The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-03-08
PROF. BELLS TELEPHONE.
The Human Voice Carried a Hundred
and Forty Miles. &

PROF. BELLS TELEPHONE. t..
The Human Human Voice Carried a Hundred
and Forty Miles. & r.
r. .WAsHINGToN, February 10.
: Prot. A. Graham Bell; the inventor of
the telephone, comes from the staid old
city of the witches-Salem. He is pro-
fessor of "yocal physiology" in the Bos.
tom University. About FIVE years ago he
first began to think about the possibility
of the transmission of sound by telegraph,
and the idea took possession of him COM
pletely. His invention had SO far taken
form eighteen months ago, and with the
assistance of practical electrician, Mr..
Thomas A. Watson, he began to expert
ment, using for the purpose wire be-
tween, Boston and Cambridge, about two
miles long. The success of the inyen-
ton was to, him from the first only q
question of time. he had "got it down
fine, }" as the boys say, and the successive
experiments were only 80 many steps to-.
ward rendering the instrument practical
for general use. VI, .a;g ea .,.ll...,...
/. The first time the practical success of
the telephone was. demonstrated to the
satisfaction of others were on October 8,
1876; when an experiment was made over
the private wire of the Walworth Manu-
featuring Company of Cambridge. The,
telephone then spoke for itself, and the.
conversation of the operator in Cam
bridge could be distinctly heard at the
Boston end of the line. An interesting
dialogue took place, the speakers talking
in their ordinary key. The experiments
were continued almost constantly. Prot
Bell and Mr.. Watson conducted their
operations in the fifth story of lodging
house In Exeter place, in this city, and
were exceedingly careful whom they ad-
mitted to their rooms. y L found my way
up there to-day, and had an interesting
chat! with Mr.. Watson, who. seems to be
a bright young man, and is very enthusi-
astic concerning the telephone. He said
that Prof. Bell was the sole inventor OF
the instrument. and no other human be-
ing had ever tackled the idea. The first
patent was taken out about a year ago,
and several had been obtained subse-
auently. Mr.iWatson gave an interest
ing account of the recent experiments
with the machine, most of which have
been over the Eastern Railroad Compa-
ny's wire between Salem and Boston,
The time selected for: these experiments
is generally the Sabbath day, because
there is then less probability of the wire
being in ,use., i ''rd nciiH4' ,i!i g ~
One of the experiments, which occur
red on -January,2l, was eminently graft.
fying in its results. Not only every word
spoken in Boston, but even the tones and
Infections Of the several voices were &C
curately transmitted and readily recog-
nized by those at the Salem end of the
line. Other experiments demonstrated
the fact that q lady in Maiden could sing
'The Last Rose of Summer" and every
note could be heard in the room at 5 Ex-
eter place, Boston. The sound was per-
fectly clear, and had about the same eft.
feet as if the listener were at the rear of
a concert hall, say one hundred feet away
from the singer. Subsequent trials showed
that laughter, applause or instrumental
music could be equally we'll transmitted.
III the case of the latter, not only the
key could be transmitted, but also the
quality of the music. A violin could be
distinguished from violoncello.
The greatest distance that has been
vanquished by the telephone is lab miles
from Boston to North Conway, N. III.
The most recent improvements made on
the instrument do away with batteries
altogether, and permanent magnets are
now employed instead, the electric wave
used in transmitting the sounds being
generated by the voice itself. This is
regarded as very important step in ad-
vance, as the bother and expense Of
keeping batteries in order has been the
greatest drawback to the employment OF
the instrument for private purposes. The
honor of having received the first news.
paper dispatch belongs to the Boston Globe.
A report of alecture by Prof. Bell in
Salem was transmitted verbally to it last
Monday night. This lecture was about
the telephone, and in the course of the
evening series of remarkable expert
ments was made in the presence of the
audience. Songs and brief speeches were
sent from Boston, and the applause
which greeted their reception In Salem
was distinctly heard in Boston. Imagine
sitting in d hall and hearing man,
eighteen miles away, sing "Hold the
Fort" ''' 49,.
"I haven't the slightest doubt" Mr..
Watson said to-day, "that in few
months things will be so that man can
make lecture here in Boston and be
heard by an audience in any part of the
country.nl -,
'"Do you expect that the telephone will
entirely superseds the present system OF
telegfaphing?" I asked. :;
ayes, we expect it will, eventually. A
company is now forming for the purpose
of manufacturing and introducing the
instrument. In time 1t can't fail to re-
place the old dot and line alphabet sys.
tenn entirely. We expect, at first, it will
be used mostly on private lines and for
city business. 1t will probably take the
place Of the present district telegraph
companies and the like, as it will be
especially convenient for that class of
business" - - ~ ~ ''....'''' 80 =
i"Won't the receiving operators have to
learn shorthand ?" % - ~. ''''. -
eyes, 1 suppose they will. In our ex-
periments we have generally paused after
saying a sentence, 80 that the receiver
had time. to write out in long hand: |"
Mr.. Watson remarked that the intro
duction of the telephone would probably
have the effect of increasing the telegraph
business to such an extent that it would
hasten the time when the wires would