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Show LAPSE OF GREAT MINDS Details Frequently Known to Baffle the Man of Genius. Jo Illustrate the kind of lapse ol reasoning power from which great Inventors are known to suffer, like that under Influence of which Sir Isaac Newton cut one hole in a wall to let a cat pass through and fhen a small hole for the kitten, an old story In the life of Morae will answer well. Long before he Invented the telegraph tele-graph Morse was known to the officers of-ficers of the patent office as a persistent persist-ent applicant for patents. When his great Invention of "distance writing" was about completed ho wanted the Baltimore & Ohio rullroad to try It. To get rid of him the president of the road turned him over to a subordinate. subord-inate. This official was struck with the beauty of tho invention and became be-came so Interested in it that ho sat up half the night discussing it with the Inventor. At length Morso confessed con-fessed there was only one thing which baffled him. "As long as the railroad runs," ho said, "where poles may bo erected It will bo easy sailing, but when we come to the big bridges what is to bo done then? We can't erect poles across the stream, and without 4hem 'the wire would sag and perhaps break from its own weight. I confess 1 don't know what to do. Can you suggest a way out of the difficulty?" "Why don't you fasten the wires to the bridge?" asked bis companion without a moment's hesitation. For a moment Morse gazed at him with open mouth, and then exclaimed: "Why not, indeed? Why, I never thought of that. It's tho very way." |