Jeffrey R. Holland Quotes on Man (1 Quote)

Thomas Edison devoted ten years and all of his money to developing the nickel alkaline storage battery at a time when he was almost penniless. Through that period of time, his record and film production company was supporting the storage battery effort. Then one night the terrifying cry of 'Fire' echoed through the film plant. Spontaneous combustion had ignited some chemicals. Within moments all of the packaging compounds, celluloid for records, film, and other flammable goods had gone up in flames. Fire companies from eight towns arrived, but the heat was so intense and the water pressure so low that the fire hoses had no effect. Edison was sixty-seven years old - no age to begin anew. His daughter was frantic, wondering if he was safe, if his spirit was broken, how he would handle such a crisis at his age. She saw him running toward her. He spoke first. He said, 'Where's your mother Go get her. Tell her to get her friends. They'll never see another fire like this as long as they live.' At five-thirty the next morning, with the fire barely under control, he called his employees together and announced, 'We're rebuilding.' One man was told to lease all the machine shops in the area, another to obtain a wrecking crane from the Erie Railroad Company. Then, almost as an afterthought, Edison added, 'Oh, by the way. Anybody know where we can get some money' Virtually everything we now recognize as a Thomas Edison contribution to our lives came after that great disaster.