Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-08-13
THE FUTURE OF THE PHoNoGRAPH.

Down in President Bentley's Office, at
the headquarters of the Philadelphia Local
Telegraph Company, there is queer
cylindrical apparatus set apart by itself in
a quiet corner, which nine.tenths of the
visitors there would take for patent corn
shelter. President Bentley was asked
"What has become of the photograph %
"The photograph? 90 says Mr.. Bentley,
looking up and wheeling around in his
chair and facing the quiet corner "there
is the largest phonograph that was ever
made"
Then President Bentley went on to an.
swer the question, What has become of the
photograph 2, The fact was the monograph
had not yet indicated the object of its
existence. Up to the present time it stands
upon the records of inventive annals merely
as a nine days wonder, nothing more It's
use has never been demonstrated. Hence
it was that within the past year or two
little or nothing had been heard of it,
=" The trouble about the photograph is"
said Mr.. Bentley, "that it never had any
commercial use. When it first came out a
company was formed in New York for the
purpose of manufacturing them, but it
was soon found that the business would
not pay, as there was no demand for them.
There is no doubt in my mind but the
photograph has its use, and that use will
be developed in time"
What was the monographs use ? Presi-
dent Bentley answered this question by
pointing to the saucy telephone and saying,
" As an attachment to that instrument
In brief he believes the mission of the
monograph is to record what the telephone
orticnlatpc Thara l,
mind for thinking that this would ulti-
mately be brought about. As it is now,
the telephone as we'll as the photograph
was in need of improvement. If person
lost word or got word wrong in COM
circumstances under which the response
bility for that error was of the greatest
Importance. The person who received the
communication might swear that he had
received it in the manner in which it had
been delivered, and the person who sent
it might swear equally strong that he had
sent it correctly, and there was no know
ing to which person the responsibility be-
longed.
Here is an illustration, said Mr.. Bent
ley. ga few days ago firm in this city
sent an order by telephone to manufac-
tuTlUS csLdullSHLleHO LOT q large supply OF
iron pipe. The order was received, and
after the pipe had been manufactured and
delivered it was found they were quarter
of an inch too small. Well, the manufac.
turers showed the order which had been
received by telephone and which called for
pipe of the size furnished, but the firm in
sisted that that was not correct, and pro.
duced their original order, which called for
pipe of different size. The responsibility
for the error lay then between the clerk
who had transmitted and the clerk who
had received the order. The man who had
received it was willing to swear that he
had written it down as it had been sent,
and the man who sent it was Just as will.
ing to swear that he had sent it correctly
Here, then, there was no means of know.
ing which was right. If the telephone
could be made to keep record of what
passes over it there would be an end of the
difficulty at once. Now, think the pho
nograph is destined to supply this de-
ficiency, and that by combining it and the
telephone together there are great things
iu store for the telephone. - Philadelphia
Times