The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-10-05
How the ersphophone Works.
the Washington Post.


Some very interesting experiments we're made
with one OF Prof. Edi on's most improved
graphophones at the Office OF the Columbia
monograph Company on E street yesterday
Aftrrno D. We presume il was our veli-known
int est in ami kno = ledge of refined mec anlcal
conlrivances that Sc cured for us an imitation q
De present and TO lend ourself TO I agreeab
task or making clear to &C Ignorant tuolic the
inner workings of this wonderful instrument;
ami we are glad we were there-glad not only
because we now know all about the graphophone,
out D eau we have so good cliacn on I
things mental methods we can lay bare TO
our readers the whole truth Of how it
works. The first thing you do, when you want
10 make trial OF the graphophone, is to ask
Col Easton, or SOMEBODY else who knows how,
to set the wheels and cylinders and things to
gong round. To you grab up slice OF ga
den hose about foot and half long and in
sert fraction OF your mouth into the gutta
der what In tunket to say. Mr.. Eastou and w.
A. Croffut and Mai. Powell, not to mention DR..
Featherstonehaugh, Prof. r. Mckee, G. H.
Benedict and q half dozen others, will tell you
10 say something, but you can't think OF any
thing to say.
Say anything-the first thing that com 8
into your head" they will tell you, but nothing
Whatever will come into your head. Half
Minute before you took up this hunk of hos
you could have male an Grafton ionger than a
Khestrlng, but now you can't say boo You
can't do .nything but s.anI there and look silly
and 81 like Tried egg.
Hurry up or it'l run down." somebody will
say; and if you are not just gathering together
the fragments OF an idea, that Will dlsperse
them again.
So, yoI see, it requires good deal of a scien-
fist TO begin graphOphJ nic experiment. When
the thing is wound up again and the cylindrical
dngus is s owed back to the place of beginning
you manage by mighty effort TO say some
thing so foolish tina you blush till your head
looks ke an egg plant. Then that part of the
experiment is done.
Now Col. Easton comes up with a corpulent
dnner-horn and sticks it on a doofunny about
mi ships of the instru nent Once more he sets
the whe lis and things a ding and presently
you oegln 20 feel goose pump Is sserting them
selves up and down your back. There's sort
OF com .-bac A-to-life Jne about the vol OF the
graphophone that makes il more comfortable
companion for daylight than for dark. We are
not inordinately gwen to superstitious fears, but
II we should b accosted by a graphophone at
midnight in a graveyard, we SHOULD crawl into
the first open grave we found and beg thou
sand pardons for having presumed to r Surrect
ourseif before the day agree on. We never
heard anything elss quite like the grapno-
phones voice unless it was the So-caiied voice of
circuit rider who us ID to preach in our
village one week il four and tell us what de-
pressing place heaven was going to be when he
and the rest of us reached there.
Then l. Easton lifts OH the dinner horn and
puts on some rubber hose RIGHTEOUSNESS with
glass nozzles on 'em. When you put thee noz-
zles in your ears the voice of the graphophone
takes off it's gum shoes and goes stalk X
through your head with its hob-nailed boots on
and no apologies. You can hear everything
every whisper. every liItle lisp, ev ry note or
tone blown into iL from mouth Ut cornet, flute
or fif'. every SOUND of a song and its piano ac-
companiment-and you marvel >eriously at the
perfection of this dainty little piece Of
mechanism.
Now. If we haven't mHde the graphophone
perfectly plain to you, poo'r dear reader, 1t is
probably because you do not understand the
technical terms we scientific me ,nanics employ,
Ind Lhat of course, is not our fault.