life size wax figure of Edison in private room in the top of Eiffel Tower – [flickr: mezzoblue]
Inventor, Film Pirate, Sacrificial Priest
from Edison’s notebooks, circa mid-1870s:
A yellow oasis in hell= premeditated stupidity= A phrenological idol. The somber dream of the grey-eyed Corsican A Brain so small that an animalcule went to view it with a compound microscope. . .
Edison killed an elephant with alternating current in a sacrificial attempt to discredit the electrical system of his rivals, George Westinghouse and Tesla Nikola
wikipedia:
Topsy the Elephant ( c. 1875 – January 4, 1903) was a member of a domesticated herd at Coney Island’s Luna Park. She had been a part of the Forepaugh Circus previously. Topsy was deemed an ill-tempered and dangerous animal in that she killed three men in as many years, the last being an abusive trainer who tried to feed her a lit cigarette. For this reason, her owners decided to put her to death. Cyanide poisoning failed, and a proposal of hanging was abandoned after ASPCA protests. Thomas Edison suggested electrocution, using the Westinghouse alternating current system of electricity transmission, which Edison, a backer of direct current argued was more dangerous. The ASPCA found this suggestion acceptable, viewing electrocution as a more humane form of killing. Electrocution killed Topsy quickly. Edison recorded the execution with a motion picture camera, and showed his film to audiences around the country, as part of his unsuccessful attempt to discredit AC.
On July 20th, 2003, a memorial for Topsy was placed in the Coney Island Museum
References
- wikipedia: Topsy-the-Elephant
- http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/95dec/edison/edison.htm
- http://www.roadsideamerica.com/pet/topsy.html