The Edison phonograph monthly (Mar 1906-Feb 1907)

EDISON PHONOGRAPH MONTHLY. THE PHONOGRAPH— MY PET INVENTION AND THE POSSIBILITIES I SEE IN IT. An interview with Thomas A. Edison, by Clarence Axnian, in the Music Trades. The world's greatest inventor, Thomas A. Edison, whose genius has for years furnished one sensation after another to the scientific world, has in the Patent Office in Washington models for more than six hundred productions which originated in his brain. Despite the fact that some of these are the automatic telegraph, the quadruplex, the mimeograph, the telephone transmitter, as it is used at present, and the kinetoscope, Mr. Edison has the warmest spot in his heart for the talking machine. This confession was made by the great inventor to a representative of The Music Trades, who saw him recently in his laboratory at Orange, N. J. "Why do you feel so warmly toward the Phonograph, when it is only one of the many great inventions that you have to your credit?" I asked him. CHEAPEST ENTERTAINMENT FOR MILLIONS. The wizard of the scientific world nestled deeper in his chair, shifted his cigar to one corner of his mouth, and, bringing his teeth down sharply upon it, said : "Because it is not only a great entertainer, but a wonderful force for education. The talking machine not only entertains hundreds of thousands of persons, but is their cheapest mode of entertainment. It is the cheapest entertainment in the world for the money. The price is so low that it is within the reach of. all. There is no family in America so poor that it can not buy a talking machine, provided that there is any fund at all available for amusement. "It is a clean entertainment. There is yet tobe made a record containing any sentiment to which the most religious can object. The Phonograph is as much at home in the parlor of the country minister as in the brightly lighted cafe in the crowded city. It is easy to transport, and for the miner and the farmer, the summer cottager and the fiat dweller, the yacht owner and the huntsman who lives in a log cabin, it is equally available. "One of the tributes paid to the Phonograph as an educator that delighted me most was the sentiment in the gold record presented me at Orange by the National Phonograph Company Jobbers, when they were entertained by the company last summer. They called the Phonograph the greatest of all modern forces as an educator, and this, of course, was pleasant to me. While their kind sentiments toward me, as evidenced upon many occasions, probably caused them to exaggerate, at the same time one can easily see how the Phonograph has taken its place as an instructor, particularly in the field of languages. I have been informed that thousands of students, not only in America, but abroad, are learning English, French, German, Spanish and other tongues with the assistance of the Phonograph, while there are a number of schools which teach languages in no other way. A GREAT MUSIC EDUCATOR. "Then, the Phonograph has educated the people to a better knowledge of music and an appreciation of a higher class of music. The Phonograph will give you 'I Guess I'll Have to Telegraph My Baby' or 'The Flower Song' of 'Faust' with equal impartiality. The family which has a Phonograph and begins by thinking that 'Waltz Me Around Again, Willie,' is the finest specimen of music and song-writing, often winds up by learning that numbers from 'Carmen' and 'Rigoletto' are much more charming and delightful. "I think that more lusty strokes have been struck at cheap music, and for high-grade and classic music, by the Phonograph than through any other agency. The advantages of the Phonograph to music students is also inestimable. Many of the students can't afford to hear the great operatic singers, at the opera houses, or are too far away from the places where they sing. The Phonograph not only brings these singers to the students, but does it cheaply. "These* are a few of my reasons for feeling proud of the Phonograph. Every time a Phonograph is sold, some good is done somewhere." EDISON AND HIS LABORATORY. Clad in a crash suit and wearing the string necktie, which type he has worn for years, Mr. Edison was found seated in a big armchair in his laboratory building, looking tired from a long siege of work, but smiling affably. The big laboratory building is plainly furnished, and no attempt is made to decorate it with rugs or pictures. The inventor is in good health and says that he will continue active for years yet. His hair is growing grayer every year, and the only wrinkles on his face are those about his mouth which come from an abyssmal well of good nature, and those in his forehead that arise from deep thought. His eyes are blue, and in conversation have little of the dreamer about them. He is a constant smoker, but says he is indifferent to the quality of tobacco he smokes. HOW THE PHONOGRAPH WAS INVENTED. "A great many stories have been printed about the manner in which you invented the Phonograph." Mr. Edison was asked, "Did you discover it accidentally?" "Yes, it was as much of a surprise to me as to any one. At the time I was working on a telegraph apparatus whereby dots and dashes were indented into a disk. After working for a while, I thought, 'I don't see why I can't record the vibrations of a diaphragm.' I took out Morse's apparatus and substituted the diaphragm with a point in it and substituted a tinfoil for paper. I got some little results, but they didn't amount to anything. Then I made