As a young man， Edison had worked as an electrical technician for George Field， a distant relative and friend of Daniel Field’s farther. Although the relationship between George Field and the often-rash Edison had been notoriously strained， Daniel Field was one of the first to cordially welcome the now famous inventor to Brockton to construct his branch. It didn’t take long， however， both the idealistic Field and the pragmatic① Edison found themselves on a collision course on an issue that would make environmental history.
Although he was a tough-minded and world-class entrepreneur， Field was also a deeply committed， self-styled urban conservationist②. “Somehow， he never had a problem in blending his lasting love of nature and community with his absolute faith in ‘pure’ capitalism.” He never wavered in his belief that “A city requires an abundance of natural and architectural beauty and goodness in order for its inhabitants to be truly happy.”
One Edison’s crew indicated that the branches of a number of the beautiful elm trees in the downtown area needed to be heavily trimmed to accommodate③ a 2000-foot extension cord， Field was asked to lead an opposition movement. Recalling how decaying layers of telegraph wires， arc light wires， and telephone wires were such a blight in New York City， Field and others argued that Edison was about to “introduce similar havoc” in Brockton.
Regardless of the strong civic challenge led by the impassioned 28-year-old Field， Edison did not immediately change his plans. Accordingly， he promptly dropped the issue into the hands of Garrison.
Garrison was a highly articulate④ author and part-time actor. Edison greatly valued his unusual ability to win over an audience with humor and satire. On one occasion a group of local hecklers from the gas company tried to convince an audience that the “mad wizard from New Jersey was about to blow up the whole village”，Garrison readily turned the tables and made them the laughing stock.
The result was that， even though the decision involved a number of untested changes， Edison agreed to hide the one-inch diameter cable at least two feet below ground. It was a decision that made his unique Brockton Standardized System even more singular than originally designed. For the first time in history， it combined the high energy efficiency associated with type H （three-wire） generation and distribution with the aesthetics associated with subterranean wiring.
Finally， by mid-September of 1883， the remarkable Brockton operation was ready to go into service. The circuit， which involved 150 of Edison’s lasted “600-hour 10-candle-watt bulbs”， was connected to more than a dozen retail establishments， including a barber shop and a popular billiard hall that had formerly used “buzzing and blinking” arc lights. On October 1， thirty-seven-year-old Edison and a troupe of famous associates arrived. By train， from Boston to oversee the first official use of “his latest and most remarkable⑤ contrivance.”
① pragmaticadj. 实际的，实干的
② conservationistn. 天然资源保护论者
③ accommodatev. 使通融，使适应，容纳
④ articulateadj. 善于表达的，口才好的
⑤ remarkableadj. 值得注意的，非凡的，卓越的
托马斯·爱迪生
年轻之时，爱迪生曾经在乔治·菲尔德手下做过电工，此人是丹尼尔·菲尔德父亲的一个远房亲戚和朋友。虽然乔治·菲尔德和鲁莽的爱迪生之间关系非常地紧张，但是，丹尼尔·菲尔德却是最先热情欢迎这位在当时就很著名的发明家来布洛克顿创建分公司的人。可是不久，理想主义的菲尔德与比较务实的爱迪生就发现，在一个将会对生态的历史进程产生影响的焦点问题上，他们产生了分歧。
菲尔德是个很有实力的一流企业家，还是一个忠实的、自封的城市自然资源保护论者。无论如何，他总是毫无疑问地将自己对自然和社区矢志不渝的热爱以及对纯粹的资本主义的绝对忠诚联系在一起。对于自己的信念，他从来就没有动摇过，那个信念就是：“一座城市需要丰富的自然与建筑相辅相成的美，那样，它的居民才可以获得真正的幸福。”
有一个和爱迪生干活的人指出：城区有一片漂亮的榆树枝需要大规模剪裁，以便能连接2，000尺的延长线路，菲尔德领头站出来反对。当他们联想到纽约电报线，弧光灯线，和电话线的架设者们将会对城市所带来的损害之时，菲尔德就和他人争辩说，爱迪生将要给布洛克顿“带来相同的破坏。”
虽然遭到了情绪激昂的28岁的菲尔德所引发的激烈反对，但是爱迪生并没有立即改变自己的计划。相应地，他立即把这个难题交给了加里森。
加里森是一个非常善于雄辩的作家和兼职演员。爱迪生对他以幽默和讽刺赢得观众的超人能力倍加赞赏。一次，一群从煤气公司来的当地捣乱分子企图煽动观众相信“从新泽西来的发疯的巫师要炸毁整个村镇，”加里森敏捷地扭转了局面，而且还使得这帮人成为了笑柄。
最后的结果是，虽然含有一些未经测试的改动，但是爱迪生仍然同意将直径一寸的电缆埋在地下至少两英尺处。这个决定使他独特的布隆克顿标准系统比最初设计的更加独特。这在历史上是首次，既要用H型（三根线）来产生高效能，又要在地下布线使之符合美学。
最后，1883年的9月中旬，引人注目的布隆克顿业务准备投入运营了。整个线路，包括150只爱迪生最新的“照明600小时10根蜡烛能量的灯泡，”连接了12多家零售店铺，包括一间理发馆和一家受欢迎的台球厅，而在此之前，它们使用的是“阴暗而又啪啪作响的”弧光灯。10月1日，37岁的爱迪生和一班有名的同事们从波士顿乘火车到此，前来观看首次正式启用的“他的最新、最引人注目的发明物。”