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2/4/1895: Dickson Departs
At the Wizard of Menlo Park’s ranch, W.K.L. Dickson’s duplicity finally caught up with him. W. E. Gilmore, Edison’s new no-nonsense vice-president and general manager, had discovered that Dickson was moonlighting by giving help and advice to the Lathams. During a meeting between the two men on 2nd April – one year to the day after Gilmore had joined the organisation – at which Edison was present, Gilmore accused Dickson of being disloyal to his employer. Dickson baulked at this accusation and issued an ultimatum to Edison: either Gilmore went or he did. Edison was unable to give Dickson the answer he needed to hear – while the British man had been a long-time and brilliant employee, and Edison didn’t want to lose him, the inventor needed Gilmore’s hard-headed business savvy to get his National Phonograph Company out of a financially precarious situation that briefly threatened to bring down his entire empire.
Unhappy with Edison’s reply to his ultimatum, Dickson resigned on the spot. [ADD]
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