The Edison phonograph monthly (Mar 1903-Feb 1904)

EDISON PHONOGRAPH MONTHLY. building by building, until now it covers acres and requires the work of thousands of skilled artisans, night and day, to supply the demand for machines and records. At first it was thought the phonograph would be only a fad, a curiosity ; but to-day it has developed into , a household article, as essential to the home/ as organ or piano. The front part of Mr. Edison's famous laboratory, which is connected direct with the works of the Phonograph Company, is a large library and museum with several lofts. In the center are the bits of statuary and a businesslike array of desks; for the great inventor can come right from his chemical tests, or electric elaborations, or forge and smithy, and dip into a patent law question or a bit of legal transaction with the poise and equanimity that he passes from one experiment to another. Behind a network of iron bars, in the adjoining room, is a collection of almost every known material and substance — a sort of scientific Noah's Ark. To inventory this collection, or rather to collect it direct from the markets of the world, would represent a S'ira far into the millions, and the various articles there would run up into many thousands; and yet Edison could tell you where every bolt or bottle was located, and almost go to it in the dark. He lives, breathes and has his being in his laboratory, and a few couches scattered about would indicate his desire to sleep there for the few hours of rest he requires. Always at it — eternally at it — never quitting — and with the genius to see clear through propositions pronounced impossible, this seems to state concisely the genius of Mr. Edison. " It is the simple things that stagger," he resumed. " They are so simple that they are overlooked, oftentimes, by the inventor and scientist. The most wonderful achievements are small things that men have been stumbling over for centuries past, and generations to come will likely have similar things to say of us." Here a forge, there a cauldron, and here an oven; here a room with delicate electrical appliances ; opposite, a complete X-ray outfit ; in an adjoining room a regiment of draftsmen, poring over blue prints. On one floor a gigantic machine shop, with chemical appliances interspersed. Here on a bench are several pieces of plate glass on brown paper, on which the inventor has been scraping with his knife. All this great establishment in connection with the Phonograph plant, from gigantic castings to the most delicate films ; for experimenting and testing the plans and ideas of the great Edison. In this one initial workshop were evolved and perfected the ideas which have created great industrial plants all over the world and given enjoyment to millions. All from the genius of the one modest, gray-haired man, who goes apparently at random from one thing to another in that gigantic chemical, mechanical, electrical museum, as impulse leads him. Every stage of the work is carefully noted, recorded, discussed and argued, for there is no time -lost by Thomas A. Edison in taking up the threads of his work. A pen picture of Thomas A. Edison cannot be made without telling of his phonograph, for that is the one thing upon which his greatest personal enthusiasm concentrates. Those who have Edison's phonograph have what has done more than any -other one thing to contribute to his greatness. The early records, containing the voice of Gladstone and Bisjfoarck, were a priceless heritage, only recently ^destroyed by accident; the voice of William NMcKinley is preserved by the Edison phonograph for future ages. The phonograph now supplies the part of instructor in all the modern languages. And all this is the result of the keen but kindly blue-eyed man, whose vim and inventive genius first comprehended all of the great and almost bewildering commercial possibilities of what was at first regarded chiefly as a toy of scientific investigation, or a laboratory exhibit. Since 1881 Mr. Gilmore, the present president and general manager of the Edison Phonograph Company, has been associated with the Edison interests, but it was not until 1894 that he became the head of the Phonograph Company. He has seen the magic development of the phonograph under the master's genius. Perhaps no man is closer to Thomas A. Edison than the president of the National Phonograph Company, and it is he who has made a commercial triumph of the invention. The industry now gives employment to 1,500 in this one company alone, and the process of manufacture is an interesting and fascinating study of the full voltage of an Edison idea, once it enters the arena of industrial development. The array of automatic machines, singing their busy songs in " making the parts " as if by some great invisible directing force ; the assembling of the various parts; the nickeling vats; the japanning room; even to the boxing and crating of the various types of machines, labeled for all parts of the world, is a scene beyond the wildest prophecy of a century ago. The Edison phonograph is more than a mere article of commerce. It has a moral influence in the charm it lends to the glow of the home circle, and has become more than the National Edison phonograph — it is truly international. The triumph of American commercial designs is inseparably linked with the inventions of Edison. Thousands, with the aid of the phonograph, are mastering the languages, to enlist in the conquest of trade, who would feel that they could not afford the time or expense of a tutor. To me the most fascinating portion of the great Edison phonograph plant was the recordmaking building, where the magnificent records are being made. Here was Kryl, the great cornetist, with hat and coat off — his collar unloosed, his long hair flowing, pouring the masterly strains into a funnel, beside which stood two operators, watching minutely every detail. A slight error is made, which to an audience would pass unnoticed, but Kryl shakes his locks — the record is destroyed, and he begins all over playing a strain that in a short time is to echo all over the world. The accompanist at the piano, placed on a high platform to bring the sound within the range of the large trumpet, patiently repeats the interludes. There are rooms fitted up for brass bands, vocal choruses and orchestras with elevations adjusted according to the science of sound, to get the best possible results for the records. There are chimes of bells, in fact, all of the