The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-11-10
History of the TeIephons.

So much an integral part Of modern
life has the telephone become, it is not
easy to believe that it is only thirty
five years old, and that the world knew
nothing of this invention prior to 1875.
The story of it's birth and development,
from the beginning of Alexander Gra-
ham Bells experiments while teach
| er of elocution and acoustic specialist
in Boston, down to the present, when
100000 telephones are linking the
world in an intimate communion, is
very interestingly told in The History
of the Telephone, by Herbert N. Cas-
son CA. G.. McClurg & Coz. This writ
er has developed an aptitude for COW
ering the facts of such a theme with
the attractive garb of romance, and in
this book his clear, forceful way of
comprising his subject shows how at
Itractively facts may be presented.
Mr.. Casson's account of the early
days of the growth of the idea has Pc
culiar interest 1t appears that no dis
covery has ever been less accidental
Long and patiently did Bell experiment
before he learned from the twang of
a clock spring attached to a wire that
without the use of a battery, with no
more electric current than that made
by couple of magnets, that all the
waves of sound represented by this
twang could be carried along the wire
and changed back to sound at the far
| Their end. And there was much to be
/ learned before he succeeded on March
f10, 1878, In making the thing talk
When securing his patent, Bell did not
know just what to call his invention,
and described it to the patent office as
can Improvement in telegraphy," when,
| in truth, it was nothing of the kind.
| The fact was that he had evolved an
entirely new thing that represented the
lcommingling of different scientific laws
laffecting transmission of sound. other
inventors had worked from the stand
point of the telegraph, and they never
did, and never could, get any better
results than signs and symbols But
Bell Worked from the standpoint of the
human voice, and as Mr.. Casson aptly
puts it, Bell cross fortified the two
sciences of acoustics and electricity"
It makes interesting reading now to
go over the reference to Bells expert
ence at the Centennial exposition,
where he had gone unexpectedly at the
urgent request of his sweetheart. He
was among the humblest exhibitors,
and his telephone had been on exhi-
bition for more than six weeks with
out attracting the serious attention of
anybody, when the judges were pre-
vailed upon, while making a special
tour, to spend few minutes examin-
| ing the talking device The judges
were tired and Indifferent, but it so
happened that Dom Pedro, the emperor
OF Brazil, came along with his wife and
bevy of courtiers. He had once Wis
tied Bells class of deaf mutes at the
Boston university and recognizing him
exclaimed: Professor Bell, / am de-
lighted to see you again." This TO-
cussed attention on Bell, and when the
emperor placed the receiver to his ear
and then removed 1t, with the exclam-
alton, my God-it talks!"
Others tried the telephone and ex-
pressed their establishment. Until near
Ily 10 O'Clock that night the judges
talked and listened by turns. Then,
next morning, they brought the ap-
paratus to the judges pavilion, where
| for the remainder of the summer, 1t
was mobbed by judges and scientists.
Sir William Thomson Qatterly known
as Lord Kelvin) and his wife ran back
and forth between the two ends OF the
wire like pair of delighted children.
And thus 1t happened, says Mr.. Cas-
son, that the crude little instrument
that had been tossed into an out-of-
the way corner became the star OF the
Centennial 1t had been no more than
eighteen words in the official catalogue
and here it was acclaimed as the won
der of wonders.
And so does Mr.. Casson's story go
through circumstantial account of the
improvement of the telephone from
time to time. the building up of the
business, extension of it's service it's re-
lation to national efficiency. and con-
Guiding with chapter on its POSSIBLE
tiles for the future.