The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-09-25
About the Talking Machine
By Frederic J. Haskin.
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And now we have the talking ma
 chine as the latest feature In politi-
 cal campaigns. If figures did not
 sometimes lie 1t would be easy to prove
 that at least 0.000. .000 people will hear
 the voices of Bryan and Taft between
 now and election day. Mir. Taft has
 talked for twelve records, and Mir
 Bryan for ten. Big sellers in the rec
 ord trade often reach the hundred
 thousand mark. Did each of these rec
 ords reach that mark it would mean
 sale of 2.200. 00o records. If only
 twenty i've people heard each of these
 records 1t would mean that more than
 half the people of the United States
 could say that they had heard the
 voice of one or the other of the lead
 ing presidential candidates
 This is the first campaign in which
 the inanimate talking machine has
 ever played a part. But with vim
 and earnestness that is the admiration
 and despair of every other kind of trade. the talking machine is gradual
 ly forcing It's way along, inch by inch.
 until 1t has come to be a venturesomc prophet who will predict the end of
 1t. It is being put to a thousand uses
 all over the world. Go to Teh sran or Constantinople and you will find the
 harems of the Shah of Persia and the Sultan of Turkey listening to the talk ing machine. Go to the Canal Zone and you will see the Barbadian, the lama ican, or the Guinea negro spending his hours of rest by the side of cheap talking machine. In the Andes, in the heart of Africa, and in the interior of Asia,-everywhe ere that civilization has gone--you will find this great Ameri- can invention.
 Sir Thomas Lipton is deeply inter- GSfad in the talking machine and through him King Edward has placed one on his yacht, the Albert and Vic- toria." The Sultan of Turkey Is a great user of blank records to pre- serve his voice and his precious thoughts to future generations of his people. The importation of these ma- chimes into the household of the Sultan came near to producing a schism in the ranks of Islam, for there are thous- ands of faithful Musselmans who be- lieve that the Sultan should never tcl- crate such a profane thing as talk ing machine within the precincts Of his palace.
 When the Americans wanted to ne- gotiate the treaty of Jolo they took the Sultan aboard the Charleston with his suite and showed them the sights. Most of all that interested the party was a talking machine. The Sultan's favorite wife wanted the wonderful thing. The Americans agreed to give it to her if she would induce her hus- band to agree to the treaty. She yuc- ceeded in getting i'm to sign the docu- | ment, and so American diplomacy knows the advantage of the talking | machine.
 It Is said that when Andrew Car | negie Is at Skibo Castle he is awak- | ened each morning by the strains of | a ina hn rfa rIn a lad Everybody cannot afford | this. but an inventor has evolved a | photograph which will | always wake one at the proper hour. l It also switches on the light and may | even be made to turn on the water in | the bath tub.
 An old sea captain who has had | much experience in recruiting labor | from the islands of the West Indies, to | work in the mines and on the planta- tions of South America> has found the | talking machine a great aid in his | work. When he visits the South Amer lean countries he gives some of the | laborers who are widely known at | home, little fee to talk into the ma chine. telling of the treatment they are | being accorded, how much money they are making, and other favorable facts | about their jobs. When he lands at T OI tuH6 lStdnuT UT any JULIET ng place, he turns the proper record pose on his machine, and soon the negroes have first hand evidence of low things are going with their fell ows across the seas. Getting labor hereafter becomes an easy job.
 Not long ago there was stone quar- y being operated in the suburbs of Nashville. Nearby residents protested against the terrific noise which dis urbed their morning rest. At last tome one thought of a talking ma ,hine. They caught the noise with his. and the proof was so strong that he courts ordered the stopping of the loise. Likewise, a shy but resource ul maiden lady who was expecting a proposal of marriage from a man whom she feared might afterward jilt Ter, secreted a talking machine in her ,arlor, and at the proper moment set t going. Sure enough, her fears were we'll founded, and the Arkansas court