Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-04-30
LONG \
DISTANCE
~

~ ARCH 10, 1875. is the date when Spoken
words first heard over a telephone.
NI I Seven words comprised the first sem
1871 tence spoken. Since then the count Of
NXKkyHN words sent telephones has been
kSzsAeSS9X lost.
On this first occasion when the tele-
phone broke into the class Alexan-
der Graham Bell said, mr. Watson, come here I
want you" Thomas A. Watson, DR.. Bells assistant
selected for his technical knowledge and almost un-
canny keenness of hearing. In the basement Of
Boston building wherein the experiments being
conducted, at the lower end Of the primitive wire
they were using.
Almost before Bell could finish the last word Wat
son came bounding in on him, having rushed pell
nell three flights of stairs 81 can hear you'll" he
shouted. II can hear the wordsl"
From that day the new note In the orchestra
OF civilization" began to make itself heard more
clearly and today the SURPRISING wonder of the thing
has worn entirely away except for very young chill
dren when given first lesson in telephone talk
A year previous to the hearing of Bells words by
Watson the two men had heard "twang" from the
thing of reeds they experimenting WITH and Bell
had almost tainted. The ends in two separate
rooms connected by electric WIRE and the twang-
ing sound that had along the wire had settled
the career of Bell 1t turned him from teacher of
eocution and visible speech" (for the deaf and
dumb into the line of work for which his peculiar
qualities especially fitted him. and where he has be-
come one of the worlds historic characters
"Try a Real Ear
DR.. Bell had spent good deal OF time in the en-
deavor to perfect musical telegraph and at first did
not dream of the telephone. Discussion with other
men OF note in narrow scientific field turned his
thoughts to the possibility of talking over wires and
in the summer OF 1874 he mentioned his experiments
to DR.. Clarence ]. Blake. Boston friend.
why don't you try a real earl" asked Dr. Blake
with the accent real"
DIR. Bell astounded by the surprising sugges-
10 butcO .ha In
piece of paraphernalia, cut from a dead mans head
together with the ear drum and associated bones A
straw and piece OF smoked glass were two other
parts OF the new outfit for experimenting-and from
the tests long and most carefully conducted with
these things the practical telephone was born Dr.
Bell was granted his patent on the day he was 20
years old. He thus became the owner Of what has
been called the most valuable single patent ever is
sued in any country" In his description the on
cias OF the patent office he obliged to call an
Improvement in telegraphy." which it was not
This year the annual report to the stockholders
OF the American Telephone and Telegraph company
shows that the number Of stations which constituted
this system In the United States was 6,ss2,71e To
these stations requires quite stable roll of
wire-11642,212 miles. This stretch Of talk line is
being added to at the rate OF more than 500 900
miles year.
Omaha Uses Thousands OF Phones.
Omaha uses good deal OF the wire, proportionate
to its sze since from this city very large area of
country is served directly Omaha also has approx
imately $4,000 of the telephones owned by the COM
pany; and it used to have as a citizen Theodore N
VAIL now the president OF the American Telephone
and Telegraph company He railway mail
clerk. with headquarters in Omaha in his younger
days. He has given the world a small thrill lately
by the assertion that negotiations under way
to make telephone talking from America to Europe
common as 1t is now from Omaha TO Chicago OF
any other long distance point.
South Omaha has something like $500 telephones
and in tho territory adjacent to this city there are
several thousand more.
In the operating room OF a telephone exchanges
the Only thing that isn't moving swiftly is the clock