Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-01

ticai advantages or the telephone became
known there sprang up claims of prior In.
yention on all sides. A number of well.
known electricians appeared, each an
nouncing himself the original inventor; and
filed agaist my patent. This is the case
with nearly every successful patent that
is issued. and claims have been filed for
such infringements by men bearing fairly
good regulations"
Some Of the most remarkable instances
OF this Kind. continued DR.. Bell, were In
reference to a newspaper hoax which was
perpetrated by some wag few years after
the telephone had become a success. II
remember correctly, 1t was along about
1850, when many new things were being
discovered In electricity. when the electric
light was superseding gas and the electric
motor beginning to run the street cars. At
this time an item was published to the
effect that DIR. II. Z. Lix of Maunch
Chunk, Pa. or some other town of that
kind. had discovered a way to sec
through wire, and had been able by
cat kept I'm an adjoining room through the
wall into a hall and to throw 1t on a screen
before delighted audience. The dispatch
chronicling the discovery was full of tech
nicai electric terms and II also contained
several proper names, founded like that OF
the alleged inventor, DIR. II. f. Lix (helix),
or some such scientific word.
well that dispatch went the round OF
the press and coupled with 1t came the
statement that Professor Bell. the inventor
OF the telephone. was interested in II and
tuition sealed package containing a full
description with illustrations of his in
vestigattons. Now, the fact that I
had filed package. but II related to
my investigations as to the photophone or
the conveyance of sound by means of rays
of light. How 1t became associated with
the helix matter do not know At any rate
the moment my name was published in
connection with 1t, an indignant letter was
printed In reputable English scien-
tific Journal, signed by two well-known
neither I nor the mythical DR.. H. f. Liz
had any right to claim the first discovery
OF transmitting images by wire and that
they were the real dscoverers OF the pro-
cess. A week or two later other claimants
appeared They came forth from different
parts Of the United States and from Eng
land
"One of the claimants was a we'll known
New York electrician. Mr.. Sawyer, who.
like the rest. asserted that he could see
through a telegraph wire and could send
any kind of an image he wished in that
way from one place to another. Another
published an article in the Scientific Ameri-
can with Illustrations of his invention. I
answered nothing In reply to such state
ments. I had never made any experiments
of the kind, and had no inventions to
claim. After short time 1t appeared that
the claimants themselves We're in the same
situation. They were frauds, pure and SIM
pie, and some of them undoubtedly mad put
forth their statements with the idea of
filing interferences if the invention as al
u
cess"
Elisha Gray and the Telephone.
"How about Elisha Gray?"
prof Gray made his claims, believe at
the instance of his lawyers, and largely
through the influence of the directors Of
great telegraph company, who then
feared that the telephone might injure the
telegraph. He had, however. fortunately
for me written me letter of congratula-
| ton upon learning that 1 had made my dis
covery and disclaiming 1t for himself; and
this letter was brought forth as evidence
Prof. Gray and myself were working at
multiplex telegraphy at about the same
time; and his discoveries were 50 much like
mine that 1 was for time afraid of him
and thought he had some way of getting at
the secrets of my laboratory work. 1t was
for that reason that L changed my labora-
tory. When I afterwards met Prof. Gray
l realized that his character was such that
he could not have done anything of the
Kind l had imagined and 1 regretted my
unjust suspicious"
Telephoning Without Wires.
"Will we ever have a wireless telephone.
Dr. Bell?" I asked.
IT think 1t is possible. although the dis
lance Of its use may be limited. 1 remem-
Der some experiments once made not far
from the Cambridge observatory near Bos-
ton. We had driven two pokers into the
ground a few hundred feet apart and had
connected them by wire. AS soon as the
connection was made 1 put the receiver to
my ear and heard a clock distinctly tick
ing. The tick was a peculiar one, and I
recognized 1t as that of the clock the
Cambridge observatory. which set the time
for the greater part of = Boston. Upon
studying the matter, l concluded that the
sound was conducted by the ground to my
receiver. A short time later 1 tried some
experiments as to wireless telephony on the
Potomac here at Washington, and / was
able to hear signals made on boat at the
Aqueduct bridge while in another boat
stationed far down the river as the
Washington monument. In this case the
water acted as the conductor. Indeed 1t Is
question whether what we now know as
wireless biography is brought about by
the signals being carried by the medium
of the air or by means of the ground and
water 1t may be found that in all cases
the real conductor is the latter
Some Telephone Improvements.
do you look for many changes in the
telephone in the near future, DR.. Bell?'
asked 1.
Not in the improvement of the trans.
mission of sound" said DR.. Bell That
will remain practically as 1t is but l do
expect changes in the machinery to facili-
tate the uses of such transmission. l be-
lieve that we shall soon have an automatic
telephone service in which every SUBJ
scriber, by means of certain buttons and
combination of wires, will be able to call
up whomSoever he pleaSes without the an
noyance of the central station. When this
is accomplished the cost of telephoning
will be much reduced for the greater part
of the vast army of telephone operators
will be done away with and the expenses
of operation can be made less
How about having newspapers by tele-
phone with readers at a central station and
buttons by which the news can be turned
off and on?'
II don't know about that" said DIR. Bell.
Such attempt was made not long ago in
Vienna or Buda Pest, 1 think, but whether
it was success or not am unable to say.
Inventions have been recently made by
which music can be carried long distances
by telephone, and they are now planning to
have concerts so furnished all over New
York, giving the best of classic and other
music to thousands of subscribers at once
AS to the practicability of that invention I
do not know; but many men believe that 1t
is of value and that 1t will be a success.
have not seen the machinery nor heard 1t
in operation"
Locating Garfeld's Bullet.
During my talk with DR.. Bell asked him
to tell me something about his attempts to
locate the bullet in President Garfields
body 1t will be remembered that when