Year: 1878

WILL THE Republican please explain
why its party in Rhode Island, where it
has entire control, permits negroes to
vote; but denies the privilege to white
foreign citizens who vote in other STATE Is
"THE PHoNo GRAPH AND ITS FUTURE"
is the title of an article in " The Nolh
,tmeracm Recie,1," for May-June, over
the signature of THOMAS A. EDISON, to
whose wonderful inventive genius the
world is already indebted for the tele-
phone, and so much of the phonograph
as he has made public through numerous
exhibitions to social circles in New York
and elsewhere. To the future of the
Phonograph he devotes the principal
part of this his first essay from his pen
upon his inventions. Mr.. Edison says of
its development: "In the case of an in
vention of the nature and scope of the
phonograph, it is practically impossible
TO indicate it to-day, for tomorrow trife
may extend it almost indefinitely" We
have given to our readers numerous arti-
cles which must have furnished them
with much information as to the propds-
ed uses to which the phonograph will be
applied but this is the first from the pen
of the inventor himself, yet we shall only
refer here to few of the uses TO which
this great discovery may be put, as an
agent of economy, as well as labor-savirlg
utility. 1t is proposed to make the phoh-
ograph take the place of the confidential
clerk, As the merchant or business manh-
ger has to dictate his most important
letters, he will only have to dictate them
in the phonograph to have an accurate
and imperishable record in duplicates On
metal foil; one of which he may take from
the Photographic machine and transmit
by mail to his friend or the person with
whom he is doing business, and it may
be placed upon phonograph and the
clock work of the machine set in motion
when all the contents of the foil will be
as explicitly articulated as though it had
been spoken by the writer, and his very
voice identified.


"The phonograph letters may be Dip
tated at home, or in the office of a friend,
the presence of "A stenographer not being
required. The dictation may be as rapid
as the thoughts can be formed or tile
lips utter them. The recipients may lis.
ten to his letters being read at rate Oi
from $50 TO 200 words per minute, and h
the same time busy himself about othti
matters. lnterjectionS, explanations
emphasis, exclamation, etc, may bt
thrown into such letters, dd hJitum.


1t would be even worth while to com
pei witnesses in court to speak directly
into the phonograph, in order to thu
obtain an unimpeachable record of theil
testimony.


The increased delcacy of the phonp
graph, which is in the near future will
enlarge this field rapidly. 1t may thdl
include all the sayings of not only tn
witness, but the judge and the counse
1t will then also comprehend the utter
ances of public speakers.


The phonograph will undoubtedly b
hberally devoted to music. A song sun
ON the phonograph is reproduced wit
marvellous accuracy and power. Thus
friend may in morning-call sing us
song which shall delight an evening CON
pany, etc. As musical teacheri it will |
USED to enable one 10 master a new al
the child to form its first songs, or to sin
him to sleep.


a book of 10000 words upon a sing
metal plate ten inches square thus Nh
comes strong probability The adval
tages of such books over those print,
are too readily seen to need mentio
Such books would be listened to whc,
no one are read. They would preser,
more than the mental emanations of II
bra Il Of the author; and, as a beuuest


future generations, they would be ID
equalcd. For the preservation of la
guages they would be invaluable.


a very simple device may be- made
which the one vibrating disk NAV


made to do duty for both the teleuho
and the phonograph, thus enabling t
speaker TO simultaneously transmit a
record has message. What system of IT,
gIaphy can approach that? y siInil
combination at the distant end of t
wire enables the correspondent, if he
present, 10 hear ii Chile ii is being record
IhllS we have mere passage of woI
Tor the action, but complete and dural
record OF those words as the result Oft
action. Can economy of time or mon
go further than to annihilate time n
space, and bottle up for posterity {
mere utterance of man, without otl
effort on his part to speak the words y