Cresco plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1913-1945, 1919-10-03
AUDIENCE MYYsT1FIED
BY MISS SHEPHERD
Miraculous Performance of the Edi-
son Demonstrated at the
J Cresco Opera House.

-. ..
Probably a number Of people wit
attended the recital given Wee. nigh
by Miss Betsy Lane Shepherd and Mis-
Powell at the Cresco opera house wer'
at first puzzled and disappointed whel
they discovered photograph cablne
occupying the center of the stage. The!
felt that they had been beguiled int
going to hear a charming singer ant
a clever violinist and naturally the!
thought that they had been imposed
upon.
They hardly were treasured whe1
the conductor appeared on the stage
and commenced to talk about repro
duction" "Re-Creation" and other like
matter. It finally became apparent
the monograph was at least to receive
assistance from the singer but ever
then the mental outlook was not ex'
actly bright.
The purpose of the recital was to IL
lustrate that Thomas A. Edison, aftel
years of work had achieved his ideal
to perfect a musical instrument which
would actually Re-Create music sc
perfectly that the Recreation would
be indistinguishable from the origi'
nal.
This was a broad claim but it was
established before the evening was
over, for Miss Shepherd actually stood
beside the New Edison Photograph
and sang in unison with Mr.. Edison's
Re-Creation-so called-of her own
voice. This would have proved little
as her voice might easily have over
balanced the tone of the instrument
swallowed it up so to speak: but
Miss Shepherd did more-or, to be &C.
curate, less. She paused from time to
time apparently at random and per-
mitted her Reiterated voice to be
heard alone. This gave an opportu-
nifty to compare one with the other
and it is no more than just to state
that there was no diccernable differ
ence in tone quality.
There must have been a slight diff
ference in volume when Miss Shep-
herd stopped singing but it was not
noticeable for the voIce which came
from the cabinet was round and lu-
cious with all of the vibrant, pulsat-
ing quality of that which came d.
rectly from Miss Shepherds throat
1t was only by watching the singers
lips that one could be sure when she
: sang and when she did not
Miss Powell offered similar com.
parsons with her instrument playing
in direct comparison with the Re-
Creation Of her own performance. This
proof was very convincing. If it were
not another proof was offered. Aftel
Miss Shepherd had commenced to sins
one number the lights were turned out
-ostensibly 50 that the audience could
not watch the singers lips.
It did not seem difficult to determ-
inc in the dark when the singer sang
and when she did not =. The writer
pretty sure about it himself until the
lights were turned on again and il
was discovered that Miss Shepherd
was not on the stage at all and that
the New Edison alone had been heard
The program also included Re-Cre-
ations of piano solo, a delightful mum
Der by concert orchestra and very
charming rendition of Aloho De by
Miss Frieda Hempel Thus all types
of musical sound were heard.
Music such as Mr. Edison has given
to the world is especially gratifying
and inspiring in these war times and
it is interesting to know that several
thousand new Edisons, especially en-
cased in durable field cabinets have
been furnished to the boys in camp
and lover there without profit to Mr..
Edison
The recital was arranged by Mr..
r! J. Baldwin of the Cfesco Music
Shop.