Edison produced a machine to print gold quotations instead
of merely indicating them. The attention of the president of the Gold
and Stock Company was attracted to the success of the wonderful young
inventor.
"Edison had produced quite a number of inventions. One of these was the
special ticker which was used many years in other large cities, because
it was so simple that it could be operated by men less expert than the
operators in New York. It was used also on the London Stock Exchange.
"After he had gotten up a good many inventions and taken out patents for
them, the president of the big company came to see him and was shown a
simple device to regulate tickers that had been printing figures wrong.
This thing saved a good deal of labor to a large number of men, and
prevented trouble for the broker himself. It impressed the president so
much that he invited Edison into his private office and said, in a stage
whisper:
"'Young man, I would like to settle with you for your inventions here.
How much do you want for them?"
"Edison had thought it all over and had come to the conclusion that, on
account of the hard night-and-day work he had been doing, he really
ought to have five thousand dollars, but he would be glad to settle for
three thousand, if they thought five thousand was too much. But when
asked point-blank, he hadn't the courage to name either sum--thousands
looked large to him then--so he hesitated a bit and said:
"'Well, General, suppose _you_ make _me_ an offer.
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