The Edison phonograph monthly (Mar 1906-Feb 1907)

EDISON PHONOGRAPH MONTHLY. it into a cylinder form, and experimented. It talked the first time. "That first talking machine is now in the South Kensington Museum, in London. The selection was 'Mary Had a Little Lamb.' That was in '77." "Had you any idea at that time that the result would be a Phonograph which would achieve the remarkable popularity that eventually came?" "No, we did not. Naturally, we thought the new invention was very interesting, but none of us had any idea that it would become so popular. We did think, however, that the Phonograph would be more than a toy. Our idea at first was that it would be a wonderful help in a business office, and save endless time. We did install a few in shorthand schools, and they met with determined opposition there. Why, in those days many of the teachers of stenography thought that the Phonograph would eventually drive them out of their profession, and they played all sorts of tricks on our instruments, putting them out of commission whenever they could. PHONOGRAPH TRIUMPHS OVER ENEMIES. "But the Phonograph triumphed despite them and now you have seen how our Commercial Phonograph department has grown. Many of the greatest corporations in the country are .using the Edison commercial machine, and find that it is of remarkable value to them. At the same time, no one has lost employment because of these machines." In telling how the Phonograph has grown in popularity, Mr. Edison took out a pencil and began drawing lines at different angles, illustrating the growth of the Phonograph with each year. The increase often has been so great that, despite the fact that new buildings are constantly being erected, the company are still behind on their orders, and one month it was necessary to discontinue issuing new Records in order that the company might catch up on the old orders. "I suppose you get some unique letters about the Phonograph?" "Hundreds of interesting letters about the machines and records come in," Mr. Edison replied, "but few of them reach me. Occasionally, when one contains some information or comment that is particularly interesting, they turn it over to me. "I remember one that was put on my desk last week. It was from a man who said he was organizing a company to exploit on street cars a Phonograph that would call out the names of street corners, and thereby do away with the necessity for conductors shouting them. You have seen, of course, that some of the railroad companies are using the Phonograph as announcers in stations. There is one advantage in this, for the Phonograph pronounces the names correctly, and hasn't yet learned the jargon of mispronunciation which is characteristic of some of the announcers. The Phonograph as an orchestra furnishing music in ballrooms for dancers is an old story now. The^ Phonograph is also being used to make political speeches, to deliver sermons in pulpits and for many other purposes. explorer's hopes blasted by phonograph. "Some of the letters we receive tell of the Phonograph being met in all sorts of out-ofthe-way places in the world. A man who went exploring up the Amazon River got hundreds of miles from civilization. He was sure that he and the natives with him had reached a •region never before visited by the white man. One night he was surprised to hear a song that was popular a few years before on the talking machine. He and his companions hastened through the woods to where they heard the music and were surprised to find a talking machine. It told them that other white men had been there before. </ "During the days when men were climbing the Chilkoot Path to reach the Klondike, during the gold fever there, talking machines often formed part of their pack, which otherwise were as light as they could make them. There are hundreds of the machines in the Klondike to-day. South African explorers have found the Phonograph in the African jungles, and it has been on board ships which have sought the North Pole. We have an agency in North Finland now. Many of the ships which hunt whales have talking machines on them." "Have any of the crowned heads of Europe a Phonograph?" the inventor was asked. KINGS LIKE RAGTIME. "Oh, indeed, yes. All of them. They were placed with the royal families long ago, and we have many letters from the rulers of Europe and other parts of the earth, telling of pleasure derived from hearing the Phonograph. It is peculiar that the monarchs like American 'ragtime,' those records having a big run with them." Mr. Edison was asked what he thought of the recent attack upon the talking machine by the bandmaster-composer, John Philip Sousa. "I don't think his attack will hurt the industry any," Mr. Edison answered. "Mr. Sousa is only injuring himself in attacking the talking machines. He may riot know it, but bv carrying his selections to all parts of the world they increase the sales of his music wherever they go.'* "Do you think that the talking machine means a deterioration in music, and that it will have the effect of causing a decline in piano plaving?" "Indeed. I do not," Mr. Edison said, vigorously. "Where a piano goes to one person, talking machines go to 1,500. By the wav. how many" pianos are made a year, and at what is the cheapest a person can buy one of those instruments?" The Music Trades representative told the inventor of the number of piano factories there were in the country in 1904, the figures being taken from the 1905 government census, and some facts about commercial piano prices. "Well, those figures erive you the answer to vour question," Mr. Edison remarked. "As lonsr as there are people who love music, and as long as there are hundreds of thousands of people on the earth who cannot afford to buy pianos, there will alwavs be a wide popularity for the Phonograph. The talking machine is not a fad. It has come to stay. At first we did not think its reign would be so strong, but now every one tells us that nothing can displace the Phonograph in the hearts of the people."