Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 69.djvu/495

Rh ," he said, "the vocal sounds were very much diminished, but still audible. It seemed, indeed, like talking in a storm. Conversation, though audible, could be carried on with difficulty."

On February 12, 1877, Graham Bell delivered a lecture on the telephone at Salem, Mass., eighteen miles from Boston. At 10:55, a reporter of the Boston Globe turned in his report by telephone and this was the first newspaper report sent by telephone. Previous to the lecture a wire was strung from the lecture hall to a telegraph circuit connected with the editorial rooms. Then a single telephone was placed on each end of the line.

The telephones used in these pioneer lines were of the box magneto type and intended to rest on shelf, table or desk. Several modifications of this form were made. An interior view of the form sent out in April, 1877, is shown in Fig. 4. Then came the wooden hand telephone (Fig. 5) in May, 1877. Owing to its resemblance to a well known kitchen utensil, it was promptly called 'the butter-stamp telephone.' It was such a decided improvement in shape and convenience over the box telephone that it won its way from the start. Then came the first of the electric-speaking telephone circulars. Three pages contained endorsements by the press and scientists, while the first page contained the following statements that appear unique in the light of later knowledge:

The proprietors of the telephone, the invention of Alexander Graham Bell, for which patents have been issued by the United States and Great Britain, are now prepared to furnish telephones for the transmission of articulate speech through instruments not more than twenty miles apart. Conversation can be easily carried on after slight practice and with occasional repetition of a word or sentence. On first listening to the telephone, though the sound is perfectly audible, the articulation seems to be indistinct; but after a few trials the ear becomes accustomed to the peculiar sound and finds little difficulty in understanding the words.

The telephone should be set in a quiet place, where there is no noise which would interrupt ordinary conversations.

The advantages of the telephone over the telegraph for local business are

1. That no skilled operator is required, but direct communication may be had by speech without the intervention of a third person.

2. That the communication is much more rapid, the average number of words transmitted a minute by Morse sounder being from fifteen to twenty, by telephone from one to two hundred.

3. That no expense is required either for its operation, maintenance, or repair. It needs no battery, and has no complicated machinery. It is unsurpassed for economy and simplicity.