The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1871-10-26
A Machine That Can Talk, Laugh and
Sing.

a persevering Frenchman once con-
structed machine, in the form of duck,
which could walk, clap its wings, pick
up grains of corn, and, more wonderful
still, digest them, but 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 papa"
and mamma" but after devoting his life
to perfecting them, he asserted that
machine which could utter all the words
in use in European languages was as i'm
possibility. After his death his puppets
became dumb, no one understanding the
mechanism by which they were made to
speak. Kempelen's impossiblity has been
at last overcome. In 1871 Prof Faber
exhibited machine which could utter a
great number of sounds and words, but it
was By no means perfect. His nephew
took up the machine that his uncle had
failed in perfecting, and completed it
After exhibiting it before all the crowned
heads and scientific societies in Europe,
he has brought it to this country, and
some time since gave an exhibition of it
in private. The machine, which stands
on a small table, conists Of a complicated
arrangement Of rubber tubes, reeds, keys,
pedals, strings and wires. The lungs are
represented by small pair of bellows,
the glottis by reeds and pipes of different
sizes, the lips and tongue by pieces of
india-rubbcr Beneath the table is
pedal by which the bellows are worked,
Oh the right hand side series of keys,
on which are marked the letters 0, U, [,
K, i, Il, w, +, S, B, D and G.. With
these and some supplementary arrange
ments, all sounds used in the European
languages can be enunciated. There is
also an arrangement resembling the key
board 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. Yesterday 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 Constant
nople," ''Politzka," Mississippi" ""Rade-
tzky," "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 murmers. Every word pro,
posed was pronounced at once and with.
out the slightest hesitation. OF course
some words were-more clearly enunciated
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 be given by proper manipulation of
the pedals. Taken altogether, the stalk
ing machine" is wonderful specimen of
mans ingenuity. Whether it can ever be
anything more is doubtful. 1t connot be
applied to any practical purpose, unless,
indeed, dumb or weak Derved and feeble
voiced individuals should choose to pur-
chase them and use them as medicums
through which to address the public.
Prof Faber, we believe, intends to ex-
hibit his machine in public as soon as ar
can be made for that purpose.
The singing portion of the machine not
being in order yesterday, We were unable
to determine what merit the invention
nosSasseS as ay opalist = ~ Y Times