Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1878-03-08

II he wanted IT,
"To a certain degree" said Mr.. Ed
ison, Z" the speaking photograph would
do away with photography. A man
could dictate TO his machine whenever
he pleased, turn the machine over to
an amanuensis, and let him write it
out. A lawyer through the machine
might make an argument before a
court, even if he had been in his grave
year. An editor or reporter might
dictate column at midnight and send
the machine mp to the compositor, who
would set the type at the dictation of
the machine without a scrap of manu-
script. | tell you there is no limit to
the possibilities of the instrument"
AT this point in the conversation the
professor sat down at his table and
hallooed: mad dogr' mad dogp
"Mad dogr' into the phonograp6 a
half a dozen times, and then amused
himself by turning the crank. Then
he made the instrument tell the old
and affecting story of Archibaldas
Holden. We asked how soon the pho
nograph would be thrown upon the
market.
"We expect to offer them for sale in
about two MONTHS" said the professor
"The price of the finest machine will
be about 800, but we shall sell inferior
ones at much lower price. The ma
trices will be for sale like sheets of
music, and can be used upon all the
machines
One of the remarkable features of the
invention is the fact that the diaphragm
can be placed in steam whistle, and
made to talk like calliope. The Capt
aims of ships at sea miles away from
each could converse without trouble
and correct their chronometers. The
steam whistles would throw voice
into articulated speech. With a metal
diaphragm in the whistle of locomo-
tive the engineer could roar out the
name of the next station in a voice so
loud that it could be heard by every
passenger on the train and by every
man within distance of two miles.
Placed in steam fire engine, the
chief engineer could talk to every fore
man in the department without difficult
ty, no matter how great the uproar. A
machine might be up in the Jersey City
railroad depot that would shout "This
side for Newark, Elizabeth, Railway,
and New Brunswick! Train on the left
for Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Wash
ington! Show your ticketsr'
"Why," said the professor, "I could
put metal diaphragm in the mouth of
the Goddess of Liberty that the French
men are going to put up on Bedloe's s
Island that would make her talk so
loud that she could be heard by every
soul on Manhattan Island. l could
drop one in a calliope and set it talking
so that men could hear it miles away.
Within two years you will find the ma
chine used for advertising purposes. 1t
will be setting in the windows of stores
Oh Broadway and other streets singing
out: Longfellow's POEMS Ten
cents for a shaver and so on. There is
no end to its uses. 1t will sing songs
and whistle. A man has already made
application to use the phonograph in
cabs, so as to record the complaints of
passengers. A clock company in Con-
necticut have one in the manufactory
this minute, and it shouts: Twelve
o'clockr and 'One o'clockr so loud
that it is heard two blocks off. One
might be used as an alarm clock" "
The professor calls the machine ap-
piled to steam whistles the airophone.
He is now constructing one to put up
in front of his manufactory, and intends
to make it talk so it can be heard two
miles.
Several of his speaking monographs
have been sent to England, where they
created profound sensation. Mr.. Ed
ison says that he received cable dis
patch on Friday last, offering him 93,-
900 and half the profits for the right to
sell the instrument in that country.
How did you discover the princi-
ple%'
BY the merest accident" said the
professor. /" Twas singing to the mouth
piece of telephone, when the vibra-
tions of the voice sent the fine steel
point into my finger. That set me to
thinking. i'll could record the actions
of the point, and send the point over
the same surface afterward, saw no
reason why the thing would not talk.
tried the experiment first on strip of
telegraph paper, and found that the
point made an alphabet. shouted the
words Halloo! halloop into the mouth
piece, ran the paper back over the steel
point, and heard faint 'Halloo! hal
loor in return. l determined to make
a machine that would work accurately,
and gave my assistants instructions,
telling them what l had discovered.
They laughed at me. / bet that the
thing would work the first time, and
won. That's the whole story. The
discovery came through the pricking of
the finger"
Here Mr.. Edison, in deep bass tone,
shouted in the instrument:
Nineteen years in the Bastile!
l scratched a name upon the wall,
And that name was Robert Landry.
Parlez vous Francais! 81 habla Espanol.
Sprechen sic Deutsch!
And the words were repeated, followed
by the air of "Old Uncle Ned" which
the professor had sung.
On being questioned concerning his
telephone, the professor said: 81 went
to work before Prof Bell. Elisha Gray
turned in at it, and got out the first ma
chine. Bells and mine came out about
the same time. The machines are diff
ferent. Bells is what is called the mag
neto telephone, and mine the carbon.
Those kerosene lamps that you see
smoking yonder are my carbon manu-
factory. l peel it from the shades, and
press it into buttons for use in my tele-
phone. Were it not for my deafness,
would have discovered the telephone
eight months before. While trying an
experiment my deafness led me off on
a wrong tack, and l was sloshing
around on false scent for months. But
l have produced good instrument. l
have whispered into it here at Menlo
Park, and been answered in whisper
by Henry Bentley in the Western Union
Office at Philadelphia"
Here the clock struck three, and we
started for the train. The professor re-
turned to his machine like delighted
boy, and as we left the house we could
hear him gravely asking:
How far is it from New York to Albany,
from Albany to Syracuse, from Syracuse to
Buffalo, from Buffalo to Cleveland from
Cleveland TO Columbus, from Columbus to
Cincinnati, from Cincinnati TO Louisville,
from Louisville to Nashville, from Nashville
tO-