Year: 1878

our Midst.


A.select audience assembled by
invitation in the rooms of Mr.. L.
M. Holt, in the Odd Fellows block,
yesterday morning, to see and hear
Prof. Oeker operate the phono-
graph, one of the latest marvels of
Mr.. Edison's inventive genius.
The wonderful instrument stood on
an ordinary table. 1t is a simple
iron cylinder, made to rotate by a
crank. Attached to the base of the
support for this cylinder Is a mouth
piece similar to the one used on
telephone. On the under side of the
metallic membrane in the mouth
piece, and attached firmly to the
centre Of 1t, is delicately shaped
needle point, about one-sixth of an
inch long. If around the cyl.
inder yeu smoothly wrap sheet of
tin foil, and against the cylinder
adjust the mouth piece, to which is
attached the needle point, you will
see that upon rotating the cylinder
by means of the crank, and at the
same time speaking or singing in
loud voice in the mouth piece, the
tin foil will be covered with an in-
finite number of little dots or in
dentations, caused by the force of
the voice vibrating the mbrane,
and hence the needle point against
the foil.


If you back the cylinder to the
point where the needle first began
to travel over the tin foil. and then
rotate the cylinder forward again,
the needle will follow over the
same groove again, and every time
it comes to an indentation in the
tin foil, it will vibrate the mem.
brane exactly as it did when you
spoke in 1t, and you will be amazed
to hear re issusd to you in sub
dued voice, every word, syllable
and sentence originally spoken or
sung in the mouth piece. The
sheet of tin foil can be taken off,
and mailed to your friends on the
other side of the world, who can
put it on their phonograph and
hear you talk, by simply turning a
crank.


A great variety of experiments
were tried with the photograph
while we were present yesterday.
The senior Mr.. Severance sang
something into it horribly out of
tune and it came back as cacOphon.
GUS as 1t went in. Mr.. Severance's
voice was really finely individu-
allied by the instrument. Professor
Oeker next sang into it "Mary
Had a Little Lambn and it came
out perfectly, reproducing an ex-
ceptionally unmusical voice. He
then affected to have very bad
cold and coughed into the phono.
graph, ending with 30 my cold.n
1t came out true to the life. The
Messrs. +. 3. Tanning, r. r.
Haines and others expert mented
with the artificial talker, with
equally satisfactory results.


Prof. Oeker informed us that
Mr.. Edison is now engaged perfect.
ing phonograph with a flat disk,
to be run by clock movement.
The turning of the crank by hand
Is necessarily very uneven; and,
just in proportion to the accuracy
and uniformity Of this turning,
will be the reproduction of the
speakers voice. The coming ma
chine will have a capacity of 40, 900
words per sheet, (Ietter size.) Let
ters may be dictated 200 words per
minute into the Photograph, the
tin-foil then removed, enclosed in
an envelope and sent by mail to
any part OF the world. The person
to whom 1T Is addressed places the
foil on another machine of exactly
the same form and size, a spring is
touched and the letter is read aloud
In the voice of its original writer.
This record is indestructible and
can be reproduced Indefinitely.


Prof. Oeker and his machine will
officiate during the Fair in the
horticultural Pavilion. The Pro-
fessor is q newspaper man himself
and Is acting as correspondent OF
several Eastern and European pa
pers. During his stay here he will
make a careful study of Los Ange-
les and give the outside world the
benefit of his observations.