The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-08-02
Born in Boston

lIlut convenient IlItle INSTRUMENT
with the cherry voice, was born in
Boston, in a building which is still
standing? Because the telephone
has grown so rapidly into an al
most indispensable means of COM
munication among busy people, we
frequently forget that that it is a
rather new invention, after all.
In 1875, Alexander Graham Bell,
a native of Edinburgh, Scotland,
then professor at Boston Univer-
sity, was doing some experiment.
ing with electricity in his spare
time. This young inventor had
much to help him in his endeavor,
for by 1875 the world knew far
more about electricity than in 1852,
when an American experimenter
had done some original research
work with kite.
Now an inventor is not always a
skilled worker in wood or metal, or
whatever medium he must use to
try out his early models till a sat
isfactOry one is achieved. Usually
he depends on some one else to
work out the plan of his eager
imagination. So IL as that Alex
ander Graham Bell came to the
electrical workshop of Charles Will
liams at 100 Court street, Boston,
in 1875 to have model prepared
for the receiver and transmitter Of
a harmonic telegraph.
The instrument behaved badly
for a time Bell and Watson
struggled with it, now at Salem,
Massachusetts, where the former
was living, now at the Boston work
shop evenings. One night, when
they were both rather discouraged
at their apparent lack of results,
Bell spoke suddenly: IF | could
make current of electricity vary
in density during the production of
a sound, should be able to trans
nit speech geographically" That
is, he would produce the instru-
ment which we know as the tele
phone. But machine to accom-
plish this seemed too costly, so
they returned to their task of per
fecting the harmonic telegraph,
which should bring them money
enough to attempt telephone.
The Experiment Succeeds.
On the afternoon of June 2, 1875,
in a hot garnet, the two enthusi-
asts were trying out different
models, Watson starting the trans
mitters to vibrating and Bell Tin
another room) returning the re-
ceiver springs, listening closely to
each one. Presently one OF the
springs stopped vibrat-
ing. Watson plucked it several
times to start it, when suddenly he
was astonished by Bells shoul
from the next room and his hasty
entrance to demand of Watson:
What did you do then? Don't
change anything Let me see!"
Something had happened so that
when Watson vibrated the springs,
the usually intermittent circuit
had remained unbroken, so that it
made possible the reproduction in
the receiver of the noise of the
Instantly Bell, hearing the faint
sound had grasped dimly its vast /
possibilities, and at that moment
the telephone was born.
The First Sentence.
OF course, there was much fur
Their experimenting to be done;
but knowing as they did, that the
human voice could be reproduced
where any other sound would
carry, they worked on, Bell
planning, and Watson executing,
The ideas, till finally they could |
near each others voices on differ |
INT floors of the building, and the
following March Watson received
he first telephone message ever
taught over a wire. "Mr. Watson"
said Bell into the transmitter,
please come here, want you
Not so impressive as the first tcle-
graphic sentence, What hath God
wrought" but quite symbolic of
he service the little instrument
vas to render the world.
'AhoyW Greets Watson Two Miles
Away.
In October, 1876, came the oppOr-
unity to test the machine out Of