The Russellville Democrat., 1880-05-27
PREACHING BY TELEPHONE.
How the Same Sermon Was Heard at Gree
 i'm Six Cities and Towns.

i'm Six Cities and Towns.
 | New York Sun. s. gf The congregation of Plymouth church,
 Brooklyn, was widely scattered yester l day, for the sermons were transmitted
 to various points in New York and New
 Jersey through the telephone. The
 transmitters in the church were placed
 under the Mount Olivet table on the
 platform. The instruments were ar-
 ranged by MT. Charles l.. Chinook, the
 electrician of the Bell Telephone Con-
 pany, so that whichever way the
 preacher turned his words were caught
 up, even as he walked up and down his fifteen-foot rostrum, and carried along the circuit. Instruments were placed in
 the Brooklyn office at 342 Fulton street, at the home of Mir. Alfred E. Beach,
 Nineteenth street, New York: at the ex- first street, New York; at Newark and Orange, at the home of Mir. Chinnock, Nassau street, Brooklyn; at the home of Robert Brown, Carlton avenue; at the Nassau street, New York, office; at the Jersey City branch office, and at the home of Mir. H. ". Pope, general super .intendent of the company, at Elizabeth. This was the first attempt to transmit a sermon on such an extended scale, and was regarded as sufficiently successful to demonstrate the possibility of dis trlbuting sermon to any number of hearers. aN Nett t-atsc t-f a Owing to the necessity for concealing the transmitters from the congregation, as well as to the drawback of having but one wire, the sound was not at all times distinct, but was interrupted by inquiries from various points on the circuit. Whenever the preacher thumped his Bible there was whiz and,a whirr that was any thing but solemn.
 The music of the choir of the congre- gatien and the soloist were heard plainly all over the circuit, but the big organ sounded like a very diminutive melo- deon. The sermons were rather dlscon- nected, from the fact that the listeners att the instruments were constantly changing, and occasionally the wires would get crossed or the plugs pulled out, so that the discourse would get mixed with messages. The morning sermon ran something like this: -.1
 "What can be more pitiful Hallo! Hallo] than the spectable. recently pre-. sented at West Point? [Hallol Chin referring to Mr. Chinook, the electri- eian-don't cut me offl How is the young man treated?s [There, you've cut rae off again. He was ostracised by his comrades. ' Halo! Beach, Hallol] 1n- suits were showered upon him. Put that plug in little tiehter.] He works his way onward. But the detestable prejudice of those who should have been his comrades and associates [Stop calling and listen, will you'll single him out [Brown, be quietl for persecution, and the brutal [whrr-rr-r-r!-caused by the preacher pounding the table], cowardly outrage There sound like the clashing of cymbalsl with, accounts of which the newspapers have been teeming for week, is committed upon him."
 As soon as all the listeners got quiet, however, the sermons were heard with ' distinctness, and when the number of listeners on the circuit was decreased, the sound became much more distinct than when the circuit was open for all. Mir. Chinook said that with sep arate transmitter and separate wire there would be no trouble whatever in hearing the whole of any service with out Interruption. Thepeculiar tore and accent of the preacher were easily recog- nizable, and the sermon might have been heard by any one of the $500 per sons who are in communication with the Bell Telephone Co. MT. Chinook says that it would be possible for preacher to stay at home and preach his sermon to a congregation of 10000 at their homes, Hs..,..t4