The Washington times., 1895-04-14
It Has Combined the PhanOgrapI1
and klnetOsGOpe.
CALLED THE. KINTOGRAPH. +"
It Will Enable Humble American Citizen
to Sit in His Own Home and Both See and
Hear Grand 0pera-The Great Inventors
Daily Life and Habits-Great Future
Schemes in Prospect-Ths Wizard Talks.

A visit to Thomas A Edison is sug
gestive of a pilgrimage to the haunts of
some medieval wizard. The Walpurgisnacht
in Faust and the summit of the Broken
seem tame in comparison The greatest
inventor that ever lived has estab-
lished himself in q dell hidden among
vagrant mountains in New jersey wilds.
The neighborhood has no inhabitants with
the exception of the 200 odd men whom the
Wizard employs in his nominations. The
place is an cid deserted mine, once known
as Ogden, but the rockabye railroad with
balky engines and wheezy, catarrhal cars
that meander that way when the wind
is not too strong, has christened 1t Edison,
There are buildings all over Edison, large
buildings that walk about the premises If
you press a button. In fact, they rarely
do anything at Edison without pressing
button. But one must know which buttons
to press, for, although some take you TO
the opera, there are others.
When you reach the place no one pays
much attention 10 you. That is one OF its
dangerous Vaccinations.
''If you stay there another minute" said
an unclean, nondescript object very calmly,
you viii broken into small pieces and
carried underground"
But, can see Mr. EdlSOn?"
Il don't know; the old mans around
somewhere. Go to that red building"
Easier said than done For the big,
red building begins to move timidly away
the moment you get near it; stops when
you stop, advances when you advance,
and is altogether will of the wisp OF arch
itecture.
Finally 1t hove to and we boarded. It
is an office, and they pressed a button,
fonIH AFR EGiGnn'S location
said be would be along presently, and
then began to break up mountains.
Breaking up mountains is very simple
process. 1t is begun, OF course, by press
ing button. A huge bouderis detached
from the solid rOck, carried on movable
bod as large as q barn, dropped upon a
pair of huge iron wheels and shiyered
into cobbles tones The co bibles whirl
aloft in trays or trOughs, come down in
dust and the grains OF iron they contain
are picked out msgnetieally. A three-ton
boulder is spllntered into fine iron in three
minutes, the refuse going into the dust
hole.
Finally the great Edison appeared.
He was terribly dirty. He looked so
far as attire is concerned, like a NAVY.
He was all CRIME and dust. But his face
was that of a Bright, blue-eyed youth,
beautifully blue eyed and smiling. Not
until he took his vile, ash-coyered hat off,
did the gray hair reveal that he is no
longer young in years. His face is al
most free from wrinkles.
1--WE are progressing, progressing" he
said, when Informed that his retreat had
been invaded for the purpose OF getting in
formation concerning the latest and the
greatest Of his Inventions, the one which
is being ca gefly awaited and which very
few have had a chance to see That is the
combination OF the photograph with the
microscope, The contriva nce TO which Mr..
Edison applied the term kinetograph on
this occasion.
1.-The object OF this machine" he said,
sis TO afford the spectator two inventions
In one That is, two senses are stimuli
taneously appealed to- Suppose, We win
say an opera is TO be reproduced. The
phonograp;l already repeats the sound.
The kineto&csps affoF6s a view of the move
ments. Now, however, we wish to COM
bine the tive, and com bine them far more
effectively than ever their distinct ele-
ments have heretofore been rendered by
separate Instruments.
THUS, il one wished to hear and see the
concert or the opera, it would only be neces-
sary to sit down at heme, look upon a
screen and see the pcrfOTma nee, repro
duced exactly in every movement, and at
the same time, the voices OF the players
and singers, the music OF the orchestra, the
various sounds that accompany perform
actly The end attained is perfect illu
sion. One really hears and sees the play,
because the conditions precedent to the
suitable impressions upon eye and ear
are obtained"
Mr., Edison's hearing has improved very
much in the past year, owing, perhaps,
to his perfect physical condition. He spoke
well and distinctly, andis never, apparently,
asmuch impressed with the wonders he per-
forms rs are his worEkneu
He was asked If ordinary sights andscenes,
the Pope in the Vatican, or a speech at
mass meeting, could be as effectively
handled.
Far more easily" he replied; "that is
the least difficult part of the problem. Even
now, the spectator could be treated to per-
feet reproduction of Gladstone making a
speech to the HouSeof Commons. This would
be shown OF life size, and, so far as the spec
tator is concerned, would be the real scene.
For every word, every gesture or the grand
old man, the gestures OF each spectator
and the sounds made on the occasion would
be reproduced exactly. And, OF course,
two hundred years hence, the same scene
could be thrown up at villa new way OF
recording history, you see"
'Isnot the mechanism very complicated?''
Not more so than that OF the knetscope
and the phonogr aph, aud the difficulty now
in the wsy isthe adjustment ofphotograp
Cert ain flashes OF motion are caught in ten
forty-ninths of a second But in preserving
them and in their reproduction, one or two
obstacles are met with. The negative
itself is very small--not much larger than
your thumb nail In reproducing these
pastures and movements great care is
necessary in maintaining proportions.
To throw upon a screen a series OF move
ments, each taking up an interval of time,
not longer, perhaps, than o fifth part OF
ten forty-ninths of q second, and at the
same time to insure fidelity is the problem
As it is, there are occasional distortions.
If movement in the reproduction be not
SO to speak, run out consecutively, that is,
if, looked upon as change of posture it
be not accurately photographed, although
it occupied but the two hundredth part of a
second, the effect will be distorted. Hence
the extremeT nicely required in the
the extreme nicely required in the
mechanism.
1t would, of course, be out of place here
to enter into any detail connected with the
operation and the mechanism of the phono-
graph That invention has been explained
over and over again. So, too, of the Iineto-
scope But it may be stated that the COM
bnation of the two involves instantaneous
action in harmony of the two; this is, on the
surface, an easy matter The principle
upon which it is effected, theoretically
is also well known. In fact, the general
mind has been pretty well saturated with
information on the subject. But as for the
echanical difficulty, with which Mr.
Edison is contending, it has remained I'M
Thought Of So the great discovery fingers
on the threshold of its accomplishment, in
fact. BUTT will otlingerlong. Electricity
knows no Lucy.
perhaps by Tomorrow" said Mr.. Ed
ison, eve may perfect the machinery.
Perhaps we Shall have to work another
year upon it. In truth, it is a very SIM
pie matter. 1t consists merely in adjust
ing thoroughly understood principles to a
new contrivance made up of old contriv-
ances. Were it not that we have such
Infinitely small Eectinns of Tina To deal