The Washington herald., 1915-01-02
HISTORY BUILDERS.
The Curious Sounds that Are Never
Heard.
Cwrtten Expressly for The Washington HeTAId.)
By DIR. f. j. EDWARDS.

Cwritten Expressly for The Washington HeTAldJ
By DIR. E. J. EDWARDS.
manufacturer of a certain kind oi
equipment which at one time w6s used
in large amounts by Edison in his work
shop at West Orange, n. j., was re-
minded when he read the report telling
OF the destruction by fire of much the
greater part of the Edison plant Of ar
incident which happened years ago al
a time when he saw more OF Edison thar
he has been able to do in recent years
The incident was described to me BY
David c. Grant now cashier of one oi
the largest national banks of New York
who was a member OF the family Of tht
manufacturer with whom Edison dealt
One day, years ago, at time when Edi'
son was making his preliminary studies
and experiments which afterward made
the perfected phonograph possible, he
met his biend, the manufacturer. For
tunately, Edison was not for the moment
especlallys busy so that he was able to
make exposition of certain wonderful
things which had come within his knowl-
edge during his experiments OF one kind
and another.
He said to his friend: How is your
hearing? Is 1t normal? Do you hear
pretty well?''
In reply, the friend said that "he
sometimes thought that his hearing was
more acute than that of most persons.
He could hear a watch tick although il
was held some distance from his cal" D."
There are some sounds, a great many.
in fact" said Edison, (which you do not
hear, no matter how good your hearing
may be. Now, listen! Do you hear any
unusual sound in the air?''
The man listened, but said that he
heard nothing but the usual sounds.
Now let me fix this little apparatus
to your ear" said Edison, "and when
have adjusted It you stand perfectly
quiet and listen a while and then tell
me what you hear"
He adjusted the apparatus to his
friends ear and stood watching tntently
the change on his friends face. There
appeared at last an expression which In
dicated wonder, something like awe.
At last Edison said, We'll. did you hear
any unfamiliar sounds?"
The man replied by saying that he
heard curious, indescribable sounds and
there were many different ones. He
could not explain them and he asked
Edison for an explanation, wondering
whether there might not be some trick
about the apparatus.
Edison said: Our atmosphere is filled
fun OF all kinds of sounds. Some of
lneSe L am sure Ile DlTuS near dlLnOuBn
we do not. The human ear is not so
acute as that OF some animals. There
is never any cessation OF these sounds
excepting probably at great attitudes.
They are produced in all kinds of ways,
partly by the action of nature and part
ly by the action of man. The sea pro-
duces wonderful sounds, although we
hear only a few Of them.
"It is with sound" continued Edison,
"as it is with sight. There are people
who make shawls in India and rugs In
Persia who can discern tints and shades
Of color which civilized men and women
cannot detect. We are living in a world
Of mystery and what we do know of what
is going on is only a small part of what
is actually taking place"
Copyright, 1915. By E. ]. Edwards. All rights re-
served.l