Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-03-14
TALHING BIZ YKAcHINERY.
An uavesess thai VIII Dyes - . Fsishsfs'
press>cs whev n is Perfeese1.

Prsssecs whes n is PeffeeseS.
In enc Of the front parlors Of thc Bel
vedere House, New York, has been set
up a bewildering jumble Of levers,
springs, rods, and pipes around q bel
lows capable Of holding about bali
bushsl Of wind, and all on . daintily-
carved and completely gildcd table.
The affair is called talkine-piano, and
has just been brought to this country
by the Societe Anon dc Vienna.
Next to the bellows-pipe is wooden
box about as big as brick, represent
ing the human larynx. In front Of this
are lips and tongue Of rubber. dyed
red. The lower jaw and the tongue
are movable, and the oil used to pre-
vent friction gives to the lips look as
if the machine chcwed tobacco.
Below the laryngeal apparatus is an
other chamber about the size and shape
Of cheap lemon. From this pipe,
curved upward, allows the air to es-
cape, thus supplying the place Of the
nose in the pronunciation Of the letters
m and n. Within another small box
adjacent to all the others is thin strip
Of alleged hippopotamus bone with
rubber on one side, which produces the
tone. The inventor has supplied the
place of the teeth by an arrangement in
the larnyx, and gets a polite French
roll ON the letter by means Of small
windmill. which is shifted into the cur
rent by lever.
There are fourteen keys which regu-
late the sounds. and with these and
three side keys, which move the lower
lip, the tongue, and The windmill, all
combinations are produced. All these
arrangements require for their operation
the numberless rods, springs, and le-
yers. Ii is said that the piano is the
product of the continuous labor and
study from 1898 to 1865 Of two men,
bers of the same family, whose name is
withheld by the owners. In 1865 it
was exhibited to the King Of Bavaria.
This history and the description of
the machine were supplied yesterday
by curly haired Frenchman, who said
il made him sweat to talk English.
Then a very slim little woman, with her
hair combed straight back, and with an
abstracted-looking face and brown
dress, came in and sat down behind the
piano, with her foot on the bellows
pedal. Her arm accidentally struck
one of the keys. There was shuttle
and rattle among the springs and the
rods, quiyer of the big rubber lips.
and the spectators were startled by a
voice very similar to that made when a
hen tries to squawk Immediately after
the head has been partially cut off. The
Frenchman smiled and said "he vas a
mistck." The operator irowned and
frightened one Of the screws.
Now" said the Frenchman, say
papa
The little woman began to shake
like birch tree in an Iowa cyclone
her hands flew up and down on the
Jaw KEYS. the tongue keys. and som'
of the other keys. and the piano cried
papa" as 600-pound infant
might.
"Now say Maria" said the mas
ter Frenchman.
This time the machine got in good
work with the windmill on the roll.
Philadelphia" said the French
man triumphantly.
This time the little woman fairly
pounced upon the levers. The lips, th'
jaw, the tongue, and all had to b.
worked. 1t was a great test. On
screw fell out and one spring flew on
and, hit a spectator on the head. Thel
the spectators were asked to suggest {
word. Some said Blaine Tho Ait
tie woman approached the keys tlmidly
for it was a new word. She didn't ge
wind enough in the bellows, and /
sounded like a whisper from the diu
future. The piano closed the exhibi
ton by rafting of long word, anc
the spectators were asked if they un
derstood it. No enc did. Then they
were told that the piano had said
q" Adieu. Thank yOu."