About Edison’s later years

Relentless Struggle If people can leave their fanatical spirit to their descendants when they are dying, they will have left behind a priceless treasure.

Life is too short, and there are so many things to do. Can we not make progress at the same time?

——Thomas Alva Edison

In his later years, Edison was still busy inventing and creating activities as he was in his youth. One example is the "invention" of "Edison Exam Questions". In 1928, he successfully extracted rubber from wild grass. When he was 80 years old, he still worked tirelessly

He made up his mind: "I will work as long as I can live."

The invention of "Edison Test Questions"

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In Edison's later years, his personal characteristics were: his speech still mixed with the familiarity and simplicity of his youth

The local accent; the aphorisms he spoke were profound and appropriate, and at the same time It is also something that ordinary people can understand. His praise of hard work, moderation of desire, and simplicity caused a stir across the United States. After the war, he became a prominent figure in the United States.

On January 24, 1918, the "Edison Pioneer Association" founded by several of Edison's colleagues was enough to express the deep admiration for Edison in the United States.

After growing up, Edison used his free time to travel frequently, mostly in the summer, as a two-week camping trip. This kind of trip was often attended by Henry Ford and Dr. John Brown, an authority on natural history, and sometimes even President Warren Harding would come to join in the fun. In 1919, the three of them stayed on the field trip for another two weeks. They passed through the Smokey Mountains to western Virginia, south to Asheville, North Carolina, and then to the Shenandoah Valley and as far as Maryland. The 1919 trip had developed the original simple equipment into a fleet of three vehicles, including a "kitchen truck" with a large gasoline stove and a special food cabinet. and refrigerator. They drove to the lake area and mountainous areas, slept on the ground and cooked their food on the fire. At night, they sat by the fire and told stories about their lives.

After the war ended in 1919, they planned an even bigger trip. At the same time, they also hope to rekindle the spirit of returning to the jungle during their first trip. But in fact, such a possibility no longer exists. If Ford is famous throughout the world, then Edison has become a mythical figure. Some weirdos may ask: "Who is Edison?"

The most typical example is when Edison met a little girl in a remote village. When Edison asked her if she knew him, she replied, "You're Mr. Gramophone." They traveled again in 1921. Not only wives joined them, but also sons and daughters-in-law. Feierstone invited his old friends, President and Mrs. Harding, to spend a night with everyone in the camp. The president arrived on a weekday, accompanied by a secretary, 6 security personnel, 9 photographers, and 10 Washington reporters. At the president's suggestion

a certain bishop and his wife were also invited. In this way, they set up 20 tents and became a huge tourist group.

In 1924, they traveled for the last time. Feierstone complained: "What the hell, this is not a trip, it's almost turned into a traveling circus." Ford's adjutant Charles Sorenson said: "Groups of reporters, Rows of photographers wrote reports and took photos of these four celebrities' activities of collecting biological specimens. This kind of outing in pursuit of silence has become like Hollywood

First Show. Of course, Ford loved publicity."

In addition to spending a small amount of time traveling, Edison worked diligently. He is over 70 years old. Even after people persuaded him to reduce his workload, he still works 16 hours a day. He also firmly controlled the West Orange record player industry and other industries. Sometimes, interviewers would ask him rashly when he planned to retire. Edison would answer in two ways. One was "before the funeral." The other was: " When the doctor brought in the oxygen cylinder." When someone asked him how he planned to spend his old age, he said unhappily: "I shouldn't think about this. I still have quite a lot of energy and should continue. Just work hard."

He not only said this, but also did it. In his later years, he retained his inventor's spirit. Once, Edison

said: "It seems that recent school education has been cultivating a certain form of people, and has not fully developed people's wisdom. In fact, as long as

you have to read books yourself, There is no need for a teacher to teach you what you can know.

It is better to develop young people's own thinking ability. Otherwise, there is no hope for any big development in the future. "

"I agree with you. "It was Ford who echoed. "Mr. Edison, what kind of education do you think is needed? ”

“In my research institute, many young people want to work here every year. I asked them various questions, many of which had nothing to do with invention or industry. Some of these young people who applied for recruitment looked quite disapproving, thinking that if I asked questions outside the scope, I would not use such young people. The purpose of asking many off-topic questions was to see if this young man was mentally sound and if he had the character to work in my institute. ”

“It’s really good!” "

"Mr. Ford, I often think that the United States will have greater development in the future, and we need to cultivate outstanding successors

. There must be many outstanding young people in the United States, but is there a way to discover these outstanding young people? If I can find such outstanding young people, I would like to provide scholarships for college. ”

The examination was immediately put into practice. The review committee consisted of Henry Ford, the photography king George Eastman, Dr. Strand, the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The transatlantic It is composed of five people including the flying adventurer Lin Bai and another academy president Bailey.

The first test is to select an outstanding young man from each state, plus a representative from the European region. 49 people gathered in Edison's institute to take the final exam. The total number of test questions was 57, divided into four categories: the first was physics, the second was chemistry. The third category is mathematics, and the fourth category is general knowledge. Questions from 1 to 3 are all asked by professional scholars. Only category 4, as a member of society, depends on his thoughts on social contribution.

method, so Edison’s opinions are particularly adopted. For example, in physics, there is the following test question: “Tell me the difference between noise and music and sound

. ""If there is no heating equipment in the church organ, the tone will change every time it gets cold. Why is this?

Why? ”

After the exam, the test questions were published in major newspapers across the United States. Everyone wanted to try their abilities, so once the answers were reported,

everyone was deeply interested. The famous Ai Yin After reading the chemistry test questions, Dr. Albert Einstein said: "This is too difficult. Even if I take the exam, I'm afraid I won't pass." "This sentence was immediately published in the newspaper, and the readers laughed.

The fourth category of questions was asked by Edison. They are all unexpected questions, which are most interesting to ordinary people, such as: ( 1) If

you had an inheritance of one million yuan, how would you use it? (2) Which of the following themes would you like to fight for? Happiness, joy, public opinion

, reputation, money, love. (3) When you look back on your life before you die, what will determine whether your life is a success or a failure? (4) When do you think you can lie?

Indeed, questions like those raised by Edison can be said to be important events in life. The person who got the highest score of 92 in the exam was actually a 16-year-old boy. There were also others. Three teenagers passed. Edison awarded these four teenagers scholarships to study in four-year colleges. Do it, and do it well. "When I ask my servant to do something, I always want him to do it immediately. Of course, it would be good to look at the test records before starting, but the matter has to be postponed until tomorrow; and I want to make a decision now. Delays are inconvenient for me, and in fact for the entire department..." "If one of my employees is only available during the stipulated time

< p>When I can complete half of the scheduled work, or a little more than half, I will observe him for a long time and wait until I find out his

reason. In general, students in schools only need 60 points to pass the exam. I think this method is shameful. ”

Edison also developed test questions for people applying to work at his company. The test questions were both praised and condemned. The test paper

***150 questions, these questions are One feature is that they have nothing to do with the content of the work. Because many of the issues are unrelated to each other, Edison received a series of harsh attacks from the reporters of "Scientific American".

After the interview, a long article was published. Edison’s explanation was that managers recruited through other methods other than examinations are difficult to be qualified.

In Edison’s view, being a manager is difficult. The most important quality is memory. "But he also believes: "It does not mean that a person with a good memory is necessarily a good manager. However, if he has a good memory, he cannot take on the task of bargaining.

If you have a good memory, you have a basic condition, and other conditions come second.

"

In November 1921, "Scientific American" published an article saying: "Edison believed that it would be too wasteful to test whether a person can do it at work. In the past, he has lost $5,000 due to the forgetfulness of his people. ”

Most of Edison’s test contents are general knowledge. Those questions involving technical data and chemical equations can be answered by anyone who has read

the textbook. Some questions are Mathematics games. Some questions ask about the author of a certain article and the discoverer of a certain fact. Other questions require judgment.

Through the exam, Edison came up with two. Conclusion: First, people's education levels are far from professional requirements. Among the 718 candidates who took the first test, only 57 achieved a score of 70, which was later reduced to 40. There are only 32 people with a score of about 80 who are considered "medium". The second conclusion is that the people he hires with good scores will be effective in the future. All became excellent managers, but those who failed to pass the examination were not qualified for the position of manager. Edison said that their grades were "the worst" (XYz). For me, I have made a positive conclusion about the exam.

Looking for new chemical materials - rubber

In the past, Edison once explained the prospects and significance of his latest invention to people. , and he was always trying to deal with problems related to the world and mankind, and he had already foreseen them like previous technological inventions.

In 1922, his work on atomic energy. Foresight was far better than that of most people, even most scientists. Edison wrote in his diary: "Atomic energy will one day be discovered. In fact, I have already conducted experiments in my own laboratory based on the growing amount of relevant information... As far as atomic energy is concerned, there is currently no hope of making more predictions... "

When Edison was 74 years old, he was still interested in "everything" and full of optimism. He began to study ether again. Edison said: "This research is For recreation. Now, I just read the relevant literature and understand what other people think,

other people's published information and their findings. At present, I cannot say whether the conclusion about ether is correct or not. If Einstein can make new discoveries on space, time and geometric shapes, it will further illustrate that people's understanding of the ether has not yet been completed. However, I can't comment at this time because I don't have enough data. Without data

—and I mean all data—I couldn't work. "

When a reporter from the "New York Times" asked him to comment on the economic situation in the United States, he said without hesitation that the economic situation in the United States is

"somewhat chaotic." But "as long as With perseverance, determination, and hard work, you can get it on the right track... don't

call it panic. This is just a depression, there is no need to worry, as long as we persevere and overcome the difficulties. Although

his opinions were taken seriously by people, his "new currency" plan was criticized without consideration by experts as exceeding the actual practice of bank management

Although Edison received the high honor, he continued to receive visiting reporters as before and strictly maintained his status in West Orange. Work habits. He has breakfast at 8 o'clock every day, half a glass of wine, a cup of coffee, and a piece of toast. After breakfast, he drives to the laboratory to read a letter from the person in charge of a certain project. Reports, and then deal with the research work at hand, usually stay up very late before going home, and it is rare for Edison to drive back before dark. >He went to New York and Chicago on business matters, but he still tried to avoid formal banquets as in his early years. Because of his deafness, he couldn't hear other people's speeches, and he also hated dressing up. His clothes appeared in public.

On matters of diet and health, he still went his own way. Even when he was in poor health, he had to be persuaded again and again.

He just went to see a doctor. When the doctor suggested that he should strictly control his diet, he started to figure out his own dietary rules. After analyzing the effects of various foods on his body in detail, he made possible suggestions. He cut off all the food that caused trouble to his body and announced that he would adopt a milk-drinking therapy. At the age of 81, he suffered from pneumonia. He insisted on walking for treatment, refused to take medicine, and stubbornly< /p>

He firmly believed that sleep would cure his discomfort.

At the age of 81, Edison arrived in Florida. On the day of his birthday, friends in New York held a meeting at the Astor Hotel. /p>

There was a party, but he could not attend. He sent a telegram from Fort Myers: Happy working at the moment.

At the banquet, Meadowcroft stood up and reported to everyone Edison's "work":

"Because of the thoroughness of his genius, he is now exploring everything about He has consulted countless materials on the cultivation and manufacturing of rubber. Not to mention domestic and foreign newspapers and magazines on this issue, he has read enough books

< p>Two 5-foot-tall bookcases were installed

“His purpose was to grow grapes from the southern states of the United States and other states where winters can get as cold as minus 20 degrees Celsius.

Rubber is extracted from vines, shrubs and miscellaneous flowers. "Mr. Edison is already engaged in this great and arduous work; and

he is very content with this work, and he still handles it with his thorough spirit, abundant energy and infinite enthusiasm. Question. Never in his life had I seen him more absorbed than on this occasion. He told me a few months ago: 'I am. I've been studying physics for 60 years and now I'm working in something completely different, so I'm happy that he's really in the thick of it now in Florida. During the period. This time he brought 7 assistants in the laboratory

Before leaving, he had collected and tested 945 kinds of plants, and he found that many plants contained p>

There is good quality rubber, and now he will try more plants, maybe double, maybe more."

Edison had great problems with the possibility of growing rubber in the United States. aroused interest. This was a completely new undertaking for Edison. More than 10 years ago, in 1915, when he visited Burbank's nursery in Santa Barbara, he discussed with Ford how to solve the problem of rubber supply if the United States participated in the European War.

After the war, Ford expanded the Ford Motor Factory in Detroit and invited Edison to visit. At that time, Ford

said to Edison: "All the equipment for making cars can be produced in the United States. Only rubber needs to be imported. In the future, the number of cars

will increase every day, replacing both Americans' The days of the foot are just around the corner, but the rubber used to make tires must be imported from abroad. This is indeed a big problem for the United States. "A few years later, Ford suggested that Edison start studying this problem. question.

Edison accepted Ford's suggestion and established the Edison Plant Research Company in 1927. Edison used the $90,000 invested by Ford and Erstone to buy rubber plantation land in Fort Myers and build a new laboratory. Although the war

has ceased, the threat of war has not been completely eliminated. Worried that the war would cause difficulties for the United States' rubber supply, Edison became interested in rubber production. He wrote: "Don't think that war will never break out again. Although we may not have the threat of war for a long time, sooner or later European countries will unite to attack the United States. At this time, the first thing they need to do is to cut off our rubber supply." Edison thought: "There is no way for plants other than rubber trees to produce things of the same nature. ? It takes so many years for oak trees to harvest rubber. It would be easy to harvest something of the same nature every year like weeds." He thought. p>For this reason, plants from North and South America should first be collected, and the sap should be taken for study.

So he sent botanists from Fort Myers around the world to find plants from which latex could be extracted. In order to meet the urgent need for rubber in the United States, he required that the growth period of the collected plants must be very short, "it can mature in eight or nine months, and be harvested by machines" Plants can be used to provide rubber. The rubber extraction process will also be mechanized, using as little manual labor as possible."

It is not easy to meet such requirements. At this time, all Edison and his family were thinking about was rubber. In the words of Mrs. Edison: "Our family talks about rubber all the time. All we talk about, think about, and dream about is rubber. Because besides that,

Mr. Edison doesn't allow us to do anything else. "Although Edison wanted to lock the family up until they found a solution, this idea was difficult to achieve.

In less than a year, people who were sent around the world to find plants for extracting latex collected about 3,000 plants and returned to the United States.

After analyzing 14,000 species of plants, Edison concluded that several species of the Compositae family might meet the requirements. After crossbreeding, Edison cultivated a plant that was 12 feet tall and contained a large amount of latex. He gave a batch of this plant to Feierstone. General Motors uses rubber extracted from it to make four tires for Ford station wagons. However, the cost of using this Asteraceae plant to extract glue is too high. Edison already has extensive experience in how to reduce costs. He concluded that future costs could be reduced to a level that would compete with imported rubber.

In 1928, the old inventor continued to experiment hard. He said: "Give me another 5 years

time, and I will definitely allow plants that produce gum to appear all year round in the United States!" He estimated that he used the economical extraction machine he invented to produce glue on every acre of chrysanthemum

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100 pounds of rubber can be made from plants. "I hope that the output can be increased to 10 pounds per 100 days. We are still at the beginning. If the working principle is determined, there will be no end to the future hopes." Edison suffered from renal dysfunction syndrome< /p>

Suffering from the disease, he had to give up research on the cultivation of rubber plants. When this task was taken up by Edison's successors, it was no longer extracted from Asteraceae plants, but synthetic rubber. Edison's achievements in refining rubber from wild grasses were highly praised by the world.

The brilliance that never fades

October 21, 1929, is the 50th anniversary of the birth of the electric light. The postal and telecommunications department issued a special commemorative stamp with the original carbon filament

electric light, saying "Edison's first lamp". Henry Ford rebuilt Edison's Menlo Park building in Dearborn, Michigan. The long cathedral-like laboratory, the gorgeous offices, the low brick machinery factory, the glass-blowing room, the charcoal-burning shed, the trees and the reddish clay were all moved there. Everything is the same as it was in Menlo Park

back then. These houses are comfortably furnished and waiting for the owner who worked here 50 years ago to come and visit again.

Edison was particularly excited when he walked into the laboratory where the replication was on display. His laboratory stands right in front of him, and the white fence around it is exactly the same as the one erected in the Menlo Park laboratory 50 years ago, making it difficult to distinguish the authenticity. Even the soil spread on the ground was hauled all the way from Menlo Park by several trucks. Edison looked at it and sighed: "This is New Jersey's lovely

clay."

When Edison walked into the model and came to the second layer of the replicated experiment, he was followed by Ford and Several of Edison's original colleagues in Menlo Park

. Among them, Francis Jair was in Europe before. Ford's people discovered him and invited him to cross the Atlantic Ocean on a boat and asked him to play a role in this exhibition. A reporter from the "Detroit Free Press" wrote: "When Edison walked

to a chair and sat down, the people around him stood still, more than ten feet away from him. Everyone remained silent In silence, the visitors

seemed to be unanimously aware of the solemnity of this scene; aware that the memories of the 82-year-old man in front of them were flowing

scenes unfolding before their eyes. . He sat there silently, with his hands folded, showing an indescribable loneliness. This is a kind of loneliness of genius. He lived longer than his contemporaries. There is no colleague in the world who can share with him the state, thoughts and feelings of this place at this time.

"In about 5 minutes, maybe 10 minutes, this happened. This scene is not disturbed by any movement or movement

. Only Edison looked around from time to time, his eyes filled with tears. Later, he cleared his throat and broke the silence of the 'laboratory'. ”

Ford spent a lot of effort on the details of this exhibition. When he restored the Edison's car with fragments found in the garbage dump

When Lao Bo pointed it out to Edison, Edison said that the entire building and its interior furnishings were 9/10 accurate. Ford felt quite uncomfortable after hearing this and asked what was wrong. Edison replied: "We were there. The floor has never been so clean

. ”

On the morning of the 21st, the weather changed from sunny to gloomy. President Hoover and his wife’s special car from Washington also arrived at this time

. Edison and his wife went to greet them. , they took a 19th-century wood-fueled train to the Ford History Museum. During the short journey, Edison relived his childhood life.

The president helped Edison get out of the car, and they visited Ford's History Museum. In the evening, everyone was arranged to the "laboratory" to watch the prepared performances. When the guests walked into the "laboratory" under dim lights, there were millions of people in the United States.

The audience has long been standing by the radio, waiting to hear the live announcer's live commentary, because Edison will hold a demonstration here

His dramatic performance of the electric light experiment half a century ago was just a model A little inferior than before.

Francis Jael prepared the vacuum pump. Edison, who was sitting next to the pump, ordered: "Start, Francis. "After a while, as the pressure increased, Edison got up and turned on the power. The light began to glow, and became brighter and brighter until it was as bright as day.

With this At the same time, all the nearby lights were turned on.

Likewise, dozens of cities across the United States lit up their electric lights in honor of Edison's legacy.

In the room, rectangular dining tables are arranged in a line. At the far end is the chairman's seat, and the honorary seat in the middle is reserved for the president and his wife, but the president and his wife insisted on letting Edison and his wife sit in the first place. At the banquet, President Hoover gave a speech: "In

our country, scientists and inventors are the most valuable and priceless treasures. They use their creativity and piety

Gradually turn their scientific ideas into facts for everyone to enjoy. Because their efforts have promoted our progress

this great contribution is immeasurable.

"Mr. Edison rose from humble beginnings to become one of the great men of the world by virtue of his genius creations. His life

gives us a new confidence. We believe that the figures of our time will be able to keep the door of opportunity open to those who are willing to enter.

"Human civilization is like a garden, its quality is determined by the quality of the flowers. How much energy we spend on cultivation to make it fertile, we How much strength we spend to defend against the invasion of destructive forces, then how many flowers we can harvest

; and because of the fragrant fragrance of these lives, it encourages us to engage in new efforts and gives us new ideas. Strengthen our faith in the future

There is no greater gathering to pay tribute to an ordinary citizen than this one. All kinds of people - financiers, politicians, scientists, industrial magnates, railway station masters, university presidents, artists, dramatists - all came to welcome him. , they spent the whole day sightseeing around the historic village. At night, everyone walked into a house similar to Independence Hall. It was a huge brick house with the inventor's autograph on the cornerstone in the middle.

There were 500 guests who came to the banquet. Most of these guests were characters in the "Dictionary of World Celebrities". From the other side of the Atlantic came Madame Curie, the inventor of radium, and from the other side of the Pacific came a representative of Japanese senior engineers and officials. In addition, there are Orville Wright, the pioneer of aviation; Otto H. Kahn, the banker; Daniel Willard, the station director; Jane Addams of Chicago's Hull Institute ) little sister

; film industry tycoon Will h ays; great philanthropist Julius Rosenwald; electrical engineer

Alexander Sun (E Dr. F. Alexanderson; former Ambassador to Turkey Henry Morgenthan; humorist Will Rogers; steel manufacturer Charles

Schwab; James w. Gerard, former ambassador to Germany; Gerard Swope, manager of General Electric Company; Adolph S. Ochs, publisher of The Times in New York; William C. Green, Chairman of the American Federation of Trade Unions, and others. That evening, the British Prince and German President Von Hindenburg both sent congratulatory messages. Also calling to congratulate was expedition leader Richard E. Byrd, who was sitting in the ice and snow at the U.S. base in Antarctica. At the same time, the voice of Albert Einstein expressing his wishes came from Germany.

Edison spoke briefly at the banquet, concluding with a greeting to Henry Ford. Edison said: "I can only

tell everyone in one sentence with the most complete and appropriate meaning - he is my friend. I wish you all a good night." The great inventor

, perhaps a combination of excitement and fatigue, his face suddenly changed suddenly, and the bystanders immediately summoned Hoover (Herbert h oover)

The president's doctor gave him a cardiac injection. Everyone helped Edison to the next room, and he gradually got better after resting for a while.

After the Dearborn trip, Edison's health deteriorated. Now, he goes to the factory less frequently and works shorter hours than before. The place where he works is no longer the original laboratory, but a room in Glenmont. The distance he drove every afternoon

was not as long as before, and control of factory affairs was gradually transferred to his assistants. From

1930 to 1931, he still insisted on making decisions for the company by himself as much as possible, which shows that Edison's former spirit is not gone.

In June 1931, the United States was in the Great Depression. When Edison learned that an electric light conference was being held in Atlantic City, he sent an enthusiastic telegram. In his telegram, he said to the representatives of the Electric Light Club: "What I want to say to you is to be brave. I have spent a long time and have seen history repeat itself - many industries and commerce Depression. But after each depression, the United States becomes stronger and more prosperous. You must be brave like your fathers - move forward bravely."

This was probably the last message Edison sent. In July, he arrived at the rubber cultivation test site in California. The rubber plant cultivated in the past was only one meter high. The amount of gum collected is also very small, but after research and improvement, it can grow up to 3 meters high

. "In another five years, the rubber needed by the United States will no longer have to be imported from abroad." Edison told his colleagues working at the test site

.

On August 1, Edison's condition worsened, and doctors diagnosed him with various symptoms of Bright syndrome, uremia and diabetes.

It was estimated that he could not last more than a few days, but the doctor announced in order to take care of public sentiment: "Mr. Edison can be compared to a ship sailing into a narrow waterway. He may Get through safely. You may hit a rock." But this statement did not reassure the people across the country. Amazingly, Edison's danger soon passed, and announcements no longer needed to be made every day. A few days later, he resumed his habit of taking a walk every afternoon.

In early September, Edison's condition entered a critical stage again, but he once again overcame the difficulties. When he asked the doctor what effect the prescribed medicine would have, he was disappointed that he did not recover quickly. On October 4, the doctor concluded that his illness was irreversible

. People from all over the world come to visit him every day and every hour. The Pope sent two telegrams inquiring about his health. President Hoover

Guard informed him of Edison's condition by phone every day. A large number of condolence letters and telegrams were constantly sent into the room. The Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce has decided to observe Sunday, October 4, as a Day of Prayer for Edison's Recovery.

Nine days have passed without any liquid intake. In 120 hours, I only drank 6 teaspoons of pear juice. Edison fell into a coma. Before that, he had looked towards the valley through the window of his bedroom, where he played with his children at the beginning of this century.

At that time, he smiled and said: "It's so beautiful there." Before that, he also met Feierstone. With a victorious smile, he motioned to Feierstone about the four birds placed in the house. A sample of a tire made from rubber extracted from the Asteraceae plant.

At 3:24 a.m. on Sunday, October 18, 1931, the inventor Edison completed his 84-year journey in life.

On his deathbed, he said: "I have done my best for the happiness of mankind, and there is nothing to regret!"

Three days later, on the evening of October 21, this man The remains of the King of Invention are buried under a large oak tree near his home in West Orange, Cray.

As the news spread, people fell into extreme sadness. Messages of condolences flew in from all over the United States and from all over the world. At the same time, Edison's family and the White House also received thousands of suggestions on how to commemorate Edison.

The German biographer Emil Ludwig, who praised Edison more than once, advocated that after the commemoration began, all the lights around the world would symbolically turn off for one minute. Some people advocate that President Hoover ordered that the power supply to the entire United States be cut off for one minute on the day of the funeral. When people found this idea unrealistic, it was suggested that all but critical lights be turned off voluntarily.

At that time, blackouts occurred across the United States