The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-10-05
The !ASoph one.


ri.ETnER EXPERIMENTS on THE WONDERFUL
-xsrRruESr--lrS CAPABILITIES OVER
LONGER NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. OF THE
QUALITY OF SOUND.
The Cincinnati Gazette in 4 recent issue
SAYS:
i second visit was made Yesterday by q
representative OF the Gazette to ST. Omcr,
IND FOR the purpose OF examining the
WORKINGS over Il longer wire OF the ago
Thnnr OF Jewett & son. The orIGina! line
wgs still working between the drugstore
and the residence OF Jewett. senior
second line something more than o,000 rect
in len 9th. bad been carried from the drug
Store TO the residence Of Mr.. Mccoy. rea-
five of the FAMILY. The instruments in the
frno-Sf0rn were about seven feet apart, ana
facing caca other III right angles. The
NcCov instrument was set against the wall
and NJ an elevation OF about six feet from
The floor
The most interesting experiment made
hy orr reporter yesterday was a test o! the
mower OF the agophone to conduct the
quality or tinbrc OF sound. The reporter,
al The residence OF the elder Jewett, re-
o,,eSicd him 70 tune his violin with that OF
his son at the drugstore, quarter OF
mile distant. They commenced with the
I string. The sons violin tone appeared
to be 4 tri.lc lower. He was asked 10
tighten the string, and the two accorded
pericctlv. ID was tried with equal accord,
and 50 with the others, and then the two
began to play 4 simple little air in unison
and the accord was rs complete rs could be
expected from the playing OF any two men
who had not been trained in one absolute
school. 1t Elay be that the two rlolinS were
in perfect accord when close together. and
were brought into diScord only by some
tone inherent in the wire, or communl-
Gated 10 il by the atmosphere, and the dis
cord rcmcdicd only by the wires tone.
But that could never be pro, ed satisfactory
bv any eXpei iment, because the tuning OF
the instrument would probably be changed
by carrying it from one house to the other.
Certain it was that every string or the two
violins was brought into perfect accord
over the wire OF the agophonc.
Another interesting feature developed
was the ability OF the instrument to over
come the resistance Of the atmosphere 10
transmission OF sound. When the various
Strings OF the two volins were picked the
sounds Of the two rose almost instanta-
neouSly from the word Now" through the
first ripple 10 its wave and ending. or
rather from the first tone TO the pitch and
decadence, As though the instruments were
being tuned in adjoining rooms. The only
difference in time seemed to be that the
tones were but tritc prolonged, and then
II was apparent only to IN ear trained for
investigation and criticism.
On the mile wire, running from the drug
store 10 the Mccoy residence, some inter-
c>ting experiments were made. Tunes
plavCd on the violin four or five feet dis
tant from the 1ube OF the instrument were
heard by every member OF large company
in the McC0y residence, and so distinctly,
they claim, that they might have danced to
the music had they so chosen. Certainly
the violin music over the shorter wire was
quite distinct enough for that purpose in
two rooms Of the Jewett residence yestcr-
day afternoon.
Experiments were made yesterday with
policcman's ShrilI whistle over the shorter
wire. but though the whistle could be heard
at q distance OF three or four feet from the
other end. il didn't sound any more distinct
than wom@n'S whistle, and everybody
knows that women are no more able to whs-
tic than to play ball. The sounds from Jews
harp might have been mistaken for those OF
Il violin. Those of n French harp. too,
seemed somewhat confused by the resonance
OF the rcceiying-boX.
Another experiment was made with Il
Erench-horn. blown by young man at the
drugstore. The young man, unfortunately,
was not Il Skllfui player upon the horn, and
possibly not upon any other instrument.
A horrible blarc came up on the wire 10
the residence OF the elder Jewett, startling
every pc.son in the room-even the solitary
dog. reclining costly in The sunlight, got up
and growled. and left the room.
Later in the afternoon, when somebody
rang the door-bcll. which was fastened upon
the door leading into the room where the
Instrument was fixed, it was distinctly
heard down 1t the drugstore.
Altogether. the later experiments proved
that the instrument possesses greater power
than was discovered ut the first visit, and
all have so far been eminenty satisfactory.
There appears TO be but little difference
in the capacity OF either the long or short
wire to transmit sound. In the shorter
there is resonance or echo from the box
which tends at all times to confuse the
sounds, especially if they be strong or deep.
Over the longer wire there is less resonance,
greater distinctnesS Of tone. but less volume.
4 enrheninS or shortening OF the funnel
receiver, Il change Of its position either
backward or forward, or change OF posi-
ton OF the pine diaphrams, may adapt the
instrument TO service for any distance, long
or short.