Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1878-01-01
The wonders of the Telephone.


II wanted, the telephone viii be brongh. To
the same pitch uf perfection as Telescopes.
watches. sewing machines, photography, uci-
.eT matches. locomotives. bruech)OalerS.
I heavy ordnance, and many other things that
! within living recOlleciiOnS were either very
clumSy affairs or not even Yet invented. y time
is coming when everybody, We presume, viii
carry his own telephone about with him.
Wherever he goes he viii hs IDLE to step into
a telegraph office, apply his OWN wire To the
public wire and hold private conversation
with wife, Or a son, OF 4 customer. or 4 20
lliical friend at The end. without the intcrycH-
tioa Of a public servant. He will pay 10y tn"
minute. The wire, Il i stated must to- a qUirl
one for il i apt 10 pick mp stray SOundS. ON
the other hand. II is now announced that a
remedy has been found Tor this. aud that Il
wire thus encountered can ne cleared of
strange utteTIuceS before il comes To the tcie-
phone. Perhaps the use OF underground
wires. now on other accounts much insisted
on. may be round more e1leCtual remedy.
The discovery has come happily IU~t at the
time when there had risen q dTcary feeling
that We had arrived at the end of original dis
cOyerieS and had nothing to do bat work ont
our old ones II l. true we have been pene-
tratIHg continents. Sounding the deep sea.
hunting matter down to molecules. nnGng
perfume in filth, dyes in dirt, and food in re
fuse. II Is also true that the annual catalogue
Ol new Facts IN science mas been stated To
amount to a thick. closely printed volume.
But those are not matters that concern every
body. al least directly. They do not revolt
tcui/r the world. What the telephone prom
Use, j hardly short OfthiS. There Is no reason
why a man should not hold conversation with
4 son II the AntipodcS, distinguish his voice
hear his breathing, ana. II The instruments be
applied as StethpScope, hear his hearts
thrUb. Next To Seclng-nay, rather than See
lng-What would parents give TO hear the very
voice. the familiar laugh. tha fayOrita song. OF
the child long separated by a solid mass 5000
miles IN diameter The telescope is only 4
prOiOngati0n Of the eye. and tine telephone i
only second ear For some time there mas
been prophetic idea that speech ought 10
he able To report itself. There is now no diff
Guilty IN the matter, except that The telephone
Wil be only too true, and viii serve the orator
and the public only too well. Will the tele-
phone he able ID convey the singing OF our
birds - the less vocal tropical regions, the
breaking Of the surge, OF any othcrof Natures
sweet or Wild utterances? VIII il bring To our
metropolis the dreadful sounds of the bonn
laTdment or the battlefield! BIT what next?
There is hardly anything conceivable that may
not be hoped for. if not, indeed, expected.
We have only to look back the length of am
ordinary lifetime and consider how much the
world has advanced in that period To form q
fair estimate of what is in store for our sue
ceSSOrS. The world has not exhausted Itself;
mind has not done all its work; Nature teens
with fresh wonders: time has more children
yet TO come. When shall we store and dis
tribute the manifold bountieS 0i Nature run
ming To waste? When shall we c0unteraCt the
uncertainty of the elements? When shall we
penetrate the mystery of the winds! Shall we
ever cover the whole earth with fertility and
veIdure: Shall We not only combat, but eN-
tirpate disease. as some diseases have, in .
fact, disappeared? To come down To the I'M
pTOvement of existing means. when shall We
bring railway travelling TO the perfection Oi
speed, comfort and safety? All these are mere
mechanical problems. The greatest peTfec-
ton is not 80 improbable as the railway itself
was only fifty years ago. In none of these
matters has mankind vet made 50 serious and
persistent an endeavOr as To be sure that the
failure l. not in Itself. rather than in the work
To he done. They seem impossible; 50 did the
idea OF the Telephone but the other day.
HYDROPHOBIA. -MaSSaciIISetts. having lost
a professor or two 10y hydrUphOba, has de
cIdcd that II she must lose her great men or
her dogs She will lose her dogs. The Spring
ncld RcpHNtcdH says: " The prevalence OF
bNdrOphoDid. shown by each days reports. i
sharply Illustrated in the fact that the little vii
lage OF Otis. in Berkshire county. has expert
cnceV i've rahld dogs within as many months.
And what has got Ia be done about il is aS
Well shown III the statement that. while about
every other man iii that place formerly kept
a dog, only about three CANNES now survive
as spared monuments in the whole village"
Ss-A pansy in fun bloom was found in the
open air on Christmas eve at RadnOr, Dele
ware county, Penn, 400 feet above tide.
Fo-In Paris a great deal is expected of
Policeman. Ii lie gets drunk twice he loses his
place.
Rg-A careless young business man OF Lock
port y. y. lost his sweetheart by making
mistake in forwarding presents Tor ChrlyimaS
His brothers wife received FROM MIN a Jewel
ease and note aSnIng her 10 marry him. while
the silver mounted feeding bottle went 10 the
girl.
RS-A sensitive girl was Mary Holiday, of
HOWick, Canada. for. unable 10 Withstand the
opportunities of TWO SuitorS to whom, liking
them equally, she thOughtieS>ly engaged her
SELL she took stTychnine and died. She was q
woman of unusual beauty, and of a happy but
eXcitable disposition.