The Yale expositor., 1915-01-28

lhe world. causing scientists as we'll as
laymen TO exclaim with wonder Starting
with these feeble Instruments only. the
Bell company. by persistent study and In
cessant expenditures of immense sums OF
money, created an entire new art, invent
ing, developing and perfecting, making
improvements, great and small in tele-
phone transmitter. line. cable, switch
board ana every other piece of apparatus
ano plant required for the transmission
or speech. AS the latest product of this
unceasing organized effort there has been
dedicated TO the service OF the public to-
Gay transcontinental line 3.400 miles
iong, joining the Atlantic and the Pacific
and carrying the human voice instantly
and distinctly between San Francisco and
New York and Boston and Washington.
Inns Inns telephone line Is part of the Bell
system OF q 100000 miles of wire connect
ing 100000 telephone stations located ev-
erywhere throughout the United States
and giving to the American people tele-
ttons OF the earth"
On a table In President Wallis office
IN New York was a replica Of the
nrst telephone transmitter to carry
the human voice. II looked to be a
crude enough affair. Tie down a drum.
head over a wooden receiver join the
center OF the drum.head to the free
end OF a receiver spring, arrange a
mouthpfece over the drum-head-and
there you have ii.
There was further reminder of the
telephones babyhood in coil of wire
connected with the transmitter This
was part OF the original wire over
which Dr.. Bell spoke the first words
ever uttered by telephone, In his
boarding house at s Exeter Place,
Boston.
J. J. Carly Greets Or. Bell
One Of the first to greet DR.. Bell
as he entered was John Joseph Carty
Chief Engineer of the American Tele
phone and Telegraph Company, under
whose direction the transcontinentai
line was built. Mr.. Carly said
This greatest of telephone lines
which today has been, dedicated TO
ways be distinguished because through
its copper wires the voice of the Chief
Magistrate OF this nation has for the first
time in our history been transmitted from
the seat OF government at Washington
westward thrty-siX hundred miles 10 the
shores of the Pacific. Over this line the
voice Of President Wilson was carried
with magic speed across rivers and plains
and mountains, instantly reaching Sar
Francisco where in clear tones II spoke
his message OF congratulation 10 men OF
achievement
Unable to be present with us in per
son, MT Theodore n. Vail has neverthe-
less taken part in these ceremonies, in a
manner that fills the mind with amaze
ment. BY using his wonderful Bell sys-
tenn of organized men and organized wires
he has talked TO us here at New York
from an island eleven hundred miles to
the south. near the coast of Florida
From there he has spoken through the
length and breadth Of our land to the
state Of California, forty-four hundred
miles away, thus attaining the longest
distance ever achieved by the voice OF
man.
I'VE are filed with grateful feelings
that Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas
A. Watson have today talked to each 9TH
er over this now historic line. Doctor
Bell was the first TO conceive OF the true
method and apparatus for transmitting
speech electrically and Mr.. Watson, fol-
lowing exactly the directions given 10 him
by Doctor Bell, constructed with his own
hands the first telephone. Bell was the
first among men TO talk by the electric
telephone and Watson was the first to
hear
''There is before us an exact reproduc-
ton. OF this electric speaking telephone
employed by Bell and Watson when first
they talked TO each other by wire
Through this instrument Doctor Bell has
again talked TO Mr.. Watson, but this time
the triumph.
'of course. he was not heard by any
means as we'll as when he used our stand
ard transmitter but well enough to be un-
derstood, we may be sure. and loud
enough to excite most pleasing senti-
ment. This original type OF telephone
spoke across the continent more distinct
ly than 1t ever did from one room to an
other over the best line OF former days
Thus does this homely first instrument
give testimony to the marvellous improve
ments made in its plant by the Bell com
pany during these intense intervening
years"
Mr. Carty escorted Dr. Bell to the
strange looking transmittef and its In.
ventor pressed his lips to the mouth.
piece.
Bell and Watson Talk.
Alloy! Alloy! Mr.. Watson, are
you there? Do you hear me?" asked
Mr. Bell in New York
Yes, Mr.. Bell, ! hear you perfectly.
Do you hear me well?" replied Mr.
Watson at his end OF the line in San
Francisco.
Yes, your voice is perfectly dis
tinct," said Bell. 1T is as clear as IL
you were here in New York instead
OF being more than 5000 miles away
You remember. Mr.. Watson, that eve-
ming, 3s years ago when we conversed
through the telephone on real line
for the first timer"
Yes, indeed" answered Watson,
Inat line was TWO miles long, running
from Boston to Cambridge. You were
overjoyed at the success of the exper-
iment."
I'VE are talking over 3,400 miles as
easily and clearly as we talked over
two miles 3S years ago." said Prof.
Bell
The telephone men have certainly
done wonderful things with your in
vention since that first outdoor test"
said Mr.. Watson. I'VE must not for
get that the circuit we are talking
over is really $500 miles long, as Of
course. the earth cannot be used for
the return now as we used Il then"
II want to switch In another tele.
phone and talk to you through that"
said DIR. Bell, and suiting the action to
the word he switched in a replica OF
his first telephone instrument. II am
now talking through an exact dupli.
cate OF the first telephone which was
made in June, 1875" continued DR.
Bell. "can you hear me?" lt
II hear perfectly, though less dis.
tinctly than with the other. OF course"
answered Mr. Watson.
Mr.. Bell switched back to the stand