Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1889-09-26
THE NEW PHONOCRAPH.
A View of Its Operations When In Full
Blast In the Newspaper Office.

blasG IN the Newspaper onces
Edison claims that his new phono.
graph, few of which are now on the
market, is going to work a revolution
in newspaper offices. The editor or
reporter will talk what he has to say
right into the phonograph. The metal
strip which receives the remarks, which
MIR. Edison calls the phonogram, but
which probably should more properly
be called the gilder-fluke, is then re-
moved and sent to the composing
room, where it will be inserted in the
compositor's phonograph. He will press
lever with his foot, and the machine
will casually mention ten words, and
then relapse into deep thought, till he
sets them and repeats the perform
ance. If he doesn't catch the remarks
he kicks another lever and the ma
chine repeats.
All this has very interesting ap-
pearance at distance, but it does not
seem as if the composing-room will be
altogether free from trouble, even
when there is an able phonograph
wearing swallow-tail coat and opera
front vest, sitting up on every case,
debating scholarly editorial and graph
ic descriptive matter. 1t will make
the composing-room partake some
thing of the nature of an anarchists
meeting to have half a dozen phono-
graphs in an elocutionary voice talk
ing off editorials, while twice as many
are rolling out editorial matter,
and another gang are making very
earnest remarks about the markets,
and still another lot are roaring out
the advertisements. When one of the
editorial machines begins to get deep
ly in earnest and puts one hand under
its coat-tails, swelIs out it's breast and
throws back its head and begins to
talk very loud about "a Crying Need
of the Hour" it will only help to con-
fuse matters. So also will the Gov
ernment chemist in the baking powder
advertisement, and the reduction sale
dry goods announcements; when these
Photographs begin to paw the case,
and howl and occasionally shoot out an
electrotype cut of a new summer suit
or something, and take the compositor
| in the ear, and knock him down and
! then get mad because he isn't up and
| at work, it is going to make exciting
! times.
While the unsuspecting phonograph
is leaning over and pouring Its ten
words in to the compositor's ear he
will forget, and make his well-known
and heated remarks about the lean
ness of the type or unsatisfactory
character of his "take," or he will
make overtures to another compositor
looking toward the loan of some to-
bacco, and the phonograph will take
it and mix it up with an editorial
on The Progress of Church Work, u
and lie will set it this way and subse-
ouently the earnest. glowing swear
word of the proof-reader will be noted
, as il floats out from another room.
Then one of those excitable nervout
men will be working on a case with 8
quick, impulsive phonograph, and the
foot lever will break, or something,
| and the phonograph will go right OF
talking, and he will try to set as fas
, as it can talk. The casual spectator
: will observe tall, round-shouldereC
man, with no suspenders on, humping
D down over the case and making des
= perate and lightning-like grabs aftel
letters out of two boxes at once. The
+ air will be filled with type flying in al
directions, and above the roar of the
phonograph, galioping along on a ca
e Bile dispatch full of Russian Generals
S names will be heard the red, molter
o remarks of an eXcitable, nervous com
a positor. The type in the air will grow
thicker, pieces of the partitions be
: tween the boxes will join the cloud
C the nervous man will double over still
f more and clutch whole handfulls Of
: "e's" and three-em spaces and hur
q them up to the ceiling, scrape dowr
the upper-case. tearing away tht
boxes, all the time yelling stopper
'er!" to which the machine will only
= reply with a hoarse, hollow laugh, til
at last he will seize it, and tear 1t from
its place, and beat the floor with the
helpless mechanism till it becomes 8
shapeless mass, and hasn't word tt
say, and till the tall, excitable com
: positor has to be be carried away t.
: the hospital.
o Such scenes as these will tend Il
! disturb the harmony of the composing
room and cause friction.
l Again, when the editor is pour.
e ing his tale into phonograph, per
S haps a door will slam, for instance
, and the faithful instrument will recort
it; and when it is repeated for the
, compositor, if he doesn't happen tc
fully understand the thing, he will
stand there all night trying to set thai
slam.
This will, cause loss of time, and
more friction and profanity, and on
the whole there is going to be more
trouble with the phonograph in the
composing room than there is now
with the dark, mysterious, unknowa-
BILE specimens of penmanship at pres
ent turned out by the editor, who
claims that he used to set type with
Horace Greeley, and has been frequent
iy reused out of sound sleep in the
, middle of the night to find the elder
, Bennett standing by his bedside wait
ing with perplexed air to ask his ad
vice on some knotty journalistic point