Overcoming handicaps

On April 9, 1865, Charles Steinmetz was born at Breslau in Germany. He was a cripple from his birth. Both his father and grandfather had suffered from spinal trouble, but in Charles the affliction was more noticeable and all his life, though he had a very wise head, he had an undersized, misshapen body. He was so short in stature that he looked much like a dwarf and while his shoulders were thrown up, the head was set so as to give him the appearance of a hunchback.

His mother died when Charles was just one year old and his grandmother came to take care of him. She would have loved her grandchild in any case, but his affliction made him especially dear to her, and she cared for him so that all through life he loved her dearly and after her death he cherished her memory. Breslau is a large railway centre and Charles’ father worked in the government railway service there. He was a comparatively poor man but keenly interested in science. He was determined that, as far as was possible, Charles should have a thorough education. Charles himself was a studious boy, and eager to take advantage of every opportunity to learn. He was not able to play games and enjoy an active life as other boys did but he did enjoy life and the subjects he studied greatly interested him, and severely crippled though he was he made up his mind that he would devote himself to science. He said that he hoped to make discoveries that would help other people.

As soon as he was old enough, Charles began to study at the university. He was most interested in mathematics, chemistry and electricity and he made considerable progress in these subjects. He was just about to receive his degree when his political views made it necessary for him to leave Germany and go to Switzerland, where several of his friends, holding similar views, had gone before him. The proud, overbearing, arrogant views of many German leaders of that time were not to his liking and he had shown decided radical tendencies which brought him under suspicion of the German government.

He arrived in Switzerland in June, 1888, with very little money. It took exactly half of all he had to pay the first month’s rent for his room, but he possessed great courage and immediately resumed his studies in chemistry and physics, while he wrote articles for local papers and magazines and so earned enough to pay his way. By dint of hard work he managed to earn fourteen dollars a month and although this was not very much, his wants were few, and he did not suffer hardship nor get into debt.

While he was in Switzerland he met a young Dane named Oscar Asmussen. This man had once lived in San Francisco and intended returning. He urged Charles Steinmetz to go with him but Charles was almost penniless and the thing seemed impossible. Oscar Asmussen had just enough money to pay for two steerage passages and a few dollars over and in June, 1889, the two set out for America.

Charles Steinmetz, at that time, could not speak a word of English and the days on board ship were chiefly devoted to learning English, although one can easily understand that the crowded, uncomfortable quarters of the steerage would make such a task difficult. When at last the ship reached New York something happened which nearly resulted in Charles Steinmetz’ being deported back to Switzerland. The ship arrived on a Saturday night and passengers had to wait till Monday before being examined. Charles slept near an open porthole and caught a severe cold which caused his face to swell. When he appeared before the authorities for examination on Monday morning he was indeed a sorry-looking spectacle. He was dwarfed and misshapen in body; his eyesight was very defective, his face terribly swollen, and his clothes decidedly shabby. Furthermore he could scarcely speak a word of English. Had it not been for the earnest entreaties of Oscar Asmussen he would most surely have been refused admission to America. He was admitted, however, for in those days the government authorities were not as strict as they are now.

Charles Steinmetz certainly did not look a very promising immigrant and during his first few weeks he met with much that would have discouraged a less determined man. He had letters of introduction to two electrical engineers in America. The first man read his letter and turned him down flat. “There is a perfect epidemic of foreign electrical engineers; we cannot do a thing for you,” he said. The other man to whom Charles Steinmetz went, read the letter and promised to send for him in a few days. He did not send, and Charles who was penniless, went to see him at the end of a week and found that the man had forgotten all about him. However, when reminded of his promise, he gave Charles a position at twelve dollars a week. It was not the kind of work that he wanted but he was glad to get a footing of any kind and he worked hard at it. One day his employer stained his hands with dye; his chemists were not able to remove the stains, and he was agitated and annoyed. Charles Steinmetz suggested an acid solution which was tried, and instantly removed the stains. As a reward for this he was set to work in the laboratory of the factory, at tasks more suited to his liking and which gave him a chance to show his skill.

He soon showed amazing ability and in two papers he read before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers he established a position as a leading authority on the subject. Soon after this the American General Electric Company was formed and Charles Steinmetz was offered the position of chief consulting engineer at a large salary. He accepted the position under somewhat peculiar conditions. He did not want a large salary, but he did wish to be quite free to carry out whatever experiments he desired and requested that the company should permit him to draw on them for whatever money he needed. This they were quite willing to do. At Schenectady, a very fine laboratory was fitted up for him and there he began his experiments in electrical engineering in which he was so keenly interested. For many years he toiled on without attracting a great deal of attention. He was a hard worker and forgot himself in his work. The General Electric Company knew that in him they had one of the greatest experts living, but for a long time he was not widely known. Then, from time to time, authoritative articles on electricity and chemistry began to appear in the leading magazines signed “Charles Steinmetz,” and they were recognised as being of a very high order. Then it gradually became known that a really great mind was at work in the laboratory at Schenectady, and his position as an authority was established.

All this time he worked hard, ever seeking to perfect electrical appliances already in use and to make discoveries that would benefit humanity. His laboratory was one of the best equipped in the world and when Thomas A. Edison visited it, he expressed his admiration and astonishment at what he saw there. A warm friendship had sprung up between Steinmetz and Edison and they recognised each other, not as rivals, but as co-workers in the same field.

When spoken to about his hard work, Charles Steinmetz refused to take any credit. He insisted that he loved his work so intensely that he never became fatigued. “There is no more credit due me for sticking to my work,” he said, “than there is to a child who plays. I love my work. It is my chief joy and I could not easily take a holiday from it if I had to.” He never had any faith in the lasting value of work done for the sake of the wages. He believed that work should be done for work’s sake. Only men and women who love their work, he believed, would ever make a success of it, and benefit others. In this connection it is interesting to note that when he died in November, 1923, he left behind him practically nothing except an insurance policy for $1,500 and an old automobile. He had no one depending upon him and to heap up money was the last thing in the world he wanted to do.

For some time before his death he was working hard to invent devices which would offset the destructive effects of lightning. In order to do this he studied closely how lightning is formed. He succeeded in producing artificial lightning with the energy of one million horse-power—an achievement which created a sensation among experts in the electrical world.

He had unbounded faith in the future of electricity. He was one of the first to predict that electricity would eventually do away with steam locomotives and thus enormously cut down the consumption of coal. He made many other predictions which at the time seemed impossible, but which appear much more reasonable now. He was quick to see that electricity was destined to become more and more useful and a greater boon to the human race.

Many great distinctions came to Charles Steinmetz. He was made a Professor of Electrical Engineering at Union University. Both Harvard University and Union University conferred degrees upon him in recognition of his valuable work. No doubt he was glad to receive such honours but he remained very unassuming. His chief delight was in his work and often he appeared at important functions wearing a soft collar and a shabby tweed suit. Charles Steinmetz lived a few months less than sixty years but into those years he put his very best work. When he was buried many of the most notable people on the American continent hastened to pay their tribute to his worth. One writer said: “This deformed hunchback had the mind of an angel and the soul of a seer.” When one thinks of these things there arises before the mind a picture of that penniless, deformed youth, humbly seeking admission to America in 1889. He was a sorry-looking object then—and indeed as far as his body was concerned—remained so throughout life. But though he was dwarfed in body, Charles Steinmetz was a giant in mind and in spirit.