The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1878-05-18
TEE
Commercial OOertlser
SATURDAY,. A IS.
THE TELEPHONE.

We can well remember the wonder and curl
osity excited in the public mind at the announce
ment of the invention of the Electric Telegraph
more than thirty years ago. The struggles OF
its inventor, Professor Morse, are matters OF
history, familiar to every reader. After his sue
cess was demonstrated By the successful working
of a line between Washington and Baltimore,
and the value Of the invention to the business
interests of the country fully shown, lines were
built connecting all the principal cities. and to-
day not only the United States, but the whole
civilized world is intersected in every direction
by lines of wires, and the electric telegraph has
become as great a public necessity as railroa1 s
and steamboats,. For rapid communicate he-
tween distant points, land lines and oceal
have superseded steam, as the Ia a-7 -eLs
gated the stage coach of our b day. .o
the limbo of past and fOrgotte- -a
The telegraph, at first rUdz -l e. Tas
improved from time t. time by rsw g.
tant discoveries, Uu.i., sac .tIgT day
supposed to be ? perfect as The genius o. N
could ever hors so ua-c IT, When Do. -ls wcr-I was
startled BY RE ioyer .iJr OF the Isio Jne and
Phonocrs,l. |L- capabilities O. -Iese instru-
menr Kay G. -nas.ze-e1 as y. their infancy,
but We nay tax r. lo- g-aD.ed that the day is
cI- han .se7 her -stonishing powers will
Do la'r app--c...ed By Ii classes of the commu-
nifty IRE morch mt in bis country retreat need
the1 oui- at his business Office in the town week
~, noa5r . % u~arterly, or annually, as his inclina-
ZION prsrr- he manufacturer, in his count
rlg-rcom lay direct, by verbal message, the
1,e.l.IJns of his factory, miles away in the
4ntry; the lawyer, can consult with his client,
or the physician his patient, without leaving his
office; or the thrifty housewife may order her
days marketing from her kitchen while superin-
tending her husbands breakfast. And how
nicely Salisbury and Gortschakoff, by a little
friendly talk and mutual explanation through
the telephone, could settle the Eastern Question
without carving up Turkey and setting Europe
by the ears! In short, no limit can be specified
to its conveniences. By the PhOnOgraph, SER
mons, lectures, and Fourth of July ~orations may
be bottled up for the edifcation of generations
yet unborn I! This is no exaggeration. 1t is a
simple statement of what is actually transporting
at the present moment-the bottles, of course,
to be put aside for future use!
Edison, the inventor of the Photograph, being
asked to what uses the instrument could be put,
replied, Several. l. For debating. 1t will take
the place of short hand reporters. 2. For read
ing. A first class elocutionist will read one of
Dickens novels into the phonograph, when it
will be printed on a sheet ten inches square. A
man is tired, and his wife's eyes are failing, so
they sit around a table and hear the telephone
read from this sheet the whole novel with all the
expression of a f~rst-class reader. 3. 1t will
sing in the very voice of Patti and Kellogg, so
that every family can have an opera every even
ing, at home. 6. 1t may be used to teach Ian
guages. If Stanley had had one he could have
obtained for the world all the dialects of Central
Africa !! I. 1t will be used to make toys talk.
8. In fact, its utility will be endless We
should think SO.
As an instrument Of precision, it is already
established that the telephone is the most deli
cate test of an electric current which is known
to the scientist, and it is thought that one of
these instruments, placed at the receiving end,
will enable messages to be sent through SUBJ
marine cables much more rapidly than at present.
Why can we not benefit by this invention?
The outlay would be trihing the advantages
many. a line of wire from the upper part of
Valley to. the wharf could be put up
for $500. and a party stands ready to furnish
the telephones at a rental of SO per annum,
for each instrument used. And what a great
convenience 1t would be not only to the CONNER
interests of the port, but to the public at
large, if Coco Head were connected with the
Post Office by telephone. We hope the Ministry
may be induced to take the subject into consi-
deratiOn so far as to insert an item in the Appro-
Bill for this object. The amount neces-
sary would not be large, probably $1,000 or
81 0 would be sufficient. If this should not
be enough to keep it going, We think the public
would cheerfully assist.
In connection with this subject we would di-
attention to the notice of Mr.. c. H. Dickey.