New-York tribune., 1908-09-27
MAKING PHONOGRAPHS
HUGE EDISON PLANT
Four Thousand People at Work
Night and Day.

rSed
.,ocranf can scarcely be considered as naNlNe
pHoiios p -tage It must still be classed as q
-. and with that fact in mlnd' ie'oi ~ d" -, -
-oenerity is presaged by the fac' tlat .. ,..a.d
5a,sor factories at orange. n j. te" . NoI9-. ~
,-onbe are being made every week anu oio @
hundred and fifty thousand Iee0'U
turned out every day in the week -, =. .oro
,--ae, lust a few more figures ana 'neh sil -. 80.
--+i1- hack with the gratifying reallzatlon nc
- oonntrv after all, is not going 10 'ie 80 5
'ie - +tara IS q little loose change IN the
,,o-g of tbe average American cltlzeh III ~
,,arious buildings OF the Edison "orAs -1+
.zo- e,,ace of fourteen acres, while Ile eil'ii
80. occnnIes eighteen acres The engine pi'S
g. M 7,niu1portant part in the Ile "a oiie
.o-i,o.e most famous manufactures, mas sIo"
-o-o fifty 10 fifteen hundred horsepower. -
-be denartments four thousand nVe huiiuI ca p
= 60 er,,nloyed making il one Of the most IN
cr+a-+ factors in the wellbeing OF lNe "'e
49, 20 .ba Oranges N,wark and other nearby
I1acee All Of these are now working oNei ~
aud in the record department the oeHia'iu = -
- -be labor continues every night In the "eeh
.a,a Sunday When considers lndI 'ills pc
- -.;s labor are devoted TO the making oA
-,,ecbines intended only for pleasure, one DeelL'
10 believe that the people are not paI l1ui01 fO
e.ty sticken. -, ,a1,o,,s
To keen the public in touch with the mar INeliou'
,o-tn,+ Of The Wizards" creation, an almost M
5;,la amount of printers ink is required oeO"
1ogues TO the number Of three milhon SIX +t
thousand copies printed every EeaI' t
Qf NA-iiAN'---'
,Den+v-forr millions. The public need never O
5+no,+ music since the fairly generous alhout'
of two million records is at all times Kept ~ So
. Orange While the sapphire is not the AioSt
costly Of precious stones, when IL Is 1
that more than ten thousand OF thtAl <ile -
., er week in the making Of phonograph recoroS Al
will be realized that the bill for TINS item dio
not an Insignificant one The saPphlTes nus =, -
absolute smoothness. having q higher pohsn '1'l'
for example a three hundred dollar uailio .
u =, here too that Edison has outdistailced ms
irnitators all Of whom require different heeuie
for every individual record
The huge plant at Orange, the maghl'uue -
which is the arnazement Of every one who Flslts II
Gov .4a first time is not entirely devoted to the
manufacture Of the phonograph. Within these coIi
crete walls buildings being separated oy Il"
of carefully tended grass and PaveInents are itiu0
many other products Of the ceaseless EGlsoH III
,ar4ior These include the projecting knetoscope
and its films the Edison primary battery whicn
is adapted 10 railroad and almost every ieeu
but that Of the automobile the Bates numbering
machine which. while il does not bear his NAME
a ,aa1l,. an Fdison invention and the Edison stor-
age battery which is almost ready for the market
and uses cobalt mineral earth, IN place OF ied-'
used In most all storage batteries up 10 the pei'
time For the moving pictures there are stuolos
in The Borough of The Bronx, and the Bronx ZOO
logical Park is largely utilized a stage setting
the company having a long list of MODELS drawn
from the theatrical world. These pictures are
rested in a tiny darlSened room in the orange
every detail of the pictures they pass before him
on the screen and removing from the film every
blernish OF defect The pictures are constantly I'M
proving and the oIdtime hickering, once such
strain on the eyes Of the spectator, has been large
Iv although not entirely done away with.
But as a matter fact, all OF these things are
incidental at Orange The overwhelming product
is that Of monographs, a product probably n'e
times as great that Of all the other articles COM
bined It is interesting, too TO note that, while Mr.
Edison himself possibly does not look upon me
phonograph as the greatest of his Inventions WHICH
embrace telegraph improvements, engines, mean
descent lamps and innumerabe electrical aPpIi-
ances he has really devoted more OF ms uIle 10
tt than 70 any other. and that, while he has dis
posed Of his interest in almost all The other huo
companies. he retains d financial personal ana
daily interest in the manufacture and ceaseless I'M
Droyeuent OF the machine that IS the most "lueis
l-,oun and most popular OF his nearly one thou-
sand inventions His laboratory ad1oins me pnono-
graph works and his beautiful home al Lle"eHSh
Park nesting amid the trees on the oialise
mountains is visible from the factory's upper WIN
dows. ina
To be shown through the eleven five story bullo-
ings and 1--WE chemical laboratories that nave
marked the growth of the genius OF one man Is
10 get an astounding comprehension OF the mean
,n, of real industrial activity: and il may Incl
entally be noted that thoroughly to inspect these
buildings requires d walk Of something Ike 1our-
teen miles. Edison once said that his success
as an inventor had beer the result OF = per cent
az irsniration and 9S per cent of perspiration" AS
one takes that fourteen-nile walk he is impressed
viii, the fact that thousands Of men, women
,,o.,s and girls engaged an the making of instru
Ynents that bring pleasure TO millions of people,
and making them in vast, sunlit rooms whose
windows look out upon beautiful mountains and
one of the most picturesque Of American towns
have little perspiraton TO contend with, while the
machinery eyeryv here in evidence seems as if pos
sessed of human brain. The most minute of
rarrs everything connected with the phonograph,
even 10 the smallest screw is made in the factory
by modern machinery that 10 a layman seems 10
do its work BY magic.
Yet this does that the woTkmen are
not skilled. For example. an exact number OF
vibrations are necessary TO produce certain tone
II that number varies and the tone in the most
minute degree is not it will be evident that
a mechanic of rare skill viii be required to remedy
the defect. Again. in the making Of reproducing
ard recording points. which sapphires, twelve
distinct operations gone through during The
transformation Of rough stone into the finished
poiot. each operation being done under powerful
microscope. TIE sapphires ground by The use
OF diamond dust, and the utmost skill is required
in the work
Tie business monograph IS the latest Edison
development IN this particular field and II has
already become aid TO the prompt. accurate and
essy transaction OF office business. 1t is brief
The phonOgraph known to lovers of music but
adapted TO the writing of letters ami every form
OF dictation. The cylinders for this form Of machine
are. Of course. blank. and longer than those
used the purely amusement machine. Hence
they are made by a different process They
moulded in plain brass cylinders, and the compost
1ion is poured by hand. When they taken
out they allowed 10 stand for Two weeks before