The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-07-13
THE TELEPHONE THAT TALKS

demar Poulsen-Tronsform speech
Into Magnetic Waves, Stores Conyer
sation On a Wire and Then Talks
Back.
Wireless telegraphy has prepared US
Tor almost any kind Of inventive wiz
ardry. But the Danish Edison" VAL
demar Poulsen, has come forward ~
that there are things quite as
mysterious as aerograms. For a DEM
onstration Of this fact, one has only o
talk n the receiver of the Poulsen
"telegraphone," have his words invisi-
Oily registered upon the wire or disc
tnat takes the place of the wax rec
ords Of a phonograph. and then hear
MS remarks repeated with a distinct
ness that is startling.
SO far as the untutored observer can
see, there is nothing about The
mechanism of the telegraphone to ac-
count for its performances. In a pho
nograph II IS Easy TO follow the con-
volutions Of the steel pin scratching its
way about owe the wax cylinder. or
tracing a devious path in the grooves
OF a permanent hard-rubber record.
There Is nothing SO obvious about the
Poulsen machine.
In this the voice is recorded in -hn
form Of electromagnetic impressions
upon a thin steel disc or wire, one
hundredth Of an inch in diameter,
Tnava &c ,1r , ~,r,.1l :y~..
mark Of any kind 10 indicate tha. the
wire or disc has recorded anything.
But start the reproducing mechanism
going, pick up the ear piece, and the
apparently blank record gives forta
whatever has been talked into l..
There is no scratching sound the words
coming from the machine as clearly as
from a human throat. The faintast
whisper, or even heavy breathing is
recorded and reproduced in the same
way. The record is automatically eras-
ed by a stronger magnet as a new rec
ord is put on, or the record can be
permanently retained for future refer
ence.
When its invention was first an
nOunced, the t~elegraphone attracted
much attention from electrical xpertS
and the physicists. Sir William Preece
said that it marked an era in the in
vestigatiOn Of the molecular character
Of all magnetic and electric operations.
Lord Kelvin, Tesla, NarcOni, Prof.
S%ilvanus Thompson and others bore
testimony TO the extraordinary perfec-
ton of the recording and speaking
telephone" Technical papers describ-
ed its wonders, and then for a period
but little was heard of it. But all the
time the inventor, aided by American
experts, has been transforming his
experimental model into a thoroughly
practical piece of office equipment, for
which the demand has already outrun
the supply. An American company has
been formed to control the invention,
which promises to make as many tor
tunes as were made by the Mergentha-
Ter typesetting mahcine.
The principle of operation is the
same in wire and disc machines, the
main difference being that with a mile
or two Of fine steel strands, compactly
wound on a spool, the capacity is
greatly increased. A single spool or
wire allows for half an hours contin-
uous dictatiOn.
vi WI pa RoS~~ SN~
beauty of the telegraphone is that the
typewriter operator can transcribe a.
any distance from the recording in
strument, that is, any distance covered
by the scope Of the telephone. There
is no carrying about of records or cyl
inders. All the typist need do is 20
take I'D his end of the connecting
wire, press a button, and proceed to
$500 ~+~ +-~ tho words +h0f cam
through the receiver from the machine
which may just as well be a hundred
miles as ten feet away. Or the ma
chine and operator may be IN an $50
lated room, and the ditcation carried
on over Il wire from another office. Cne
push button starts the machine, an
other stops it. and a third one reveroeS
il.
WALL Street brokers were the first 10
see the possibilities of the telegra-
phone as a piece Of office machinery.
By connecting it with the telephone, a
word for wore record of everything
that ONE OF goes over the wire =
made. If there is a dispute over an
order to buy or sell stocks, the telegra-
phone record Of the customers voice
shows what his instructions were. The
advertising department OF a daily
newspaper. where a great many orders
are received by phone, and where
misunderstanding are frequent. uses
a t~elegraphone 10 make a magnetic
transcript of everything that passes
over the wire. In this way the Or2
weakness of the telephone as a means
of communicatiOn-that it keeps no
record-has been eliminated.
There is already Il scheme on fooE u
equip a large hotel so that guests n
their rooms by using the telephone can
be placed in constant connection with
telegraphones located in the typewrIt-
ne room of the hotel. dictate letters
and have them delivered ready To-
signature within a few minutes. Z
same plan mas been suggested for a
New York Office building, providing
means for quick dictation 10 machines
located in the central typewritin2 eS-
adjustment. The steel discs used are