Weekly Trinity journal., 1878-04-06
THE PHONOGRAPH.

victims in the Tribune Building. Here
are located the headquarters of two
marvels of marvellous age. The tele-
phone, which created such a sensation
short time ago by demonstrating the pos
sibility of transmitting vocal sounds by
telegraph, is now eclpsed by new won
der called the phonograph This little
instrument records the uttorance Of the
human voice and like faithful confdante
repeats every secret conlded to it when
ever requested to do 50. 1t will talk,
sing, whistle, cough, sneeze, or perform
any other acoustic feat. With charming
impartialty it win express itself in the
divine strains OF u lyric goddess, or use
the starting vernacular Of street Arab
A few days ago Il reporter for Hdrpe,'S
visited the phonogrNph for the purpose of
aScertaining so far as an unscientifc person
might, the peculiar characteristics of the
marvellous httle instrument. Prepared
tor an elaborate system Of weights, pull
leys, levers, wheels, bands, such as
abounded in tho case of Barnum's talk
ing machine, whose utterances, blythe
way, were confined to some half dozen
inartculate sounds that no man living
to find in the famous phonograph II simple
apparatus, which, but for the absence OF
more than one cylinder, might have been
Il modern iluting machine. The single
cylinder Of hollow brass is mounted uuon
shaft, at one end OF which is crank for
turning it, and at the other balance
wheel, the whole being supported by two
iron uprights. In front OF the cylinder is
movable bar OF arm, which supports a
mouth piece of gutta- -percha, on the under
side Of which is disk of thin metal,
such as is used for making tin types
Against the center of the lower side Of
this disk fine steel point is held by
spring attached to the rim of the mouth
piece. An India-rubber cushion between
the point and disk controls the vibration
Of the spring. The cylinder is covered
with a fine spiral groove running contin-
uously from end to end. In using the
phonograph the frat operation is to wrap
sheet Of tin foil closely around the cyl
inder. The mouth-piece is then adjusted
against the left hand end Of tho cylinder
so closely that the vibration OF tha voice
on the disk will cause the point to press
the tin-lol into the groove, making mi
mute indentatons resembling, on very
| small scale, the characters OF the Morse
telegraph. The cylinder il moved from
right to lett 10y the screw crank, SO nicely
adjusted that the steel point is always
against the center o! tho spiral groove
While turning the crank the operator
talks into tho mouth piece in a voice
slightly elevated above the ordinary tone
OF conversation, Every vibration of hi.
voice is faithfully recorded on the tin fol
by the steel point, the cylinder making
about one revolution to word.
In order to reproduce the words-tha
is, to make the machine talk-the cyln-
der is turned back, so that the steel point
may go over the indcntations made hy
speaking into the mouth piece. A fun
mel, like a speaking trumpet, is attached
80 the mouth piece to keeps tho sound.
from scattering. Now turning the crank
again, every word spoken into the
mouth piece is exactly reproduced, with
the utmost dislincthess.
Thus the disk is either tympanum OF
diaphragm, as the case may be, the first
when it listens, and the second when its
talks. Herein the phonograph seems act
ually to have got ahead Of that other
marvellous construction, the human body
In our anatomical economy the contriv-
ances by which we are enabled to hear
and talk are not only separate and dis
tinct, but are also much more complicated
than the method by which the phono-
graph accomplshes the same results.
While comparing this remarkable ma
chine to the race whose characteristic at
tribute it has stolen Git Is, we believe, ha-
blually asserted by people who have no
means Of knowing any thing whatever
about the matter that man is tho only
anm0l that talks, it may not be uniting
to allude to the admirable example it sets
kmany garruIous and wearisome individu-
ais. The phonograph never speaks until
it has first been spoken to. Herein it also
offers a worthy admoniion to many am
bilious but inexperienced writers. 1t
has no original ideas to advance, or else ia
possessed Of that spirit Of modesty which
/ precudes the possibility Of its annoying
the public with unripo fancies and crude
speculalons. The photograph only con-
sents to agtonish the world at the instance
Of some dominant aad controlling mind.
When it is about to exhibit itself, an OPP
orator must be on hand to put it through
its PAGES. On the occasion in question
the gentleman was Mr.. William II. APP
plebaugh, General Superintendent OF the
Telephone Company of New York.
Seating himself before the instrument,
Mr.. AppIebaugh confded 10 the disk
names, mum bers, scraps Of poetry, comic
songs, and various other bits OF informa-
tion calculated to amuse the phonograph,
but not improve It's mind. These were
faithfully recorded upon the foil, which
was made to revolve by turning the
crank. Then the disk was sent back TO
its original starting point, the crank again
set in motion, and the metallic point
brought into contact with the foil. Pres
emily the phonograph began, in clear,
distinct tones, TO count, to call names, 70