The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1890-09-04

A SIMPLE TELEPHONE.

How 1t Can BE Made and How to Use 1t.
The little apparatus which am going
to describe certainly deserves the title
of simple which l have given it.
do not intend to introduce you to the
bona tide electrical telephone, with cleo
tro-magnets and battery all complete.
All want to do in this article is to
tell you how you can make in few
minutes telephone quite as good as
those sold for quarter in the toy shops.
out Of materials that will cost you prob
ably nothing at all.
To begin with. yon must get two tin
cans about three inches in diameter.
Take away the lids, which are not
wanted, and set to work carefully TO
knock of the bottoms, bending the tin,
If you can, 9th small pair Of pincers.
Having taken of the bottoms. you will
have two tin cylinders, which ought to
be quite circular, II you have not bent
the sides in getting of the bottom.
Now take . piece of cartridge-paper
or thick writing-paper - better still
parchment, II you have any-and cut
out two circles little larger than the
size Of the cylinders-in our case about
three and half inches in diameter
bend down the circles of parchment
over the cylinders and glue the edges
over the tin.
It is just like fastening jar Of pre-
serves. Pull the parchment or paper as
tight as you possibly can without crack
ing it, and leave 1t to get quite dry.
When dry the paper should be 'taut"
and sound like drum when tapped
with the finger.
Now take piece of fine string, or
crochet cotton" which answers better,
about twenty feet long. and making q
small hole in the center Of each OF the
little drums, push one end Of the cotton
through and tie knot SO that it will not
come out again.
The telephone is now finished. Get
some one to hold one of the drums and
60 to the other end of the room. pulling
the string tight but not SO tight as to
crack the parchment.
Every word that either speaks into
his telephone will now be heard dis
tinctly by the other; even low whisper
will be clearly audible If the drum is
placed over the ears.
! have only mentioned cord of TWEEN
ty feet, but practically you can hear at
. much greater distance than this l
have used telephone made in this
way out of doors at distance Of several
hundred yards, and quite low whispers
are distinctly audible, though either
speaker would have to shout at the top
Of his voice to be heard by any one
standing midway between them.
As long as the connecting string does
not touch any solid object it will work,
but it must be kept clear OF the branches
Of trees, or furniture, II used in the
house.
You can arrange the cotton up the
stairs If you like. so that a person
speaking in the hall can be heard in the
attic. The string must be kept away
from the stairs by having pieces of cot
ton tied to the banister at one end and
the connecting string at the other.
20 that when the telephones arc pulled
the string will become tight and not
touch any thing but the cotton tied to
the banisters. As long as these pre-
cautions are taken 1t will work Just as
we'll as when both speakers are on the
same floor.
! can assure those who intend to make
one that they can get lot Of fun out OF
this extremely simple instrument; the
Juniors of the family, at any rate, will
think it very amusing, and probably be
continually conveying information to
one another through the telephone
when with even less trouble they could
make themselves understood without its
aid.-R. A. r. Bennett, in Golden Days