The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1871-10-26
A Wonderful Invention.
A MACHINE THAT CAN TALK, LAUGH
.... AND SING.

AND SlN6s
A persevering Frenchman once con-
structed q machine, in the form of a
duck, which could walk, flap its wings,
pick up grains of corn, and more won-
derful still, digest them, bat machine
capable of talking was supposed to be
beyond the power OF human ingenuity
to construct. Kempelen, German,
made number of puppets, that uttered
the words "psps" and "mamma," but
after devoting his life to perfecting
them, he asserted that a machine which
could utter all the words in use in Eu-
ropean languages was an impossibility.
After his death his puppets became
dumb, no one understanding the mech
anism by which they were made to
speak. Kempelens impossibility has
been at last overcome. In 1S41 Prof.
Faber exhibited machine which could
utter great number of sounds and
words, but it was by no means perfect.
His nephew took up the machine that
his uncle failed in perfecting, and COM
pleted it. After exhibiting it before all
the crowned heads and scientific socie-
ties of Europe, he has brought it to this
country. The machine, which stands on
small table, consists of complicated
arrangement of rubber tubes, reeds, keys,
pedals, strings and wires. The lungs
are represented by small pair of bel
lows, the glottis by reeds and pipes of
different sizes, the lips and tongue by
pieces of india-rubber. Beneath the
table is d pedal by which the bellows
are worked, and on the right hand side
series of keys, on which are marked
the letters o, U, l, E, L, R, W, F, S, B,
ID and G. With these and some supple
mentary arrangements, all sounds used
in the European languages can be enun-
ciated. There is also an arrangement
resembling the keyboard of piano, by
which the machine can be made to sing.
Every portion of it is open to view, SO
that no deception is possible. Yester-
day the machine, under the deft hands
of Nine. Faber, enunciated distinctly all
the letters of the English and German
alphabets, numerous long and difficult
words, such as "Constantinople," "Po-
litzka," Mississippi" Radetzky,"
"hurrah," and then darted off into long
sentences in English, German, and
French, winding up with a laugh of the
most natural kind, followed by Kisses,
groans and murmurs. Every word pro-
nounced was pronounced at once with
out the slightest hesitation. Of course
some words were more clearly enuncia-
ted than others, but the majority were
given far more clearly than the majority
of human beings pronounce them, and
even the nasal twang which French
people often adopt was closely initiated.
In Prof. Faber's machine the motions of
the mouth and tongue initiate precisely
those of human beings. Different keys
or tones can by given by proper manip-
ulation of the pedals. Taken altogether,
the talking machine" is wonderful
specimen of mans ingenuity. Whether
it can ever be anything more is doubtful.
1t cannot be applied to any practical
purpose, unless, indeed, dumb or weak
nerved and feeble-voiced individuals
should choose to purchase them and use
them as mediums through which to ad-
dress the public.
Prof. Faber, we believe, intends to
exhibit his machine in public as soon as
arrangements can be made for that pur-
pose. The singing portion of the ma
chine not being in order yesterday, we
were unable to determine what merit
the invention possesses vocalist.-N
Y. Times, Oct. 6.