The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1922-08-02
BELL, TELEPHONE
INVENTOR DEAD
,.,., -. .,''.'' ''''' 5CU|lA
2OseptlS
Passed away Last Night at His
Home at Baddeck
LIFE READS LIKE ROMANCE
Great Creation Accomplishment
Of Struggle against Pow
erty and Doubt
LIFE READS LIKE ROMANCE

Sydney, Nova Scotia, Aug. 2.--Dr
Alexander Graham Bell, inventor OF
the telephone, died at his home in
Baddeck last night.
DR.. Bells death was attributed to
anaemia. He will be buried on the
hill near the Baddeck estate, on a
spot picked by himself.
Alexander Graham Bell lived to see
experiments which he began with
dead mans ear less than fifty yeara
ago result In means OF communica.
tion for millions Of long distance
telephone conversations daily in all
parts of the world The possibility
of talking over a wire, ridiculed then
as a dream by almost everybody ex.
cept Bell, became during his lifetime
a reality commonplace and marvel
ous
The Bell basic patent, known in
the records at Washington as No.
l74,465, has been called the most
valuable single patent ever issued in
the whole history of invention. There
80 tOhhy ONCl tulAlCtu llllllOu Lclt-
phone instruments through which bill.
lions of telephone 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,
Alexander Bell became noted for in
venting system for overcoming
stammering speech, while his kon,
Alexander Melville Bell, father OF
the inventor of the telephone, per.
tected system of visible speech.
On Ais 29th birthday, Bell received
his patent. 1t was at the Centennial
Exposition held at Philadelphia, two
months later, where men OF science
the world over who had come to ex-
anime and study the numerous inven
items exhibited, saw Prof. Bell give
practical demonstration OF the
Transmission of the human voice by
electricity.
The distinguished inventor was the
recipient of many honors in this
country and abroad The French
government, ever quick to recognize
science, conferred on him the deeora.
tion of the Legion Of Honor. the
French Academy bestowed on him
its valuable Volta prize of $4,000
francs, the Society OF Arts in London
in 1902 gave him its Albert medal
and the University of Wurzburg, Ba.
varia, made him a Phi. d.
One of the curious things about the
invention of the telephone is that
Bell knew almost nothing about
electricity when he started. He knew
a great deal about acoustics though,
and the formation of the human or
gans OF speech and hearing. Bell
was called to Washington once when
he was in the slough of despond and
took the opportunity to call on Prof.
about electricity and the telegraph as
any man alive Henry told him he
had the germ Of great invention.
But said Bell, 81 have not got
the electrical knowledge that is
necessary"
Get it," said Henry.
Bell did get some of it-enough.
Had l known more about elec.
tricity and less about sound" he
said, 81 would never have invented
telephone"
While DR.. Bell will be best remem.s
bered as the inventor Of the :ele-
phone a claim that has been sustain
ed through many legal contests, he
also became noted for other jnven-
tions He was joint inventor OF the
graphophone with Sumner Talnter.
He invented an ingenius method of
| Ilthography photophone, and an
induction balance. He invented a te-
lephone probe which he used to 10.
cate the bullet that killed President
Garfield. He spent is years and over
! 100000 in testing his famous tetra-
hedral kite, and established princI-
] pie in architecture the use Of tetra-
hedral cells or units.
Throughout his life, Dr. Bell main.
tanned his interest and labors for
deafmutes. He founded, became Pre-.
sident and contributed $250,000 to
the American Association to Pro-
mote Teaching of Speech to the
Deaf He was a member of many of
the leading American learned socie-
ties.