The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-08-10


Ut OR goodness sake be quiet!
r. How can any one hear II
you keep UP your chatter!
This isn't a megaphone-it's a tele-
phonel"
Most of us can recall times by the
score when we have chided some one
In similar fashion. Strain our ears
as we might It was next to impossible
to shut out nearby conversation and
to make out the muffled speech OF the
taker at the other end Of a telephone
circuit. Again. even II no one near by
caused vexatious disturbance, still a
cold in the head or permanent deaf
ness even Of a moderate degree would
suffice to render 1t difficult to under
stand the far OF speaker. The distant
transnitter could not convey the
voice waves with sufficient clearness.
On the other hand. the speech COM
ing over the wire has often been so
mixed with a tumble of other sounds
that 1t was quite out of the question
to get the message. This was because
the sensive transmitter operated with
out discrimination-it picked up i'm
partially any sound wave and sent It
along in the form OF electrical i'm
accordingly. We have stormed at cen
trail and blamed her for giving US a
had connection, when in fact the
Whole trouble lay In the exquisite re-
sponsiveness Of the microphone trans
mitter and the minute vibrations OF
granules OF carbon purposely placed
in the circuit to catch and to forward
the faintest Of sound waves.
Upon other occasions we have been
nettled because the arriving speech
was so "dampened" that the ear could
understand only a word now and then.
II was as II the person ut the other
END OF the line were talking through
an interposed blanket. The fad1t was
not with the telephone apparatus, but
due entirely to the fact that the re-
mote speaker was not blessed with a
carrying voice" No matter whether
he or she spoke loudly or in an ordi-
nary conversational tone the indis-
unctness persisted. The difficulty was
further amplified at the receiving end
by the least noise. which commonly
would have passed unheeded. Thank
goodness these handicaps to telephone
converse are things Of the past; at
least they can be made so by recourse
10 certain recent inventions which our
participation in tho world war has
tened to perfection.
Evolution of the Instrument.
To appreciate these revolutionary
developments in telephony (they apply
equally to radio as well as to wire
communication) we>might Just as well
start at the beginning Of the story.
good many people have given of
'heir time and of their engineering
and imaginative cunning In seeking to
improve voice transmission over the
everyday telephone systems OF the
country. Both the receiver and tie
uansmitter have been studied, modi-
NED, sensitized, and withal modelled
20 that they would be effective and
oAOii6s ChilpllllCdllOU LlktS
oeen necessary in order to meet the
numerical requirements Of durability
sho moderate cost Of upkeep; in short
the apparatus had to be reliable no
matter by whom handled in common
use
AS consequence, splendid results
nave been secured so far as the in
suuments themselves are concerned
put even so, all Of us know that II
next to impossible to talk satisfac-
Wrily by phone in a public station
any other busting place unless one
oan retreat to the privacy Of a booth
70 fashioned that most external noises
s.e held at bay. The telephone en-
slheer has striven in various ways &c
snut out interfering sounds, and this
sss been the accepted line Of endeavor
ut years No one IL likely to wax
Enthusiastic over the telephone booth
warm weather, particularly II the
k goes on for a number OF minutes
.opious perspiration does not make
contentment, but the booth has
soine to be accepted as sort OF neces.
eery evil, and the loudest faultfinder
YIN grudsingly admit that he does no,
sse now he could get along without Il
sut the heartening news for all Of III
.ne undeniable fact that these seem.
Indispensable torture chamber