174 FAMOUS LIVING AMERICANS qualifioation for membership he wrote: I have designed a conoentrating plant and a machine shop, etc. How many farther details would be required to fill out the '^etcf Several years ago Mr. Edison moved his laboratory from Menlo Park to Orange, New Jersey, thereby robbing Menlo Park of its great attraction to the world. The laboratory at Orange consists of a group of buildings surrounded by green lawns and shady trees. It has a large library, a most won- derful equipment, and a staff of hundreds of men to each of whom a particular line of work is assigned. Mr. Edison has a wonderful knowledge of human nature and has always shown great skill in selecting his associates. like their chief, they are men who become so absorbed in their work that they are glad to give up food and sleep in order to carry on an inter- esting experiment. He is especially fond of workmen who know how to keep silent and who do not care for gossip. Mr. Edison himself often becomes absorbed in his work to such an extent that he neglects his meals and goes without sleep, sometimes for several nights in succession. But, as he says, ^ ^ If I spend sixty hours at an invention there must natur- ally be a loss of physical force, but I regain this by afterwards taking a slumber which may last from eighteen to twenty-four hours. In this way tired nature reasserts herself and both of us are satisfied." He cares little for money and though he has made a fortune from his inventions he never counts the cost when he is at work on a new one. He is very careless of his dress and does not care what he wears. He has strong opinions on the subject of diet and takes only the simplest food, and that in small quantities. He is always in a good humor ; and enjoys a good joke as much as any one. One great secret of his tireless activity is the fact that he never worries.
- Don't worry,'* he has said, **but work hard, and you can
look forward to a reasonably lengthy existence. BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS Americaa Inventors. 2 parts. (F. A. Owena) Boy's Life of Edison. (Harper Bros.) By W. H. Meadowcroft.
