East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1922-08-02
DR.. Alexander Graham Bell
Got First Telephone Pat
ent in 1876; Born ls47.
life DEVOTED TO
HELP OF DEAF
Was Accorded Great
Honor by United States and
Foreign Governments.

SYDNEY. Nova Scotia, Aug. a.
CA. P)--Dr. Alexander Graham Bell,
inventor OF the telephone. died early
this morning at Benin Bhreagh. his
estate near Baddeck. Although fail
Ing in health for several months, he
had not been confined to his bed,
and the end came unexpected. Fu-
neral is expected TO be held in Wash
ington.
Alexander Graham Bell lived to see
experiments which he began with a
deaf mans ear less than fifty years
ago result in q means OF conmunica-
ton for millions OF long distance
telephone conversations daily In all
parts Of the world. The possibility OF
talking over wire. ridiculed then as
y dream BY almost everybody except
Bell, became during His 1ifutime 4
| reality commonplace ard marvellous.
The He'll basic patent, known In the
records at Washington as No. ia, 1855
has been called the most valuable sin
gle patent ever issued in the whole
history of invention. There are today
over thirteen million telephone instru-
ments through which billions OF tele-
phone conversations are carried on
each year
Means Of communication had been
a hobby in the Bell family long be-
fore the inventor of the telephone was
born Two generations back. Alex
ander Bell became noted for invent
ing system for overcoming STAN
mering speech, while hts son, Alex
ander Melville Bell, father OF the in
ventor of the telephones perfected
system Of visible speech
With this heritage, the son, born In
Edinburgh, Scotland, in ls47, under
took similar experiments while still
lad. He constructed an artificial
skull of gutta-percha and Indian rub
Der that would pronounce several
words in weird tone, when blown into
by q hand bellows. At the age Of
sixteen be became, like his father,
teacher Of elocution, and an instructor
OF deaf mutes.
Bell reached a crisis In his life at
the age of %. when he was threaten
ed with tuberculosis. The white pla-
que caused the death OF his two broth
ers and the Bell family migrated to
Brantford Canada. sgrs ~ So -
A meeting at that time with Sir
Charles Wheatstone, the English In
vontor Of the telegraph, fired the
young elocutionist with ambition TO
invent II musical, OF multiple. tele-
graph. which eventually turned out TO
be q telephone.
His father while giving a lecture in
Boston. proudly mentioned the sons
success in teaching London deaf
mutes. This led the Boston Board OF
Education to offer the young Bell $500
70 introduce his system in the newly
opened school for deaf mutes He
was then "A years old. and instantly
became the educational sensation OF
the day He avas appointed a profess
sor IN boston University, and opened
his instantly successful school OF
Vocal Physiology.r
But teaching interfered with hts In
venting, and he soon gave up all but
two pupils One OF these was Mabel
Hubbard, Of a wealthy family. She
had lost her hearing and speech in an
attack Of scarlet fever while baby.
II was she who later became Bells
wife.
AffA 1RNnN AAAI AAAAuMNlh AANEI lNaA1
tn night work In a cellar IN salem,
Mass. His money-needs were met By
Gardiner G. Hubbard. his future faith
er-in-law, and Thomas Sanders. the
owner Of the cellar. As he worked he
began to see the possibility Of convey
ing speech over an electrically charsed
wiro-the telephone. He used def
mans ear for transmitter.
IF can make a deaf mute tniir.
Bell had declared. Il can make lrou
talk"
His first success came while testing
his instruments IN his new quarters
in Boston Thomas A. Watson. Beli's
assistant. had struck a clock spring
az one end OF the wire. and Bell waa
electrified to hear The sound 10 anoth-
er room Tor forty weeks the in1irr-
ment strurgied. as q wero. for human
speech Then on March 10. 1875.
Watson became almost Insane with