The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1878-01-17
IS THE TELEPHONE A FAILURE9
1t Must Be Greatly Improved Before Practically
UaafnI

1t Must BE Greatly Improved Before Practically
Useful.
The telephone has formed the theme
for much jubilation upon the exceeding
cleverness that prevails in this last quar-
ter of the nineteenth century. Unlike
many great inventions, the telephone has
had in its infancy little popular or scien-
tifc hostility to combat. When the an
nouncement was made that it had been
definitely decided-as it had been sup
posed-that sound was transmissible by
electricity, the public believedin in the tel
ephone at once. The new invention had
just the elements for popular apprecia-
tion. It was awe-striking and inexpliCa-
BILE, and at the same time fattering to
the generation discovering the fact, that
the voice could be sent on an errand for
an indefinite distance. After the first
facts had been demonstrated, everything
that followed was readily taken in. 1t
would be a great disappointment if it
were discovered that, after all the crow
ing over our ancestors, the telephone,
undoubtedly the invention most CharaC-
teristic of the present age, was merely a
scientific toy, but as a commercial under.
taking and for practical everyday use a
failure. 1t is so limited by gentleman
whom good judge as the editor Of
Chambers's Journal pronounCes good au-
thority.
The great objections urged to the tele-
phone are, that it requires first perfect
and then silent wire. Otherwise, at
imperfect points, the leakage" is so
great that the force of the voice is lost
and at points where the telephone wire
approaches other wires which are being
worked with instruments, opposing cur
rents are set up by the wire having the
stronger current in the one that has the
feebler current, and as the telephone is
much the feebler, that is the one to suf-
fer. 1t is not necessary that there should
be actual contact in order to mar the op-
Grafton of the telephone. 1t is sufficient
if the wires approximate to each other
and the distance at which they are safe
varies often and widely. In some ex.
periments recently made on this point ol
transmitted noises, such vibrations oi
the telephone diaphragm were produced
by neighboring wires as to cause Curl
Gus pot, boiling sound, which the exper.
imenter likens to that given out by q
conch shell, This was when the tele.
phone battery itself was at rest. As soon
as the current from that battery was set
going, the noise from the neighboring
wires increased so as to make the opera.
tor drop the instrument in terror, and to
completely drown out message transmits
sion.
Another serious defect in the telephone
is the ease with which the wires can be
tapped, Hitherto no one but an exper'
fenced telegrapher could steal lightning
To tap wire that is running under the
Morse or Milestone code of signals re.
quires knowledge of those signals and
the possession of instruments. But the
telephone is so easily managed that the
understanding of it could be made the
duty of every non. commissioned officer
in an army. The invention is thus en-.
tirely untrustworthy in war, in which
business it was hoped it would find its
chief value. Any traitor could tap the
wires at any point, and convey to the en-
emy what he learnt. 1t would not be
necessary for him to cut the wire or put
out of circuit, and the operators at either
end could not detect that their line was
being "milked."
Hence it seems that at present the
practical uses of the telephone are limi-
ted to those-in long wire-rather rare
instances where a completely isolated
line can be secured, and to situations
where the liability to stealing the mes
sages en- route would not be fatal OBJ
jeCtion-an objection, by the way, which
is likely to prevent the general use of
the telephone for press news. We look
to see these and other objections over
come to at least grant an extent as to
make the advantages of the invention
counterbalance its defects. And, in the
meantime, perhaps, it will be we'll not to
place implicit reliance on the statements
of telegraphists who may be too willing
to pick holes in an instrument which, If
it were an absolute success, would rem
der the possession of resonant voice Of
more consequence than arduously acqui-
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