Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1894-10-11
Anew rELEpHoyE.


Depends Upon Magnetism and Does Away
with Electrical Batteries-what Is
Claimed for it.
New YORK, Oct. 4.-Telephones at
So mouth is the promise held out by a
company which is now getting ready a
new instrument widely differing from
the telephone in use. 1t is much
simpler instrument than the present
telephone, depending wholly upon mag
netism, and, therefore, doing away al
together with electrical batteries. II is
claimed to be even more effective than
the instrument which now costs so
much, and its projectors assert that for
long distance qualities and durability it
is equal to the best.
If these promises of the new telephone
projectors prove to be all facts, the So
luton Of the cheap telephone problem
seems to be at hand. The new telephone
is called the Phoenix, and it has a free
field, for 1t is simply magneto.tele-
phone in its simplest form, and the
magueto-telephone is now as free as
air. Just how the inventors, or rather
the developers of this new instrument
succeeded in accomplishing what Bell
aud all the other great electricians
failed to do-that is, to make the simple
magneto.telephone effective for long
distances-is an interesting puzzle. 1t
will remain puzzle. 1t is the secret,
and so confident are they that ii Is Sc
cret never to be discovered that they
take their telephone completely to
pieces before your eyes and let you ex-
plore 1t all you will. But it is safe to
say that the mysterious power of the in
strument lies in the powerful perma-
nent magnets in the transmitter and the
receiver The experts tell you that the
magnets are of the softest quality of
Norwegian iron, and yet, paradoxical as
it may seem, they are powerful mag
nets without the intervention of bat
terry. The secret lies right here some
where, but il is not easy to discover.
One of the new instruments was
shown to-day in the office which the
company has open in the Produce Ex-
change Annex, Not being burdened
with an electrical battery, the new tele-
phone box is smaller and more attrac-
tive than the old. The electrician con-
nected the instrument with one in the
next room and caused the current to
pass tlllOhEh IL GULL
made the effect the same as though the
two instruments were 81 miles apart.
The telephone worked perfectly and
conveyed the infections and intonation
of the voice with great accuracy. Then
the resistance was increased until equiva-
lent to 500 miles of wire. The difference
was only a slightly lessening volume OF
tone.
An officer of the company said to-
day;
I'VE can be sure Of giving this cheap
service for several reasons. In the first
place, our telephone is q very cheap
one, planned with the special object OF
avoiding outlay. In the second place, il
is cheap to run. There arc no batteries
to buy and keep up. Again, the mechan-
ism is of the simplest possible character,
and not easy to disarrange, so repairs
will be light. Then we do not infringe
to the slightest possible degree upon
anybody's patent, and have to spend no
money in law suits. So you sec, as we
are not anxious to get rich all in min.
ute, we are in a position to put rentals
at Sc month and keep them there, and
still make reasonable profits for our.
selves and our local companies"
While the company will sell instru.
ments to local companies, who will rent
them, it still will retain rights in them
SO as to prevent their being diverted into
other hands and used in competition
| against them. The small telephones
however, for use between rooms in
offices, private houses, hotels, factories
and the like, will be sold outright, so the
purchaser acquires absolute rights OIL
his property, without payment orrenta
| thereafter,