banking firm, who will know nothing of the purpose of the check. I shall see to it that you will never have any regret in connection with this gift. When I pay Mr. Balyeat, I shall ask for duplicate receipts in full and enclose one to you. Will you kindly advise me as to

your approval of my plan above. I trust that I have not strained

things any in presuming to refer to myself as your personal friend. Also, that I have not worn you completely out in tellfng you about our Y. SV. C. A.

And now, as to the Y. ff. motion-picture show. With your characteristic thoroughness, you have taken the pains to give me a most lucid comparison of A. C. and D. C. for this purpose and I am

Mr. Edison, #3

of course completely convinced of the advantages of the direct current. With a throw of but 70 feet, a 12 16 screen in mind, an almost

direct projection and the direct current, it seems that our pictures will be like our building and our phonograph — perfect ! I have wondered, however, if, in view of the above conditions, a 10'0" * 13' 4" picture would be preferable to a 12' x 16".

As it happens, your first page treats exclusively of our private matter (the phonograph), so I shall take the liberty of reading the 2d and 3d pages and showing the two drawings to my committee, as to the D. C. for pictures, and I know bow impressed and delighted they will be with advice from the fountainhead of electrical information.

Awaiting your further reply and with my sincerest appreciation, I remain

P.S.: If you should not be familiar with the operation of Christian associations, it might interest you to know that philanthropic insti¬ tutions of this character do not begin to pay expenses. Unendowed Y.k. and Y. W. C. A. 's (and ours has none whatever and the promise of none, ) can pay only 65 to 75% of their running expenses with their income, which is from membership and class fees only. So you see that our Y,W., with its 1400 members, is not in position, as you might think, to buy its own phonograph. If they don’t receive one as a gift, they wont get any. fhe Victor local agent offered to loan them one, no doubt hoping someone wouid present it, but we’ll fix it so that there will be no need of borrowing a machine.

A.I.C.

(COPY)

December 5, 1916

ry dear Hr. Townsend :

• Hr. LlcChesnoy, of my notion Picture Division, has informed me of your willingness to aid us in the prepas a- tion and plioto-raphing of motion pictures of some of the curious fish in the Aquarium. I am sure such films will prove of unusual interest for our purposes. LUny thought¬ ful people have joined us in the propaganda to proauce better films ’of educational interest, ana I an confident you will not regret your part in the undertaking.

Yours sincerely,

(3igneu) 'i'hos. A. Edison

Dr. C. 11. tovrasend, Director,

She Aquarium, Battery Paric,

Hew York City.

/

(COPY)

December 6, 1916

I-Y dear Dr. Chapeau:

I should like your co-operation in connection with plans ’.vo have for the production and distribution of a series of special educational motion pictures for you un¬ people.

7,’ith your permission, LIr. IlcChesuoy, who has charge of my Hotion picture Division, will outline the hind of co-operation we should like to have from you, ana the American .Museum of natural history. if you can see your way clear to oxtona that co-oporation, i shall f.-ol that you are aiding mo to prove what a great factor the motion picture can be nt.ae in the education of the young people of our country.

Yours sincerely,

(Signed) 2hos. a. Edison

Dr. Prank Chapman,

Curator of Or ulthology,

American :.."useum of natural History, 77th St., a Central Path 7/.,

Hew York City.

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Edison General File Series 1916. Name Use (E-16-59)

This folder contains correspondence and other documents pertaining to the authorized and unauthorized use of Edison's name for advertising, trademark, and other purposes. Among the items for 1 91 6 are communications from Delos Holden, general counsel of the Legal Dept., explaining company policy in regard to the use of the Edison name in unrelated business lines, along with a marginal notation by Edison in response to an inquiry about an "Edison ointment."

Approximately 20 percent of the documents have been selected. The unselected items include declined requests to name things after Edison, such as bands, cigars, and motor cars; notices of clubs and schools named in his honor; and correspondence by and about children named after him, some of which was acknowledged by a form letter.

I hand you herewith two letters from Mrs.

M. Spangler of Camden, H. J., and copy of a letter that I wrote to her. It looks to me as though there are con¬ stantly a number of fakirs using Mr. Edison's name. In this case it doe6 not seem to have been advertised, so I do not see what we can do about it. I think it would be a good thing, to subscribe to a few of the cheap mail order papers and have somebody run over the advertise¬ ments from time to time. Ifhatdo you think about that proposition?

IV. H. MEADOW CROFT.

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

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Mrs. M. Spangler,

700 Hew Street,

Camden, H. J.

Dear Madam:

Your favor of the 8th instant to Mr. Edison has been received- He requests us to write and say to you that he is not the maker of the scissors sharpener. Shis article must be made by some other person named Edison. He wishes us to ask you whether you saw an advertisement, and if so, would you kindly tell us where you saw it. Yours very truly,

Edison Laboratory.

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

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May 16, 1916.

1

Mr. Meadowcroft:

Replying to your memorandum of May 15, 1916. V/e do not ordinarily look for cases of this kind as there is no way T^which we can stop persons from using the name Edison where they are not engaged in the same line of business as we are and where they use simply the surname alone. Our practice is not to do anything \inless the matter is called to our attention especially in the form of an advertisement, hut even then we cannot do much except to either

bluff the person out of using it or use moral suasion.

</3rzS<r*

dh/ju

June 1, 1916.

Mr. Meadowcroft i

X had a search made for the Blaok & Green Electric Co. who were supposed to he manufacturing the Edison Electric Sharpener, hut was not able to locate them. As I have previously stated to you, however, I do not see that we would he able to do anything to this conoern even if we should find them so long as they do not use Mr. Edison's portrait or portrait signature or full name, that is, we cannot prevent them from using simply the word EDISON in connection

with goods which do not come in competition with any of our lines.

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Edison General File Series 1916. Naval Consulting Board (E-16-60)

This folder contains correspondence and other documents relating to Edison’s position as chair of the Naval Consulting Board (NCB). Among the items for 1916 is a letter from Walter S. Nunnelly, a Tennessee cattle farmer and merchandise dealer who had hosted Edison during his search for cobalt in 1906. Also included are letters by Paul J. Kruesi, son of machinist and longtime Edison associate John Kruesi, pertaining to efforts by Chattanooga to be selected as the location for an armor plate plant. The correspondents include Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, Rear Admiral Joseph Strauss of the Department of the Navy's Bureau of Ordnance, NCB secretary Thomas Robins, and Edison's chief engineer Miller Reese Hutchison.

Approximately 20 percent of the documents have been selected The unselected items include unsolicited requests, ideas, and speculative letters marked for no answer; printed forms from the U.S. Navy; and routine letters of transmittal without enclosures.

Related material can be found in the "1916 Correspondence" folders in the Naval Consulting Board and Related Wartime Research Papers, Special Collections Series.

I find the Committee Non Aeronautics of the naval Consulting Board did invite represeSrtayives of practically all the large aeroplane companies ofytXe United. States to attend a meeting held at the Sngineerlwig Societies Bldg,

Hew York City, iast week.

Ho thing was said to you, as Chairman of the Board, that such a meeting was to he held.

It seems to me as Chairman of the Board, you should know that such an important meeting is to he held, because I could go in and see what's goin? on, and keep you posted.

I suggest it would he a good scheme to write a letter to Hobins, politely suggesting “that you he notified when any such important meeting as that is to he held in future.

I understand the Aeronat'ical Society is very much upset because they were not invited to attend the conference, whereas the Society of Aeronautical Engineers did participate.

If that hunch in the Board gets hailing things up so that engineering societies will he fussing am-ong themselves, with the personal equation so strong as it is on the subject of being against the Aeronautical Society, it will cause friction in the Board.

You, as Chairman, should he apprised of any- meeting in which outside people are to he called, and such meeting as that should have your sanction before it can he held.

^ AVAIL COiNTSlILTIN G BOARD

OF THE EXITED STATES

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

13 Park How, New York

Juno 1, 19X6.

Mr. Thomas A. Edison,

Edison laboratory,

Orange, H- J-

Bear Sir:

After the Preparedness Parade I obtained from all the professional photographers samples of the pictures that they took of the Consulting Board..; As a general view, the most satisfactory picture was the 6ne of which I mailed a copy to each member of the Board on Monday of this week. Apart from the fact that Dr. Whitney was oorap lately concealed' by the Chairman, each member of the Board can be recognised, This photograph, having been sent to each member of the Board, will be paid for out of the Board's funds.

Other views will be shown at the next meeting and may be ordered by the members at the rate of $1-00 each. A set of pictures was sent to the Secretary of the Wavy with the Board's compliments •

lours very truly , j/P J?

' Secretary. '

r> 7i

Wlfc

Si*#

THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.

July 20,

1916.

My dear Mr. Tkli son: -

X urn glad to receive your letter of the instant with reference to ponding legislation know, X am always glad to get your views on a question and I will look into this matter.

Sincerely yours,

17th .. You

Mr. Thomas A. Edison , Orange, II. .7.

3. ORCHARD

October 9th. 1916. \fb^ <1/" . ;,•> f\ ^ L lX "

Bear Sirs, ‘Y ^ ^ ^ >(v>

I shall very much appreciate \b' Lj'1"' , *J J?' \

receiving from you the address at oA,. r\ , v?

which Mr. Thomas Edison will stay A- if' * , o-

during his present visit to England. A* £■/ y ^

This. 1 reqdire as t desire to &> vX r^ V v

write to him suggesting that (in hiB ,, , cv _ c ? /,*

capacity of Chairman of the Civilian i** •*- ^ t(.V

Naval Consulting Board) he pays a .t t v vf ‘

visit to our engineering Works in v v*.v * . y ^Vn

Amsterdam, where we ahve completed A */ «

a remarkable new Diesel-type submarine \ A J

engine. Please also state how long he A 0 , h \y > »

will remain in England. ^

Yours very truly, Y.4* iv }r'

Ki'\f /,

van^Werktuiao^oa^tj^ar'./c^ir.i'.laficol.

U. S. A. Representative

October IS, 1916.

Shoe* Orchard Lisle, aa Whitehall Street, Hot; York City.

Your favor of the 9th instant •was given to me.

I hrouf'ht it to the attention of Ur. Edison, and he wisnes me to say to you that he hao no intention of visiting England and cannot understand where you heard such a rumor.

Ho desires mo to say, however, that as soon as the Haval Experimental Laboratory is finished, ho will bo verv much interested in the new engine which your Company has", and he would be much- obliged if you will call his attention to it again when you learn through the newspapers or otherwise that the Laval Experimental Laboratory is ready.

Yours very truly.

'Assistant to Ur. Edison.

. . UlJiA -

_ 35NY H 383 NL COUNT 9 P.ERSIODS . - _ . [\

ft NEW YORK NY OCT 11-16 * v/

THOMAS A EDISON WEST ORANGE Nil . iL'lXy^ ^ & <~p

OUR COUNTRY FACES ACTUAL NEEO IMMEDIATE NAVAL ENLISTMENTS WHICH VARIOUS PREPAREDNESS MOVEMENTS ALL D M^CtED'. TOWARD MILITARY BRANCH ARE NOT SUPPLY- ING.THE BIG. NAVY BILL ALONE I S NOT! SUFFIC I ENT WE MAY FACE GRAVE CRISIS ANY DAY WITH PRESENT NAVY HARDLY SIXTY PERCENT MANNED WIDESPREAD STIMULUS NEEDED TO INTEREST NATIONS YOUTH IN NAVAL SERVICE WHICH LEGISLATION CANNOT ACCOMPLISH. OUR ORGANIZATION HAS ALMOST FIVE THOUSAND YOUNG MEN IN VARIOUS LOCAL POSTS MOST OF WHOM EAGER FOR COURSE WE -OFFER FOR MERCHANT SEA TRAIN¬

ING SCHOLAR SHI PS INCLUDING MAVAL: INSTRUCTION AMD MANY OF WHOM THROUGH STIMULUS CAMP TRAIN ING WOULD ACTUALLY ENLIST US NAVY AMD NAVAL

RECEIVED AT 283 A 1 N ST . (a)

MIWTIA.^A^Sr^OFTHE BOYS WE HANDLED AT CAMP DEWEY NEWLONDON CONNECTICUT THIS SUMMER ALREADY PARTIALLY TRAINED ARE SERIOUSLY CONSIDE¬ RING EN L I STMENT. EXECUT I VE COMMITTEE MEETING JUST HELD DECIDED TO MOVE CAMP DEWEY EQUIPMENT AND ORGANIZATION BODILY .FROM NEWLONDON TO SOUTHERN WATERS AND INAUGURATE CAMPAIGN : SEND ONE 'THOUSAND OUR BEST BOYS THROUGH WINTER COURSE DEFINITE OBJECT ACTUALLY ENLIST FIVE HUNDRED US NAVY NEXT SIXTY DAYS WHILE FITTING THEM ALL FOR MERCHANT SERVICE AMD NAVAL' RESERVE THIS SCHOOL TO BECOME EVENTUALLY ONE OF CHAIN SCHOOLS ATLANTIC PACIFIC

GULF AND LAKES. MAYOR AND CHAMBER COMMERCE Cl TY_ OF CORPUSCHR I STI ON LOWER

TEXAS COAST OFFER WONDERFULLY SUITABLE GROUNDS ON THEIR HARBOR AND PLEDGE GENEROUS SUPPORT -AND COOPERATION EVERY WAY. TO HELP START THIS BRILLIANT

HPNORARY MEMBERSHIP SOUTHERN WINTER CAMP DIVISION US JUNIOR NAVAL RESERVE AND SUBSCRIBE TO COVER EXPENSE OF FIVE BOYS THROUGH CAMP COURSE

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TO SEND TEN BOYS. THIS IS NOT A TIME FOR HESITATION ON THE PART OF

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ldmiral Joseph Strauss, U. S. a..

Bureau of OrAnanoe,

Hav^ Department f

VJu-.hinprton, 3). 0.

>r , l >>

Navy Pikpartmtcnt

CBTJKBlATr OF SOTFtrHS AND ACCOUNTS)

Wasbisgtok, D. O. 17 Eovembar 1916*

3-310

Eaepeitfully,

By 'Pajraa^ar’iJare^Sl .

-Wf . IA <■ 4^

m , m4 ^ 1 ■ v -

-CU^' 3.

M‘c

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American Lava Company

MANUFACTURERS

December 1, 1916.

Mr. fhomas A. Edison, Of ange ,

H.J. ,

Dear *“r. Edison:- I

He: 0 over nmenuOArmor Plate Plant.

On Tuesday Hovember 21st, the writer and associates

built under a recent Act of Congress.

,0 «.

Y/hile we cannot flatter ourselves that you would,

toPePnpour Possession in thf evenlthaf ^^rySS^he Havy should ask your advice as to the location of *he pi n .

X trust you will not regard it as presumptuous, for me to send this copy to you, and beg to remain always with the highest esteem.

Very respectfully yours,

CHAIM ALIOOOA ABHOR PLACE OOHUIIMEE.

Bv Chairman^^^^^ommi^eS .

W. S. NUNNELLY

GENERAL MERCHANDISE. PEANUTS. FARM PRODUCTS,

ANGORA GOATS AND OTHER LIVE STOCK.

Vernon, Ten/^

3l Edison, » 0 '''\

Orange E.J. (y f f rj Q O }

rill handle the Gov. experimental station as w That von will show the Mavy people that a hi.t l float and that a lurKe battle ship will, do

; with Armored bottom as well a furnishin/tfiy are replaced by ai inp- oil Tor fuel. Tn other we

is top, ir'ji practically, Lr ti. "lit apartments, ards a firhtinsr ship.

neurons liome,. which would not be popular/ luit much snu/rht after in event, of war.

Docomher £3, 1010.

Ur. w. £$»' Bunnolly*

Vernon, "onn.

Door Sir:- ■ . ~

Allow me to acknowledge roeeipt of ,,0Ur favor ' of tho 18th ins vent, and also of the hoy. of peanuts which you have so kindly son* mo, and which wo are all enjoying vory muph.

Wishing you tho Compliments of tho Season, I romain.

Yours very truly.

A/1700.

Chattanooga Committee on Location of Government Armor Plate Plant

December S3, 19X6.

Mr. V/m. H. Meadow-croft,

Assistant to Ur. Edison, \A

Orange, Hew Jersey. J *

Dear Mr. Ueadowcroft:- v/

Shis acknowledges your courteous letter of the 19th advising of the safe arrival of the Armor llate Brier, that Mr. Edison has taken u to his house.

I still have an idea that the Secretary of the Havy expert assistance.

You have orobably noticed in the press that the

Boar-Admiral Frank S. Fletcher Commander F. H. Clark lieut-Commander Reuben E. Backenlius

Commander F. H. Clark has already been ^esi^ated as the constructor of the plant wherever it may be located.

If I am right, that the Secretary will find himself

fs::ar. a sasj £¥Jn Ik.

it may be very well indeed that a copy of this brief is in Mr Edison's hands.

At all events I thank you most kindly for the personal

Edison General File Series 1916. North Jersey Paint Company (E-16-61)

This folder contains correspondence and other documents relating to the North Jersey Paint Co., an affiliate of the Edison Portland Cement Co. that manufactured and sold waterproof paints for cement surfaces. Included is an annual meeting notice announcing a proposed change of the company s principal office from Orange to New Village, N.J., along with a letter from company official William E. Horne to Walter S. Mallory, president of NJPCo and EPCCo. Also included is a promotional brochure entitled Edison Water- Proofing Paint."

All of the documents have been selected.

The North Jersey Paint Co.

Factory: Stewartsville, N. J.

Sales Office: St. James Building, Broadway and Twenty-Sixth Street New York City

OTiABGB, K. J. , Juno Oth, 1916.

Tho annual meeting of the Stockholders of the iiOlVfH JKROKY PAXHT COMI'AMY will ho hold on Monday, tho 12th day of June, 1916, at 10;00 o'olook A. U., at the principal office of the Company, looatod at the Bdieon lab¬ oratory, Orango, U. J., for tho purpooo of electing a Board of hireotoro and rooeivine and acting upon the roportB of tho offioere. and for the transaction of such othor hueineeo ae may properly come before the meeting.

If you do not expect to be present at the meeting, pleaeo sign the enoloeod proxy, duly vritnoeBOd, and return in tho onolosed otampod envelope. If you are prenant tho proxy will not be used.

Youro truly,

V7TT.T.1AM U. BAB01I ,

Boorotary.

It io proposed at thiB meeting ;o present a resolution in aooordanoe with the Jy-laws, to amend same so that the principal offioo >f the Company shall be ohanged from Orange, 1,.J. , to Mow tillage , lUJ^ and a resolution will also be passed n^oration the namo of tho agent upon whom process against the corporation

£J “eSvadftSS II. f! Miller to tta. ». Home.

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

PROXY

STOCKHOLDERS MEETING

'KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS:-

.*«. s. Tsrssrti Stt

the Stockholders of the said Company, to be held at the Owg^ office, located at Edison Laboratory Orange N J., on the i«Jin

ney or substitute may do in my place, name and stead.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto day of _

t my hand and seal, , 1916.

Witness:

.(Seal)

The North Jersey Paint Co.

Factory: Stewartsville, fT. J.

Sales Office: St. James Building, Broadway and Twenty-Sixth Street New York City

«m»— June 8, 19X6. A' U

.

Mr. W. S. Mallory. Pres., ^ £ n/' ^

Morth Jersey Paint Co., Cf-''

New York, N. Y. v)V ^ J /

Dear Sir:-

I am enclosing herewith abstract of the Minutes for the Annual Meeting of the Stockholders and organization meeting of the Directors of the North Jersey Paint Co., which is to he used by you on Monday, also blank Inspectors affidavit and certificated, to¬ gether with your proxy and my proxy.

Should Mr. Edison’ s proxy be received here, we will eend it to you immediately. If it does not come until Saturday, we will then mail it to you at Orange, so that you will have it there Monday. Of course, if it does hot come to hand, you can arrange to get it at any time.

Yours very truly,

NORTH JERSEY PAINT COMPANY,

WEH-RBS

ENCLOSURE:-

It keeps the walls diy

WAT SR-SMEIOOFSMQ

PAINT

O you live in a concrete or stucco house ? Are you go¬ ing to build one ?

Do you know or have you heard that after a heavy storm most concrete or stucco houses are damp? Notwithstanding the beauty and econ¬ omy of concrete for house construc¬ tion, many people oppose it because they fear dampness.

They oppose it because they do not know— do not know that it can be made as impervious to water as glass or bronze.

All that is essential is to fill the pores so the water can’t get in.

Ellison Waterproof Paint does this as no other preparation can. It fills every pore with a water- repelling substance for all time.

Not only is dampness in the house annoying and unhealthy, it is destructive.

Wall paper will not adhere to walls that become damp. Decorations will

not retain their original coloring and beauty.

Dampness — the one former objection to concrete houses — has surrendered to Ellison IVaterproof Paint. If damp¬ ness enters the house at all it must come through the doors and windows, it cannot come through the walls w here Edison IVaterproof Paint is properly applied.

Edison Waterproof Paint is not an ex¬ periment — six years of constant use has demonstrated that it will do all that Thomas A. Edison claimed it would do when, after exhaustive tests, he at last said, “I have found

If you are having trouble with house dampness now — if you are about to build and fear it — you will be inter¬ ested to know more about Edison Waterproofing Paint.

Perhaps you will be impressed with the sincerity of the enclosed opinions from men who know.

Edison

Waterproofing

Paint

When painted with Edison Water¬ proofing Paint , concrete, stucco or block construction; cement and mor¬ tar joints; porous stonework, clay or cement tile; concrete or concrete slate roofs; concrete floors; walls and cellars; all become absolutely imper¬ vious to water.

By overcoming capillary attraction it shuts out all moisture and consequent frost action.

Edison Waterproofing Paint used as a sizing coat can be painted over with any desired color without fear of discoloration.

Edison

Waterproofing

Paint

DIRECTIONS

1. No expert is needed to apply it, as it is put on with a brush like any other paint.

2. The surface must be dry and carefully brushed with a stiff brush or a broom.

3. The material should be carefully brushed in and the second coat not applied until the first is dry. For ordinary concrete or stucco two coats are sufficient. If the wall is very porous, more may be required.

4. As this material is transparent, do not cx-

5. Shake the can before using, and if, it is not transparent, but cloudy or milky, stand in a warm place for a few horns. Should it not clear readily, stand the can in hot water or

6. Have plenty of ventilation where it is used.

Edison General File Series 1916. Patents (E-16-62)

This folder contains correspondence and other documents relating to foreign and ddmestic patent applications, assignments, litigation, legation and other patent matters. The selected items for 1916 concern a patent on color photography held by phonograph experimenter Alexander N. P'ermam The correspondents include attorneys William A. Hardy and Delos Holden of the Legal Dept. Several documents bear marginal notations by Edison

Approximately 50 percent of the documents have been selected. The unselected items consist of unsolicited, unanswered correspondence concerning topics such as patent law reform, along with a standard legal form assigning foreign rights in a galvanic battery patent from Charles W. Norton to Edison.

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Mr. Edison: -

I hand you herewith our copy of the application papers on an invention of Mr. Pierman relating to Color Photography.

The invention consists of a film comprising a flexible color screen formea by weaving silk stranas, a flexible transparent or translucent ribbon formed from a collodion solution in which the screen is imbedded, and a coating of sensitized emulsion applied to one surface of such ribbon.

Mr. Pierman owns a half interest in the invention, and Messrs. William E. Gilmore and Prank I>. Dyer. each own a quarter interest therein. The Edison Manufacturing Company has an option on the invention, the instrument whereby this op¬ tion was granted specifying that no transfer of any right or interest in the invention shall be made by Mr. Pierman, Mr. Gilmore or Mr. Dyer without the Edison Manufacturing Company first having an opportunity to acquire such right or interest.

Messrs. Gilmore and Dyer have now lost interest in this invention. Mr. Pierman, however, still believes the in¬ vention to be of Borne value, and is accordingly anxious to ac¬ quire the rights of Messrs. Gilmore and Dyer, which the latter have agreed to assign to him, ana to take out the patent in his own name.

Mr. Gall considers Mr. Pierman's invention to be im¬ practicable, as. he thinks it would be impossible, in printing.

-2-

to obtain the necessary registry of the colored strands, com¬ prising the screens of the negative and positive.

Will you please advise me whether you approve of an assignment of the rights of Messrs. Gilmore and Dyer to Mr. Pierman, and in case you do approve of such assignment, whether or not you wish the assignment made subject to the option owned by Edison Manufacturing Company.

6

WH-JS

February 29, 1916.

Mr. C. H.

I find upon looking into this matter that the invention is of very limited scope, that is, there is very little novelty in it and it is doubtful if it has any value at all. All that we are called upon now to do is to oonsent to the transfer of the interests of Gilmore and Dyer to Piqrman and we can retain our option upon the entire invention by permission of Pierman. Therefore I think that we may as well go on with the case in this way, that is, by consenting to the transfer and receiving from Pierman alone an option similar to the present one.

Edison General File Series 1916. Personal (E-16-63)

This folder contains correspondence and other documents relating to Edison's friends and acquaintances. Among the correspondents for 1 91 6 are naturalist John Burroughs, industrialist Andrew Carnegie, former employee and motion picture pioneer William K. L. Dickson, rubber magnate Harvey S. Firestone, soap manufacturer Adolph Melzer, Electrical Review editor Charles W. Price, and hobo author Leon Ray Livingston, better known as "A-No 1 The Rambler." Included are references to the presidential election, a camping trip planned and organized by Firestone in which Edison and Burroughs also participated, the marriage of botanist Luther Burbank, and the deaths of business associates Alfred A. Cowles and James Gaunt. There is also correspondence with longtime associates William S. Andrews, Edward H. Johnson, and John W. Lieb, Jr., as well as with members of the Old Time Telegraphers Association.

Approximately 60 percent of the documents have been selected. The unselected material includes unanswered correspondence, duplicates, letters of introduction, and declined invitations.

Numerous clippings about the camping trip can be found in Scrapbook, Cat. 44,455, Scrapbook Series.

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[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

Schenectady, M. Y. , February 26, 1916.

Hr. William Bee,

Edison Storage Battery Company,

Orange, H. J.

My dear Mr. Bee:-

I am happy to say that the magnificent phonograph, which you sent to me at Mr. Edison’s request last December, has been located in the laboratory store-room and it is in first class condition in every respect. It is difficult for me to tell you how much I appreciate it.

I. find that it arrived in the general receiving room of the General Electric Company on December 31st. , and was sent to the store-room of the laboratory along with a half carload shipment of boxes addressed to me personally which were shipped from San Francisco. The delivery slip from our Receiving Dept., to the Laboratory evidently went astray so that the phonograph and records lost their identity and were stored with the San Francisco material.

It was my intention to spend a day in Orange

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

on this trip, “but, as matters now stand, I fear it will he impossible.

1 remain with kind regards and very best

wishes.

Respectfully yours,

WD'AR/JJF.

ILLUMINATING ENGINEER.

enough to send me were a very happy selec¬ tion and were all very muoh appreciated.

Again thanking you for your oourtesy and hoping that you will transmit

my thanks also to Mr. Edisoni X Yours very truly

EDISON LAMP WORKS

OF GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY

Mr. ThomaB A. Edison,

Orange, Hew Jersey.

My dear Mr. Edison: —

Words cannot express my appreciation of your ■beautiful thought in sending me the silver plate for my phonograph. X assure you this is appreciated more than X can tell you.

I had expected to be in Hew York in June, but find that I will not visit the East until September, at which time I am going to call upon you and Mrs. Edison.

V/ith best regards to you both, I remain.

Yours respeotfully,

II o S ol<kni no ttrrtixi

Akron, Ohio, June 2J, l$l6.

Mr. Thomas A. Edison,

Dear Mr. Edison:-

There ie nothing quite so attractive to me as the duties and responsibilities of running the Firestone Company, hut I do not want to he a slave to it and I want to get away and enjoy myself.

I think you and Mr. Ford have about the same trouble to get away from business and I do not believe that we ever got farther away f rom business oar es than when we were touring in California and I wish that we might make another trip. I have a plan all figured out and laid this before Mr. Ford in Detroit last week, and he was delighted and is ready for the trip and I hope that we oan plan a trip that will be attractive to you.

I will be in New York Thursday and Friday of this week and will drive over to see you Friday morning.

With kindest regards to Mrs. Edison and yourself, I remain

Yours very t ruly,

HSF-EH

Akron, Ohio, August 17, 1916

Mr. Endioott, about wESarTppoke to you last week, will leave Akron Sunday night and arrive in Orange Monday morning, August 21st, for the purpose of looking over the equipment which you have prepared for Mr. Edison's trip and arranging any other details which may be necessary.

A light truck equipped with pneumatio tires, together with a driver, will be ready for the party on the 2£>th.

If there are any other preparations which I can make I shall be very glad to hear from you.

Very truly yours,

Mr. H. F. Miller,

C/o Mr. Thomas A. Edison,

Orange, N. J.

Dear Sir:-

Thie will introduce to you, Mr.

H. C. Endioott, who will aooompany the oamping party on August 2Sth. He will go over the equipment with you and make any plans' that you think advisable for the trip.

Very truly yours,

FIRESTONE TIRE & ROBBER COMPANY

Seo'y. to H. S. Firestone.

Akron, Ohio August 24, 1916

Mr. H. F. Miller,

C/o Mr. Thomas A. Edison, Orange, N. J.

Dear Sir:-

Aooording to present plans, Mr. Endioott will arrive in New York about noon on Saturday and will report to you on his arrival. Mr. Firestone will arrive in New York Sunday morning and be at the Waldorf Sunday and Sunday night.

I am not quite sure whether Mr. Edison's plans are to start from Orange and go direct up the west shore, or whether he will cross into New York on his way notth. If his plans bring him near New York City, pos¬ sibly he would prefer to pick- Mr. Firestone up at the Wal¬ dorf Monday morning.

If you will let me know or advise Mr. Firestone Sunday, I know that he will be very glad to mebt Mr. Edison' wishes as to the point of starting.

■<U{

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\^.CX)-^Jl^' BJ r springs, Kansas ’ Seoteiiber 18. 1916«

Ur. Thoaas A. Edison Ea3t Orange, i,67f Jar3elr

Dear Sirs-

U

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the two offices. Speed and Orally *in Mtouksa office. C. Sonoles introduced Telegraphy in Japan ■ Kenosha office. Boo Clowry

inventor of the first All tel charge of Judge Catons

afterwards president of the West .^Un ^ ^ R?J1V;in had Ohicago

rJS.5.12f i’SCiSS. - — * - - "

Hew York. Wyandotte

In 1859 X opened the 1 £, ^ VyaLo tt^ow ' Kansas City, Kansas)

r^ss^sasa z a— rB

BE"

United^States.^It °

;haA any>nvehiaBh o-f its kind ever heio^ aiave power to

W^theXt. ditch for 'the hopes and *«£• °oaat. In their aadness extend flPsry froa Missouri to ^ ^ kissed the

Kjfeg&S sw — ..*ss^3 r HS3^‘^E ,

With ay kindest and test wishes, I a

Yours truly, tgM1

MX* n-

pr'*' '

The Glue Specialties Gompany

ADHESIVES

September twenty-five

Mr. Thomas A. Edison

Dear

, Ediac

PURPOSES

Thank you heartily for your highly prized letter,^

Burns .now dead, was the telegrapher , who at I"'*'"*1 ? Phi Hi ns at Providence , now if alive, with Washington, at the rate of forty nine woi hour wvs.iixioa corded the matter, which wac ‘I’ravels*. on manifold with a glass point It' has often, been my boast , to have eaten mugs of coffee .with Edison ,at midnight which would disgust you today you nay recall Jack Wright ,at Boston , star, r.erfect In penmanship and sending.

Of about fifteen telegraphers that 1 cu Boston , I can locate .alive .only EdlscAi

T will be with you in spirit /Wednesday, j , ,, _

AfY- in thanking you and rejoiced to know that your wonderful Access has kot dumbed Vit increased jour youthful humanity,

je framed > Walter ational Press assn. at minute ,for one election from Gullivers

Sincerely and truly

AU jL. A. i

Xft<L+. Mr. C*C‘<Ltr*<,

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[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

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November £1,1916.

Mr. G. Ii. Baldwin:

Hr. .Edison wishes to send today, by express, prepaid, twenty-five records out of the following- list: ,

(350 46 50353 80316 80317 03030 80329

05043 00304 82543 50364 82036 80352

- 03044 00310 80521 50562 80299 82115

50358 80311 82105 00361 80294 83059

50305 80313 80319 03040 50300 03061

2hey oro to be shippod to Mr. Ohunzo faknki, Marseilles Hotel, Broadway and 103d Btreot, Hew York City, H.Y.

Mr . . Yakaki is. Going to Japan in a few days , and Ur. Edison wants shipment made, right a way so that Ho will receive them before leaving, 'i'horoforo I am sending this memorandum direct to you, bo that the matter .will receive immediate attention. You can put it -through the proper channels. 'those records $ro to be ohurg.d to Mr. Euison personally, so pleaso be careful that no bill is sont to! Ur. Y'okaki. Will you kindly lot me know a little later iir the day as to whether the shipmont is made, so that X can write Mr. i’akaki.

Vi'.H.Mil'.BOV.OhOl’f.

A/1326. .

s

!

/•

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

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elVffijRANGE. N. J.

YV NEWYORK NOV 25 1916 MR THOMAS A EDISON

ps'i •

MANY thanks for YOUR I

MESSAGE AMD PROMISE TO CALL ON MY

85 TH BIRTHDAY BUT MUST SEE YOU BEFORE THEM CANNOT WAIT SO LONG

T^LSFHON^p-i

Mr. Thomas A. Edison,

Department v camping trij I am mailing

I have had our Advertising ; out a souvenir bocy of our ;hey have made up three dummies me today. "~

^ I wish that you/would look it

over and give ms some suggestion3/and any ohanges that you would like to have made.'

It is my ided to have one hundred of these hooks made up, or as Oiany as you and Mr. Birr roughs would like, and/we can give them out to our friends as Christmas presents. I am send¬ ing to you with the hook all? of the pictures that I have had taken so that you can make any arrange¬ ments or write any poetry or incidents in regard to the trip that you oars /to.

After/we get the hooks out, I would like to have yourjiperoonal signature in

each hook. / - - - “

— — You/will please send the hook

hack as soon as you can conveniently as I would like, if possible, tyhave them out in time for Christmas. Also advise how many you oould use. - / O

\ /With personal regards, I am,

j / Yours very truly,

w_. - - v~- ’zzt sip?

The Warren,

Sheen Lane,

^ Stria, .nj1

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'v>^^JJVwecer

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fa/ tc,. u/L/ ^ tUiL ^T-dy*/

~fif frfoy. f $ &CCc. 7400CCJ /^Z,

'/>// OCt/ ft/y ?ka/t4f fa fa <Zy sUraJ/ Co/u* ^fu £m< ^e. $/*./ attcftt c~ y/'^/uf &+

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noh <<r vf. tPousn

Mr. Thomas A. Edison, , s-,

Llewellyn Park, / f(LJCJ

Orango, N. J. \J^ ]

Thank you for your kind letter of 1 Lnetant, which I appreciate very much.

Two weeks ago to-night my brother \ ill. He had a beginning apoplexy at tl Tn« bleeding was moderate but progress!'

it seven P. M. on December second. He reBpon- jed to hie environment until Saturday noon, however, he could not remember anything that occurred. Hie vision was beginning to fail and before the end he was nearly blind. Throe years ago you may recall that he was very sick in London. At that time he had an apoplexy but I carefully kept that fact from hie know¬ ledge paased exactly as ho always wished that hie death might occur. I fool very happy that he was spared the disablement which euroly would have followed the eecond apoplexy.

With kindeet regards to you and Mrs. Edison,

Yours eincorely,

Orange, N. J.

My dear Mr. Edison:

I have your letter of the 5th 3,1(1 3111 clad that you are pleased with the proposed souvenir hook of our camping trip. We will get it out as early as possible, but I find that I oannot get it out in time for Christmas.

X spoke to you at Mr. Edsel Ford's wedding in regard to the Rubber Club Annual dinner at the Waldorf on January 3th. I am President of the Rubber Club and am, in a way, responsible for a successful banquet. Honorable Wm. H. Taft and.

Mr. Frank A. Vanderlip will be the principle speakers, and as I told you, I would like to have you, Mr. Ford and Mr. Burroughs guests of honor.

I have a big job on my hands and need you next to me to brace me up.

The ladies will be invited in the boxes at nine o'clock to hear the speaking, and Mrs. Firestone would like Mrs. Edison to oome and take dinner with her and other friends, and then come up and hear the speaking.

I know these dinners don't appeal to you but I have arranged rooms for you and Mrs. Edison at the Hotel so that you will not be inconvenienced that evening. If you will go I will write to Mr. Ford and Mr. Burroughs. I think there is considerable doubt about Mr. Burroughs going as I understand his wife is very low.

Secretary drop :

Please let me know or have your s a line to indioate your pleasure.

Yours very truly,

Dear Hr. iSdison:

Your kir.fi and interesting letter to me at the Lotos Club received, and the members of our Committee and myself all appreciate your kind reply.

I must tell you, however, that our mutual friend,

Ur. Samuel Insull, of Chicago, is to be one of the speak¬ ers at the dinner to Hr. Schwab, and state, also, that if you should find by Thursday noon, December 21 (the date of the dinner), that you can join us at the Lotos, you will be very welcome, and a seat at the head table will be re¬ served for you. I think you will enjoy being present, and of course Hr. Insull, as well as all the rest of us, will be delighted if you find at the last moment that it will be convenient for you to come.

Permit me to say that X read -with the greatest in¬ terest your timely interview in one of last Sunday's Lew York dailies— X believe it was the Sun. It can not fail to do a great deal of good, for it was sound clear through.

Sincerely your friend.

December 1G,191G,

llr. II. S. Pirestono,

Akron, Ohio.

Liy dear Lir. Pirostone:

X have just received your

favor of the 12th instant, in regard to tho annual Dinner of the Rubber Club at tho Waldorf . I had

already received a formal invitation for this Dinner, to which I roplied in accordance with tho copy letter enclosed herewith. i'his letter dates tho real facts.

•. On your account, I would very much like to go to the Dinner, but it is .simply impossible for me to 'say at this moment whether or not I can set away, as I am in tho midst of a lot of oxtromc- iy iniportont work and do not oven see my own people hero at tho Works 'unions it is imperative . 2he only thin* I can say is that if, whon tho time comes, X find that I can get away, I will como over. House do not dopend upon mo, howovor, as it may bo out of tho question.

Yours very truly.

A/1602.

'PUBLISHING

'^CjCTipAAnry

A ERE, . ^VWSYLV^

Mr. Thomas Alva Ed is East Orange, N.J.

December 20th 1916.

A H* I

&-U- P*

itice 'I read in, the papers today of the

marriage of pur mutual friend,. Mr. Luther Burbank of ^anta Rosa, Gal. who was a confirmed bachelor all his^£sfSu| atT^^ell^a^pn’trm^^ to Dan Cupid, reminded me of our convy^tion^itTort' l/yers^R it:r having as subject the Plant Wizard wJ^e“*avfthographed card Jrcarriad with yours and other notables in my. famous memorandum bookV-^

Since I saw you, have married aniLcgettled down and am devoting my days writing .of .my yesterdays so the generations of the future be warned against the Road. My Baby Ruth, a two year old, and I, of fontyrfour, are fast comrades, romping and crawling over the house. .

Would like you to stop over some day you pass through Erie as I wish to show.-you, my bungalow and how happy I am since

I quit box car touristing.- . i '

How is your family? Your children and Mrs. Edison?. Do they still remember the potato faces I . used to carve? Am publishing books now and kept everlastingly busy.

Wishing you and your loved ones the compliments of the holiday, season, I. am, : — 1 — -7> _

Wishing you a pleasant Christmas and a very happy Hew Year, I remain,

Yours very truly.

Edison General File Series 1916. Phonograph - General (E-16-64)

This folder contains correspondence, reports, minutes, interoffice communications, and other documents relating to the co^ development of Edison's cylinder and disc phonograph Many of he Jems for 1916 pertain to efforts to continue record manufacturing despite war-related shortages of raw materials There are numerous technical and administrative documents written by Edison engineers, experimenters, and company officials. Included are Jems by assistant chief engineer John P. Constable on a phonograph built at the Ford factory in Detroit and on the testing of phonograph components by C. E ^ bvSSfa hah diamond point production and phonograph inspection protocols, and by Zachanah P Halpin on tests of reproducers and electric motors. In addition, there are documents by Archie D. Hoffman on chemical formulas for record composition and equipment for record blank manufacturing, by H. T. Leeming on phonograph ou put projections, by J. W. S. Moss on mold production time reductions and by Wil iam F. Nehr on chemicals. Also included are minutes prepared by Constable of the Manufacturing Committee meetings.

The documents relating to the business of the Thomas A. Edison, Inc Phonograph Division include items written by division manager William Maxell on training plans, artist coaching, relations with jobbers, advertising schemes, and the possibility of manufacturing cabinets and assembling phonographs 'n Canaja. Mew documents pertain to the introduction of "Period" model phonographs at the end of the year. A communication from Walter Stevens, manager ofthe, Export Division, discusses the phonograph business in Cuba. Other Edison 'Officials reprei sert tod m the documents include chief engineer Miller Reese Hutchison and Carl H. Wilson, vice president and general manager of TAE Inc.

In addition, there are numerous incoming letters, some of which bear Edison s marginal comments, on song selection and desired musical styles (for example, Swedish, Hawaiian, and bagpipe). There are also references^ particularly surface noise, which Edison indicated was due to changes made in ■ he chemical composition of the records as a result of the war. Many °f the.inc°ming letters contain suggestions for improvements to the phonograph (such as increased S™”"ma.lcS«opping).PS0™ of whicjwere by Constable or Kennedy. Attached to one ofthe incoming tetters that all suggestions about inventions or improvements should be sen directly .to Edison rather than referred to the Engineering Dept, "in order to avoid claims being made that Mr. Edison has appropriated devices submitted to him. Other _subjeds covered in the documents include attempts to purchase an old 1878 tinfoil phonograph from E. C. Peterke; the donation of a similar machine to the Smithsonian

Institution; the proceedings of the Manchester Edison Society, a British organization of phonograph enthusiasts; the record-buying habits of Native Americans as described by the Ryder Music Co. of Oklahoma; and a proposal by explorer Oliver Bainbridge to make recordings during his expedition to the South Seas.

There are also numerous items relating to prospective recording artists, some of whom were encouraged to visit the studio for an audition, and to composers such as Thomas P. Westendorf, who wrote "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen, Edison's favorite song. Included are comments by Edison regarding some of the performers and a communication from Absalom M. Kennedy, E. Rowland Dawson and Clarence B. Hayes about the musical abilities of two female members of the staff At the end of the folder are undated communications to Edison from music room supervisor Hayes about trial recordings, as well as technical items concerning record production.

Other correspondents include recording artists Virginia L. Bean and Alice Verlet; longtime Edison associate Henry Edmunds; Goodyear chemist C. R. J°hnsorr, General Electric engineer Frederick M. Kimball; virtuoso pianist and futurePo lish prime minister Ignace J. Paderewski; Richard Rathbun of the Smithsonian s U.Sf National Museum; Charles 0. Sloane, president of the Phonograph Sates Co o Newark and brother-in-law of Madeleine Edison Sloane; and phonograph enthusiast Frederic A. Whiting.

Approximately 30 percent of the documents have been selected. Many of the unselected items are unsolicited suggestions for phonograph improvements. most of these are marked for a form letter reply, but some bear routine Edison marginalia explaining that he was not interested in the idea or could not use it. Other categories of unselected material include letters ofthanks or appreciation; unanswered requests for auditions and correspondence with artists whose auditions did not lead to a recording; non-pursued business inquiries from clients, vendors composers, lyricists, and performers; unsolicited items relating to war preparedness and to peace songs; letters from dealers or customers that were n°t ha^led' indefinitely deferred, by Edison; other routine documents that did not receive Edison's attention and do not pertain to his role in the company; printed items submitted by inventors and recording artists; credit reports on prospective dealers and duplicates. Also unselected are routine business letters handled by Char es Edison! by Edison's assistant William H. Meadowcroft, by Recording Division manager Walter Miller, or by music room supervisor Clarence B. Hayes, reports on auditions not heard by Edison; periodic quantitative data reports on production, testing, and shipping; form letters to dealers; and other sales material.

Edison General File Series 1916. Phonograph - General (E-16-64)

January - June

kjrhsob MBB a- luting

• jrs-hcVugiv statje airflcttcnfix

• BJ-niA>aii»f«GnnA»fl gisnteu

BIASSACMIIJSKn

it:

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i<rO^ ct 'VtAoJ^o

£7W-^~. oi* f-‘tr :

— '

«r,(

osjS j2«— *

"My dear Ur. Edison:

When I come acroBS anyl _

i </V<5

in Phonography I pass it aiorvgj-^^Bh^ of or not. The intention is all right (friA~tr? *-®

I imagine "THE SONORA" is'"^fiusTary^ nearest rival. I went in to hear it ai^ B^rjwed^y^in^ e. They played s/veral . a -

*«s-iH:3L

disonaj?"

l' 'VvttX^J, J/5-U.

'sing and big namgs kee^JJh— :

ir. '‘^’iulMP^heoscope is better.

Edison records for me - far a’neac

The Viotrola is a tin-sho]^ and I fancy only big advew going. The Vocalion is bef

And now the Sonora is far ahead of it, with the Et still in the lead. But in some things "we" are instanced. The "modulator" in the three phonographs named above) ii far more effective and convenient than in the Edie/ma — more gradual and easily used, without lifting the top. The "muffler" can't be really graduated effectively. It attacks the sound in the wrong place.

I am intensely and enthusiastically interested in

The Edieona, which is the only WHY I so often break into the Laboratory! . ,

Yours very truly^

V A Cabinet is wanted in which Records may be kept in their cases, very many prefer to keep them in the explanatory envelopes, and it is good business" advertising to have them do so.

It enables one to easily explain aboutevery record he puts on, in showing off his "Edieona.

January, 3, 1916.

Solvent Naptha has substituted for Benzol.

Mr. Bdison:-

Have obtained a gallon of this Solvent Naptha from Hr. Meadowcroft. It has proven its-self equally a3 well as Benzol for coloring of plaster backing of the Blue Amberol Record. There is a slight objection as to the odor given off by the Naptha, which is still noticeable after the records have stood for 72 hours. It also appears to effect the eyes of the employees who are handeling it.

After the plaster backing has been coated trith this Naptha mix and the ‘records allowed to stand exposed to the air and then in cartons the rubbing off of the color on the fingers is very slight. If it were possible to prevent this odor from the Naptha I would suggest that we be allowed to use it in place of Benzol

2A

V/. P. Nenr.

Hr. J. J. Riley: January 3, 1916.

(Demonstration Dept)

We have Doth agreed that it is desirable to establish a training sohool here so that we oan supply dealers and jobbers with trained Edison men.

We have just employed two new men to aot as supervisors. They will start on their meohanioal training Tuesday, January 4th.

The meohanioal training, including Mr. Kennedy's oourse, will take about three weeks. Then these two Supervisors will be put through the East Orange store, and will also receive a certain amount of instruction here at the office.

Why wouldnjji it be a good plan for ypu^to pick out two or three promising mei£and nave 'them three weeks from now ready to take up the same course of instruction that the Supervisors take in sales methods. Company policies, etc.? With a class of five we could experiment quite a little without disastrous results and I believe could decide whether it is advisable to launch the training sohool on a more extensive plan.

The Disc Phonograph Monthly will go to pressabout January 16th, and if we knew that we were going to train two or three men we oould announce that faot in the Monthly, and I'll pretty nearly guarantee that before their training was finished we would have appli¬ cations for them from our jobbers and dealers.

What do you say to our becoming pedagogues in the manner suggested above?

WM/IWW

CC to Mr. Edison and Hr. Wilson.

^ ( fC.

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[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

January, 24th. 1916.

Violin

Pretty fair violinist, hut she uses the vibrato too much, makes it too prominent especially on ]<! string.

Thomas A. Edison; Orange,

New Jersey

3 OH 3tftfilT Ai> Jan.

<K

A client of mine, Mr. recently invented and patented copy of which I am enclosing f tion.

The Drawings and specifications illustrates this Device quite well, and we trust you will habe no difficulty in thoroughly comprehending same.

As you will note, this Clutch has been especially designed for use in connection with Phono¬ graphs. This Clutch seems to be a very simple and economical construction.

Kindly look into this matter and, should you deem this Invention as favorable for your Manufact¬ uring and Selling purposes, would be pleased to enter¬ tain any suggestions with this object in view.

Very truly yours,

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

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Or-UM* jaw-^c*" L"'n Mi£Kp,i»a

/* \ (nt<rwi« <JGai««flt?uftrtorfrB of Animal aifoto..^

M V, January?,' 191°

Ihomas A Edison,. Inc.

Orange,. N.J. ' f through our localLdealer,

‘”w“u“* ““•2S r,’!““T"

SffiallgJ?«fnular crystals m so = Rosmarln; ■ U-shaped crack near edge.

Hungarian Dance >■ «o .7 * 3ee/to have been scratched

(3) , 80181= Humoresque. & ielody in L , s *, sby the diamond. occasionally found in Edison

r.::ar: , "unf. «. . «*

records. 1 hav~ io records. In fact dealers of otner

by no .«•»» U"‘*“ ^ J opportunity ol inror.li* fro.ptK>tl>«

aoU* 1»»» k"“n 01 ' . / machine. Tka, «er. Jood enou«l,

p„ISo, a. 1 r.«d «t m 1 .o.U noon

t'Cm “lit "«*■• wnr,.h.n on. ;ooo.e

(dl.on raced... «« — ‘I “Urt“a do ‘ot“.«aop «... detects lend.

.« «. -ionl.y Of “• ““'*“^,”1.1.. »»* 0, tie tin. - us to believe that, as soon a if anv defective records turned

rr» - •“ * - -

in snite of' these hindrances.

Very truly yours,.

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

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V IN INDIANA Qj

, Edison Phonographs Records.^ Supplies

3“ MA5SAVE 'BmnaponsJMD.

n/j> cw

Your letta/of the 15th ult. aslri.ue " "llOT

SSmToS So£ sSr«'atto:,5ti»E' to eim J0» a p.porl

tooa,.. a t2^orSa&T»»“-

^■nfl^+hev certainly have done some shooting, ho.. ever ,

SS^gS SiJToSiS?;? «;«*:.: » i”1

serious , and I hope you can do some ohms for xt.

The retail store, of course, lias cost a

EkIKIcTVoS sss^sitoris,1.*?^0 tMl

onaamisiitno a. wmitino

latt-MVlBN STATTJE STAtnCBST VRAMINGHAM CJISKTSSKt - JIASSACnUSDfiTTS

jy-OCt

* hASTMjALLr

My dear Mr. Edison: J^tP* tTWw«» — ^ A) ( jtumtrdtl *

Jusft a final word^in merely reporting my- i

examination of\the,,%3nora''Phonograph,my only idea was ^

to merely paas\on my impressions "for what they were C~ worth':.. Having\had practical experience in Publicity, S in Advertising, \in Promoting,in Salesmanship, and also ■ f in Music, it seente as if I might have some business sw sense as to the market value of things.

A large majority tof buyers do not discriminate between nice differences of tone,- bpt the skilful salesman can make the dullest fees the difference between a Muffler of tone, and a reai Modulator, easily controlled. Then it is etfsy for any salesman that is worth his salt to make a convincing point qf the»bother,,of winding before every record, instated of {after every fifth or sixth. These de¬ sirable points were worked on me quite eloquently, be¬ fore it was known [that, for me, there is but one "Ed-i-so- na“ in the world. |

These points— rmodulation and lees frequent winding — would not swerve real music-lovers who will hear The Diamond Disc before deciding; but as a business man fa¬ miliar with salesmanship, I am quite sure that it is not the part of business wisdom to ignore or under-value the Selling power otf the features named. Any real sales¬ man who knows his business, can easily put these conve¬ niences forwardias essentials, and easily oonverfthe hesitating buyer. This stirred my Business Instinct, and so I juet passed along my impressjtpns of what has to be encountered in the my of business rivalry. In a long and varied business experience I have found it wise to always "watch out" if I wanted to keep at the head of the procession. That is all I had in mind; but as you are no doubt doing this -eery thing, I 'll not permit my genuine interest to make me Hbutt in " aga in-! -

Mr.Thoe A. Edison, Laboratory. ......

Miss Ayers--- l no Miss BuchbinderVYes

A!

\

V

\

Mr. Edison:- \ _

'jfe recommend your consideration of „ Buchbinder ' s services in the'llusical apartment compared with Mies Ayers, because of the following tc|nparison of ..theiiT Musical abilities:

pg:

in addition Miss Buchbinder can use Typewriter and can be useful in Cataloging & coping & rearranging music, doing clerical work and even correspondence when not singing.

Summing up, Miss Ayers has a better voice but does'nt read well and is of no use except for Singing, Miss Buchbinder con read at sight, play Piano when Miss Imgrund is to be used as Alto and be useful in clerical work.

May we not divide the work up between them.

January 16, 1916.

7 Congressman from the 27th

You doubtless remember the ’.Yard boys of ilowark, gtep-aons of the former but no w deceased president of the Prudential.

One of thorn is District of. flew York.

I was talking with him, miner down to Washington, a fow days ago.

X have had the idea, for a long time, of making diamond disc records of the voices of prominent men of today.

I have felt that a groat many of them would be willing to paj a reasonable prSe for a master mould and a hundred or two records struck off from the mould for distribution among their friends, the moulds to be preserved for their posterity.

Ward lias a plan of introducing a bill in Congress to the effect of making phonograph rocords for permanent preservation of the speeches of our prominent statesmen etc. In that case, the Government will paj the bill, and the statesmen will be benefitted.

as I say it would be an oxcellent advertisement for the Diamond Disc and, once incorporated in the annual proceedings of Congress, could bo pulled off for a great many years.

I think Ward and I can put it through.

Y/hat would it cost to make, and what should 1'homas A. Edison, Inc. get for each mould and each record struck from the mould?

Please figure out a price, net to mo, .and I will do the rest.

It will necessitate sending a man down to Washington with a recording machine, for the Congressmen, etc. to cull at their convenience and at statedhours to make the records. They should, of course, prepare a Bpeech beiorehand.

Shore is, of eouraa , a possibility of their being able to use these records for campaign purposes, in which event the advertisement will be evon greater thad the resultant sales of maohinos correspondingly increased.

She plan would, of course, extend to the Senate and the Cabinet Officers.

HUSCIIISOi!.

p-o. Box ies.

Toilet Articles, Neilson’s it- Johnston's Chocolates, Edison cC Victor Goods, Fishing Tackle.

N. E. SVDDABY Drug and Book Store

Kodaks, Typewriter Supplies, Wall Papers, Office Fixtures and Supplies. Fountain Pens, Soda Fountain.

range, K. J.

1 have been told by a traveller from^hej Pacific that Hew Zealand Greenstone is hardedHhan ^0i^or ^

He oays that they use a diamond to poli«* and'^t it .( This may not he true, hut it occurred to me, since, trhk^/if so.itf might he used in place of the diamond point, as it not expensive.J Unless you have some information on this subject, it ^ might he worth investigating.

This is not Japanese Jade, being much greener in color and entirely different in hardness.

On the chance that this may he of some value to you,

Yours very truly,

Mr. W. S. Carpenter of the

T3 t flU Pont de Hemours ana Company, tells us k

that*you are inquiring of him as to what progress V

was being made hy the Arlington Company in the matter of tubing for your cylindrical records.

We regret to say, that up

to the present time, we have no W*1®*®0*"*??®"**8 to report. We are however, continuing our e:f*or*s and experiments, ana our Engineering Department advises that they hope hy about February 1st , to be in a position to report progress, and probably submit samples with cost estimates.

We shall advise you as soon as this report is received, and looking ith possibility of satisfactory business relations with you, we beg to remain

Yours very truly.

IF ITS GASKETS PACKINGS YOU WA WE HAVE THEM

The Gasket Supply Co.

The Standard Gasket Company, Inc.

BUY ALL YOUR GASKETS FROM US AND AVOID MANY ACCOUNTS

“Right" Gaskets, Packings, Washers, Stampings, Punches and Dies

Nfhomas A. Edison, Pros.

] Edison Phonograph Co

u

| J East Orange, II. 3.

j/*, -gjar **

last decemher 1 pnrohaseii one of your Diamond / Disc Phonographs, and am desirous of using some of the Victor records on this machine, hut your printed matter advises strongly that no other than Edison records he used with the Diamond point Eeproducer.

I have asked the Victor Talking HachjLrie Co. to furnish me one of their reproducers, hut theydecline, and state that even with an attachment of their own make the results would not he satisfactory on,, an Edison machine, as the cabinej and sounding box or hoard are not similar, and too they prefer that Victor Records he played on Victor Machines .

X advised them that as- I was poor X could not have both machines, hut after careful consideration had selected the Edison, and that the only thing that I could do if I wanted to have some of their records, whddh I thought that they were willing to sell any one, was to get one of their attachments .

Do you make, or do you know of any one that does make an attachment that will render the Victor Records sat is'f act orsly oh your machine? If so will you kindly let me %ar f$om fo u promptly, with price, and you will greatly

/ ] * j UO-& tSjanuary 17

j "jrwm*a*,YiH

-|>L jf" CUV

Thomas A. Edison, W? V . ,

Orange, New Jersey () \/ „ V/s^.a*w.*« 4vt* !.««**■*

vWWirU^fe ^ rfc

Dear Sir: ^ ^ ^

This is a letter of freak advice, rone of the C many yon receive, perhaps, every day.

I am a sort of a fiend for talking maohine music. X am also a"tinkerern and now and then I try someth on my maohine that is against the printed instructions hut furnishes amusement for me and that is the purpose of takling machines. If you can make them rook the cradle or play the piano-that is amusing.

lately I have been wondering if two sounding pieces would he practical — one to carry the vocal vibration and one to carry the instrumental vibrations— having the two lines parralelling each other, setting one sounding pieoe or transmitter on the opposite side of the record and running another tube into the sound box.

This would necessitate speoial records and it might not be worth while— but it would give more volume and that is what I like— I want the whole state to hear my machine when I am playing.

I am a printer by trade. I have risen to the rank of manager of Montana's largest job printing shop.

As my mother used to say "You waste lots of time on trying to do something easy" but I put this into praotioe in my plant— some of the fool, things I create cause no little amusement — thats what makes life easier.

If one of your fourth assistants could answer this letter I will be heartily satisfied.

Yours truly,

Leland Stamford Junior University

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMI

Stanford University, Cat., Jan. 17* 1916.

*‘-~rr r-.

r, i uc$LJ^ U 4. W y).

^tZ A. Edisfe^n^ __

Advertising Department, v-/yc Vf „ r-f'r'

Orange, N. J. V>^ X r li

urn- r ( ^ f

W your'

Gentlemen:

Tiroular letter of Jp6uary™5cf ieaxing your machine eeyeral times at bco Exposition I bouglyE one and while I your sound reproduction is more satis- i act'or^ than that of any othe/machine, I have been deep- ippointed in my effort to get satisfactory re-

referring Particularly to the y/ooal ones, of the best songarare imposeible beoause of Jpt qual^/of the voices which. you have ichcy

ir records/ I have been forced therefore to the advanjtfage which I hope^to gain from the mdphiityi^ provldlng^lfiyself with a Viotor re¬ producer JiHa Victor records.

Jtoure very truly,

n produoer

1)'^ ,

&CJL (hZ Acj£<^

fcUt adu^ > \

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERgl

Stanford Univorsn

h**1

”tly *° ^ {Kk S^S&'.^sw

Mr. Wm. H. Meadowcraft,

Edison's Laboratory, Orange, N. J.

Dear Sir:

r 27 til I

disappointed in being unable'jjto" seoijre Edison record* by the artists whose names are ^

neotion with grand opera. X need o/fly mention Melba,

Homer, Sohumann-Heink as examples

'VunA (1/u.cm**- t u.- .

could be lengthened very greaUy. Of opyrse X /tried thl

substitutes and have two satisfactory records' by Anna ,w, \

~~y 04® v<?

BTietand Bi^, not wholly satis- — A_pepcer , also a fewjothei^'noneLif^ ,

MjggeAg M&ttu

listened to over a hunSrecl, spending a dp od many afjter-U / $

A.^tV £riv».w»lU.

noons at the task. *- »

I am not a trainel xmBioianrn*a oft|J

« V.-1 + 4 n i am 4a +.>!« AVTlT*fiHS 1 011

Case and one by Alice Ve| factory, by Elizabeth^p|ficer whioh are entirely

music, so what I say in criticism is the^expressi^i of^^ an amateur who knows

Qvf!

to desoribe it in teohV^alv'Teffms.

First, perfectly good son^B are spoiled by| mannerisms, thus in Old Folks at Home Christine Miller spoils the piece by introducing a porfoetly good sob or two whioh makes the performance ridioulouB when the record is heard a seoond time. In Tipperary the musio,

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

2

which is good, is sacrificed to the words, which are trivial, by the singer’s staccato enunciation. It is rather a recitation set to music than a song.

Second, there is often an apparent effort at mere loudness with the result that the true note is smothered in a maze of eohoes.

These are my criticisms of the artists if I am right in my explanation of the second fault.

However it may be that the room in which the original song was sung produced inharmonious echoes.

I cannot tell the oause but the effect is found in the Rosary and Annie Laurie for examples. Generally this defeot is in records of the contralto and tenor voices and in the middle register rather than in the very low or very high notes.

Third, whether due to the voice or the reproducer or something extraneous, many notes - often the high ones - sound as if a tin pan were vibrating in sympathy. I have examined the maohine with great oare in an effort to locate the cause of this blaring and cannot find it. I suspect it is often in the original reoord though I know it is not always to be explained that way. I bought ray maohine of the Emporium store and on my complaint a man oame to examine it , also a man from one of the other stores in San Francisco, neither could

find the oause of trouble,

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

finally i it is "bad business not to allow the return of a record. Some of these defects do not reveal themselves on the trial at the dealer's shop but appear as soon as the record is put on my own maohine whloh is a new one and an expensive one, and this discourages me in trying to collect a stock of Edison voice records.

You will observe that my reference is to vooal records only.

I may add that I have compared mine with two other high priced Edison machines in my neighborhood and the objectionable features are as prominent in both cases as in that of my own. X have asked one of my friends, Professor A. C. Whitaker, to write you of his own exper¬ ience. If you can make helpful suggestions we shall appreciate it.

Very truly yours,

HBPOHT OS PHONOGRAPH SAECHAHIUH Aim HOBS COHSTIdJCTED AT THE i'OHD FAOTOHT

Hr. Edlaon:-

X have examined the meotenism, built at the Ford Plant, very care¬ fully and wish to make the following report;

The only radical ohange in this design over our present model is the use of a single casting combining Top Plate, Turn Table, 3nlndle Bracket & Barrel Shaft Support Braoket.

Advantages;- (1) Hoatness in appearance.

(2) Two castings, (one for single Barrel Typo, and one for double Barrel Type) to handle, instead of 4 as on our present model.

(3) Saves total of 14 drilled holes.

(4) Has more rigid construction.

(5) Ho profiling.

Di sadvantagos ; -

(1) Loss on large castings due to blow holes & slips in machining.

(2) More dil'fioult to got oa3tings to run uniform so that holoo will oome central with various lugs and bosses.

(3) More expensive easting because of 2 or 3 cores roquirod.

(4) Loss from handling complicated casting.

(5) Difficulty in drilling the Governor and Turn Table Spindle Holes accurately because of distance from edge of the casting.

(6) Great first cost of Jigs and special machinery required, we have machine almost finished to drill 21 of the 23 holeB in Top Plate at one operation. This will save 3 or 4 men and produce 300 Top Plate in 10 hours.

V/e have in use now machine Jigs for Turn Table Spindle Bracket which operates very satisfactorily.

Machines aro being built for the Barrel Shaft Support Castings.

when those ace all in operation a big saving will bo effected with a relatively low initial cost.

(7) Complication on production beowuse Of 2 pattoms required for ainglo and double Spring models. On prosent model our Top Plato is used on all modolo. Also one Spindle Braoket . Wo have 2 Barrel Shaft patterns but these are small castings and oaBily handled and quickly moulded and machined.

(8) Will have to change model entirely to use single oustings as this moans a different spring barrel construction. (To bo explained later).

(9) Die Ford model Is for double spring typo whioh has a shorter winding shaft than single spring. This method of oaeting would uot allow the assembly of the long winding shaft used on single spring typo and would moan changes of winding shaft construction.

Tho sooond improtant point in the doslgn of this model Is the re-arrangement of tho Spring Barrels.

Our prosent oonetruotion makes tho Main Spring Barrel. Winding Gear and Barrel Shaft one piece. This holde spring barrel rigidly and distributes tho pull of opring on to Barrel Shaft Bearings, whioh are stationary, while machine io playing, thfto doing away with any trouble from lack of lubrication at this point, and also relieving the Barrel Covor.v/hioh io a punching of any strain form the spring.

<5?

satisfactory, for it non 6 email so r era. Eho hoi tapped at ono operation All othor Edison machine. I would parts are the oxponaive

A model of — . - -

Chis horn differed from our standard in shape and design. It is made of one pieoe blonoked and folded into shape. Also the wire around the bell was loft out.

We have found that the tone is injured by ohnngeing the shape of tlus horn, and also by leaving out the wire on the bell. Iho tool cost on this horn would bo very higi, but moat serious are the flat sides formed by bonding up from ono place* _ .

I \vioh to point out that tho brass brackets now usod on our horns will shortly be roplaoed by oast iron brackets at a saving of approximately 10 £ per horn. Also we are arranging to substitute a tube made from scrap tin in place of the brass tube now used. We are also making arrangements to make the Pood Hack and Frame in one pieoe instead of two, and of lighter stock. I estimate that about 20(1 per horn will be saved by those improvements.

Assistant Chief Engineer.

JPC iHSH

January 10 th. 1016.

floaae 3<ooj> In mind tho results desired, a of thin niomo, as you aro responsible for those oonduoting tho toots la left ontlroly to your o

outlined a jimlts, sun 1 jud(jnsnt.

tho beginning manner of

John E. Constable, Anal ot ant Chief Engineer.

Ji'CiUSH

Hob ora.

Edison, Ventres, Leaning, and file.

Thomas A. Edison, inc.

Engineering 2>epavtment motice

IN REFERENCE TO SUGGESTION FOR IMPROVEMENT No.

RECOMMENDED BY APPROVED BY

N0..I.A6 .

. DATE..J=»>

APPROVED BY

Pleaso note that lor nomotimo past, ao Disc or Amborola Reproduoera have haen sent to Mr. 0.3. Hayes for toot. As Mr. Edison dosiras to koop in touch wi th the Reproducer manufacturing, the following procedure will take effect immediately.

Mr. Halpin will take from a stoek of minimum of twelve (12) Diso Reproducers and six ( 6) Amborola Reproduoors per week, and deliver same to Mr. Hay pa for teat. Mr Hayes will report on thorn directly to me, and 1 will report to Mr. Edison on general report from Mr. Halpin'a Dep't.

Hr. Hayes will use his judgment regarding the numbor of Reproducers tested above tho minimum given above. Ho will also arrange these toBto so that as little delay ao possible occurs, to prevont a hold up of production.

John P. Constable,

Assistant Chief Engineer.

0.0. to Messrs. Edison. Chao. Edison, Wilson, Looming, Bachman,

Ventres, J.E.M. Simpson, Halpin, C.3. Hayea, and file.

CHIEF ENGINEER

announcing and adverting Dora Becker, this lady lives in Newark and is married to one of the public Bbhool principals here, I had a number of people ask me if we had any of her records until today I was ignorant as to whom they refered to I understand this woman is an accomplished violinist and well known in the East playing at a number of musical entertainments and concerts, she made all Betinni's Violin records, until he moved his laboratories to Paris, she has never played for the Victor and is anxious to have some of her records made on the Edison, Mr. C. G. Shaffer her husband is an Edison Diamond booster. I would suggest you send this literature over to Mr. Edison for his consideration, she is playing at the Eliot School January 21st. this would be an opportunity for us to hoar her and pass on her ability .

Yours Truly

Prank J. Higgins.

UKu£m| -%UyrxK<U*U

R E D ERIC A. WHITINlM Ci^Wt 1^** W«-

LEVEN STATE STREET W-J JLo-t

RAMINCHAM : ! MASS. > ^ ' , f ' ,

», d.«r «Sdl3-U«U.^'*“ *"

That shows that you do not realise my attitude. I have not made any "criticism. " I huve only aimed to give (possibly) information regarding other instruments competing with " uuru. " (Note that I do not say Youro. I eay Ours because my personal interest is identical with your own, and hardly less. )

not, furniture. True. But in a phonograph the two aro inseparable. ’You can't prevent its being furniture. land if it can bo pieusing or unobtrusive; or ^different" furniture, and yet suprome musically , you win a big advantage over- the mero phonograph >housed in the conven-

t ional , ph on opraph I am around among homos, and I know

,boxy typo of furniture.

it ovor-painto tho rocord and t.ho singer, but it interooto,and helps make tho music effective.

Thio is why I keep my records (about 250 of thorn) in tho cases ir.stoad of in tho cabinot—nnd I find othero like to do thin also.

For mo then, I would like a laboratory Edioona without tho lower part, — nimilar to tho "80”— to plaoo on a hoavy library table. It would bo leeo objectionable ao furniture by far, and would bo convenient, a3 tho records to be exhibited could be on the table, at tho Bide of tho phono¬ graph. Suroly such an instrument (roally an enlarged and perfected "80") could bo furnished for about $100. — and ono could put tho differ¬ ence into records! Then I could morn easily tako it to my summer heme, by the sea. I convert¬ ed more than ono liotonor into buyers, last sum¬ mer, to tho benefit of "Thou A. Edison, Inc!'— but not a nickol of advantage for me— just my sin¬ cere loyalty and enthusiasm!

Two days ago, in Boston,I called at 192 Boylston Stroet,whGro the Vocalion has opened vory attract ivo rooms. Mr. Martin attended to my caoe. Ho has

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

You have asked me to say something on my birthday. Ibeliei 5 younger every year. I hope you are, too.

'ind us doing Btill big

bigger things today than we were a ; Btill bigger things. We, here at

year ago. Next year

the Diamond Disc. We have promised to Re-Create some of the symphonies.

I am spending my birthday in the new Recording Laboratory working on plar for Re-Creating these symphonies. I know of no better way to spend a bii day. I know every Edison dealer will be glad to hear this.

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

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The Breaking cfc 7/lnding Cranks on Iliac Phoniftrranh. . A f 3 been investigating the cauae '-*■• ' '" ‘

Hmerlcan Stool and Wire Company in thoir testing laboratory, and have a comparison botv/oon those differontgtools ami the stoei. that me areynow ■icing. To t%- %rr ^ ifr^V

Ig^oonding yuu a piooo of our twist ^off'"'

n a «wHK, and also a piece of nickel steel which I was unable to break by twisting. Tlfis nickel stool looks very good, but the price i3 very high, about toonty-one conta a pound (21j!) . I have taken the following steps to overcome thi3 trouble a3 quickly as possible. CJL^

First: X liave clianged the sha^^^^^hread^o'uiatfeste^Jjf having a very sharp "V" threadJa Whitworth' thread is used, this I1A3 a round bottom to the thread, and makes it stronger. This thread will not intorraar with the use in machines already on the market, as it is intorohangeable/wi th the old

winding cranks as soon as this can poa3ible be done. This atoel we know is very excellent stock, and it will only be.a'mattor of a few days before we can begin using it in the manufacture of winding cranks. I am also in com¬ munication with tho Crucible Steel Company of America to see what they would recommend for this use, that iSj^afbetter steel then we are using at present, and not as expensive a3 the ni-clcel steel, sample of which I am sending you.

1 a3 the^iji-Ckel steel, sample of which I am sending yov

" 'XLoAst L*f^

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AssistanUdhief Engineer.

January 21, 1916.

Mr. Edison:

I have taken up with leeming the question of oahinets, light production, unfilled orders, etc., and he is now working on a report covering the entire situation, which will he in your hands tomorrow. This will apply not only to the Phonograph end of the business hut also to the Bates end.

cm/im

'■’Jp'

to Mr. Edison I think I had better ask you to make a memorandum to reply to each of the points specified by Ur. UacDonald.

In order to save Ur. Edison's time;and so that he shall not have to refer from one paper to another, I have had a copy of Mr. Macdonald's letter, made and will have a liberal space left between each question, so that you can write your answer after the question, and then Mr. Edison con read right along.

V.'. H. MEADOWCROEME.

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

47 Hobson Street, Brighton, Mass. Jan'. 19th. 1916.

Thos. A. Edison,

Orange, H. J.

Attention of wm. H. Headowcroft, Asst

Dear Sir,-

beg to say that ll'your repre-^J

In reply to yours of Dec. 28th, - „ — ry . .

sentative called at my home yesterday and gave my disc phonograph ^an / / \ overhauling with the result that it appears to be running better than ,

at any time since its purchase about two and one-half years ago. JGry* J wish to thank you for your attention to this matter and appreciative your desire to give satisfaction. Vr\Yg

Being engaged on business along mechanical 'engineering lines\

I have been very much interested in the mechanical features of these \ machines aside from its beautiful qualities on sound reproduction. In this connection may I offer a few remarks concerning its construction from the standpoint of machine design rather in the way of suggestion than criticism, such remarks being based on its actual use as we have J found it. A/OTt - «« «« ^’V^P*

1. In order to "graphite" the springs, holes fitted with plugs are provided on the circumference of the casing; presumably it being ex¬ pected that the graphite will find its way inward between the coils

of the spring as it opens and closes. Is it not more the tendency for the graphite to work its way outward rather than inward and the only practical way for its introduction is from the sides when the spring is open. It seems very doubtful if filling the casing at the plugs mentioned will ever get the graphite in to where it will do any good.

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CWWA, Xa.~SKSA AjjVA.VAA.^.

VVt /uW IAaA. (Ua) ’•W"

2. Springs with casing and gear turn on a stationary shaft, but no means are provided for oiling this shaft.

‘ - 0~V 5UaA* 'v^v -

VV^ ^ ^ w *1

vLf - ^

CATaI A-X

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

3. The blocks forming the bearings for the horizontal shafts have the holes bevelled on the outside end, in some places apparently with the expectation that the oil from the supply tube will flow in better.

The fact that some of these bearings frequently run dry show that this

.t some of these bearings frequently run dry show that this t effective]) there being little tendency for the oil to aring but instead dropping down on the bottom of the wood-

1^. u. ot— p — ^

4. As before mentioned is not the thrust bearing on shaft carrying the spiral gear which drives the vertical shaft located on the wrong end as assembled in the factory. ^

t^rErf ^

Would not the motor run more quietly if the brass spiral gear driv- ;he governor shaft was made with a wider face. As it is now the is so narrow that when running at a high speed as it does each i strikes a miniature blow on its meshing tooth rather than giving imooth gliding motion that it should. .

^ *1 *

In connection with the development of. thfeopho no graph is it possible to secure a "write up" giving its complete iiistory since its inception including both "hill and dale" add "lateralXcuts" with photc graphs of different machines and microscopic photograph enlargements of the surface of the records. I am .anxious to secure such informa¬ tion in order to prepare an illustrated lecture on the phonograph up to its final development on the diamond disc and will appreciate any such information which might serve to mutual advantage./

As**- truly yours,

(signed) J. V.’. f/ Macdonald.

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

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[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

Jan. 25th. 1916.

Mr. J. V. . F. Macdonald,

47 Hobson Street,

Brighton, Mass.

Dear Sir:

Replying to your favor of the 19th instant, 1 beg to reply to your questions in the order of their number.

1. In our latest type of instrument graphite rolled into the springs when they are c mill. T.e still have a little trouble, and v:e this all the time.

we use dry soiled at the re working on

graphite care of.

2. There is an oil hole in the spring casing, and oil in the spring, lubrication of tho shaft

T.ith is taken

3. The point you make under this number has been taken care of, and changes have been made accordingly in our latest model.

4. We have found on investigation that on account of poor inspection a number of instruments were sent out with gover¬ nor shafts in wrong.

5. This could only be ascertained after a great many experiments and with a large number of machines. We expect to take this up when wo have some more leisure.

In regard to the information you desire as to the de- • velopmont of the phonograph and records, I would refer you to the following-: (1) "Edison; His Life and Inventions by Dyer and Martin also "Boys' Life of Edison" by Meadowcroft, both published by Harper & Brothers; (2) description of thelateralcutsyBtem in Scientific American Supplement #766, of September 6th, 1890, (3) for photog micrographs of vertical and lateral systems, scientific American, Uoverabor 13tli, if6-

Yours very truly.

Assistant to fir. Edison.

Copies to Messrs. Edi

Charles Edison, Uambert

In line .with your memorandum to Mr. Edison of yesterday, re¬ garding Phonograph and hates Production:

Please note that I will advise Monday afternoon the situation on eaoh size and finish of phonograph that we manufacture, both Diso and Cylinder. . I am unable to give you this information at this moment booauso our weekly inventory showing the situation on unfilled orders, ole. is not completed until the olose of business today. I will have thiB inventory Monday morning.

With reference to Bates Manufacturing Department Production:

While the sales for tho past 4 weofcB have been on a much lower basis than the weeks immediately previous, it is nevertheless a faot that the value of tho product manufactured for 8 or 10 weeks past has been approximately the same eaoh week. ilr. Burnham, Sales Manager of tho Bates Manufacturing Co., has for several months been endeavoring to secure through the Western Eleotrio Co., purchasing agents for the Western Union holograph Co., what will undoubtedly prove to be a very large and satisfactory business in a special type of numbering machine and engraved slugs. Sovorul weeks ago a second trial order for 142 machines and 1134 - 1, 2 and 3 letter engraved slugs was placed with us with the understanding that when a certain number of machines und slugs were oompleted, the Weetorn Union would send an engineer to our plant to inspect them. Por 4 weeks paBt , during whioh period our manufacture of regular pro¬ duction has been reduced, thus affecting our saleB, we have been manufacturing against this Western Union special order. Several days ago, tho Western Union Co. were notified to send their engineer, but there appears to have grown up, some hitch between the' Western Union and the Western Electric Co. , anti as yot tho goodB are unshipped. 2he value of tho finished product, however, is sufficient to bring the sales of the pastn4 woekB to a point sovoral hundred dollars in excess of the sales for tho preceding weekB. In view of tho present unoertain oondition regarding these special maohines, I have oaused further manufacture to bo stopped on the unfinished portion of the order and have started the department on a full overtime Bohadulo on our regular produotion wh'fdh will have a tendency to pull down un¬ filled orders very rapidly. We have all neoeBsary available parts for qulok assembling.

She manner in whioh we are manufacturing these special machines on trial orders for the Western Union is unsatisfactory, and several days ago I took up with Ur. Burnham the question of Beouring from t&em as early as possible a definite order or oontraot for a quantity of these maohines and speoial engraved slugs whioh would warrant our produolng proper toolB and gauges so that the manufacture from time to time of small quantities of the speoial maohines and slugs oould be effeoted without materially affooting the production of our regular produot. Mr. Burnham, I understand, is now working on this matter, together with the question of releasing the goods already manufactured.

HE1.BB E* LsetaiEB

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THE ACACIAGOLD MINING COMPANY

RADO SPRINGS, COI.O., 3-3 /£>

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[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

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[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

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Jlcc-^ilo crt',.,.Uo

January 24, 1016

Supplementing my Memo. of Jan. 22 regarding Phonograph and Bates Produotion:

V. Union .nohlnoo tint lav. boon oomplot.i nn» which were mentioned in my Memo.

With referenoe to Phonograph produotion:

PleaBe note that on the Amherola 3Q phonograph we will have

1000 per week.

With reference to the Amherola 50_!_b :

SS Sas60IlSfn".!"'FXSt.SSS«t.

55"5 p” “«t“S Se lao to tie «"tonot nonnfaoturo.n ...to .0*. this week included.

sSSSfiSS®

additional Shinota on hlnd, awaiting further orders.

Share are none of this type in weathered oak on order. There are 62 phonographs in packed stock.

Fumed oak - none on order, and 99 paoked in stook.

With referenoe to the Amherola 75 phonograph:

There are 444 on immediate shipping order and 6

to handle further orders promptly.

wgassssss*

before the end of next week.

Amherola 76 fumed oak phonographs - Hone on order; 10 paoked in stook.

Amherola 76 weathered oak phonographs - Een4 on order; none in stook. Same condition as golden oaks.

-2-

Dlso type 100

Mahogany phonographs - 76 on^ immediate shipping «a "» ®“ “ gji 1

{SS’ttSrfJ? Sl2°Ihonog?aphBBpSdU?i stoSkf a£d 1600 ofbinets either^finished or nelSy i° held up hy me with the manufaoturers.

Golden oak phonographs - 347 on immediate order: 36 on Feb. 1 order, total 382. None in stook. (45 (on Pet. 1 order,

Fumed oak phonographs - 87 on imniediateorder,4 on future order, total 136, against whioh 52 are packed in stock.

Weathered oak phonographs - 30 on immediate order; 2 Feb. 1 order,

4 future order^ total 36, against whioh 2 are packed in stook.

Bo take oare of golden, fumed and weathered oak _ type 100 •Dhono graphs beyond thate that are paoked in stook, there are 126 cabinets** in our Finishing Department being brought through in the. various oak finishes and also f6 “ ^eek!

•pn*r*+h«r shiuments 'bei.nR made at tlie rate ox aDOUt l<5p per we ok.

The situation on the various finishes of oak A-100 phonographs

The situation on tne various should very rapidly adjust itself.

Jiao type 150

order ; 120 on future orders and 100 held up, a total of 871 on oruer.

Bhere are in addi-

2“at Silver lake and 331 oabinetB in our Finishing I

that the situation on mahogany type 160 will very rapiuiy oieur

SS? m^ing°a°?otalBof '

and 18 oabinets in the Sawtooth Building.

/ arePat Silver lake b'eing brought through in this finish.

K5M mas 1

71 oabinets are at Silver lake being brought through in this finish.

.* **s s=££ assrtras cft.'ssrt^r*

shipments being made by the manufaoturers daily. Jon oan readily Bee Sat the situation on the oak 160's will very rapidly clear up accord-

Ur. Yiilson Jan. 24, 19X6

Dlao type BOO

Mahogany phonographs - 30 on Immediate shipping order; 77 on Feb. 1 order: 70 hold up and 10 on future orders, making a total of 192 against whioh there are 807 mahogany phonographs in stock; 29 oabinetB in the Sawtooth Bldg., and 77 oahinets in our Finishing Dept. In addition to this there are approximately 800 oahinetB hither finished or praotioally so held up by me with the cabinet manufacturers.

Golden oak phonographs - 93 on immediate shipping order, 16_ on Feb. 1 order, a total of 109, against which there are none in paoxod stock, but 82 cabinets are at Silver lake and 125 at Orange being brought through in this finish.

Fumed oak phonographs - 26 on immediate shipping order, 11 on Fob. 1 order. 2 on future orders, a total of 39, against which 254 are in packed stock, with 17 additional cabinets in the Sawtooth Bldg, and 18 cabinets at Silver lake.

Weathered oak phonographs - 2 on immediate shipping order , 4 on Fob. 1 order, 2 If utui-e;; , making a total of 8, against which 33 are packed in stook.

In additional to the above there are 72 oak oabinets now in transit to us and further shipments from the manufacturer are being made every week, but on a reduced schedule as I am holding them back.

Diso type 260

Mahogany phonographs - 1026 on immediate shipping order ; 208 on Feb. 1 order; 100 on future order, making a total of 1331, against whioh there are li in packed stook, 24 oabinets are in the Sawtooth Bldg. £ are in the Finishing Department. Share are in addition 100 finished mahogany oabinets now in transit to us and the manufacturers are pro¬ ducing between 80 and 100 finished oabinets per day. linooln at Philadelphia has 600 of this type which he starts shipping today, at the rate of 50 per day, and another BOO will follow after this auantity with a gap of only a few days. She BrunsWiok-Balke-Col- lender Co. at Dubuque are averaging about 35 per day, butofoourse all of these do not come to Orange, as a great number of them are Pat up by our Dubuque Assembling Plant. I expect very shortly to have the mahogany 260 type on a basis of 100 oabinets per day and will con¬ tinue at^thia rate until the proper stook has been aooumulated bythe manuf aotur erB , in addition to taking oare of unfilled orders at this end.

English brown phonographs)- type 250 -

039 o? immediate order and 16 on Fob. 1 order total 364. Phi8 is a Bpeoial finish and you will reoall that when the notloe when out to the trade last Fall, we told them that we would bring through a time as many of this finish as they ordered promptly, on receipt of our bulletin. After a reasonable time had elapsed, we t ?®k ordersin hand and totaled them up and gave instruction to the cabinet manufacturers to finish that quantity in English brown mah g y.

It 1. apparent t?.CTer_tt»t m.Jjnl.h^.^aga^pnl^ l»f..r. n

SBiSSSe“S Srt^oS? continue this

?SLsf.i°s a JAS&j rs sKsss^ss t •rSSSi'S SWPSSK- “e °““

S€ SiSSSS' - - " ~

,„ed oo* phonographs - j™ Zto ; Mi »?«

5^fc£T£'t£' !atSf“ ,.h!n.t.ein onr Wni.h- ing Dept.

Weathered oak phonographs “J^e ; |®£ “ totali7I!0againsthwhiohS6Oare

ssssskus - -

up the situation on oak 260*80 Dlao type 275

88 on l_.dl.to of 1.. ;“S„^“K”l3“lSenrt?“f «£».

approximately 100 inside of 6 wee ^ ontJlB before any more are There will then he a lapse or sev r has teen to

available as aur policy nfa Jear ' a£d iUrtiolpatlon of this, we bring through one cutting a ye ■» i«te summer so as to

oall upon all Jobbers ^1thetholidays. Bhe 88 maohines

make deliveries approximately before failure to sup-

^nestas r&sjgisk: s&xtfsz & ..

““£8 S*S 5S!.S'.rf”.S to ,hloh ... loonoh loot joar.

8 on immediate order; none

in sight for Beveral months.

Mr. Wilson Jan. 24, 1916

-6-

Diso type 450

4 on immediate order and none in 'Bight for an indefinite period as all Circassian Walnut, and walnut with the Circassian ealnut veneer for the manufacture of thl3 type has been exhausted and no further supplies from abroad are in. sight. Shis market is being watohed very carefully and just as soon as a suitable quantity for our next season's supply can be had, it will be purohased.

HTL.BB

Copies to Messrs. Edison, Charles, Edison, Mambert

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

WASHINGTON

Acme Grain Company, Limited

UNION TRUST BUILDING

Winnipeg, Man.. January ?.f>, :l91G^ f—

4u, J&ZZpL

, TT.S.A.

, 1

- '-L~f—i -rr:- ,*d#-a caa^uc

mscylne

■" of your records I take thei liberty Pf /\rTi> LtT'|^

■ *° jj^uS

of interest to 1

Dear Sir:~

As an admirer of the sumer' r be of

i onlooker who nossibly sees some points if the yameAhat, may^

w. ^ j>**~ <m r *** ^

Ymr recording

the female voice andthe Pianc/|are produced being aline sufficient to stamp the instrurgirtas^^os^t.^If ^ whore it in in prodttein^n^m^_to^B^ore^ gtra

Accompaniments to

short any-

LA.L C/-v~C

a or band offectp.1

OwLd ttuX ■vwtt-rv

•«X cjuxvo ,„av not.be prottonnc^d enough. 1

-iTAft c UtLW t e. '*-i\ .

ilVsit as unsurpassed. 1 '

hut for delicate resulVsitTs unsurpassed. \J

ITo great 1

artistes, it being recognized Jhjbt jthe groat reformer JL .

:orrt oncl'''£hot so many have oontrodtpd Ab-opd

te •v^To ^ |1v^

always moke a good recort v;ith other makers.

i.v

I„ r.goct g£jjg>$X3Z‘ 'a iriticism, viz. in the subject matter of the records yon publish.

The public who con app^ec^teybhe^beaut^^^woijk mrf$™JLc>

and

Waltz Hesitations, ephi and other freak music, prefer you r machine, ■ better class music.

ireciateK# _

&-u-T 7

q pay your high prices do;

.J$evs\ popular' songsT Hawaifcn orchABiras ^S/F^^^yYa ^T^the .T'i&'ti.* taste to ;hoy have the ear and the toctg>tw prefer

<&

Acme Grain Company, Limited

UNION TRUST BUILDING

WINNIPEG. MAN..

That section of the public who pays morn attention to the price itself rather than results can be much better served by the other makers who have a much more extensive list, cheaper machines and cheaper records, Per instance,

"A Perfect Day" is a greater, wort of art on the Bdison Disc than the Rigoletto quartette with Caruso on the Victor.

Slizabeth Snencer gives a much more satisfactory result than Madame Melba on the Victor. But for all practical purposes the Cecile Y.'altz on the Victor fills the bill and a choap machine does the rest. You cannot compete. I do not moan to suggest the elimination of the more popular music but I appeal for a more equitable proportion. Your Supplement TIo. 49 is typical. The three essentials to a pood record are the recording, the performance, and the subject. You hove the first par excellence, no exception is taken to your connect¬ ions in the second respect, but you do publish some awful rubbish, A Doe Fight on an ISdison Disc looks like sacrilege.

I quite realize that you should know what sellB best but you cannot escape the responsibility of having as principal a genius for striving after and' obtaining improving results. Several of my friends are owners of Bdison Diamond Diac machines and my observations lead me to the conclusion that their tastJChas been so- much improved thereby that nothing- but high class music

Acme Grain Company, Limited

Union trust building

Winnipeg, man..

-3-

anpeels to thorn. Thoy have already pot wore then they want of the other hind and wont stock any more. They may hear it once or twice in the show rooms hut they hr.ow from ex¬ perience that it would he dead stock at home in a week.

Anythin# you can do to modify your present output in this connection will bring its own reward. I hove no doubt that any big salesman will confirm ray remarks on this

head,

Mr. Edii

In regard to the attached correspondence, yoU have heard a trial of Dora Becker and your remarks were:

"Pretty fair violinist"

She was sent to us hy Ur. Sloane of Newark. X took the matter up with you later and you were not disposed to make any records of her at the present time for the reason that we had quite a number of violin records already in stock and would only record attists of exceptional merit.

W. H. Miller

Q&ja VocaLo* k-t**

JUI I ifM»« ■4<<*5A.-Sf*"* +■

— . - . y, - ~7 n«*<

'.■*$ M f.iiw, ‘tfw*. ^

X n Hare is a very.itsix rough and V-N Voff-hand Hiiggastlon of a library deoh |

jor table, concealing a phonograph. f

i a when not in uaeo muBically,it v

/ nay be an unobtrusive, even attractive ' piece of parlor or library furniture, with a few books thereon, or an oriental rug thrown over it, divesting it of all phonographic appearance.

H I have never seen anything of this plan or idea utilised. It occurred to me when noting a library table of our

own _ that the two sides afforded room

for the motor on one side and for rec¬ ords on the other; and the cost need be less than the cost of the present stereotyped designB in very common use.

Of coprBe this sketch is only suggestive.

It is all out of proport 3 on;but th<7 is there ,and I don't Bee why it is not practical— and very profitable. ; J Yours very truly^.

Framingham, Hass ,

January 26,1916.

Millard F Rodgei

5f

Summer Street \Malden, Massachuseti

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Thos. A. Edison, Esq. East 0 range.

Hew Jersey.

%■

January 28th, 1916,

LQ^ &&****f

^<r^sL..

Bear fair:— , ‘•'*** {

A little over a yeur ago, I had Vne pleaBUj-e offneeting £ » you in company with Br. K. 5. liatheson. President of the Georgia p*$\ School o* Technology. At the time of that interview we heard CVw**- for the first tine, one of your new Bionond Bloc Phonographs. Beep^. ly impressed with the wonderful quality of this music, 1 purchased one of your two hundred dollar instruments from the auison ohop in Hew York, and although it lias been a source of great pleasure, I almost immediately recognized that there was something lacking and quickly discovered a method of supplying this need.

I am sneaking from the standpoint of a musician, and it is something which would he greatly appreciated by all musicians.

It will raise the instrument very much the estimation °f a11 musicians whether professionals or amntuefsjf ^y^hvention would in a short time serve to almost double the usefulness of the phono¬ graph and is oxtrenoly simple and inexpensive.

One of the best patent attorneys in the City has prepared my application for patent and entered the same, and as I have been for many years in sympathy with your splendid work, I am offering to you, the first opportunity of utilizing this invention.

In addition to the practical valu^f my idea, and its usefulness, it will contltute a powerful^ new taking point for selling the Edison Biamond Bisc Phonographs. It is something tnat would be in almost universal demand and something that the otner Companies could not evon approach, and taowingsoraething of the strenuous effort that your company is making ipfeompotition with other phonograph companies, and as I have even personally consider¬ ed the possibility of establishing with my own capital a jobbing and rotail agency in Atlanta, Georgia, I can assure you of the ex¬ ceptional value of this proposition from the salesman s point of view.

I would bo pleased to discuss this with you at an early date, and will call at your office in East Orange at any day and hour that you may appoint.

Yours sincerely.

[ATTACHMENT/ENCLOSURE]

January 29th. 1916.

Ur. Udison:-

Roport of Commercial Phono Graphs tested from Jan 14th, to Jan 29th

Inclusive

.a=i&Q_i_c=aaa_i_G=25Q.

Noisy whon received.

Drunken Gov.

Noise Novelopod.

Ilinor Nofoots.

ilo. 'i’oetod. Noisy Ho. O.K.

Amborola-30

Amberola-50

90 fill

January 29, 1916.

Ur. T. A. Edison, Hr. Chas. Edison: -

At your suggestion, 1 havo boon devoting bonsiaerablo thought to tho question of tine necessary to .get work through tho Diso Mould Division. After a oareful /study. I boliovo that tho time elapsed between the reooipt I 0f tho White Wax Master and tho delivery of the Working Llould to the Diso Rooord Division Bhould not oxooed 18 days under porfeot conditions. This time can bo further reduced to 12 days if tho so called "short out" method, Wherein tho making of a sooond Master Mould is omittfcd, is used.

■/ I believe the trouble in the past ha3 been

aue to various delays whioh may bo sub-divided as follows:

(1) The delay in finishing the Working Liouid after Ur. Edison has approved the selection, due to¬ tal Doss of time in Hopair Hoorn;

(h) ° " " from laok of Labels

(S) Loss of tine in getting Ur. Edison's approval of Selection;

(3) Humorous small aolays whioh will bo

aosoribod later.

After a careful consideration of tho situation from ovory angle, 1 would rospootfully suggoBt tho following remedies:

(1) (a) The present method of procedure is for tho Master Moulds from tho remaining two duplicate Master Hoaords to be completed after Ur. Edison lias approved sample print from tho first Master Record to be plated.

; . , Throo prints from each of tho throo Hastor Moulds are thon forwardod to the Hopair Hoorn, and from tho inspection end tost of those nine prints it is dotorrained Just whioh Master Mould will bo used for tho making of tho Sooona Master Print from whioh