Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1879-06-27
EDIsON'S LATEST.
His LOud.Speaking Telephone Exhibited
Mt the Franklin Institute.

Mt the Franklin Institute.
Edison's late invention, the electro
chemical, or loud-speaklna, telephone,
was exhibited last evening, for the first
time in this country, at the closing
spring meeting of the Franklin Insti-
tute, in their hall, on Seventh street,
above Chestnut Its operation had
never been shown in public before ex-
cept once, within the last few weeks, by
Professor Tyndall at the Royal Insti-
tute in London.
An audience principally of gentle
men filled the commodious lecture.
room. A paper treating upon the
principles involved in the construction
of the instrument was read by Henry
M. Bently, president Of the Philadelphia
Local Telephone company, who then
conducted experiments with the i'm
proved telephone. The invention, he
said, was simply an attachment of the
electromagnetic receiver to the Edi-
son carbon transmitter. He would use
for this occasion the rude box which
Mr.. Edison had used in experimenting.
If necessary, a coil to counteract induc-
ton could also be attached. The oper-
alton about to be exhibited, he said,
would not be so satisfactory as what
would be shown in the early future,
when an open and perfected instrument
would take the place of the rude box
which he had brought from Mr.. Edison's
establishment on the previous evening.
Mr.. Bently slipped q wheel of chalk
upon an axle inside the little box, and
as the transmisslons were received
from the Office of the telephone COM
pany at the corner of Third and Chest
nut streets he continually turned
small crank projecting from the box.
This caused the transmissions, which,
under other circumstances, could not
be heard at distance of more than
two or three feet from the receiver, to
be audible in all parts Of the hail.
The speaking was as distinct as if the
speaker were just at the other side of
board partition, with vide interstlces
between the boards, and the sound had
all the characteristics of his voice. To
show comparison of voices, Mr..
Bently several times called different
speaker to the transmitter. Whistling
of such airs as Yankee Doodle"
"Sweet By-and-Bye" and Poor Little
Buttercup" was particularly distinct
and accurately transmitted. The sound
heard by the audience, Mr.. Bentley
said, was two or three times as loud as
that sent into the transmitter The
playing of cornet came rather harsh
ly and irregularly at first, but when Mr..
Bentley had requested the performer
not to hold the horn so close to the
transmitter, the music was almost as
satisfactorily rs if the player, instead of
being nearly five squares away, kwere
on the spot where Mr.. Bentley stood.
As in the case of this speaking, whist
ling and other transmission, it would
seem that only a partition full of holes
or wide cracks interviewed between the
performers and the listeners. Mr.
Bentley saw no reason why people in
the near future, could not enjoy a lee
ture or concert going on at the Acade
my af Music by staying at home with
their electro chemical telephones.
Being asked how far such performances
could be satisfactorily transmitted, he
replied that the question could not yet
be definitely answered, but he believed
that they could be heard at a distance
of one hundred miles rs we'll as they
were heard now.
A trial of violin music was not so
successful as that Of tho cornet, prob
ably because the sound of the former
scattered more than that OF the latter
before entering the transmitter. Mr..
Bentley thought, however, that the
instrument was not in proper tune.
The sound, nevertheless, could be in
stantly distinguished as that of Il yio-
lin. Singing was then tried with con-
siderable success, but il sounded a little
as if hand were held against the
mouth of the singer, or he had q bad
cold in the head. As II finale, u cornet
performance of some Of Pinafore's
iveliest airs came with astonishing d.
stinctness and accuracy, sounding al
most rs we'll as if the performer We're
on the platform, and putting the audi
ence in the best Of humor.-Philddel-
phid Times.