In those days it was usual for young boys to earn extra money by doing some work or the other, and Edison was no exception. When he was thirteen, he took a job selling newspapers and candy on the train. He had a three-hour train ride to cover, from Port Huron to Detroit, and earned as much as 50 dollars a week. Most of his earnings went to buying equipment for his experiments. His family needed the money too, as his father’s grain and timber business was in a bad shape.
Young Edison used his free time mostly to read scientific and technical books. He convinced the train conductor to let him set up a small laboratory in the baggage car of the train, where he could conduct experiments while the train waited for its return trip.
One day, when the train lurched, a bottle of yellow phosphorous spontaneously ignited, and a fire broke out. A conductor put out the fire, and the boy and his chemicals were ejected at the next station. This forced him to stop his experiments on board.
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