The Phonograph.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume IV, Issue 563, 29 January 1891, Page 3

The Phonograph.

If Thomas Alva Edison, the great American inventor (says an exchange), had lived a hundred years or bo ago,. and had dared to show the unsophisticated people who then inhabited England and e’sewhere his wonderful phonograph, the chances are he would have been killed as a magician of the darkest order. At the present time the world is getting so accustomed to news almost every day of some extraordinary invention or discovery, that outside the little fotmula, “ Dear me ’ what a wonderful thing,” the subject is generally taken as a matter of course. In places like the colonies this apparent indifference is no doubt owing in many cases to the fact that for a considerable time the public have to depend upon report as to the excellence and novelty cf many inventions, and there is always a question whether the thing itself is as good as it is said to bo. The preconceived ideas of most people as to the powers of the phonograph were naturally tinctured with a good spice of doubt. How could it be possible that any machine 3ould receive a man’s voice and repeat it any number of times a f er wards, so that it could be easily recognised ? It was a hard thing to swallow. Most people who have not heard the talking machine at work, are willing on the strength of report to admit ihat by some extraordinary means or other it does register sound, and emir, it again, but until they have heard it they can not possibly imagine how faithfully it dots its work. As a matter of fact, the phonograph is one of the most wondetful creaiioi s of the cleverest man of the age—not less wonderful became it is not eo useful as many of the other things he has invented. The people of New Zealand owe something to the enterpriee of Messrs MacMahan, who have introduced the phonograph to them, and it is pleasing to know that so far they have met with the success they deserve. It is not easy to say very much, as the thing simply must be teen and heard to be realised. Ail the explanatory business is done by Professor Archibald in a very chatty and interesting way, and the introductory account of the history of the instrument is efficiently told, and illustrated with lima light views. The patent of Mr E iison for the machine dates from July, 1887, and he elutes thus the di covery may be reguarded as almost accidental. He was engaged upon a machine intended to repeat Morse characters, and in the manipulation of this he found that when the cylinder carrying the indented paper was turned with great swiftness it gave off a humming sound from the indentations — a musical, rhythmic sound, resembling that of human talk die-

tinc iy. He was led from this to try to fit a diaphragm to the machine which would restive the vibrations upon an impressible material placed on the cylinder. The result of a trial un pargfiaed paper was excellent. The indentations on the cylinder, when rapidly revolved, caused a repetition of the original vibrations to reach the ear through a recorder, just as if the machine itself were speaking. “ I saw at once,” says Edison, “ that the problem of registering human speech, so as it couid be repeated by mechanical means as often as might be desired, was solved,” The box plan for ths Gisborne season is now open at Mr Good’s.