The talking machine world (Jan-Dec 1906)

6 THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD. PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS AND COMMENTS. ] — J F. M. BARNEY'S IMPROVEMENTS. F. M. Barney, the well-known talking machine dealer, of Elm Creek, Neb., writes The World as follows: "Considerable has been said about correct position of the jewel on an Edison machine. Perhaps some of your readers will be pleased to learn of my method and results. I removed vibrating arm from my Edison c reproducer and made a new arm. This arm I made of aluminum, and made it just as light as was consistent with rigidity. I bored some holes along the long part of the arm to lighten as much as possible, and set the jewel sticking out behind instead of pushing forward as usual; in this position the jewel drags and has a tendency to free itself from foreign particles, then again such an arm can be made very light. The one 1 have in use does not weigh over two-fifths the amount of the common arm, and is as rigid. 1 have found the lighter the parts the quicker they recover, and the jewel is held in closer contact with the record, thereby doing away with tendency to blast. This results in purer tones, I have also been -enabled to lengthen the long part of arm slightly, which causes increased amplitude and therefore louder tone, without injury to record. The reproducer which I use in selling records is equipped as above, and is pronounced by all who have heard it as being the clearest and loudest they have ever heard. About a year ago I bored a hole in the hanger weight and cemented therein a small camel's-hair brush such as is generally used by artists in painting, about one-eighth inch in diameter. This gathers all lint and dust, and requires little attention, and my jewel rarely ever clogs up. I recommend this arrangement as giving the liest results I have ever heard." NOVEL USE OF VICTOR MACHINE. Mr. Barney, who is a prominent jeweler as well as talking machine man, writes further: "I desire to call your attention to a novel method of using the Victor or disc machine. Am a jeweler, and in dressing my window I desired a striking method of attracting attention during our July 4th celebration. I took a Victor from stock and removed all outside parts (horn, hollow arm and support), and placed on the revolving table a large plateau or round mirror, I had previously turned the regulator about one revolution in 4 seconds. To raise the plateau above the center pin I put on four 10-inch records. I then put on the plateau a fine cut-glass bowl. In the bowl I placed a large cut vase. I then took some ladies' neck chains and festooned them around the top of the vase, also some gents' watch chains, from the top of the vase to the top of the bowl. On the plateau around the bowl I arranged some fine watches and rings, and put the display in my show window, which was plainly dressed so as not to detract from same. You would be surprised at the attention and remarks about the device. A Victor No. 11 motor is sufficiently strong to run same three or four hours, and will carry a large 14-inch plateau, a heavy 10-inch bowl, a 10-inch plateau on top of that and a large vase and many other articles for display, and when crank Is removed some people wonder what keeps it going." REMEDY WHEN MACHINE LOSES VOICE. Our old friend, William F. Hunt, of Wanatah, Ind., says that "the only effective and reliable remedy for the Columbia Twentieth Century graphophone when it has lost its voice through oil getting on the amber friction disc is to take off the rubber friction shoe and thoroughly clean off the amber disc with alcohol, after which dry it oft carefully with a nice clean rag or cotton (cotton is preferable). Then use the finest grade of sandpaper (not emery cloth) and sandpaper the friction part of the disc thoroughly. The rubber friction shoe is destroyed, as it has become saturated with the oil, and ■will require a new one. GJreat care should be exercised in handling these paits so as not to touch them with the bare hands or with anything that is damp or oily. If you have had no experience in the line of talking machine repair work you had better leave the work to an experienced repair man, as it will prove more satisfactory and economical. Some people may get the impression from this article that the Twentieth Century machine is very apt to get out of order, but I assure you that if every one who purchased one of the machines would only heed the warning instructions of the company not to get oil or anything damp onto the friction parts no trouble from this gource would be experienced. To have the above trouble with a machine is plain carelessness on the part of the operator. Too many people are in the habit of flooding a talking machine with oil. Too much oil on any piece of mechanism is as bad aS no oil at all. The bearing next to the friction device needs to be oiled but once in a great while, and then but sparingly. The best way to oil it is to dip a toothpick into oil and then permit a small drop from this to fall on the bearing. PIANO SOLO RECORDS ARE LISTED. Mr. Hunt says further, and we thank him for the information: "In answering an inquiry in your last month's issue you stated that up to the present time no records of piano solos had been listed by any company. The Victor Co., as well as the Edison, each list one. The Victor record is No. 2508, Gavotte in A, by C. H. Booth, and the Edison No. 8394, Violets (Transcription), by Albert Benzler," HOW THE NEEDLE WEARS A study of the point of a needle under the microscope after it has played a record shows that it is subject to far more wear than most people imagine, and clearly proves the necessity of changing the needle every time. A talking machine enthusiast, who has spent considerable No. 1. X(i. 2. Xo. :j. time in studying out the matter, has drawn several illustrations of the various styles of needles after use on a ten-inch disc. No. 1 is a "Perfection'' and shows how the record has worn grooves in it. No. 2 is the ordinary Victor needle, showing the point planed off. No. 3 is a soft tone needle of the Columbia variety, which wears to a point resembling the edge of a chisel. These needles were used but once, and then on a new record. TALKING MACHINE FOR CHURCHES. John T. Timmons suggests a specially made talking machine to be used in churches with a select number of records made for that purpose, and added: "It has become fashionable to have fine church choirs, and through the medium of the talking machine all the various hymns and religious songs can be placed upon the records as solos, and these with the church choir or even without will produce very satisfactory results. The records can be made from the very best voices in the country, and these can be heard in almost every church in the land on Sunday. It will be cheaper and just as satisfactory to the Lord. It will do away with choir practice, jealousy among singers, church rows and those who worship will not sit and watch the pretty girls in the choir, and will feel more like joining in with their own voices to swell the sacred song." TESTING RECORDS IN EGYPT. An Egyptian official who has just returned from the Far East recently chatted with the representative of the London Daily Despatch regarding the growing importation of talking machines and records into that country, and the impression which they made. This official described a scene in ^hich two officially attired Beys sat upon a divan, smoked their hookahs, and examined roll by roll, and bale by bale, the large importation of records which had that day arrived by steamer from England. A huge phonograph was before them, and every tune was tried solemnly. If the melody sounded agreeable to the ears of the Faithful as they sipped their coffee, the record was shot dexterously under the divan; if, however, one or the other exclaimed, "By Allah! the all powerful, -that is a tune for the dogs," it was promptly labeled "passed," and duly formed part of the consignment for the interior. THE SCARCITY OF REPAIRERS. A subscriber to the World in Wichita, Kan., writes us regarding the scarcity of competent talking machine repairers in his section. He says in part: "I am the owner of one of the more elaborate styles of talking machines, and though I am exceedingly careful when manipulating it there have been times when certain parts have become deranged. Upon three occasions I have turned it over to local dealers to be repaired at their own shops, but, sad to say, on each occasion they seem to have been quite unable to properly understand what was wrong and I was compelled to send the machine to a distant city to have it properly adjusted. It would seem that when a dealer accepted the agency for a certain machine he should be instructed by the makers or their representatives regarding the different parts in order that he could make the necessary repairs in a competent way. It means considerable expense where a machine has to be shipped to the factory or headquarters and carriage charges paid by tne owner, and in addition that while in transit some of the more delicate portions will get out of adjustment. I hope you will advocate through your columns the study of the talking machine by every dealer, for if confidence can be placed in his ability to fix things it will mean steady customers, who will give him every part of the talking machine trade." DYNAMOPHONE MUSIC HEARD. Electrical Society Attends Demonstration of the Telharmonium System. The New York Electrical Society on the evening of September 27 attended a demonstration of the Dynamophone and Telharmonium systems now being installed at its plant at Broadway and 39th street. This apparatus, already described in The Talking Machine W^orld, is designed to transmit music to the home by means of an electric current and a kind of telephone receiver, just as power or messages are transmitted. The service is supposed to be "taken." The music is made at the "power house" by means of vibratory electric energy stored in 145 graded and tuned reservoirs, and played on by a keyboard. At this affair the resulting inusic was heard. Under the circumstances — the crowded hall, the scrappyness of the music played, the lack of technical experience — a music judge would have been loath to form an opinion. However, this much may be said: The instrument is not a mechanical player; it does produce a musical tone under control. It has the quality of wood wind, of an oboe, with deeper tones of a similar quality. Of how great a development into organ effects it is capable one hearing is not enough to determine. THE POOR OLD GOAT NOW GOES. A new use for the talking machine has been discovered by a New York lodge of a prominent secret society. At the initiation ceremonies, where it was desired to frighten the blindfolded candidate, members used to imitate the gentle voice of the goat until some one happened to think up a phonograph. The voice of a goat belonging to one of the members was recorded in all its stages, from savage to plaintive, and the record turned loose on the next candidate with results far exceeding the fondest hopes of the originator of the scheme.