The phonoscope (Nov 1896-Dec 1899)

Vol. I. No. 8 THE PHONOSCOPE Zo Mute letters Mire Since the invention of the telephone and its adoption for general use, no rival has entered the field for years. Now the rival is here at last, backed by practically unlimited capital. It is called the "telautograph," and renders possible the transmission of handwriting, in facsimile, by wire with the same facility that the voice is carried by the telephone. The instrument is now almost read}' for the market and is in the hands of the Gray National Telautograph Company, with General T. M. Logan, President; John W. Johnston, General Manager, and W. H. Eckert, General Superintendent. General Superintendent F.ckert is the brother of President Eckert, of the Western Union Telegraph Company, and was the first man in the country to establish and direct the Bell telephone. He is fully conversant with all the possibilities inherent in the new instrument. He and the other officials of the company are now establishing companies and the new system in adjacent small towns and cities to demonstrate the possibilities of the telautograph before bringing it into New York City. In this manner they expect to demonstrate the facts. They claim that it is self registering and the person addressed, if absent, will find the message on his return. It works noiselessly, so messages cannot be overheard. It cannot be tapped, so as to intercept or steal a message. It is not affected by induction or leakage. It is simple and easily kept in order. The invention had its birth in the fertile brain of Professor Elisha Gray, late chief of the electrical congress held during the World's Columbian Exposition. When Professor Gray first completed his apparatus and invention, with which he contemplated entering the field against the telephone, he was handicapped by the great expense. It was at first necessary to use four wires, and the expense of operating was just double that of operating the telephone. This fact withdrew it from the field for a time as a possible rival. Now, however, the invention is completed to such an extent that two wires only are necessary. To-day the telautograph is operated upon the same lines as the telephone. The conditions are the same as to wires, switchboards and the concomitants. The sender writes his measage on the tablet affixed to the transmitting instrument and a stylographic pen on the receiving instrument at the other end of the line duplicates every stroke of the sender's pencil, not forgetting the lifting and returning to dot an "i" or cross a "t," every motion being recorded exactly on ,the tablet of the receiving instrument. In its general principle the mechanism is very simple. Two fine cords run from the sender's pencil around drums on either side of the tablet. The string is kept taut by a light spring on the drum shaft. Thus every motion of the pencil causes one or both of the drums to rotate. On the receiving instrument are two similar drums, which by a series of electrical impulses are forced to rotate in unison with those on the sending instrument. The cords wound on the drums of the receiver are each joined by an aluminum rod, which is forced outward by a spring as far back as the slack of the cord will allow. In this manner the winding or unwinding of the cords on the drums of the receiving instrument causes a stylographic pen at the junction of the two aluminum rods to follow every horizontal motion of the pencil at the distant end of the line. The next necessity to effect is the touching of the pen point to the paper only where the pencil touches it. To effect this the tablet in which the sender writes has an exceedingly small vertical movement. When pressed down by the pencil in writing a circuit is formed, which allows the recording pen at the further end of the line to drop the paper. The circuit is broken when the pen is lifted from the paper and the pen on the receiving instrument is lifted above the tablet, so that no matter what horizontal movement the pencil makes, such as dotting an "i" or crossing a "t" the pen will follow the movement without marking the paper. The current necessary to operate the instrument is exactly the same as that required by telephone, and no difficulty is experienced in working over long distances or in working as many instruments as required in one circuit. Records on both instruments are made on continuous rolls of paper about five inches wide. At the end of the line the sender raises the paper mechanically for the next line by pushing a lever, which operates the tablet at both ends of the line . The writing transmitted is fine or large, according to the capacity of the stylographic pen. Not only is it possible to transmit handwriting by this wonderful instrument, but outline sketches of faces, figures or buildings can be accurately recorded on the receiving tablet. One of the chief uses of the instrument will be found in the transmission of messages where absolute accuracy is important, such as the sending of train orders or communications between the different departments of large mercantile or manufacturing establishments. Physicians, who will not telephone or telegraph prescriptions for fear that a slight error might result in the loss of life, will be able to transmit prescriptions without fear of their going astray as regards ingredients. The inventor has made such an impression upon several Judges of the Supreme Court that one of them has declared, unhesitatingly, that he would admit as evidence the writing recorded upon a receiving tablet of a telautograph. Exchanges will be established similar to those in use by the telephone companies, at no extra cost to the subscriber. No attendant is needed to look after the receiving instrument, and other defects of telephone and telegraphic systems are overcome. The telautograph can be locked in a desk, and when the owner comes to the office the next morning he will find autograph messages awaiting him in the tablet. litems of interest The Lloyds, in estimating the causes from which all kinds of ocean craft, have met there fate in the last fifteen years, assigns forty-four per cent, of such causes to stranding, because of fog, darkness, etc., in unknown depths of water, but at a time, of course, when the craft's officers imagined that their vessel had plenty of water under its keel. To place in the hands of mariners an apparatus which will enable them to ascertain with ease and certainty the depth of water under their vessels, Dr. J. F. Babcock, of Bangor, Me., has recently devised an electric sounding outfit. An iron ball, with a rod or standard attached, is suspended at the bottom of the cylinder by the rod passing through a hole in the bottom of the cylinder which is render water tight by a rubber cap that moves with the rod as it passes in and out, 11 the rod connecting with a spiral spring inside the cylinder. When the ball is suspended there is a space of about one-sixteenth of an in ?h between the upper end of the rod and the ends of the conducting wires, and when the ball and rod are pushed up through that space, the ends of the wire are connected completing an electric circuit and ringing an alarm bell on board the ship. French engineers are vieing with one another to produce all sorts of outlandish things for the great expo ition to be held in Paris in 1900, and Charles Carron, „of Grenoble, France, is one of the contestants. He proposes to take a number of courageous persons up to the top of a tower higher than the Eiffel, and then drop them overboard into a pool of water some thousand feet below. Those who survive will be decorated with the medal of the Legion, or something like that, to commemorate their bravery. The others will be decently buried by the State. In order to give some semblance of safety Mr. Carron has evolved a special form of car for the journey. It is projectile shape, forty-five feet long, and divided into an upper and a lower compartment. The upper one is thirteen feet high (superstitious persons please take note) and ten feet in diameter, and is capable of holding fifteen heroes. They will sit in heavily padded chairs, with pneumatic cushions, and will be supplied with treatises on "First Aid to the Injured." France is taking great interest in the invention, and no doubt there will be many willing to risk life and limb. Hnswers to Corvesponbence All questions pertaining to Talking Machines, PictureProjecting Inventions, Automatic Coin-in-Slot devices, Amusement Inventions, etc., will be cheerfully and fully answered in this column. Inquiries for this department should be addressed, Information Department, The Phonoscope, 4 East Fourteenth Street, New York, U. S. A. Pottsviixe, Pa. , I beg leave to differ with you in your advice to William S. I have given street exhibitions for over five years, early and late in the season, in very warm weather and in weather cold enough to benumb my hands and I have neither ruined records, machine nor reputation, and my hearers have been of a respectful class, and I see no reason why people should not be as respectful on the street as in a fair ground. Of course I do not expect the elite of the town nor society people to patronize me. They cannot [or will not notice common class of people, yet that is the class I look to for patronage, the working class. I have visited the same towns ten different times and met with good success. I am also convinced that my records produce much better results late in the day or at night, more so than at high noon. C. F. D. [Kansas City, Mo. — We will answer your letter in a later issue as we are investigating the matter. — Ed.] [Dknver, Colo. — No; Cannot recommend them; Originial records, by all means. Write to them.]