The Phonograph - 2
Mr. Edison's own account of the invention of the phonograph is intensely interesting. "I
was experimenting," he says, "on an automatic method of recording telegraph messages
on a disk of paper laid on a revolving platen, exactly the same as the disk talkingmachine
of to-day. The platen had a spiral groove on its surface, like the disk. Over this
was placed a circular disk of paper; an electromagnet with the embossing point connected
to an arm travelled over the disk; and any signals given through the magnets were
embossed on the disk of paper. If this disk was removed from the machine and put on a
similar machine provided with a contact point, the embossed record would cause the
signals to be repeated into another wire. The ordinary speed of telegraphic signals is
thirty-five to forty words a minute; but with this machine several hundred words were
possible.
"From my experiments on the telephone I knew of the power of a diaphragm to take up
sound vibrations, as I had made a little toy which, when you recited loudly in the funnel,
would work a pawl connected to the diaphragm; and this engaging a ratchet- wheel
served to give continuous rotation to a pulley. This pulley was connected by a cord to a
little paper toy representing a man sawing wood. Hence, if one shouted: `Mary had a little
lamb,' etc., the paper man would start sawing wood. I reached the conclusion that if I
could record the movements of the diaphragm properly, I could cause such record to
reproduce the original movements imparted to the diaphragm by the voice, and thus
succeed in recording and reproducing the human voice.
"Instead of using a disk I designed a little machine using a cylinder provided with
grooves around the surface. Over this was to be placed tinfoil, which easily received and
recorded the movements of the diaphragm. A sketch was made, and the piece-work price,
$18, was marked on the sketch. I was in the habit of marking the price I would pay on
each sketch. If the workman lost, I would pay his regular wages; if he made more than
the wages, he kept it. The workman who got the sketch was John Kruesi. I didn't have
much faith that it would work, expecting that I might possibly hear a word or so that
would give hope of a future for the idea. Kruesi, when he had nearly finished it, asked
what it was for. I told him I was going to record talking, and then have the machine talk
back. He thought it absurd. However, it was finished, the foil was put on; I then shouted
`Mary had a little lamb,' etc. I adjusted the reproducer, and the machine reproduced it
perfectly. I was never so taken aback in my life. Everybody was astonished. I was always
afraid of things that worked the first time. Long experience proved that there were great
drawbacks found generally before they could be got commercial; but here was something
there was no doubt of."
No wonder that honest John Kruesi, as he stood and listened to the marvellous
performance of the simple little machine he had himself just finished, ejaculated in an
awe-stricken tone: "Mein Gott im Himmel!" And yet he had already seen Edison do a
few clever things. No wonder they sat up all night fixing and adjusting it so as to get
better and better results--reciting and singing, trying each other's voices, and then
listening with involuntary awe as the words came back again and again, just as long as
they were willing to revolve the little cylinder with its dotted spiral indentations in the
tinfoil under the vibrating stylus of the reproducing diaphragm. It took a little time to
acquire the knack of turning the crank steadily while leaning over the recorder to talk into
the machine; and there was some deftness required also in fastening down the tinfoil on
the cylinder where it was held by a pin running in a longitudinal slot. Paraffined paper
appears also to have been experimented with as an impressible material. It is said that
Carman, the foreman of the machine shop, had gone the length of wagering Edison a box
of cigars that the device would not work. All the world knows that he lost.
The original Edison phonograph thus built by Kruesi is preserved in the South
Kensington Museum, London. That repository can certainly have no greater treasure of
its kind. But as to its immediate use, the inventor says: "That morning I took it over to
New York and walked into the office of the Scientific American, went up to Mr. Beach's
desk, and said I had something to show him. He asked what it was. I told him I had a
machine that would record and reproduce the human voice. I opened the package, set up
the machine and recited, `Mary had a little lamb,' etc. Then I reproduced it so that it could
be heard all over the room. They kept me at it until the crowd got so great Mr. Beach was
afraid the floor would collapse; and we were compelled to stop. The papers next morning
contained columns. None of the writers seemed to understand how it was done. I tried to
explain, it was so very simple, but the results were so surprising they made up their minds
probably that they never would understand it--and they didn't.
"I started immediately making several larger and better machines, which I exhibited at
Menlo Park to crowds. The Pennsylvania Railroad ran special trains. Washington people
telegraphed me to come on. I took a phonograph to Washington and exhibited it in the
room of James G. Blaine's niece (Gail Hamilton); and members of Congress and notable
people of that city came all day long until late in the evening. I made one break. I recited
`Mary,' etc., and another ditty:
`There was a little girl, who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead;
And when she was good she was very, very good,
But when she was bad she was horrid.'
It will be remembered that Senator Roscoe Conkling, then very prominent, had a curl of
hair on his forehead; and all the caricaturists developed it abnormally. He was very
sensitive about the subject. When he came in he was introduced; but being rather deaf, I
didn't catch his name, but sat down and started the curl ditty. Everybody tittered, and I
was told that Mr. Conkling was displeased. About 11 o'clock at night word was received
from President Hayes that he would be very much pleased if I would come up to the
White House. I was taken there, and found Mr. Hayes and several others waiting. Among
them I remember Carl Schurz, who was playing the piano when I entered the room. The
exhibition continued till about 12.30 A.M., when Mrs. Hayes and several other ladies,
who had been induced to get up and dress, appeared. I left at 3.30 A,M,
