But on their arriving at New Orleans the vessel had sailed. In this
predicament Edison fell in with a travelled Spaniard, who depicted the
inferiority of other countries, and especially of South America, in such
vivid colours, that he changed his intention and returned home to
Michigan. After a pleasant holiday with his friends he resumed his
occupation in the Louisville office.
Contact with home seems to have charged him with fresh courage. He
wrote a work on electricity, which for lack of means was never
published, and improved his penmanship until he could write a fair round
backhand at the rate of forty-five words a minute--that is to say, the
utmost that an operator can send by the Morse code. The style was
chosen for its clearness, each letter being distinctly formed, with
little or no shading.
His comrades were no better than before. On returning from his work in
the small hours, Edison would sometimes find two or three of them asleep
in his bed with their boots on, and have to shift them to the floor in
order that he might 'turn in.'
A new office was opened, but strict orders were issued that nobody was
to interfere with the instruments and their connections. He could not
resist the infringement of this rule, however, and continued his
experiments.
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