The Edison phonograph monthly (Jan-Dec 1912)

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4 Edison Phonograph Monthly, April, 1912 That is to say, five Englishmen out of the ten. Is that too extravagant? "An impossible shot,'" as Mr. Andrew Lang termed it. Well, there is Mr. W. J. Locke, who would delete Metchnikoff, Kitchener and William II. and substitute therefor — J. S. Sargent. Edmond Rostand. Auguste Rodin. In other words, one's choice lies in the direction of one's sympathies. To many, Robert Louis Stephenson was a far greater man than William Ewart Gladstone. Who would have suspected Rembrandt to have been a greater man than the Duke of Alva? Sir Harry Johnston is a great traveller and man of the world, who has seen and noted much concerning his fellow-men. Here is his list: — General Booth. Sir Donald Ross. Andrew Carnegie. G. Marconi. William II. Thomas Edison. G. B. Shaw. President Taft. Baden-Powell. Rostand. In the list supplied us by Mr. BurdettCourts, M. P., these names figure: — Joseph Chamberlain. Rudyard Kipling. Admiral Togo. Emperor Mutsuhito of Japan. President Taft William II. J. Pierpont Morgan. Edison. G. Marconi. Nansen. "In compiling a list of the ten greatest men in the world," writes Sir Wil'am Bull, M. P., "I would esteem discoverers and inventors more than any other. There is no painter of first-rate eminence now living, in my opinion. Here is my list, in order of merit: — Thomas A. Edison. Aston Webb. Wilbur Wright. Hon. Charles Parsons (inventor of the turbine). Lord Lister. Prof. Eli Metchnikoff. John Thorneycroft. Joseph Chamberlain. G. Marconi. Rudyard Kipling. "If Mme. Curie, the discoverer of radium, were a man, I should substitute her name foi that of Mr. Chamberlain." "There is no living painter who could be called great." Such is the dictum of Admiral C. C. P. Fitzgerald, whose list contains the names of — Joseph Chamberlain. Theodore Roosevelt. Admiral Togo. Edison. Lord Strathcona . Lord Cromer. Rudyard Kipling. Anatole France. Marconi. Lord Roberts. "Doubtless," writes Mr. Clement Shorter, the well-known editor of the Sphere, "there are many great rr.cn living in the world to-day — men with p:::pective greatness, that is, or even achieved greatness — but only time can decide. The great man is surely he who, by force of genius, has impressed himself upon his age in some permanent form. Whether the achievements of Mr. Roosevelt or of Emperor William are of this character had better be decided a century hence. As you ask me, however, to join in what can scarcely be a serious discussion, I suggest that we take the name of a living man from each country who has, by invention or creation, stamped himself upon his age. I therefore nominate the ten greatest men of the present day as follows: — Great Britain Thomas Hardy. Great Britain Lord Lister. United States Thomas A. Edison. Italy Guglielmo Marconi. Italy Giacomo Puccini. France Francois Coppee. Austria Richard Strauss. Germany Hermann Sudermann. Belgium Maurice Maeterlinck. Russia Eli Metchnikoff. "I should like," Mr. Shorter adds, "to have added Auguste Strindberg for Sweden, and Ernst Haeckel for Germany, but I cannot give up any one of my ten." Finally we have received a letter from a gentleman who has filled a position of some trust and responsibility not unconnected with the Court. He writes: — "I have been deeply interested in studying the lists of what various Englishmen (including the First Commoner) consider the ten greatest men now living; and it has struck me that perhaps you might like to print a speculation on my part of what the list of His Majesty King George V. would be. I think it would run somewhat in this fashion: — Lord Kitchener. Lord Roberts. Lord Roseberry. Emperor William. Theodore Roosevelt. Edison. Emperor Mutsuhito. Kipling. J. Chamberlain Asquith. The foregoing speculation is certainly most interesting, even though the writer begs that his name be withheld. What now is the result of these most diversified and representative opinions? If we make a list of names according to the number of votes which each has received we obtain the following:— Edison. Chamberlain. Kipling. Roberts. Roosevelt. William II. Marconi. Metchnikoff. Lister. These are the first nine. For the last place it is an open question, as certain of the replies are a little vague, whether it would be held by Roseberry, Togo, or Kitchener. Not Available Now How to make Records at Home (Form 1090). This booklet has been temporarily suspended pending certain alterations to record-making accessories now under consideration.