His work marketing the Edison storage battery
produced some important sales and his growing friendship with
Edison soon led invitation work with him the
laboratory 1911.S.IX-23
Engineer and even ordered that all work carried out the
laboratory's machine shops needed his approval.
Hutchison's comment that the job Chief Engineer "seems
to resolve itself into issuing engineering notices screws,
nuts, bolts, gears, etc" shows that gulf had emerged between
the purely experimental work the laboratory and the
production engineering the Engineering Department. 1912 Hutchison was very close terms
33
with Edison and was soon made his Chief Engineer. Born and educated the South, Hutchison had
produced hearing aid, invented the electric klaxon horn, and
was the process developing automobile self-starter when
he first came visit the West Orange laboratory. Like Edison, was both inventor and
entrepreneur. The
leader the laboratory had generalist like Edison who
could turn his hand any technology. Hutchison
had served engineer U. Bliss only
lasted one year before Edison removed him 1912. Hutchison was able to
spread his time among the many projects the laboratory but
admitted Edison that found difficult successfully
. lighthouses and had valuable
contacts the Navy. The next
Chief Engineer was Miller Reese Hutchison, prolific young
inventor who had gained the friendship Thomas Edison and had
gradually worked his way into the favor the elderly
inventor
