by David Baron
65 “a man of deeds, not words”: Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), April 19, 1878, p. 1 [TAED MBSB10537b].
66 “Halloo, halloo”: Record (Philadelphia), April 20, 1878, p. 1 [TAED SM029007a].
66 this word as the standard telephone greeting: Kennelly (1933:293), Koenigsberg (1987).
66 “You do well, Mr. Edison”: Washington Post and Union, April 19, 1878, p. 4 [TAED MBSB10535X].
67 “not very long ago . . . became notorious”: New-York Times, March 25, 1878, p. 4 [TAED MBSB10456X].
67 “I think that science is the greatest interest”: Cincinnati Enquirer, April 20, 1878, p. 5.
67 “I suppose this odor is used”: Edison to Darwin, Dec. 7, 1877 [TAED Z002AA; also in TAEB vol. 3, p. 657].
68 “I used to hold my hands up”: Goode (1897:204).
68 “If you could make something”: Langley to Edison, Dec. 3, 1877 [TAED D7702ZDL; also in TAEB vol. 3, p. 651].
69 “Have you made any recent improvements”: Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), April 19, 1878, p. 1 [TAED MBSB10537b].
CHAPTER 7: SIC TRANSIT
70 “There has been an unusual interest”: Chronicle (Univ. of Michigan), April 20, 1878, p. 195.
70 “[T]he Naval Observatory desires, if possible”: John Rodgers to Watson, Jan. 5, 1878 [JCWP Box 1].
71 “Next Monday the astronomers of Europe and this country”: New-York Tribune, May 4, 1878, p. 4.
71 encyclopedias and textbooks: The National Encyclopaedia (1867:655), Campbell (1909:496).
71 “The Fourth of July must return”: New-York Times, Sept. 26, 1876, p. 4.
72 “Professor Peters of Hamilton college”: Connecticut Courant (Hartford), Oct. 12, 1876, p. 2.
72 long expressed doubts about Vulcan’s existence: Newcomb (1860).
72 “Prof. Watson has long been a believer”: Chronicle (Univ. of Michigan), Oct. 12, 1878, p. 3.
72 “Mercury has, or has been thought to have”: Inter Ocean (Chicago), May 4, 1878, p. 4.
73 “Even members of the [French] Academy”: Newcomb (1903:328). See also Lequeux (2013).
73 au bout de sa plume: Académie des Sciences (1846:660).
74 “[D]uring the last ten or fifteen years”: Utica Weekly Herald and Gazette and Courier, May 20, 1873, p. 2.
74 Copernicus was said never to have seen it: Lynn (1892).
74 “whether the result of LE VERRIER”: USNO (1878b:3).
75 “the exact instant when an unseen spherical body”: M. Mitchell (1869:558).
75 magnified the heavens by a factor of 400: Many details of Watson’s observations derive from “Report of Observations of the Transit of Mercury, May 6, 1878 at Ann Arbor, Michigan,” by James C. Watson [USNO-NA Entry 18, Box 1; draft report in JCWP Box 2]. Further details from Detroit Free Press, May 8, 1878, p. 1; Ann Arbor Register, May 8, 1878, p. 3.
75 Mitchell used the transit as a teaching opportunity: Poughkeepsie Daily Eagle, May 7, 1878, p. 3. Mitchell’s observing notes are in MMP Folder 11.2. Mitchell described her transit observations in her annual report to Vassar’s president, John Raymond [“Astronomical Department, May 21, 1878,” VCA Folder 1.37]. She also mentioned them in her diary entry of May 6, 1878; see Albers (2001:248) [original in MMM Reel 6, Item 50, p. 95]. Mitchell’s glass negatives of the transit are in MMP Series IX.
75 Peters pointed. “There, professor,” he said: Utica Weekly Herald and Gazette and Courier, May 7, 1878, p. 5.
76 borrowed a telescope to view the event: A. K. Eaton to Edison, May 4, 1878 [TAED D7802ZKE1]; Norman C. Miller to Edison, May 6, 1878 [TAED D7802ZKF].
76 “Sick transit,” he said, “glorious Monday”: New-York Tribune, May 7, 1878, p. 5. See also New York Herald, May 7, 1878, p. 4; New-York Times, May 7, 1878, p. 5; USNO (1879:25–36). The observing notebook of Edward S. Holden, who joined Draper and Barker for the transit, is in USNO-NA Entry 18, Box 1.
77 “[T]he planet appeared as a sharply defined”: USNO (1879:58).
77 “The fact that the planet made”: Detroit Free Press, May 8, 1878, p. 1.
77 “Dr. Peters reiterates his disbelief ”: Albany Evening Journal, May 9, 1878, p. 2; Milwaukee Daily Sentinel, May 14, 1878, p. 5; Independent Statesman (Concord, N.H.), May 16, 1878, p. 262.
77 “As the truth of Leverrier’s discovery”: USNO (1878a:8).
78 “Dear Sir: I have just heard”: Rodgers to multiple recipients, April 29, 1878 [USNO-NA Entry 4, vol. 4, p. 29]. The copy of the letter received by Newcomb is clearly in Edison’s electric pen [USNO-NA Entry 24, Box 6]. A follow-up letter from Rodgers dated May 29, 1878, has been explicitly noted as copied via the electric pen [USNO-NA Entry 4, vol. 4, p. 61].
78 “accepts” or “regrets”: Replies are in USNO-LOC Box 8.
78 “It is a great temptation”: Peters to Edward S. Holden, June 8, 1878 [LOR Box 36, Folder 1].
78 the Shoshone-Bannocks: Heaton (2005).
78 scrapped its planned expeditions to western Montana: Rodgers to Rear Admiral Daniel Ammen, June 4, 1878 [USNO-NA Entry 2, vol. 3, p. 485]; USNO (1880:145).
78 “I accept your polite invitation”: Watson to Rodgers, July 13, 1878 [USNO-LOC Box 8]. Watson was late to receive an invitation because the USNO had originally assumed he would be out of the country at the time of the eclipse; see Rodgers to Watson, July 11, 1878 [USNO-NA Entry 4, vol. 4, p. 108].
CHAPTER 8: “GOOD WOMAN THAT SHE ARE”
80 she had met the prior week: The date was April 10, 1878; see Inter Ocean (Chicago), March 30, 1878, p. 9. Mitchell wrote in her diary about the meeting and seeing Joseph Henry [MMM Reel 6, Item 50, pp. 90-93; partially transcribed in Albers (2001:247)].
80 “Our meeting will be for a few hours”: Mitchell to Henry, Oct. 25, 1877 [SIA Record Unit 26, vol. 168, pp. 94–95; partially transcribed in Albers (2001:247)].
81 “not . . . publish an account”: Henry to Mitchell, Oct. 31, 1877 [SIA Record Unit 33, vol. 58, p. 239].
81 Maria Mitchell inquired if her students might participate: Mitchell sent her initial inquiry to Joseph Henry, who forwarded it to C. H. Davis. See Mitchell to Henry, March 3, 1874 [USNO-NA Entry 18, Box 49].
81 “[I]t would be absolutely out of the question”: Davis to Mitchell, March 17, 1874 [USNO-NA Entry 18, Box 54].
82 10,82 to 15,82 pounds: Telegram from Edward S. Holden to Quartermaster General’s Office, June 20, 1878 [USNO-LOC Box 8].
82 specially guarded freight car: USNO (1880:323). One of the USNO assistants who accompanied the car westward, Henry Smith Pritchett (later president of MIT), recalled the journey in an unpublished manuscript, “The Chronicles of Henry Smith” [HSPP Box 1].
82 “fitted up in a style”: New-York Times, Sept. 14, 1875, p. 5. This article refers to the same train car (Pennsylvania Railroad Postal Car No. 10) used by the USNO in 1878. See Philadelphia Inquirer, Sept. 14, 1875, p. 3; also “Bills of Lading for Insts. sent West” [USNO-LOC Box 13].
82 extended courtesies to foreign astronomers: Nature 17 (440), April 4, 1878, p. 453; Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 38 (6), April 12, 1878, pp. 335–37.
82 “Will you please inform me”: Mitchell to Rodgers, June 3, 1878 [USNO-LOC Box 8].
82 appeal from an amateur astronomer in Fort Dodge: Hess to Rodgers, June 3, 1878 [USNO-LOC Box 8].
82 inspired by Simon Newcomb’s Popular Astronomy: Hess to Newcomb, April 3, 1907 [SNP Box 26].
82 Rodgers obliged him: Rodgers to Ticket Agents of Union Pacific and other Railroads, June 6, 1878 [USNO-NA Entry 4, vol. 4, pp. 71–72].
82 “It is very certain that if any one”: Rodgers to Mitchell, June 7, 1878 [USNO-NA Entry 4, vol. 4, pp. 72–73].
82 “It is time that women worked in earnest”: Mitchell to Emily Talbot, Jan. 19, 1878 [BMCL Letters and Documents Collection].
83 “The college is handsomely decorated”: Sunday Courier (Poughkeepsie), June 23, 1878, p. 3.
83 Professor Mitchell’s annual “dome party”: Details of the 1878 dome party come from Vassar Miscellany
, July 15, 1878, pp. 14–15. Broader recollections of the event’s traditions can be found in the following: Vassar Miscellany, July 1876, p. 781; Vassar Miscellany, July 1877, pp. 250–51; Vassar Miscellany, Jan. 1909, pp. 199–200; Abbott (1889); Kendall (1896:191–92); Babbitt (1912:22–26); In Memoriam: Maria Mitchell, by Mary W. Whitney [MMP Folder 14.5]; “Maria Mitchell & Vassar College – Club Paper,” by Mary A. Mineah [MMP Folder 14.11]; “Maria Mitchell’s Dome Parties,” by Martha (Hillard) MacLeish [MMP Folder 6.7]; “Maria Mitchell,” by Rebecca W. Hawes, pp. 24–26 [MMM Reel 4, Item 34].
84 “I shall always believe that strawberries”: Woman’s Journal, Sept. 2, 1882, p. 277.
84 “Here’s to our Jessie”: MMP Folder 6.10.
84 “We are singing for the glo-ry”: Vassar College (1881:94–95). The lyrics have been published many other times, with slight variations.
85 “[T]he English language was ransacked”: Woman’s Journal, July 6, 1889, p. 213.
85 “I cannot expect to make astronomers”: MMM Reel 3, Item 28. Transcribed in Kendall (1896:184).
86 final work for her seniors: Blatch and Lutz (1940:39).
86 science was best taught outside the classroom: AAW (1877:10).
86 a similar expedition a decade earlier: Burlington Daily Hawk-Eye, Aug. 5, 1869, p. 4; Burlington Daily Hawk-Eye, Aug. 6, 1869, p. 4; Burlington Daily Hawk-Eye, Aug. 10, 1869, p. 2; M. Mitchell (1869); USNO (1885:55–58).
86 Mitchell declined to comment: Burlington Daily Hawk-Eye, Aug. 8, 1869, p. 4. Mitchell was induced, however, to write a magazine article about her eclipse expedition; see Albers (2001:179–81), M. Mitchell (1869).
86 “What a magnificent opportunity”: Blatch and Lutz (1940:39).
87 “the biggest disappointment of my life”: Blatch and Lutz (1940:39).
87 “Social Prejudices against Woman’s Entering”: Vassar Miscellany, July 1877, p. 256.
87 Culbertson helped organize the astronomy class: Culbertson to Miss Swan, June 16, 1907 [MMP Folder 14.3].
87 Cora Harrison, spoke on behalf of the class: Harrison to President Raymond, June 25, 1877 [MMP Folder 14.3].
87 possessed her own telescope: Daily Rocky Mountain News (Denver), July 24, 1878, p. 4. Harrison later bequeathed her telescope to Vassar for the use of students; see Vassar Miscellany, Jan. 1889, p. 133.
87 “Oh C. W. M.”: “Dome Party, June 12, 1873” [MMM Reel 4, Item 34].
87 “[I] can truly say that I know”: Mitchell to Abbot, Feb. 1874 [MMP Folder 1.13].
88 “I hope yet to be as simply, comfortably”: Kendall to Henrietta Wolcott, June 7, 1875 [NEWCR Reel 14].
88 “[W]e were a party of six”: MMM Reel 4, Item 33. Transcribed in Kendall (1896:225).
CHAPTER 9: SHOW BUSINESS
89 “As a wonderful inventor, he is himself red-hot”: Daily Graphic (New York), June 4, 1878, p. 2 (vol. 16, p. 666).
89 “[I]t would require a Fahrenheit thermometer”: New-York Tribune, May 29, 1878, p. 5.
90 The inventor smiled and obligingly bowed: New-York Times, June 4, 1878, p. 5 [TAED MBSB10687X].
90 “Heat causes the strip of hard rubber to expand”: New York Herald, June 4, 1878, p. 10 [TAED MBSB10644X].
91 more fully displayed its capabilities: New York Herald, June 22, 1878, p. 3 [TAED MBSB10694].
91 “In this way it is not improbable”: New York Herald, June 4, 1878, p. 10 [TAED MBSB10644X].
91 “No name has yet been given”: New-York Tribune, June 4, 1878, p. 5.
91 Micro-thermo-meter. Micro-thermo-scope: TAED D7835V (image 3).
92 Edison suggested installing it in lighthouses: Daily Graphic (New York), April 2, 1878, p. 3 (vol. 16, p. 223).
92 telephonoscope also projected the voice: Boston Daily Globe, May 24, 1878, p. 2 [TAED SM029088b]; Boston Post, May 24, 1878, p. 3 [TAED SM029092a]. Some other reports called it a telescopophone. Edison later took to calling the device his megaphone; Sun (New York), June 8, 1878, p. 3 [TAED SM029144].
92 “I wonder if you couldn’t talk a hole”: New York Herald, April 24, 1878, p. 7 [TAED SM029018b]. Somewhat different accounts of how and where Edison was inspired to invent the phonomotor are in Sunday Courier (Poughkeepsie), May 5, 1878, p. 2; Boston Evening Transcript, May 23, 1878, p. 4 [TAED SM029086b]; Boston Morning Journal, May 25, 1878, p. 1 [TAED SM029096b].
92 “It is expected to become a favorite method”: Chicago Daily Tribune, May 4, 1878, p. 12.
93 “one of the most accomplished, ingenious”: Hodgson et al. (1885:207). See more at Cranston (1993).
93 one of the few believers: Blavatsky (1877:126–27).
93 1877’s “blue glass craze”: Pleasonton (1876); New York Herald, March 8, 1877, p. 5 [TAED SM005002a]; Scientific American, April 7, 1877, p. 208.
93 Solid Muldoon: Colorado Weekly Chieftain (Pueblo), Oct. 4, 1877, p. 2; New-York Tribune, Jan. 24, 1878, pp. 1–2. For more on hoaxes of the era, see Pettit (2006), Tribble (2009).
94 “[T]he midgets or dwarfs draw $1000°° houses”: George H. Bliss to Edison, June 15, 1878 [TAED D7829ZCF].
94 Barnum expressed interest: Uriah H. Painter to Edison, May 1, 1878 [TAED D7802ZJM].
94 “It degrades the machine”: Redpath to George H. Smardon, June 11, 1878 [TAED X154B4BH]. For background on Redpath, see McKivigan (2008).
94 the frontier drama: R. A. Hall (2001), Kasson (2000), Sagala (2008). For an exploration of the life and career of J. B. “Texas Jack” Omohundro, see Logan (1954).
94 “There is much absurdity in the action”: Boston Evening Journal, June 4, 1878, p. 1.
95 “I received a shot in my stirrup”: New York Herald, Sept. 1, 1877, p. 10. See also Sun (New York), Oct. 22, 1877, p. 1.
95 told the papers a different tale: Sioux City Weekly Journal, Oct. 11, 1877, p. 3.
95 “Instead of being termed ‘Texas Jack, the well known scout’ ”: Helena Independent, Sept. 12, 1877, p. 3.
95 “ONE OF THE CURIOUS THINGS about the visit”: Boston Herald Supplement, June 1, 1878, p. 2 [TAED SM029137b]. See also Daily Evening Traveller (Boston), May 23, 1878, p. 2 [TAED SM029106a]; Boston Evening Transcript, May 23, 1878, p. 4 [TAED SM029086b]; Boston Daily Advertiser, May 24, 1878, p. 4 [TAED SM029092b]; Boston Morning Journal, May 24, 1878, p. 4; Boston Daily Globe, May 24, 1878, p. 2 [TAED SM029088b]; Boston Post, May 24, 1878, p. 3 [TAED SM029092a]; Boston Morning Journal, May 25, 1878, p. 1 [TAED SM029096b]; Boston Daily Globe, May 28, 1878, p. 2 [TAED SM029117a].
96 “Well, is it perfected yet?”: Record (Philadelphia), June 5, 1878, p. 4 [TAED MBSB10648].
96 “I expect to go in the beginning of July”: Langley to Edison, June 22, 1878 [TAED D7802ZPR]. See also Daily Post (Pittsburgh), June 27, 1878, p. 4.
96 one from Chicago: This was Elias Colbert. See George H. Bliss to Edison, July 3, 1878 [TAED D7802ZRG].
96 duo from Princeton: The pair consisted of Charles A. Young and Cyrus F. Brackett. See New-York Tribune, June 8, 1878, p. 10 [TAED MBSB10665b]. See also Young to Edison, June 10, 1878 [TAED D7835A].
97 Edison accused the man, David Hughes: Sun (New York), June 9, 1878, p. 7 [TAED MBSB10670]. For more on Hughes, see I. Hughes and D. E. Evans (2011).
97 “Mr. Edison says that the bores”: Sun (New York), May 18, 1878, p. 2 [TAED MBSB10595X].
98 “I have prayed for an earthquake”: Daily Graphic (New York), April 11, 1879, p. 3 (vol. 19, p. 295) [TAED MBSB21163].
98 “I am pretty badly used up”: Daily Graphic (New York), June 13, 1878, p. 2 (vol. 16, p. 730) [TAED MBSB10674a].
98 “Edison is laid up for repairs”: Daily Constitution (Atlanta), July 5, 1878, p. 4.
98 the White Mountains, the Great Lakes, the Atlantic shore: William K. Applebaugh to Edison, June 14, 1878 [TAED D7802ZOZ]; George H. Bliss to Edison, June 25, 1878 [TAED D7829ZCG]; Uriah H. Painter to Edison, June 17, 1878 [TAED D7802ZPC].
98 In April, he had approached Simon Newcomb: Barker to Newcomb, April 7, 1878 [SNP Box 57].
98 “I have heard nothing from you”: Ne
wcomb to Barker, June 7, 1878 [SNP Box 4].
99 “This morning I was up in time to see Venus”: Henry Draper to Daniel Draper, Aug. 3, 1862 [JWDFP Box 23].
99 “I will try and call at your place”: Edison to Draper, Aug. 8, 1877 [TAED X120BAL; also in TAEB vol. 3, p. 489].
99 “I am under so many obligations”: Morton to Edison, Feb. 5, 1878 [TAED D7802ZAH].
99 “Have seen Professor Barker”: Edison to Draper [n.d.] [TAED D7802ZUC].
99 “The latest marvel from Menlo Park”: New York Herald, June 22, 1878, p. 3 [TAED MBSB10694].
100 Simon Newcomb advised that the odds of clear skies: Newcomb to Draper, June 4, 1878 [USNO-LOC Box 17]. Within a few weeks, Draper had shifted his destination to Rawlins; see Edward S. Holden to Samuel P. Langley, June 21, 1878 [SPLP].
100 “Edison is coming West”: San Francisco Chronicle, July 10, 1878, p. 3.
100 “EDISON, the inventor, of phonograph fame”: Daily Rocky Mountain News (Denver), June 27, 1878, p. 4.
100 “Now that Mr. Edison has joined”: Press (Philadelphia), July 16, 1878, p. 4. See similar comment in Denver Daily Tribune, July 21, 1878, p. 4, col. 5.
100 ex-telegrapher friend of Edison’s: Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Feb. 20, 1905, Picture Section, p. 3; P. Jones (1940:161).
101 “If I should fall back”: Dickson and Dickson (1894:234). The cast was made for The Phrenological Journal and Life Illustrated; see H. S. Drayton to Edison, July 1, 1878 [TAED D7802ZQZ].
101 shipped nearly a ton of scientific equipment: Barker (1878:104).
101 Pacific Express train: Barker to Edison, July 12, [1878] [TAED D7802ZSG; also in TAEB vol. 4, p. 393].
101 “If the sun’s corona has any heat”: Daily Graphic (New York), July 19, 1878, p. 1 (vol. 17, p. 121).
CHAPTER 10: AMONG THE TRIBES OF UNCIVILIZATION
105 “The eye has no joy”: Bowles (1869:54).
105 “I arrived here about 12.30 P.M.”: A. N. Skinner to Rear Admiral John Rodgers, July 14, 1878 [USNO-NA Entry 7, Box 45].
106 tin cans and the skull of a cow or buffalo: Visible in E. L. Trouvelot’s illustration of Creston eclipse camp [USNO-NA Entry 18, Box 8]. See image in chapter 12.