Bernard Shaw's gift of ready wit is well illustrated by the story of how he of one of his plays.
It was the first night of "Arms and the Man", a play which had a very good reception from a crowded house. When the curtain fell at the end of the last act there was tremendous applause, accompanied by insisted call for the author to appear. One man in the gallery was whistling thus expressing his disapproval.
Bernard Shaw appeared before the curtain, waited in silence until the end of the applause. Then, looking up at that critic, he said: "I quite agree with you, Sir, but what can we two do against all these people?"
Edison's First Invention
When Edison was a boy of fifteen, he worked as a telegraph operator. He had to be on duty from 7 p. m. to 7 a. m. and give a signal every hour to prove that he was awake. The signals were made with astonishing exactness. One night an inspector arrived and saw Edison sleeping in a chair.
He was about to shake him when he caught sight of a mechanism on a table near the telegraph instrument. He waited to see what happened. When the hand of the clock pointed to the hour, the instrument got busy and one lever threw open the key while the other sent the signal over the wire.
The inspector seized the sleeping fellow, roused him — and fired1 him. That is why the first of Edison's numerous inventions was never patented.
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