The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1888-03-22
Edison and His Inventions.

Mr.. Edison was interviewed recently
by a Chicago reporter. He said: 81
have been busy Of late fixing up my
laboratory near Llewelyn Park. Or
ange, n. j., aud in perfecting the
phonograph. AS soon as the frost gets
out of the ground we are going to
build new factory at Bloomfield and
put IN machinery capable of turning
out $50 monographs day. You IL see
it shortly. Our agents are now learn
ing it's use, and expect by the middle
of April TO have the new instruments
all over the country"
Tell me something about it.
"We!l, it is a little instrument small
err than the ordinary typewriter; it
will record any sound transmitted to
it - violin and piano-forte music,
whistling notes, or anything you may
give it. BY the way, it will be great
help to you newspapermen when you
are in a hurry to have your copy put in
type. Suppose at night you come
late. You get to your phonograph and
begin talking to it. Each of your
words is recorded to q little wax cylin-
der and repeated to tine typesetter at
the other end. 1t will take down any
| thing YOU may dictate. and to prevent
confusion, for the phonOgraph will
/ talk faster than yourself. it repeats the
| last six words of every broken sentence
Where can it be used? Why, in any
number of places. At the courts, to
take down the testimony of witnesses;
at the church, to record sermon; at
! the opera-house. where famous prima
donna may be singing"
~ box1T fhie
| can be done"
"Let me try to explain, The pho
nograph is made up of the mouth
piece, where it receives the sound; q
spirally grooved cylinder carrying a
sheet Of tin-foil and way, by which il
receives the records of the movements
of the diaphragm, the human voice,
etc, and another mouthpiece on which
the speech received in the cylinder i:
reproduced. A screw connects it with
the cylinder; You talk and your speech
is recorded; now move the screw anC
the second mouthpiece repeats tht
sounds the wax cylinder has received
Tne wax cylinders are about the sizt
OF an ordinary napkin ring and OF th'
same thickness. with capacity OF 25i
words.
..Will the public take kindly to itF
II believe so. 1t is no longer in tn
experimental stages, nor is it mer
curiosity. Correspondence can here
after be performed through it, and tin
labors of private secretaries will b
dispensed with.
Have you been working on an.
other new inventions?'
30, yes; I've got at least 100 neN
ideas in my head still in the embryoni
stage. Some of them I've been work
, ing on for years. Two or three ma
bring out this year. I'm workin
hard on my scheme of house-lightin
out of the waste heat generated b
Goals"
"How far have you succeeded?
II am trying to reduce the cost; til
present method is so expensive. l wi
, succeed, think. The idea is to g
, electricity generated from coal;
,, hard thing to do economically. /
, strike a number of new things yet, /
, remarked parting with the reporter.
As to his system of telegraphin
!, from sea he said he had not done an,
, thing in that line this winter. He hi
a laboratory in Florida where he ca
.. experiment in still water. His syste
. of tclegraphing from moving trains
working satisfactorily on section
y the i-ehigA Valley Railroad.