The Phonogram, Vol. 1:2 (1891-02)

34 THE PHONOGRAM. t '/ . ' * N every other speculative attraction of a circus show or a bar room, in order that it may turn an honest penny. ■ v V^e repeat, therefore, that the companies which have been organized throughout the United States are doing themselves injustice when they limit their operations to the introduction of the phono- graph in places where its novelty will quickly dis- appear and its profits cease to count. We are aware this vein of reflection will arouse the enmity of small men. Indeed, a mere hint in the direction we are aiming, which appeared in the last number of The Phonogram .provoked James. L. Andcm, the President and General Manager of the Ohio Phonograph Company, to write to us: “ We do not care to subscribe to and pay for a magazine which promtilg-alcs views the exact opposite of those we entertain in regard to our own business#.and to aid in circulating such a magazine;" but we wish to say to Mr. Andem, and all others like him, that men who cannot stand honest argument without flinching, and who show the weakness of their intellectual fibre by refusing support to a magazine which they cannot sec is practically their own weapon of defense and of- fense, do not fitly represent the mighty power that is latent in the phonograph and awaiting the development at the hands of real men whose brains arc above five cents’* worth of cheap music doled out in gin shops by this much-disparaged and misunderstood instrument. V • It is the mission of this magazine to teach the masses the great things which the phonograph is intended to accomplish. The pleasure it affords is one thing. Its work as a lafipr-saver is another. The Phonogram plants its standard in the broad road that leads to the grander results. V V. H. McRae. The King of Phonographs. . The nineteenth century, having arrogated to itself the right to peer into the arcana of nature, study her secret elements and force them to sub- mit to her will, has asserted and maintained an individuality far exceeding that of her sister cen- turies. This is the century of grand inventions. And what a record it shows! From steam to electric- ity, light, sound, explosive agents—each force thoroughly exploited and subdued. The latest comet on the horizon of this wonderful system is the new phonograph. Not content with enacting the role of a recorder, a repeater of sonorous ora- torical periods, dry law or tedious statistics, entering boldly the domain of the nymph Echo» and imitating al! her pretty reverberations; con- veying to you in solemn tones the last words of the dying; soothing your ear with the melodies of skilled vocalists or the combined strains of a full orchestra, one would suppose that it had usurped functions sufficient to entitle it to the well-earned title of King of machines. Yet it still goes on conquering and to conquer. Its last arena is the court-room and the halls of legislative assemblies. In the first, it unerringly reflects the contradictory statements of the perjured witness and the double- dealing lawyer: this fact will come to be known in lime by the *coipolloi of every class, and they will be more guarded when the formidable detective stands near with eager, open- ear to catch their utterances. In the latter, its warning presence will consti- tute a salutary check to the unscrupulous state- ments of the partisan, the inane platitudes of the empty-headed politician, or the high-handed rul- ings of the newly fledged official leader. The phonograph soon i > be presented to the public is so contrived as to have its powers of catching and reconveying sounds " manifolded," if I may employ a technical term. It' resembles, in the wonderful world of sound, one of those gigantic lenses used in modern telescopes which sweeps the heavens, and lakes in objects hitherto undiscovered to the human eye, and lays bare the secrets of the starry system. I see but one single function remaining to be filled by this magic instrument, which is, to seek the sunny South and let a mocking-bird pour into its capacious throat the whole marvelous reper- toire of which he holds the keys. That will in- deed be "something new under the sun." • ♦ • - - In the second issue of our magazine we are en- abled to report to our readers a progress in the development of those qualities inherent in the phonograph, which bring it to a degree of perfec- tion hitherto unconceived by the world; and a marked extension of scope and improvement in detail on the part of its coadjutor, The Phono- gram. Every wave of information sent out by the press to the civilized inhabitants of the globe car- ries back to its starting point a reflex wave of in- telligence. This is, of course, not designed or pre- concerted, but is clearly the effect of a natural law. Correspondents, patrons, friends, all become a medium of communication, and thus reciprocity is established. In this way The Phonogram per- forms a double duty for its public, and ascertains a fact of great interest to all connected with the