The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1878-03-14

showed against a cylinder wrapped il
tinfoil, which he turned with a crank
The small end of tin funnel wa
clapped over the mouth. piece, ant
strange ventriloquial sounds were is
suing therefrom. He shook hands,a
pointing to the instrument, said =
''This is my speaking phonograph
Did you ever see it and hear it talk P
The reply was a negative. There
upon he picked up the gutta-perch'
mouth-piece, saying: "This mouth
piece is simply an artificial dihphragm
Turn it over" suiting the action to tn,
word, "and yeu see this thin disk o
metal at the bottom. Whenever yor
speak in the lnouth-piece the vibra
tions of your voice jar this disk, which
rs you see, has in its center fine stee
point. Now for the other part of The
machine. Here is a brass cylinder
groovcd something like the spiral par,
of a screw, only much finer. 1 WRAP
a sheet of tinfoil around the cylinder
and shove the mouth. piece up to it sc
that the tiny steel point touches the
tinfoil above one of the grooves. l then
turn the cylinder with a crank and
talk into the mouth piece. The vibra'
tions arouse the disk, and the steel
point pricks the tinfoil, leaving perfor.
ations resembling the old Morse tele
graphic alphabet. They are really
stcreoscopic views of the voice,record
ing all that is SAID, with time and in
donations. 1t is matrix of the words
and voice, and can be used until worn
out. Now let us rest the cylinder, SC
that the steel point may run over the
holes or alphabet made when we talk.
ed in the mouth piece. The thin metal
disk rises and, as the steel point trips
from perioration to perforation, open
ing the valves of the diaphragm, the
words, intonation, and accent are re.
produced exactly as spoken. For in
stance, before you came up,I was talk
ing to the instrument, and here is the
matrix or stereoscopic view, if you
please, of what L said," putting his
finger on the tinfoil which still re-
mained on the cylender. "Now I re.
set the instrument" sliding the cylin-
der to the right. "Here the steel point
starts at the same spot as when
talked through the mouth-piece, but
its action is now controlled by the
perforated alphabet. 1t repeats what
said. / use this sort of an car trumpet
to bring out the sound, SO that you can
hear it more distinctly. Listen"
lie placed the small end Of the fun.
mel over the mouth.piece, shoyed the
mouth.piece against the cylinder, and
turned the crank. The following
words chased each other out of the
funnel:
Mary had q little lamb,
Its fleece was white Us snow,
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to gO-tO gO--to go
Ooh ooh oOh--ah!
COckadoOdie dOo--ah!
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
Tuck-ahI TLck--ah!
The cylinder was again set back
and the crank turned very slow. Th'
effect was ludicrous, for the professo
had originally pronounced the word
with great gravity and dignity, ant
the drawing way in which the instru
ment repeated them would have mad
a horse laugh. The cylinder was thel
turned very fast, and the words flew
out of the funnel SO fast that the,
struck the ear in confused mass. Blu
most extraordinary effect was pro
duced when the professor turned tn
cylinder backward. 1t said:
Go to sure was lamb the
Went Mary that everywhere % anu
Lamb little had Mary.
All this with profound gravity, as
the fate OF the world depended upol
the accent and pronunciation. M,
Edison then tore off the tinfoil ant
wrapped fresh sheet around tn
cylinder. One of old Mother Goose
rhymes was murmured into tn
mouth piece and its alphabet pricke
out by the action of the steel point
The cylinder was then reset and tn
crank turned with the following re
suit:
Rub dub dub.
Three men in a tub.
And who do you think was there!
The butcher, the baker.
The candleStIck-makcr,
They all jumped out o. Il rotten Potato.
The instrument is SO simple in it
construction and its workings so easil
understood that one wonders why
was never before discovered. There
no electricity about it. 1t can be cal
ried around undera mans arm and il
machinery is not fiftieth part as intr
cate as that of a sewing machine.
records the sounds and noises. Th
professor blew in it at Intervals an
the matrix recorded the sound and re
turned it. He whistled an air froi
the "Grand Duchesse," and back
came clear as fife and in perfet
time. He rang small bell in the fur
mel. The vibrations were recorded
and, on re-setting the cylinder the tin
tinnabulatory sounds poured out SO
and mellow. Mr.. Edison coughct
sneezed, aud laughed at the moutl
ot,,s. r
noises true as a die. But, most II
markable, the instrument sent bac
the voices of two men at the sam
time. To illustrate: The PrOfesso
IN a deep bass voice, recited in I'll
mouth-piece the first verse of "Bingl
on the Rhine" A matriX was Obtain
ed, the machine reset, the funn
placed in position, and tho crank turl
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