Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-11-27

sing against the diaphragm, and finally he
got them to talking against it. he all the
time touching the pin lightly with his fin
ger. I have it. said he, finally. and he
retired to his den and commenced
drawing disphragms for new machin-
cry, which his assistants speedily made,
and few days later the first phonograph
was put together. It was . crude affair, the
pin making an impression on wax, and 1t
talked imperfectly; but it did well enough
to show Edison that he was on the right
track, and he rapidly improved it until now
it is very near perfection. A hundred men
might have felt the vibration of that pin at
tached to the piece of sheepskln, but it took
an Edison to instantly realize that the
vibrations might be made to indeut q soft
substance. and be susceptible of repro
ducing the exact sounds of the human
voice that caused the different vibrations.
The phonograph was regarded as toy at
first, but later it sold for 81 1000, ,O0O."
A Monte Cristo Romance.
Alexander Graham Bell and the telephone
have been synonymous terms for a dozen
years or more. Bells career presents one
of the most remarkable Monte Cristo ro-
mances in this country of rapid fortune
making. Bell was penniless boy in Edin-
burgh 80 wears ago. He came to this coun-
try in 1872 and finally became teacher in .
deaf and dumb school in Boston. From boy
hood the idea of speech transmission had
been an undercurrent of thought with him,
and he has frequently said that long before
1870 we would one day speak by telegraph.
The telephone was the result of years
of patient labor and investigation. 1t
the Centennial held in Philadelphia
in hot in, of
1876 speech was transmitted over tele-
graph line. The telephone was at first
looked upon as an ingenious plaything, but
its money-making qualities quickly devel-
oped, and Bell is now worth millions, while
he has spent hundreds of thousands in the
legal defense of his patents. 1t cost Bell
enough to make an ordinary man rich to get
rid of Drawbaugh alone.
When the idea of the telegraph was first
suggested to Samuel T. B. Morse he was a
popular and successful painter, yet he
abandoned his art and for years endured the
greatest hardship in order to develop and
perfect the idea which had come to him.
The Creation of the Monitor.
When the history of American invention
is written it will contain no more interest
ing chapter than that which will tell of tho
origin and perfection of Ericsson's "Moni-
tor" The idea of the Monitor had long
been working in the mind of Captain
Ericsson when the Civil War broke out
Then he found in John T. Winslow, John
A. Griswold and c, S. Bushnell men who
had faith in his idea and the money he
needed to put it to the test A naval board
reported against the scheme, but Winslow,
man of great energy and determination,
resolved to bring the whole matter to the
attention of President Lincoln. An inter-
view was arranged with the President, to
whom were displayed the plans of Captain
Ericsson and their details fully explained.
The Presidents interest increased as the
conference progressed, and when it was fin
ished he said: "Well, gentlemen, why do
you bring this matter to me? Why not
take it to the department having these
things in charge?"
SIT has already been taken to the Naval
Department" Mr. Winslow replied, "and
there met with repulse, and we now come
with it to you, Mr.. President, to secure
your influence. We are here, not simply
as business men, but as lovers of our coun-
try. and we believe most thoroughly that
here is something upon which we can enter
which will be a vast benefit to the United
States"
When Mr.. Winslow had finished speak
ing Mr.. Lincoln said, in his inimitabIe
manner: "Well, I do not know much about