The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-04-06
THE SPEAKING TELEPHONE.
Another Man Who Claims To Be the
Only Original and Genuine Inventor.
Mr.. ]. w. McDonough and His "Teleloge"-
His Models and Application We're Filed
Before Bell Applied for Patent.
pecial to the Indianapolis journal.

| Special to the indianapolis Journal.
WASHINGTON, April SIN the contest of in
| ventors which is now raging OF fever heat over
the original invention of the speaking telephone,
another party has appeared who has documenta-
~ evidence to prove that he was the first invent
or, and, besides this, he appears to have an ex-
cellent case upon which to base his claim. This
gentleman is Mr.. j. W. McDonough, of Chicago,
who states in his brief that he constructed an
instrument as far back as the year 1867 for the
| purpose of converting an interrupted current of
electricity into continuous sound. He states
that he had his continuance so far perfected in
1874 as to make it possible to hear sound trans
mitted over wire by the aid Of
electricity, at considerable distance Owing
to i'll health and other causes, he made no appli-
cation for patent until nine years after his
original discovery. He says that at the time of
filing his application for patent on ''teeloge"
he had never heard of Mr.. Bell, nor did he know
that Bell made any claim to having invented a
telephone of any description whatsoever. He had
neither seen nor heard of the patent of March z,
1876 The name "teleloge," which he gave to his
invention, was one which he constructed with
the aid of Greek dictionary. He considered
the word more accurately descriptive of his in
yention than the word telephone, as teleloge sig
mites mechanism for transmitting words from
distance. Mr.. McDonough's application was
fled On April TO- 1876. Two years afterwards,
in October, 1878, he also filed an application for
patent on telephone transmitter, involving
the principle of metallic diaphragms. The models
which he filed were destroyed by fire when the
Patent Office was burned. McDcnough was
compelled to divide his application for patent
into eight different divisions. Upon four of
these he has been granted patents One remains
in the Patent Office, and three were applied for
in conformity with an agreement with the
Bell Telephone Company, which McDonough
entered into, by which he was to receive So, 900
in cash. and $500, 900 more in the event of his
successful application for these three patents. A
series of interterenceS were instituted, to which
MeDonough of the parties. and July
81, 1883, the examiner made decision in which
he referred to the McDonough matter in these
words: Taking. therefore, May, 1875 as the
date of McDonoughs invention of receiver and
ISSUE it only remains to be considered whether
Bell has proved prior conception, for he does not
pretend to have constructed such receiver
prior to July 1875. Upon the evidence sub
mitted it is impossible to find that he had con-
ceived, much less disclosed, the invention in is
sue in this case Upon this account j. W. Me-
Donough is awarded priority of invention The
Bell company took an appeal, and the examin-
ersin chief, after some eleven months consider
ing the question, rendered a decision in which
they held that 'this apparatus is termed by
McDonough a teleloge-that is far speaker,
and is said to be capable of transmitting and re
producing speech, but it is evident that it must
of necessity have no such function. 1t is now
we'll known in the art that In order to transmit
speech there must be constant contact
but here device is expressly provided which
makes and breaks at every vibration OF the dia-
phragm." The examiners went on to say that
McDonough's invention would never have served
the purpose of a telephone, and centuries might
have passed before the world would have been
familiar with the method of transmitting sound
which has become so popular within the last
FIVE years McDonough appealed from this de-
csion, and quoted eminent men to prove that
the conclusion against McDonough, because his
instrument makes and breaks, was a bad decis
ion, and not warranted by the facts. In an affi-
davt from Charles A. Young, professor of as
tronomy at the College of New Jersey. which
was submitted by McDonough. the deponent
SAYS SIN one of the experiments the instru-
ment surpassed anything deponent had ever
heard in any other telephone The voice of the
speaker heard in the receiver with tone
clear of dissonance and harshness and of most
remarkable beli-like quality" Prof G.. f.
Bracket of the College of New Jersey, who has
been retained by the government to take charge
of the scientific part of the suit against the Bell
affidavit in support of the McDonough
claim, and said of trial of
the machine: ''lhe result was very
surprising I was able to say, with entire truth,
that never heard so satisfactory speaking in
any other telephone" Now comes the point in
the case. The business manager for McDon-
ough, Mr. III. Fl. Eldred of Boston, came here in
January, 1885, and requested the Commissioner
of Patents, Major Butterworth to grant them
weeks delay in order to prepare for the hearing
In one of the interference Butterworth
declined to grant the delay, but insisted on rush
ing the matter right through Eldred then
asked two days delay. His request was denied.
It had taken the examiners three years to hear
the testimony and yet Butterworth insisted upon
having the appeal made without the slightest de-
lay. He would not even grant them two days.
The McDonough people claim that they investi-
gated the reason for this action on the part of
the Commissioner, and they found that Mr..
Crossley, of the firm of Butterworth 81 Crossley,
had been retained as attorney for the Bell COM
pany, although they were unable to ascertain
that the latter had any legal proceedings in the
courts of Ohio, or that the firm of Butterworth
81 Crossley had ever before taken a patent case.
1t is charged, further, that soon after the hear
ing in the interference case was closed, Mr..
Crossley came on to Washington, spent his tine
at Major Butterworth's house, and that on the
Sd of March, 1885, the Commissioner of Patents
rendered his decision, which about his
last official act This decision was In favor
of the Bell company McDonough asks that the
patent on his original application be granted to
him. He is prepared to show, he thinks, that
Bell never filed an application at all for patent
on telephone until after his (McDonough's) ap-
plication and models had been placed in the
Patent Office.
THE vANDERBILTS.