The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1883-04-26
Coming Inventions.

Coming Inventions.
"What more can be invented?" asked
an enthusiastic citizen on Saturday, after
| listening over the line from here to New
York.
"Wby, we have only begun" replied
a gentleman who had paid some atten-
ton to the subject. ITO talk 600 miles
or so is nothing. Why, you just wait
ten years and will tell you what you will
| see."
"Well, let's hear you now"
SIN the first place the present Morse
system of telegraph will have entirely
passed away. Talking will be so much
more rapid and accurate"
Eyes. 1 admit that
"Well, that is not all. There will be
perfect network of telephone communi-
cation, and it will be very cheap. But
that will not be all. By the payment of
a very small sum the father in Northern
Ohio can step to the telephone station at
the township center and call up his
married daughter, who many years ago
emigrated to Dakota. As he talks he
will look into a finely adjusted mirror
that stands before his face. and in that
mirror he can see the face of his beloved
daughter as she talks to him. She, at
her end of the line, of course, will OBJ
serve the countenance clearly and dis
tinctly also. The conversation will run
something like this:
"'You seem to be little pale to day,
father. Are you as we'll as usual?
"'Why. yes, 1 guess I am all right.
How are the babies?'
"'Oh, Sally was sick all night and
don't seem to be just right this morning.
Here she is (holding her up to the tele-
phone). You must excuse her appear
ance. Her face is not very clean; have
been so busy that have not had time to
wash it, and she has been playing around
and got this apron very dirty, too"
"'S,lly is all right, amt she, little
one? How grandpa does wish he could
take her in his arms. He can see her
very clearly though. thinks she looks
more and more like her mothers folks
as she gets older, don't you?"
"'Yes, we all agree on that; William
has insisted almost ever since she was
born that she was mothers girl. But
here is Henry and John; both want to
see and talk with grandpa a minute this
morning
Obi sss their souls, grandpa wants to
see them, too. Let them come to the
phone"
"And so the conversation will go on,
and all for ten cents"
"But that will spoil the United States
mail What will be the use of writing
letters when we can talk that way?"
There will be none at all. But this
telephone business will be run by the
government, and the price of communi-
cation will be kept down to the mini
mum. When we think we can now talk
over line 600 miles long, and hear what
is said, do you think that is expecting
very much? Who would have believed
that such thing as q telephone was pos.
sible ten years ago? 1 tell you, I am not
| speaking at random in what have said
above. Through with wonders are We?
Why, man, we have only just begun.
| We have got to study up some means of
| rar id transit by which newspapers at
any rate can be sent from one part of the
country to another much faster than
now. News will get very old before q
| full description of it can be sent from
one part of the country to the other by
telephone. Men are now studying the
problem of electric locomotion and in
ten years IL VIII De AL accoLupiiouoo too''
This is fast age? All, ha! This is an
OK team and--covered-- wagon age COM
pared to what is coming. Twenty-Five
miles per hour for an express train! Bah!
who will be willing to wait for that; we
shall spin along at least at the rate of
thirty or forty miles a minute when there
is any necessity for SO doing. Not posi-
BILE? Why, man. you are skeptic! any
thing is possible to the modern Yantee
mind and genius. We can do anything
we have a mind to and We will"
The man who thought the inventors
had got to the end of their string walked
away in a reflective mood.-Cleveland
Leader.