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THE PHONOGRAM. his voice. To know exactly how a ghost whom the matter is speaks, and to hear again the tones of one ever, the reporter ma long dust, would stop the mouth of heresy phonograph as rapid and smooth the lip of scorn. leave to his amanue So, if Balaam had l>een in possession of scription, thus saving one of these ingenious instruments, the The stenographer wl words and voices of the angel and of the this advantage tloesr patient animal could have been preserved When the typewriter and could have been used by missionaries in every land. If, when Job was answered out of the whirlwind, the voice could have been pre- served and repeated through all the years, the Humboldts and the Darwins would have 4 % ^ been dumb. And finally, if communication of this char- acter could by any possibility be established between this and the other worlds, so that all people, no matter whether educated in theological seminaries or not, could receive a direct revelation by exchange of phono- graphic cylinders, or by # the establishfhent of telephonic communication, this would do away with all sectarian disputes, tear down all the walls of caste, and all the thorny hedges of hatred—make friends and brothers of us all. J • In fact* it is hard to overestimate what the phonograph and telephone may do. Let us hope that, in a few years, we tan say: •Hello,Central—give me ‘New Jerrfcalem.’ ” R. G. iNGEkSOLL. Old Memories A field that is now opening is the ped- dling of phonographic accounts of speeches, sermons, concerts, dramas, and operas. It will be a very simple matter before many years are past for a man to have delivered at his house on Sunday afternoon any ser- mon that was preached in the city in the morning; a lawyer to hear the testimony given in some case in which he is interested; for an invalid of musical tastes to hear a diva who sang the leading part in an opera the previous evening, or for a jury to listen to the examination of a criminal taken long before by the minor magistrate. In fact, there seems to be almost no limit to what can be done in this respect. In regard to those utterances which have a great intrinsic, artistic ability, it is said to be already pos- sible to reproduce them wholesale in metal, and so enjoy any desired work a thousand times over in the masterpieces of each great singer or actor with the same facility as they now do wood-cuts or even paper. They Must Take a Back Seat VER since the introduction of the phonograph many l ^ e stenographers of the fnSuJ country have maintained an active opposition to it, " believing that it interferes with their money-making privilege. The truth is. however, that it is one of th: most important adjuncts to the profes- sion of a reporter that can be conceived. The transcription of a day's testimony, for instance, is a tedious and exhausting opera- tion, requiring two or three amanuenses to Phonographs in Post-Offices. Mexico has not heretofore been noted for beating this country in the application of modem improvements, especially in govern- mental departments; but a notice recently received by the Post-Office Department in Washington shows that she is going to take the lead of her big sister republic in one direction.