The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-10-11
by the visible rays Of the sunbeam at


we know only by inference
Ii you split up a sunbeam by means
of a prism on each side of the spec
trum there will be found 10 be certain
rays which are not visible, but which
still have the property, some of them
of developing heat and others of affect
/ ing a galyonometer Some of these are
called actinic rays, and then again
there is another class of which the
world has heard a great deal of late,
the So-called X-rayS, which Professor
Roentgen made use of in seeing the
bones of the human body.
The peculiar quality of these invisible
rays is that they will pass through
substances which the visible rays Of
light will not pass through, and this is
just what happened when Professor
Bell thrust this piece of India rubber
into the sunDeam's path, in his eX-
pertinent The phenomenon showed
that it was these invisible rays which
really took Up the sound vibrations
and carried them along. And SO from
this Professor Bell was led to change
the names of his device from a photo
phone to radiophone. By this new
phrase the inventor was able to give
a clearer and more accurately descrip-
tive name to his invention.
But Professor Bells researches were
only begun. AS [ have already indi-
Gated, the invention of the radiophone
was due to his discovery of the peculiar
properties possessed by seleneum. The
latter is an exceedingly rare metal, SO
closely resembling telurium that the
man who found it first gave 1t a name
which would indicate its relationship;
as telerium comes from telluS, the
earth, he took its name from selene,
the moon. 1t is as expensive as it is
rare, and in his labora tory last spring
Professor Bell showed me a little glass
jar which contains probably the largest
amount of selenium in the world. Fur
thermore, aside from it's expense it
was a troublesome metal to deal with
and many long night did Professor
Bell spend-all his work is done at
night-over ways and means for it's
practical use.
1t happened one day when Professor
Bell wished to make some experiments
that the selenium was all gone, and
just by way Of hazard a number of
other substances were tried, to see if
they would act in anything like the
same way. 1t was just from this
chance experiment that it was found
that there are a great many sub
stances that will do almost as well. One
of these was ordinary black wool. And
just to show you how large a part mere
chance plays even in matters of pure
science, Professor Bell goes Un to tell
of how one day he was out Of black
wool, as well as selenium. There was
white wool, however, and, nothing
daunted, the inventor proceeded to be-
daub this with ordinary lamp black
And this worked better than ever. 1t
was only little further step to expert
ment with lamp black itself, and finally
with just plain SCOT. And the last it
was found was the best of all.
11,a
ether, it finally fell out that Professor
Bell devised talking machine, literal
Iy, out of sunbeam and a small phial
of SCOT. At first all the experiments
were conducted in the laboratory be-
tween one room and another. One day
Professor Bells co-worker, Sumner
fainter, climbed up with a radiophone
transmitter, into the cupola Of school
house a considerable distance away.
Professor Bell was at the receiver by
one of the laboratory windows, Won
dering, just like Darius Green,
whether the fool thing would work.
Into the transmitter Mr.. Fainter cried:
Professor Bell Professor Bell If
you hear what 1 say come to the win
dow and wave your hatH'
Professor Bell did not wait for his
hat. With all the enthusiasm of
schoolboy, ne jumped to the window
and Waved his arms as frantically as
he knew how. 1t did work!
Latterly experiments were conducted
of talking through a distance of a mile
and half. And here the progress of
the invention stopped. There were
other things to engage the attention of
the inventors busy and restless brain,
and not until the announcement of the
wonderful things which Professor
Roentgen was able to do with his X
rays did the instrument receive further
attention.
Now, however, with the rapid pro-
gress which investigators have made in
this direction, Professor Bell has again
taken up the work, with a view to
making the radiophoue a practical and
commercial invention. 1t would never
do of course to have an instrument
which has to depend entirely upon sun
light for its variability and for a long
time it looked as though the radio
phone would be Of no use to anyone
save men of science.
But it is possible that with the adj
vance of electric lighting, and means of |
generating the X rays, simple and
way will be found to pro-
duce a light that will rival the sum
beam, at least for this purpose.
The conditions are tnag it shall be
sufficiently powerful, and at the same |
time steady. If it does not possess the |
latter quality in trying to talk over a |
ray of tight you would experience the |
same sort of confusion as when you |
tried to telephone over a wire that is I
at the same time from some |
other source.
[ asked Professor Bell what would |
be the limit as to distance through |
which the radiophone might operate, /
and if by this means it would be pos
sible to talk any farther than you may /
now signal with a Telegraph. He re-
pied that he saw no reason why if the !
rignt sort of light were found it would |
not be possible TO establish a series of |
rejecting mirrors at convenient dis |
tances apart and reflect the ray in amy !
deired direction. Provided the lenses
employed are perfectly accurate, the I
light would not lose its power, nor
would the sound vibrations be disturb
ed by any number of such reflections.
Theoretically it is entirely conceiv-
able that if a series Of mirrors were
set up at regular intervals, sufficient to
overcome the curvature of the earth.
Il would be possible to talk clear across
the continent or for that matter were
The way clear, all around the world,
with TINS single original beam of light
The only condition would be that there
should be nothing in the way of an
TO cross the beam in it's
travels
AS to the practical use of the radio
phone, it is easy to see that with a
simple construction, it could be cheaply
quilt and might be employed for long
1itances, where the cost of copper wire
would be proalibitive. 1t is likewise
Easy to Sc its utility in times of war,
when it would be Impossible to string
L wire, or when a wire might be cut
~ the enemy. BY this means free com
nunication could be established be-
.ween armies considerably distant from