The Times-Tribune from Scranton, Pennsylvania • 129

yjji tfntyjt- SCRANTON, PA NOVEMBER 12, 2000 110 TALE OF TWO COUNTIES ht etas i Carbondale Area Native Founded Johnson Johnson In 1876, a lecture by Sir, Joseph Lister would start Mr. Johnson thinking about a product that would change the medical profession and save millions of lives. BY RICH MATES TlMES-SHAMROCK NEWSPAPERS The Carbondale area was the birthplace of an industrialist who was also a visionary. Robert Wood the founder of Johnson Johnson, was bom Feb. 15, 1845, to Sylvester and Louisa Wood Johnson, who lived at Crystal Lake.

He was the eighth of 11 children. Robert was a good student and after several years in a country school near his home, he went to live with his mother's sister In Carbondale so he could attend its larger public schools. Because he continued to show progress, when Robert turned 13 his parents enrolled him in Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, which was started in 1844 by the Oneida Methodist Conference. It was one of the first boarding schools in the nation. He stayed at Wyoming Seminary for three years.

But the Civil War intervened and Charles and William, Roberts two older brothers, enlisted in the Union Army. Sylvester and Louisa did not want a third son in the Army. They sent Robert, then 16, off to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where his mothers cousin, Janies G. Wood ran an apothecary. Robert Wood Johnson be- came an apprentice.

Eventually, Mr. Johnson became a retail pharmacist and later worked as a drug broker In New York City. He entered the manufacturing business in 1874. His company. Seabury Johnson, produced bandages from India rubber.

Many doctors were using bandages made from cotton waste collected from the floors of mills. In some hospitals, nine out of 10 surgical patients would die following surgery. In 1876, a lecture by Sir Joseph Lister would start Mr. Johnson thinking about a product that would change the medical profession and save millions of lives. During his lecture tour Dr.

Lister, a noted British surgeon, warned about the dangers of germs in operating rooms. It was a tough sell to the medical community, according to the official Mr. Johnson quickly implemented production of the mass-produced surgical dressings. Mr. Johnson also worked to bring Dr.

Listers teachings to the medical community. By 1888, Johnson Johnsons book, "Modern Methods of Antiseptic Wound Treatment, was widely distributed. It remained the standard text on antiseptic practices for many years. Other innovations followed. Please see JAJ, Page 1 23 people.

Mr. Johnson had the idea of producing sterile surgical dressings, wrapped in individual packages, that could be unwrapped and used at once. It took years before production could begin. Robert Wood Johnson formed Johnson Johnson with his two brothers, James Wood Johnson and Edward Mead Johnson, in 1885. Production of their first product began in 1886 in New Brunswick, N.J.

Johnson Johnson initially produced medicinal plasters, but Robert Wood Johnson formed In 1885. if -oGtAjuj Srurc Scranton-East, Dunmora 4 UliMilNgWfi history of Physicians were skeptical about unseen organisms that had the power to kill 21 QENJU8Y' TRAVEL Father Josef Murgas Made Waves in Radio i Specializing Leisure Travel Commercial Accounts Chartered Group Tours air, land or Sea ADULTS 19.95 SENIORS OflLDREN UNDER 12 $9.95 Children 3 and Under Fra (Includes Tax 8 Qratuitj) RESERVATIONS REQUIRED 1119 WhMtor Dunmora, PA 18510 969-9900 or 1-800-547-9901 what we now call the AM broadcast band) transmission sites for oceangoing surface and submerged fleet vessels. The labs, he said, wanted to establish failsafe communications between command centers and distant fleets. Mr. Rogers design was cheaper but, they soon discovered, the Murgas designs were more effective and world- permeating- The Rogers antennas needed to be installed very precisely, a restriction nonexistent with the superior Murgas Monopoles, he writes.

In history books all over the world, Marconi gets credit for his contributions to radio, while Father Murgas gets nothing more than a postage stamp in his native country and a Liberty Ship in his adopted land. At one point, he had received 17 patents on his work and, 95 years ago this month, made the first public test of his new wireless system. He also assisted Thomas Edison. Marconi wasnt able to help, but did recommend Father Murgas, who was transmitting his voice by radio as early as 1907. Father Murgas, saying he was old and in failing health, eventually shared his work with Marconi.

I do not want this patent to be lost to the human race, he is quoted as having said. I gave him the patent, he will work hard to get the station built. God help him, BY TOM CAMTEM TlMES-SHAMROCK NEWSPAPERS Alex Trebeck gives the answer Marconi, Stubblefield, Murgas. We shout back, to our TV sets: Who were the inventors of radio? As is often the case, no one person can claim credit for inventing radio. There never was a moment when an inventor came out of the laboratory and said, Well, here it is a radio station." Marconi is the first name that comes to mind.

He sent a signal across the Atlantic and, most likely, really did hear it on this end. It wasnt easy, but he seems to have made a radio signal cross the ocean. His problem was that he couldnt reliably get it to cross the street Without assistance, radio waves die out after a fairly short distance and no one could figure out how to make them travel any farther. Then, along came Father Josef Murgas. Father Murgas, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Wilkes-Barres North End, was a great scientist One of his discoveries was the counterpoise an essential part of a radio transmitters radiating system.

Go along the river and you will see radio towers here and there; what you dont see are the wires buried in the ground, like so many bicycle spokes, which form the counterpoise, also known as the ground. He discovered how to make radio signals go the distance. Gerry Vassilatos wrote a paper, An Introduction to the Mysteries of Ground Radio (posted at borderlands.com). In it, he discusses the merits of Father Murgas discovery, compared to others who were also experimenting at the same time. Put into understandable language, Mr.

Vassilatos says: Father Murgas (1906) produced a remarkable series of ground rods. They were deeply drilled pipes, filled with mineral oil and used to transmit radio signals. With these designs, Father Murgas exchanged extremely powerful and static-free signals to great distances with very little applied power." In other words, he discovered how to make radio signals go the distance. In his case, the signals were transmitted through the ground, he wrote. Without this discovery, we would need dozens of radio stations in Northeastern Pennsylvania if we wanted to hear anything.

Father Murgas was not the only person experimenting with radio waves. Seven years later, James Harris Rogers developed a somewhat similar design. Mr. Vassilatos wrote, Military research laboratories were trying to creating very low frequency (far below Office In Dunmorw and Carbondale (970) 340-6920 Ht'lpIiBl 599.00 Over Invoice On AO 2000 5 2001 Hein In Stock Over I SO Vehicles to Choose From 2001 BLAZER LS 4 DR. V-6, PW, PD, Cruise 2001 MALIBU SDN.

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