The Washington critic., 1888-03-24
THE TEuAUToGRAPH.
Professor uray's Device TO Beat tn
Tnlenhonn.

Telephone.
CmcAGo, March 2l.-Profcssor Elisha
Gray of Highland Park has Just COM
pleted an invention scarcely less wonder
full and valuable than the telephone, of
which he was also the inventor, but Of
which he was defraudod. "Within few
days" said the Professor yesterday, "I
shall give private test Of my new telau-
tograph, an invention which will largely
supplant the telephone. have already
tested it to my satisfaction, over and over
again, and on Saturday shall give an ex-
hibtion to some gentlemen from the
East / have just taken IL TO pieces to
make some slight alterations or ! would
show IL TO you now"
"By this Invention you can sit down at
your Office in Chicago, take pencil in
your hand, write n message TO me, and as
your pencil moves pencil here IN my
laboratory moves simultaneously and
forms the same letters and words in the
same way. What you write in Chicago
is instantly reproduced here in fac
simile. You may write in any language;
write in shorthand If you like, use q code
or cipher, no matter, fac-simile Is pro-
duccd here. If you wish to draw a
picture, 1t is the samc-the picture is re-
produced here. The artist of your paper
can, by this device, telegraph his pictures
Of a railway wreck or other occurrences,
just as a reporter telegraphs his descrip-
tion in words. The two pencils move
synchronously, and there Is no reason
why curcuit of 500 miles cannot be
worked as easily as one OF ten miles.
Supp1anting the Telephone.
"This telautogrnph will supplant the
ta1n,,I,g,,o fe,s ,,,a,,xs ,,,1rtnune II nat, ha
worked in exchanges, just as the tele-
phone is, or by private wire. 1t has many
advantages, too. 1t is noiseless and devoid
of the many annoyances so common TO
the telephone. II will be much less af-
fected by induction. There will be no
trouble In catching words or syllables,
will result Besides, it leaves a record at
both ends of the wire and there can be
no dispute about what was said. For all
commercial transactions this would be
an Invaluable feature. In ordering
goods, or sales of stock or grain, or in
transmitting names or addresses its SUI
p6riority over the telephone is obvious.
For desultory conversation, IL Is true, IL
would not be so rapid of working, fol
the reason that one cannot write as fast
as he can talk, but, on the other hand
it would save many of the delays and an.
noyances incident to telephone com.
munication.
Method of Communication.
"When one person wishes to COM
municate with another by the telauto-
graph he pushes button, which rings an
annunciator in the exchange, OF in the
Office of the person with whom he wishes
to converse. Then the first party takes
his writing pencil from It's holder--and
this may be pen or pencil-and writes his
message upon roll of paper. As he
writes SO writes the pencil at the other
end of the wire. Finishing his message,
he adds cross, or any other simple token
that lie has finished, when the second
party takes down his pencil and writes a
reply. Thus q conversation can be car
ried ON easily and quickly, and when IL
IS finished another simple word--say the
telegraphic signal "30'-will indicate the
end. Both parties have full record OF
the conversation, and each possesses the
Others autograph.
"ln writing" continued the Professor,
''your pen or pencil is attached to two
small wires, and these wires regulate the
currents which control the pencil at the
other end of the wire. But these wires
give you no trouble. You hardly know
they are there, and can write with as
much facility as if they were absent"
"Can this invention be used TO advant-
age commercially
"Yes, II will not cost more than $15 or
$40, and is easily kept in order / have
tried ii again and again, and it works
more perfectly than the telephone, and is
much less liable TO have its usefulness
interierred with by induction"