Thomas A. Edison Talks of His Search for Radium and of the Future of Electricity

Says Marconi Is Right and Tesla Wrong as to the Means of Talking from One Side of the World to the Other.

Thomas A. Edison has been devoting his days for some time past to a keen search for radium, the newly discovered metal which promises such wonderful results in healing the sick, making the blind to see and curing malignant cancers.

In an interview with a representative of The World at Menlo Park a few days ago Mr. Edison said:

"I have hunted for this new substance in a thousand places and chemically examined no end of specimens of ore from different mines and mountains, but thus far have not succeeded in finding it in any quantity. I have, however, reached some decided conclusions on the subject.

"Radium is similar to X-rays in its power to pass through substances, and its effects are apparently as injurious to investigators. This is specially true of the X-rays. My wife is unwilling to have me experiment with them any more. One of my eyes was drawn out of focus, and my stomach was more or less affected, so that I was seriously inconvenienced in my laboratory work. Besides this, my assistant died about a year ago from the effects of their baneful influence; and now his brother, another assistant, is suffering from a red discoloration of the flesh on his breast and arms, although he has not been making any X-ray experiments for a year. Strange that the injury from their influence should only manifest itself twelve months after laboratory investigations ceased!"

"What have you under way now?" inquired the World representative. "Do you believe with Tesla that we shall be able to talk around the world one of these days?"

"No," answered the Wizard, "I do not look for developments in that line. The wonderful thing that will be more and more developed is wireless telegraphy. Marconi is all right and is bound sooner or later to perfect his system. He has just been married, and is not working as hard at present as be did at first. But he will come out all right, and we shall have the oceans bridged by wireless telegraphy. That was a remarkable performance the other day when the steamship Campama was never out of communication with one side or the other of the Atlantic ocean. It shows what we are coming to.

"Cables will not be superseded. Business will only be increased for both wireless and cable companies, just as the telegraph and telephone supplement each other.

"The Japs are making splendid use of wireless telegraphy in the present war with Russia. They are a wonderful little people and are up to date in everything. They will revolutionize things in the Orient when the war is over, and will spur on China to be more like the Western nations.

"I admire the Japs because they are up to date. I don't believe in war and am a man of peace. The only kind of war that interests me is one between the great captains of industry, in which the one with the biggest brain wins every time. The Japs when once peace is declared will enter upon an industrial campaign and buy all the improved labor-saving machinery they can. Then they will make things lively for us.

"The machine nations will lead the world and decide the issues between the other countries."

"What do you mean by machine nations?"

"Why," replied the Wizard, "those that use labor-saving machinery. In the last analysis the three or four great nations of the world will be those that are up-to-date in making and manufacturing goods cheaper and better than any one else and will be more intelligent and wide-awake. Commerce will be the great thing after all, which nations will strive after.

"Coming back to wireless telegraphy again, cannot the messages be intercepted by outsiders?

There is not the least danger from that," said the Wizard in reply. "Any important message by cable or overland even now is sent by code, and that is what will be done when wireless messages are sent. When you forward a cable message from New York to London it goes through the hands of four or five operators. And the way you protect your secret is by using code words. The same thing can be done with wireless messages. The Japs certainly understand this game to perfection, for they seemed to be posted on every move of the enemy on land or sea.

"Electricity is still in its infancy, and you will find that the Japs will employ it to still greater uses. I am not in the least alarmed at the yellow peril. I wish I had a lot of Japs in my laboratory.

"Speaking of telegraphy," continued the Wizard, "the General Superintendent of the Lackawanna Railroad was here yesterday and told me a very Interesting thing. At the recent Railroad Congress in Washington, out of the seventy-five officials at one of the banquets given forty-three of them (or over half) were old operators. And they were very proud of the fact that they had risen from the ranks. Not a few of the most prominent men in the United States have been 'knights of the key.' All of which goes to show that an operator may have a big future ahead of him."

I know Mr. Edison is very busy with some interesting experiments and has 14,000 cells at work in trucks and delivery wagons throughout the country. The results obtained from actual work he will timely embody in the perfected battery.