MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume V, Issue 67, 9 August 1878, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

Referring to tlio burning of the Sulta n's Palace n oontoinpoj'rtry snys ;•— Only tho wini^ of f,l>is building rotniin. Of tlioso wings, ono lodgod tho Grand Viziorato, tho other tho Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Tho wholo of tho oontro build* jug— .which oontniuod llio Ministries of tho Interior, of .Jusfiico, and of Pulilio Instruction, t\\h Council of Stato, tho (iroat, Divan, with tho innnmorablo do* partmonts and offices appended to onoh alon« with somo archiro^, was consumed on Miy 13, botwoon tho hours of 2 and 5. Tho building consisted of tho basomont, tlio ground floor and two floors above Tho flro broko ouh in tho Bureau des Procos«Vcrbaux of tho Council of State, occupying tho conlro of tho upper floor; and notwithstanding < stouo partition walls, Bwopt rapidly in eithor direction along thoso intorminablo oorridors which traversed tho building from ond to end, and whioh visitors woll romembor, with thoir draughts and thoir drenrinoss nnd llio'r listless throng of weary suitors pacing thorough-planked fboror soatod on rowsofhair trunks stuffod with archivos. Tho origon of tho flro is unknown bocausb alltho npilttments aro put undor tho oaro of gunrdinns bofom sunsot whon tho functionaries loavo. Tho building now dostroyod wn» built 80 years ago, in tho Qrund Vizioralo of Tapal lzzab Pasha. Its outer and partition walls wore of masonry, while tho struoturo whioh it roplacoa, ond which was also doutroyed by lire, wus wholly of wood. Mr W. Ji. Pioooo, in a papor road boforotho Society of Arts, thus spoalcsof iho disoovory of tho phonograph-—' Tho phonograph was disoovcrod lilio nvmy othor things by moro ohunou. Wdison hiiuHolf w s oxi)ornnonting with tho lolon phono, tryiug all kinds of oxporimonts UHn\^^^^^^^^^^^A^\^fLo iIViJH'OVO

his finders, and drawinc it, rapi<lly nway a lino whs nmdoon his lln^or. This vu r 'ivo )jim tho noli m that if tho dia^hr.iiim of a lolophone could mark lis linger, why should it not pnpei 1 , nnd if it marked paper why could the sound not he re* produced P 80 iio to-ilc a pioeo of Moym paper nnd inserted tho diaphragm of the lolephono, whero tho orditury style of tho Morso instrument is, nnd there he pound on tho paper when he filtered the Words 'halloa. l halloa! distinct mark. varying dots or dashes, or 11 series of ' dots. Then ho took I hii strip of paper, 1 nnd allowed it to pass Inclc again. ll<> simply reversed the process, and instead ! of miking tho diaphragm vibrato with his voice, by passing tho paper bnck again in ' tho reverse dfrection, ho caused tho paper 1 to mako tho diaphragm vibrato, nnd the i result vras ho heard 0 faint • Jlilloa' eomo , out of tho diaphra«m. This was n jrlorious triumph for Edison. It occurrod on 11 Wednesday afternoon. Ho workod nt it ! nil tho Wednesday, nil Wednesday night nnd Thurs lay, nnd Thnrsduy ni«ht nil Friday nnd Friday ni^ht incossantlv, without eating, drinkini; or sleeping un» til on Saturthiy morning ho produced his firsfc phonograph.'