San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1878-05-18
THE GREAT INVENTOR.

An Afternoon in the Laboratory OF Prof.
Thomas A. Edison-Tho Marvellous In
ventor at werk-The sireat Musical Tel.
cphone.
A New York Sun reporter who paid
a visit to Edison, the monograph man,
says:
The Professor was found in his large
laboratory on the second floor of his
mandatory at Menlo Park, N. j. He
was surrounded by jars of vitriol, strips
of tin foil, walls of chemicals, smoking
kerosene lamps, pieces of telephones,
old clay pipes, odd looking electrical
machines, copies of the great daily news
papers, mechanical etchings, papers of
nigger-head smoking tobacco, electro
photographs, and sundry bits of ma
chinery of unknown power. An open
volume of Poe's poems lay beneath the
largest monograph. Three or four Wis.,
itors were wandering around the room.
They were all personal acquaintance.
One was playing small organ in the
west end, second was coughing in one
of the speaking machines, and third
was yawning over the Professors car
bon mandatory. A fourth proved to
be scientist. He bent over piece Of
tin foil, freshly torn from the cylinder of
phonograph, and carefully examined
the tracings through a magnifying
glass. He was securing a supply
of matrices, with the view of solving the
mysteries of the vibratory alphabet.
He believed that the air waves produc-
ed by talking into the metallic dia-
phragm of the speaking monograph
left particular mark or letter in the
tin-foil for each labial, consonant, VOW
ell, or diphthong uttered. These marks
or letters are very minute. They re-
semble the letters of the Morse alpha
bet. Through the aid of microscope
the scientist thinks that each letter or
sound may be known by its length,
shape, and depth. The secret once dis
covered sheets of words could be writ.
ten by steel needle, and the speaking
photograph made to talk of itself, and
not merely mimic sounds murmured in
its metallic ear. The savant pressed
the bright alphabetical sheets to his
breast, and left the laboratory full of
confidence. The Professor did not seem
to take much interest in the work of the
scientist. He made no speculations on
the result, but closed his eyes, laughed,
and shook his head. Apparently he had
little faith in the theory.
Mr.. Edison's shoes were covered with
Jersey mud. His shirt was collarless.
He wore seedy frock coat. There was
a charcoal mark on the side of his nose,
and another on the flange of his left ear.
His hair seemed to have been spread
with pitchfork, and his general ap-
pearance was decidedly interesting. The
picture was not that of an alchemist; it
was more like an honest plodding APP
prentice to a machinist. He was very
busy. New York and Philadelphia were
about to experiment with his carbon
telephone, and he was making con-
nection with the two cities. He sped
about the laboratory with quick tread,
comforting with his assistants, making
and receiving suggestions, and giving
the necessary orders. For minutes he
stood at the end of the room, with one
pole of the telephone at his ear and the
other at his mouth, shouting, "How do
you get it now? Mary had a little lamb,
its fleece was white as. snow-how do
you get thatP" Finally the wires were
so arranged that one of the assistants
declared that he could overhear the
electrical palaver between the two cit
les, and take hand in if it was thought
best.
There is one singular popularity about
the speaking photograph. To produce
exactly the same tone of voice the cylin-
der must be turned at exactly the same
rate of speed as when the words were
spoken at the mouthpiece. Fit is turn
ed slower the sounds come out in low
bass, if turned faster they run up into
shrill treble. This difficulty has been
overcome by the Professors improved
machines. The bed is fiat circular
plate, with spiral grooves about as large
around as tamborine. There is no cyl
inder. The sheet of foil is placed upon
the fiat plate, the point of the phono-
graph playing above the center of the
groove. The plate is turned from left