,the ,,birth and ,,babyhood ,,of ,,the ,,telephone by ,thomas ,a4 ,watson ,assistant to ,alexander ,graham ,bell 7,an address delivered before the ,third ,annual ,convention of the ,telephone ,pioneers of ,america at ,chicago1 ,october #ag1 #aiac7 ,information ,department ,,american ,,telephone ,,and ,,telegraph ,,company ,illustration3 ,thomas ,a4 ,watson #ahed-aicd ,biography of ,,thomas ,a4 ,,watson ,thomas ,a4 ,watson was born on ,january #ah1 #ahed1 in ,salem1 ,massachusetts1 and died ,december #ac1 #aicd1 at more than four-score years4 ,at the age of #ac he left school and went to work in a store4 ,always keenly interested in learning more and in making the most of all he learned1 every new experience was to him1 from his childhood on1 an opening door into a larger1 more beautiful and more wonderful world4 ,this was the key to the continuous variety that gave interest to his life4 ,in #ahgd he obtained employment in the electrical shop of ,charles ,williams1 ,jr41 at #aji ,court ,street1 ,boston4 ,here he met ,alexander ,graham ,bell1 and the telephone chapter in his life began4 ,this he has told in the little book herewith presented4 ,in #ahha1 having well earned a rest from the unceasing struggle with the problems of early telephony1 and being now a man of means1 he resigned his position in the ,american ,bell ,telephone ,company and spent a year in ,europe4 ,on his return he started a little machine shop for his own pleasure1 at his place in ,east ,braintree1 ,massachusetts4 ,from this grew the ,fore ,river ,ship and ,engine ,company1 which did its large share of building the ,u4 ,s4 ,navy of the ,spanish ,war4 ,in #aijd he retired from active business4 ,when #dj years of age and widely known as a shipbuilder1 he went to college1 taking special courses in geology and biology at the ,massachusetts ,institute of ,technology4 ,at the same time he specialized in literature4 ,these studies dominated his later years1 leading him in extensive travels all over the world1 and at home extending to others the inspiration of a genial simplicity of life and of a love for science1 literature and all that is fine in life4 ,the ,birth and ,babyhood of the ,telephone ,by ,thomas ,a4 ,watson ,i am to speak to you of the birth and babyhood of the telephone1 and something of the events which preceded that important occasion4 ,these are matters that must seem to you ancient history2 in fact1 they seem so to me1 although the events all happened less than #dj years ago1 in the years #ahgd to #ahhj4 ,the occurrences of which ,i shall speak1 lie in my mind as a splendid drama1 in which it was my great privilege to play a part4 ,i shall try to put myself back into that wonderful play1 and tell you its story from the same attitude of mind ,i had then--the point of view of a mere boy1 just out of his apprenticeship as an electro-mechanician1 intensely interested in his work1 and full of boyish hope and enthusiasm4 ,therefore1 as it must be largely a personal narrative1 ,i shall ask you to excuse my many 8,i's0 and 8my's0 and to be indulgent if ,i show how proud and glad ,i am that ,i was chosen by the fates to be the associate of ,alexander ,graham ,bell1 to work side by side with him day and night through all these wonderful happenings that have meant so much to the world4 ,the ,williams' ,electrical ,workshop ,i realize now what a lucky boy ,i was1 when at #ac years of age ,i had to leave school and go to work for my living1 although ,i didn't think so at that time4 ,i am not advising my young friends to leave school at this age1 for they may not have the opportunity to enter college as ,i did at #dj4 ,there's a 8tide in the affairs of men10 you know1 and that was the beginning of its flood in my life1 for after trying several vocations--clerking1 bookkeeping1 carpentering1 etc4--and finding them all unattractive1 ,i at last found just the job that suited me in the electrical work-shop of ,charles ,williams1 at #aji ,court ,street1 ,boston--one of the best men ,i have ever known4 ,better luck couldn't befall a boy than to be brought so early in life under the influence of such a high-minded gentleman as ,charles ,williams4 ,i want to say a few words about my work there1 not only to give you a picture of such a shop in the early '#gjs1 but also because in this shop the telephone had its birth and a good deal of its early development4 ,illustration3 ,thomas ,a4 ,watson in #ahgd ,i was first set to work on a hand lathe turning binding posts for #e a week4 ,the mechanics of to-day with their automatic screw machines1 hardly know what it is to turn little rough castings with a hand tool4 ,how the hot chips used to fly into our eyes6 ,one day ,i had a fine idea4 ,i bought a pair of #be-;cent goggles1 thinking the others would hail me as a benefactor of mankind and adopt my plan4 ,but they laughed at me for being such a sissy boy and public opinion forced me back to the old time-honored plan of winking when ,i saw a chip coming4 ,it was not an efficient plan1 for the chip usually got there first4 ,there was a liberal education in it for me in manual dexterity4 ,there was no specializing in these shops at that time4 ,each workman built everything there was in the shop to build1 and an apprentice also had a great variety of jobs1 which kept him interested all the time1 for his tools were poor and simple and it required lots of thought to get a job done right4 ,studies and ,experiments ,there were few books on electricity published at that time4 ,williams had copies of most of them in his showcase1 which we boys used to read noons1 but the book that interested me most was ,davis' ,manual of ,magnetism1 published in #ahdg1 a copy of which ,i made mine for #be cents4 ,if you want to get a good idea of the state of the electrical art at that time1 you should read that book4 ,i found it very stimulating and that same old copy in all the dignity of its dilapidation has a place of honor on my book shelves to-day4 ,my promotion to higher work was rapid4 ,before two years had passed1 ,i had tried my skill on about all the regular work of the establishment--call bells1 annunciators1 galvanometers1 telegraph keys1 sounders1 relays1 registers and printing telegraph instruments4 ,individual initiative was the rule in ,williams' shop--we all did about as we pleased4 ,once ,i built a small steam engine for myself during working hours1 when business was slack4 ,no one objected4 ,that steam engine1 by the way1 was the embryo of the biggest shipbuilding plant in the ,united ,states to-day1 which ,i established some ten years later with telephone profits1 and which now employs more than #d1jjj men4 ,illustration3 ,alexander ,graham ,bell in #ahgf ,such were the electrical shops of that day4 ,crude and small as they were1 they were the forerunners of the great electrical works of to-day4 ,in them were being trained the men who were among the leaders in the wonderful development of applied electricity which began soon after the time of which ,i am to speak4 ,williams1 although he never had at that time more than #cj or #dj men working for him1 had one of the largest and best fitted shops in the country4 ,i think the ,western ,electric shop at ,chicago was the only larger one4 ,that was also undoubtedly better organized and did better work than ,williams'4 ,when a piece of machinery built by the ,western ,electric came into our shop for repairs1 we boys always used to admire the superlative excellence of the workmanship4 ,experience with ,inventors ,besides the regular work at ,williams'1 there was a constant stream of wild-eyed inventors1 with big ideas in their heads and little money in their pockets1 coming to the shop to have their ideas tried out in brass and iron4 ,most of them had an 8angel0 whom they had hypnotized into paying the bills4 ,my enthusiasm1 and perhaps my sympathetic nature1 made me a favorite workman with those men of visions1 and in #ahgc-gd my work had become largely making experimental apparatus for such men4 ,few of their ideas ever amounted to anything1 but ,i liked to do the work1 as it kept me roaming in fresh fields and pastures new all the time4 ,had it not been1 however1 for my youthful enthusiasm--always one of my chief assets--,i fear this experience would have made me so skeptical and cynical as to the value of electrical inventions that my future prospects might have been injured4 ,illustration3 ,thomas ,sanders in #ahgh1 at the ,time ,he ,was the ,sole ,financial ,backer of the ,telephone ,i remember one limber-tongued patriarch who had induced some men to subscribe #a1jjj to build what he claimed to be an entirely new electric engine4 ,i had made much of it for him4 ,there was nothing new in the engine1 but he intended to generate his electric current in a series of iron tanks the size of trunks1 to be filled with nitric acid with the usual zinc plates suspended therein4 ,when the engine was finished and the acid poured into the tanks for the first time1 no one waited to see the engine run1 for inventor1 8angel10 and workmen all tried to see who could get out of the shop quickest4 ,i won the race as ,i had the best start4 ,i suppose there is just such a crowd of crude minds still besieging the work-shops1 men who seem incapable of finding out what has been already done1 and so keep on1 year after year1 threshing old straw4 ,the 8,harmonic ,telegraph0 ,all the men ,i worked for at that time were not of that type4 ,there were a few very different4 ,among them1 dear old ,moses ,g4 ,farmer1 perhaps the leading practical electrician of that day4 ,he was full of good ideas1 which he was constantly bringing to ,williams to have worked out4 ,i did much of his work and learned from him more about electricity than ever before or since4 ,he was electrician at that time for the ,united ,states ,torpedo ,station at ,newport1 ,rhode ,island1 and in the early winter of #ahgd ,i was making for him some experimental torpedo exploding apparatus4 ,that apparatus will always be connected in my mind with the telephone1 for one day when ,i was hard at work on it1 a tall1 slender1 quick-motioned man with pale face1 black side whiskers1 and drooping mustache1 big nose and high sloping forehead crowned with bushy1 jet black hair1 came rushing out of the office and over to my work bench4 ,it was ,alexander ,graham ,bell1 whom ,i saw then for the first time4 ,he was bringing to me a piece of mechanism which ,i had made for him under instructions from the office4 ,it had not been made as he had directed and he had broken down the rudimentary discipline of the shop in coming directly to me to get it altered4 ,it was a receiver and a transmitter of his 8,harmonic ,telegraph10 an invention of his with which he was then endeavoring to win fame and fortune4 ,it was a simple affair by means of which1 utilizing the law of sympathetic vibration1 he expected to send six or eight ,morse messages on a single wire at the same time1 without interference4 ,illustration3 ,home of ,mrs4 ,mary ,ann 7,brown7 ,sanders1 ,salem1 ,mass41 where ,professor ,bell carried on experiments for three years which led to the discovery of the principle of the telephone ,although most of you are probably familiar with the device1 ,i must1 to make my story clear1 give you a brief description of the instruments1 for though ,bell never succeeded in perfecting his telegraph1 his experimenting on it led to a discovery of the highest importance4 ,illustration3 ,the ,birthplace of the ,telephone1 #aji ,court ,street1 ,boston4--,on the top floor of this building1 in #ahge1 ,prof4 ,bell carried on his experiments and first succeeded in transmitting speech by electricity ,the essential parts of both transmitter and receiver were an electro-magnet and a flattened piece of steel clock spring4 ,the spring was clamped by one end to one pole of the magnet1 and had its other end free to vibrate over the other pole4 ,the transmitter had1 besides this1 make-and-break points like an ordinary vibrating bell which1 when the current was on1 kept the spring vibrating in a sort of nasal whine1 of a pitch corresponding to the pitch of the spring4 ,when the signalling key was closed1 an electrical copy of that whine passed through the wire and the distant receiver4 ,there were1 say1 six transmitters with their springs tuned to six different pitches and six receivers with their springs tuned to correspond4 ,now1 theoretically1 when a transmitter sent its electrical whine into the line wire1 its own faithful receiver spring at the distant station would wriggle sympathetically but all the others on the same line would remain coldly quiescent4 ,even when all the transmitters were whining at once through their entire gamut1 making a row as if all the miseries this world of trouble ever produced were concentrated there1 each receiver spring along the line would select its own from that sea of troubles and ignore all the others4 ,just see what a simple1 sure-to-work invention this was2 for just break up those various whines into the dots and dashes of ,morse messages and one wire would do the work of six1 and the 8,duplex0 telegraph that had just been invented would be beaten to a frazzle4 ,bell's reward would be immediate and rich1 for the 8,duplex0 had been bought by the ,atlantic and ,pacific ,telegraph ,company1 giving them a great advantage over their only competitor1 the ,western ,union ,company1 and the latter would1 of course1 buy ,bell's invention and his financial problems would be solved4 ,illustration3 ,the ,garret1 #aji ,court ,st41 ,boston1 where ,bell ,verified the ,principle of ,electrical ,speech ,transmission ,all this was1 as ,i have said1 theoretical1 and it was mighty lucky for ,graham ,bell that it was1 for had his harmonic telegraph been a well behaved apparatus that always did what its parent wanted it to do1 the speaking telephone might never have emerged from a certain marvelous conception1 that had even then been surging back of ,bell's high forehead for two or three years4 ,what that conception was1 ,i soon learned1 for he couldn't help speaking about it1 although his friends tried to hush it up4 ,they didn't like to have him get the reputation of being visionary1 or--something worse4 ,to go on with my story2 after ,mr4 ,farmer's peace-making machines were finished1 ,i made half a dozen pairs of the harmonic instruments for ,bell4 ,he was surprised1 when he tried them1 to find that they didn't work as well as he expected4 ,the cynical ,watson wasn't at all surprised for he had never seen anything electrical yet that worked at first the way the inventor thought it would4 ,bell wasn't discouraged in the least and a long course of experiments followed which gave me a steady job that winter and brought me into close contact with a wonderful personality that did more to mould my life rightly than anything else that ever came into it4 ,i became mightily tired of those 8whiners0 that winter4 ,i called them by that name1 perhaps1 as an inadequate expression of my disgust with their persistent perversity1 the struggle with which soon began to take all the joy out of my young life1 not being endowed with the power of ,macbeth's weird sisters to 8,look into the seeds of time1 ,and say which grain will grow and which will not40 ,let me say here1 that ,i have always had a feeling of respect for ,elisha ,gray1 who1 a few years later1 made that harmonic telegraph work1 and vibrate well-behaved messages1 that would go where they were sent without fooling with every receiver on the line4 ,most of ,bell's early experimenting on the harmonic telegraph was done in ,salem1 at the home of ,mrs4 ,george ,sanders1 where he resided for several years1 having charge of the instruction of her deaf nephew4 ,the present ,y4 ,m4 ,c4 ,a4 building is on the site of that house4 ,i would occasionally work with ,bell there1 but most of his experimenting in which ,i took part was done in ,boston4 ,bell's ,theory of ,transmitting ,speech ,mr4 ,bell was very apt to do his experimenting at night1 for he was busy during the day at the ,boston ,university1 where he was ,professor of ,vocal ,physiology1 especially teaching his father's system of visible speech1 by which a deaf mute might learn to talk--quite significant of what ,bell was soon to do in making mute metal talk4 ,for this reason ,i would often remain at the shop during the evening to help him test some improvement he had had me make on the instruments4 ,one evening when we were resting from our struggles with the apparatus1 ,bell said to me3 8,watson1 ,i want to tell you of another idea ,i have1 which ,i think will surprise you40 ,i listened1 ,i suspect1 somewhat languidly1 for ,i must have been working that day about sixteen hours1 with only a short nutritive interval1 and ,bell had already given me1 during the weeks we had worked together1 more new ideas on a great variety of subjects1 including visible speech1 elocution and flying machines1 than my brain could assimilate1 but when he went on to say that he had an idea by which he believed it would be possible to talk by telegraph1 my nervous system got such a shock that the tired feeling vanished4 ,i have never forgotten his exact words2 they have run in my mind ever since like a mathematical formula4 8,if10 he said1 8,i could make a current of electricity vary in intensity1 precisely as the air varies in density during the production of a sound1 ,i should be able to transmit speech telegraphically40 ,he then sketched for me an instrument that he thought would do this1 and we discussed the possibility of constructing one4 ,i did not make it2 it was altogether too costly1 and the chances of its working too uncertain to impress his financial backers--,mr4 ,gardiner ,g4 ,hubbard and ,mr4 ,thomas ,sanders--who were insisting that the wisest thing for ,bell to do was to perfect the harmonic telegraph2 then he would have money and leisure enough to build air castles like the telephone4 ,june #b1 #ahge ,i must have done other work in the shop besides ,bell's during the winter and spring of #ahge1 but ,i cannot remember a single item of it4 ,i do remember that when ,i was not working for ,bell ,i was thinking of his ideas4 ,all through my recollection of that period runs that nightmare--the harmonic telegraph1 the ill working of which got on my conscience1 for ,i blamed my lack of mechanical skill for the poor operation of an invention apparently so simple4 ,try our best1 we could not make that thing work rightly1 and ,bell came as near to being discouraged as ,i ever knew him to be4 ,but this spring of #ahge was the dark hour just before the dawn4 ,if the exact time could be fixed1 the date when the conception of the undulatory or speech-transmitting current took its perfect form in ,bell's mind would be the greatest day in the history of the telephone1 but certainly ,june #b1 #ahge1 must always rank next2 for on that day the mocking fiend inhabiting that demonic telegraph apparatus1 just as a now-you-see-it-and-now-you-don't sort of satanic joke1 opened the curtain that hides from man great ,nature's secrets and gave us a glimpse as quick as if it were through the shutter of a snap-shot camera1 into that treasury of things not yet discovered4 ,that imp didn't do this in any kindly1 helpful spirit--any inventor knows he isn't that kind of a being--he just meant to tantalize and prove that a man is too stupid to grasp a secret1 even if it is revealed to him4 ,but he hadn't properly estimated ,bell1 though he had probably sized me up all right4 ,that glimpse was enough to let ,bell see and seize the very thing he had been dreaming about and drag it out into the world of human affairs4 ,illustration3 ,gardiner ,g4 ,hubbard in #ahgf ,the ,telephone ,born ,coming back to earth1 ,i'll try and tell you what happened that day4 ,in the experiments on the harmonic telegraph1 ,bell had found that the reason why the messages got mixed up was inaccuracy in the adjustment of the pitches of the receiver springs to those of the transmitter4 ,bell always had to do this tuning himself1 as my sense of pitch and knowledge of music were quite lacking--a faculty 7or lackulty7 which you will hear later became quite useful4 ,mr4 ,bell was in the habit of observing the pitch of a spring by pressing it against his ear while the corresponding transmitter in a distant room was sending its intermittent current through the magnet of that receiver4 ,he would then manipulate the tuning screw until that spring was tuned to accord with the pitch of the whine coming from the transmitter4 ,all this experimenting was carried on in the upper story of the ,williams building1 where we had a wire connecting two rooms perhaps sixty feet apart looking out on ,court ,street4 ,illustration3 ,prof4 ,bell's ,vibrating ,reed--,used for a ,receiver ,realization ,on the afternoon of ,june #b1 #ahge1 we were hard at work on the same old job1 testing some modification of the instruments4 ,things were badly out of tune that afternoon in that hot garret1 not only the instruments1 but1 ,i fancy1 my enthusiasm and my temper1 though ,bell was as energetic as ever4 ,i had charge of the transmitters as usual1 setting them squealing one after the other1 while ,bell was retuning the receiver springs one by one1 pressing them against his ear as ,i have described4 ,one of the transmitter springs ,i was attending to stopped vibrating and ,i plucked it to start it again4 ,it didn't start and ,i kept on plucking it1 when suddenly ,i heard a shout from ,bell in the next room1 and then out he came with a rush1 demanding1 8,what did you do then8 ,don't change anything4 ,let me see60 ,i showed him4 ,it was very simple4 ,the contact screw was screwed down so far that it made permanent contact with the spring1 so that when ,i snapped the spring the circuit had remained unbroken while that strip of magnetized steel by its vibration over the pole of its magnet was generating that marvelous conception of ,bell's--a current of electricity that varied in intensity precisely as the air was varying in density within hearing distance of that spring4 ,that undulatory current had passed through the connecting wire to the distant receiver which1 fortunately1 was a mechanism that could transform that current back into an extremely faint echo of the sound of the vibrating spring that had generated it1 but what was still more fortunate1 the right man had that mechanism at his ear during that fleeting moment1 and instantly recognized the transcendent importance of that faint sound thus electrically transmitted4 ,the shout ,i heard and his excited rush into my room were the result of that recognition4 ,the speaking telephone was born at that moment4 ,bell knew perfectly well that the mechanism that could transmit all the complex vibrations of one sound could do the same for any sound1 even that of speech4 ,that experiment showed him that the complex apparatus he had thought would be needed to accomplish that long dreamed result was not at all necessary1 for here was an extremely simple mechanism operating in a perfectly obvious way1 that could do it perfectly4 ,all the experimenting that followed that discovery1 up to the time the telephone was put into practical use1 was largely a matter of working out the details4 ,we spent a few hours verifying the discovery1 repeating it with all the differently tuned springs we had1 and before we parted that night ,bell gave me directions for making the first electric speaking telephone4 ,i was to mount a small drumhead of gold-beater's skin over one of the receivers1 join the center of the drumhead to the free end of the receiver spring and arrange a mouthpiece over the drumhead to talk into4 ,his idea was to force the steel spring to follow the vocal vibrations and generate a current of electricity that would vary in intensity as the air varies in density during the utterance of speech sounds4 ,i followed these directions and had the instrument ready for its trial the very next day4 ,i rushed it1 for ,bell's excitement and enthusiasm over the discovery had aroused mine again1 which had been sadly dampened during those last few weeks by the meagre results of the harmonic experiments4 ,i made every part of that first telephone myself1 but ,i didn't realize while ,i was working on it what a tremendously important piece of work ,i was doing4 ,the ,first ,telephone ,line ,the two rooms in the attic were too near together for the test1 as our voices would be heard through the air1 so ,i ran a wire especially for the trial from one of the rooms in the attic down two flights to the third floor where ,williams' main shop was1 ending it near my work bench at the back of the building4 ,that was the first telephone line4 ,you can well imagine that both our hearts were beating above the normal rate while we were getting ready for the trial of the new instrument that evening4 ,i got more satisfaction from the experiment than ,mr4 ,bell did1 for shout my best ,i could not make him hear me1 but ,i could hear his voice and almost catch the words4 ,i rushed downstairs and told him what ,i had heard4 ,it was enough to show him that he was on the right track1 and before he left that night he gave me directions for several improvements in the telephones ,i was to have ready for the next trial4 ,illustration3 ,alexander ,graham ,bell's ,first ,telephone ,i hope my pride in the fact that ,i made the first telephone1 put up the first telephone wire and heard the first words ever uttered through a telephone1 has never been too ostentatious and offensive to my friends1 but ,i am sure that you will grant that a reasonable amount of that human weakness is excusable in me4 ,my pride has been tempered to quite a bearable degree by my realization that the reason why ,i heard ,bell in that first trial of the telephone and he did not hear me1 was the vast superiority of his strong vibratory tones over any sound my undeveloped voice was then able to utter4 ,my sense of hearing1 however1 has always been unusually acute1 and that might have helped to determine this result4 ,the building where these first telephone experiments were made is still in existence4 ,it is now used as a theater4 ,the lower stories have been much altered1 but that attic is still quite unchanged and a few weeks ago ,i stood on the very spot where ,i snapped those springs and helped test the first telephone thirty-seven years and seven months before4 7,editor's ,note3 ,the old building was finally replaced by new construction in #aica47 ,mr4 ,watson ,heard the ,first ,sentence ,ever ,spoken ,over the ,telephone ,of course in our struggle to expel the imps from the invention1 an immense amount of experimenting had to be done1 but it wasn't many days before we could talk back and forth and hear each other's voice4 ,it is1 however1 hard for me to realize now that it was not until the following ,march that ,i heard a complete and intelligible sentence4 ,it made such an impression upon me that ,i wrote that first sentence in a book ,i have always preserved4 ,the occasion had not been arranged and rehearsed as ,i suspect the sending of the first message over the ,morse telegraph had been years before1 for instead of that noble first telegraphic message--8,what hath ,god wrought80 the first message of the telephone was3 8,mr4 ,watson1 come here1 ,i want you40 ,perhaps1 if ,mr4 ,bell had realized that he was about to make a bit of history1 he would have been prepared with a more sounding and interesting sentence4 ,soon after the first telephones were made1 ,bell hired two rooms on the top floor of an inexpensive boarding house at ,no4 #e ,exeter ,place1 ,boston1 since demolished to make room for mercantile buildings4 ,he slept in one room2 the other he fitted up as a laboratory4 ,i ran a wire for him between the two rooms and after that time practically all his experimenting was done there4 ,it was here one evening when ,i had gone there to help him test some improvement and to spend the night with him1 that ,i heard the first complete sentence ,i have just told you about4 ,matters began to move more rapidly1 and during the summer of #ahgf the telephone was talking so well that one didn't have to ask the other man to say it over again more than three or four times before one could understand quite well1 if the sentences were simple4 ,the ,centennial ,exposition ,this was the year of the ,centennial ,exposition at ,philadelphia1 and ,bell decided to make an exhibit there4 ,i was still working for ,williams1 and one of the jobs ,i did for ,bell was to construct a telephone of each form that had been devised up to that time4 ,these were the first nicely finished instruments that had been made4 ,there had been no money nor time to waste on polish or non-essentials4 ,but these ,centennial telephones were done up in the highest style of the art4 ,you could see your face in them4 ,these aristocratic telephones worked finely1 in spite of their glitter1 when ,sir ,william ,thompson tried them at ,philadelphia that summer4 ,i was as proud as ,bell himself1 when ,i read ,sir ,william's report1 wherein he said after giving an account of the tests3 8,i need hardly say ,i was astonished and delighted1 so were the others who witnessed the experiment and verified with their own ears the electric transmission of speech4 ,this1 perhaps1 the greatest marvel hitherto achieved by electric telegraph1 has been obtained by appliances of quite a homespun and rudimentary character40 ,i have never forgiven ,sir ,william for that last line4 ,homespun6 ,experimentation ,however1 ,i recovered from this blow1 and soon after ,mr4 ,gardiner ,g4 ,hubbard1 afterwards ,mr4 ,bell's father-in-law1 offered me an interest in ,bell's patents if ,i would give up my work at ,williams' and devote my time to the telephone4 ,i accepted1 although ,i wasn't altogether sure it was a wise thing to do from a financial standpoint4 ,my contract stipulated that ,i was to work under ,mr4 ,bell's directions1 on the harmonic telegraph as well as on the speaking telephone1 for the two men who were paying the bills still thought there was something in the former invention1 although very little attention had been given to its vagaries after the ,june #bnd discovery4 ,illustration3 #ahgf ,,bell ,,telephone ,telephone ,apparatus ,patented in #ahgf by ,prof4 ,bell1 ,models ,made from ,figure #g in ,bell's ,original ,patent ,i moved my domicile from ,salem to another room on the top floor at #e ,exeter ,place1 giving us the entire floor1 and as ,mr4 ,bell had lost most of his pupils by wasting so much of his time on telephones1 he could devote nearly all his time to the experimenting4 ,then followed a period of hard and continuous work on the invention4 ,i made telephones with every modification and combination of their essential parts that either of us could think of4 ,i made and we tested telephones with all sizes of diaphragms made of all kinds of materials--diaphragms of boiler iron several feet in diameter1 down to a miniature affair made of the bones and drum of a human ear1 and found that the best results came from an iron diaphragm of about the same size and thickness as is used to-day4 ,we tested electro magnets and permanent magnets of a multitude of sizes and shapes1 with long cores and short cores1 fat cores and thin cores1 solid cores and cores of wire1 with coils of many sizes1 shapes and resistances1 and mouthpieces of an infinite variety4 ,out of the hundreds of experiments there emerged practically the same telephone you take off the hook and listen with to-day1 although it was then transmitter as well as receiver4 ,illustration3 ,reprint from the ,boston ,advertiser describing the ,telephone ,talk between ,boston and ,cambridgeport1 ,october #i1 #ahgf ,,telephony4 ,,audible ,,speech ,,conveyed ,,two ,,miles ,,by ,,telegraph4 ,,professor ,a4 ,,graham ,,bell',s ,,discovery--,,successful ,,and ,,interesting ,,experiments--,,the ,,record ,,of ,a ,,conversation ,,carried ,,on ,,between ,,boston ,,and ,,cambridgeport4 ,the following account of an experiment made on the evening of ,october #i by ,alexander ,graham ,bell and ,thomas ,a4 ,watson is interesting1 as being the record of the first conversation ever carried on by word of mouth over a telegraph wire4 ,telephones placed at either end of a telegraph line owned by the ,walworth ,manufacturing ,company1 extending from their office in ,boston to their factory in ,cambridgeport1 a distance of about two miles4 ,the company's battery1 consisting of nine ,daniels cells1 was removed from the circuit and another of ten carbon elements substituted4 ,articulate conversation then took place through the wire4 ,the sounds1 at first faint and indistinct1 became suddenly quite loud and intelligible4 ,mr4 ,bell in ,boston and ,mr4 ,watson in ,cambridge then took notes of what was said and heard and the comparison of the two records is most interesting1 as showing the accuracy of the electrical transmission3-- ,,boston ,,record4 ,mr4 ,bell--,what do you think was the matter with the instruments8 ,mr4 ,watson--,there was nothing the matter with ,,cambridgeport ,,record4 ,mr4 ,bell--,what do you think is the matter with the instruments8 ,mr4 ,watson--,there is nothing the matter with them4 8,talking0 from ,boston to ,cambridge ,progress was rapid1 and on ,october #i1 #ahgf1 we were ready to take the baby outdoors for the first time4 ,we got permission from the ,walworth ,manufacturing ,company to use their private wire running from ,boston to ,cambridge1 about two miles long4 ,i went to ,cambridge that evening with one of our best telephones1 and waited until ,bell signalled from the ,boston office on the ,morse sounder4 ,then ,i cut out the sounder and connected in the telephone and listened4 ,not a murmur came through6 ,could it be that1 although the thing worked all right in the house1 it wouldn't work under practical line conditions8 ,i knew that we were using the most complex and delicate electric current that had ever been employed for a practical purpose and that it was extremely 8intense10 for ,bell had talked through a circuit composed of #bj or #cj human beings joined hand to hand4 ,could it be1 ,i thought1 that these high tension vibrations leaking off at each insulator along the line1 had vanished completely before they reached the ,charles ,river8 ,that fear passed through my mind as ,i worked over the instrument1 adjusting it and tightening the wires in the binding posts1 without improving matters in the least4 ,then the thought struck me that perhaps there was another ,morse sounder in some other room4 ,i traced the wires from the place they entered the building and sure enough ,i found a relay with a high resistance coil in the circuit4 ,i cut it out with a piece of wire across the binding posts and rushed back to my telephone and listened4 ,that was the trouble4 ,plainly as one could wish came ,bell's 8ahoy10 8ahoy60#a ,i ahoyed back1 and the first long distance telephone conversation began4 ,skeptics had been objecting that the telephone could never compete with the telegraph as its messages would not be accurate4 ,for this reason ,bell had arranged that we should make a record of all we said and heard that night1 if we succeeded in talking at all4 ,we carried out this plan and the entire conversation was published in parallel columns in the next morning's ,advertiser1 as the latest startling scientific achievement4 ,infatuated with the joy of talking over an actual telegraph wire1 we kept up our conversation until long after midnight4 ,it was a very happy boy that traveled back to ,boston in the small hours with the telephone under his arm done up in a newspaper4 ,bell had taken his record to the newspaper office and was not at the laboratory when ,i arrived there1 but when he came in there ensued a jubilation and war dance that elicited next morning from our landlady1 who wasn't at all scientific in her tastes1 the remark that we'd have to vacate if we didn't make less noise nights4 ,tests on still longer telegraph lines soon followed--the success of each experiment being in rather exact accordance with the condition of the poor1 rusty-joined wires we had to use4 ,talk about imps that baffle inventors6 ,there was one of an especially vicious and malignant type in every unsoldered joint of the old wires4 ,the genial ,tom ,doolittle hadn't even thought of his hard-drawn copper wire then1 with which he later eased the lot of the struggling telephone men4 ,our ,many ,visitors ,meanwhile the fame of the invention had spread rapidly abroad and all sorts of people made pilgrimages to ,bell's laboratory to hear the telephone talk4 ,a list of the scientists who came to the attic of that cheap boarding house to see the telephone would read like the roster of the ,american ,association for the ,advancement of ,science4 ,my old electrical mentor1 ,moses ,g4 ,farmer1 called one day to see the latest improvements4 ,he told me then with tears in his eyes when he first read a description of ,bell's telephone he couldn't sleep for a week1 he was so mad with himself for not discovering the thing years before4 8,watson10 said he1 8that thing has flaunted itself in my very face a dozen times within the last ten years and every time ,i was too blind to see it4 ,but10 he continued1 8if ,bell had known anything about electricity he would never have invented the telephone40 ,illustration3 ,prof4 ,bell's ,original ,centennial ,magneto ,transmitter ,two of our regular visitors were young ,japanese pupils of ,professor ,bell--very polite1 deferential1 quiet1 bright-eyed little men1 who saw everything and made cryptic notes4 ,they took huge delight in proving that the telephone could talk ,japanese4 ,a curious effect of the telephone ,i noticed at that time was its power to paralyze the tongues of men otherwise fluent enough by nature and profession4 ,i remember a prominent lawyer who1 when he heard my voice in the telephone making some such profound remark to him as 8,how do you do80 could only reply1 after a long pause1 8,rig a jig jig and away we go40 ,a 8,wireless ,telephone0 ,men of quite another sort came occasionally4 ,mr4 ,hubbard received a letter one day from a man who wrote that he could put us on the track of a secret that would enable us to talk any distance without a wire4 ,this interested ,mr4 ,hubbard and he made an appointment for the man to meet me4 ,at the appointed time1 a stout1 rather unkempt man made his appearance4 ,he didn't take the least interest in the telephone2 he said that was already a back number1 and if we would hire him for a small sum per week we would soon learn how to telephone without any apparatus or any wires4 ,he went on to tell in a most convincing way how two prominent theatrical men in ,new ,york1 whom he had never seen1 had got his brain so connected into their circuit that they could talk with him at any time1 day or night1 and make all sorts of fiendish suggestions to him4 ,he didn't know yet how they did it1 but he was sure ,i could find out their secret1 if ,i would just take the top off his head and examine his brain4 ,it dawned on me then that ,i was dealing with an insane man4 ,i got rid of him as soon as ,i could by promising to experiment on him when ,i could find time4 ,the next ,i heard of the poor fellow he was in the violent ward of an insane asylum4 ,several similar cases of insanity attracted by the fame of ,bell's occult 767 invention called on us or wrote to us within a year of that time4 ,illustration3 ,prof4 ,bell's ,original ,centennial ,receiver ,telephone ,installations ,we began to get requests for telephone installations long before we were ready to supply them4 ,in ,april1 #ahgg1 the first outdoor telephone line was run between ,mr4 ,williams' office at #aji ,court ,street and his house in ,somerville4 ,professor ,bell and ,i were present and participated in the important ceremony of opening the line and the event was a headliner in the next morning's papers4 ,financial ,problems ,at about this time ,professor ,bell's financial problems had begun to press hard for solution4 ,we were very much disappointed because the ,president of the ,western ,union ,telegraph ,company had refused1 somewhat contemptuously1 ,mr4 ,hubbard's offer to sell him all the ,bell patents for the exorbitant sum of #ajj1jjj4 ,it was an especially hard blow to me1 for while the negotiations were pending ,i had had visions of a sumptuous office in the ,western ,union ,building in ,new ,york1 which ,i was expecting to occupy as ,superintendent of the ,telephone ,department of the great telegraph company4 ,however1 we recovered even from that facer4 ,two years later the ,western ,union would gladly have bought those patents for #be1jjj1jjj4 ,illustration3 ,original ,box ,telephone ,introduced ,commercially in #ahgg ,but before that happy time there were lots of troubles of all the old and of several new varieties to be surmounted4 ,professor ,bell's particular trouble in the spring of #ahgg arose from the fact that he had fallen in love with a most charming young lady4 ,i had never been in love myself at that time and that was my first opportunity of observing what a serious matter it can be1 especially when the father isn't altogether enthusiastic4 ,i rather suspected at that time that that shrewd but kind-hearted gentleman put obstacles in the course of that true love1 in order to stimulate the young man to still greater exertion in perfecting his inventions4 ,but he might have thought as ,prospero did3 8,they are both in either's power2 but this swift business ,i must uneasy make1 lest too light winning ,make the prize light40 ,bell's immediate financial needs were solved1 however1 by the demand that began at this time for public lectures by him on the telephone4 ,it is hard to realize to-day what an intense and widespread interest there was then in the telephone4 ,i don't believe any new invention could stir the public to-day as the telephone did then1 surfeited as we are now with the wonderful things that have been invented since4 ,leasing ,instruments a ,far-,sighted ,policy ,these lectures are important for another reason than that they solved a temporary money problem4 ,they obviated the necessity of selling telephones outright1 instead of leasing them so as to retain control--a policy ,mr4 ,hubbard afterwards adopted which made possible the splendid universal service ,mr4 ,vail with your help has given the ,bell system to-day4 ,some of the ladies deeply interested in the immediate outcome were strenuously advocating at this critical juncture making and selling the telephones at once in the largest possible quantities--imperfect as they were4 ,fortunately1 for the future of the business the returns from the lectures that began at this very time obviated this danger4 ,telephone ,lectures ,bell's first lecture1 as ,i have said1 was given before a well-known scientific society--the ,essex ,institute--at ,salem1 ,mass4 ,they were especially interested in the telephone because ,bell was living in ,salem during the early telephone experiments4 ,the first lecture was free to members of the society1 but it packed the hall and created so much interest that ,bell was requested to repeat it for an admission fee4 ,this he did to an audience that again filled the house4 ,requests for lectures poured in upon ,bell after that4 ,such men as ,oliver ,wendell ,holmes and ,henry ,w4 ,longfellow signed the request for the ,boston lectures4 ,the ,salem lectures were soon followed by a lecture in ,providence to an audience of #b1jjj1 by a course of three lectures at the largest hall in ,boston--all three packed--by three in ,chickering ,hall1 ,new ,york1 and by others in most of the large cities of ,new ,england4 ,they all took place in the spring and early summer of #ahgg1 during which time there was little opportunity for experimenting for either ,bell or myself1 which ,i think now was rather a good thing1 for we had become quite stale and needed a change that would give us a new influx of ideas4 ,my part in the lectures was important1 although entirely invisible as far as the audience was concerned4 ,i was always at the other end of the wire1 generating and transmitting to the hall where ,professor ,bell was speaking1 such telephonic phenomena as he needed to illustrate his lectures4 ,i would have at my end circuit breakers--rheotomes1 we called them--that would utter electric howls of various pitches1 a lusty cornet player1 sometimes a small brass band1 and an electric organ with ,edward ,wilson to play on it1 but the star performer was the young man who two years before didn't have voice enough to let ,bell hear his own telephone1 but in whom that two years of strenuous shouting into mouthpieces of various sizes and shapes had developed a voice with the carrying capacity of a steam calliope4 ,my special function in these lectures was to show the audience that the telephone could really talk4 ,not only that1 ,i had to do all the singing1 too1 for which my musical deficiencies fitted me admirably4 ,illustration3 ,facsimile of ,flier ,advertising ,prof4 ,bell's ,lecture at ,lawrence1 ,mass41 ,monday ,evening1 ,may #bh1 #ahgg ,,city ,,hall1 ,,lawrence1 ,,mass4 ,monday ,evening1 ,may #bh ,,the ,,miracle ,,telephone ,,wonderful ,,discovery ,,of ,,the ,,age ,prof4 ,a4 ,graham ,bell1 assisted by ,mr4 ,frederic ,a4 ,gower1 will give an exhibition of his wonderful and miraculous discovery ,the ,telephone1 before the people of ,lawrence as above1 when ,boston and ,lawrence will be connected via the ,western ,union ,telegraph and vocal and instrumental music and conversation will be transmitted a distance of #bg miles and received by the audience in the ,city ,hall4 ,prof4 ,bell will give an explanatory lecture with this marvellous exhibition4 ,cards of ,admission1 #ce cents ,reserved ,seats1 #ej cents ,sale of seats at ,stratton's will open at #i o'clock4 ,my ,telephone ,entertainers ,professor ,bell would have one telephone by his side on the stage1 where he was speaking1 and three or four others of the big box variety we used at that time would be suspended about the hall1 all connected by means of a hired telegraph wire with the place where ,i was stationed1 from five to twenty-five miles away4 ,bell would give the audience1 first1 the commonplace parts of the show and then would come the thrillers of the evening--my shouts and songs4 ,i would shout such sentences as1 8,how do you do80 8,good evening10 8,what do you think of the telephone80 which they could all hear1 although the words issued from the mouthpieces rather badly marred by the defective talking powers of the telephones of that date4 ,then ,i would sing 8,hold the ,fort10 8,pull for the ,shore10 8,yankee ,doodle10 and as a delicate allusion to the ,professor's nationality1 8,auld ,lang ,syne40 ,my sole sentimental song was 8,do ,not ,trust ,him1 ,gentle ,lady40 ,this repertoire always brought down the house4 ,after every song ,i would listen at my telephone for further directions from the lecturer1 and always felt the artist's joy when ,i heard in it the long applause that followed each of my efforts4 ,i was always encored to the limit of my repertoire and sometimes had to sing it through twice4 ,i have always understood that ,professor ,bell was a fine platform speaker1 but this is entirely hearsay on my part for1 although ,i spoke at every one of his lectures1 ,i have never yet had the pleasure of hearing him deliver an address4 ,first ,sound-,proof ,booth ,in making the preparations for the ,new ,york lectures ,i incidentally invented the sound-proof booth1 but as ,mr4 ,lockwood was not then associated with us1 and for other reasons1 ,i never patented it4 ,it happened thus3 ,bell thought he would like to astonish the ,new ,yorkers by having his lecture illustrations sent all the way from ,boston4 ,to determine whether this was practicable1 he made arrangements to test the telephone a few days before on one of the ,atlantic and ,pacific wires4 ,the trial was to take place at midnight4 ,bell was at the ,new ,york end1 ,i was in the ,boston laboratory4 ,having vividly in mind the strained relations already existing with our landlady1 and realizing the carrying power of my voice when ,i really let it go1 as ,i knew ,i should have to that night1 ,i cast about for some device to deaden the noise4 ,time was short and appliances scarce1 so the best ,i could do was to take the blankets off our beds and arrange them in a sort of loose tunnel1 with the telephone tied up in one end and the other end open for the operator to crawl into4 ,thus equipped ,i awaited the signal from ,new ,york announcing that ,bell was ready4 ,it came soon after midnight4 ,then ,i connected in the telephone1 deposited myself in that cavity1 and shouted and listened for two or three hours4 ,it didn't work as well as it might4 ,it is a wonder some of my remarks didn't burn holes in the blankets4 ,we talked after a fashion but ,bell decided it wasn't safe to risk it with a ,new ,york audience4 ,my sound-proof booth1 however1 was a complete success1 as far as stopping the sound was concerned1 for ,i found by cautious inquiry next day that nobody had heard my row4 ,later inventors improved my booth1 making it more comfortable for a pampered public but not a bit more sound-proof4 ,illustration3 ,box ,telephone with ,watson ,hammer ,signal ,illustration3 ,watson ,type of ,ringer 8,the ,supposititious ,mr4 ,watson0 ,one of those ,new ,york lectures looms large in my memory on account of a novel experience ,i had at my end of the wire4 ,after hearing me sing1 the manager of the lectures decided that while ,i might satisfy a ,boston audience ,i would never do for a ,new ,york congregation1 so he engaged a fine baritone soloist--a powerful negro1 who was to assume the singing part of my program4 ,being much better acquainted with the telephone than that manager was1 ,i had doubts about the advisability of this change in the cast4 ,i didn't say anything1 as ,i didn't want to be accused of professional jealousy1 and ,i knew my repertoire would be on the spot in case things went wrong4 ,i was stationed that night at the telegraph office at ,new ,brunswick1 ,new ,jersey1 and ,i and the rest of the usual appliances of that end of the lecture went down in the afternoon to get things ready4 ,i rehearsed my rival and found him a fine singer1 but had difficulty in getting him to crowd his lips into the mouthpiece4 ,he was handicapped for the telephone business by being musical1 and he didn't like the sound of his voice jammed up in that way4 ,however1 he promised to do what ,i wanted when it came to the actual work of the evening1 and ,i went to supper4 ,when ,i returned to the telegraph office1 just before eight o'clock1 ,i found to my horror that the young lady operator had invited six or eight of her dear friends to witness the interesting proceedings4 ,now1 besides my musical deficiencies1 ,i had another qualification as a telephone man--,i was very modest2 in fact1 in the presence of ladies1 extremely bashful4 ,it didn't trouble me in the least to talk or sing to a great audience1 provided1 of course1 it was a few miles away1 but when ,i saw those girls1 the complacency with which ,i had been contemplating the probable failure of my fine singer was changed to painful apprehension4 ,if he wasn't successful a very bashful young man would have a new experience4 ,i should be obliged to sing myself before those giggling1 unscientific girls4 ,this world would be a better place to live in if we all tried to help our fellow-men succeed1 as ,i tried that night1 when the first song was called for1 to make my musical friend achieve a lyrical triumph on the ,metropolitan stage4 ,but he sang that song for the benefit of those girls1 not for ,chickering ,hall1 and it was with a heavy heart that ,i listened for ,bell's voice when he finished it4 ,the blow fell4 ,in his most delightful platform tones1 ,bell uttered the fatal words ,i had foreboded1 8,mr4 ,watson1 the audience could not hear that4 ,won't you please sing80 ,bell was always a kind-hearted man1 but he didn't know4 ,however1 ,i nerved myself with the thought that that ,new ,york audience1 made skeptical by the failure of that song1 might be thinking cynical things about my beloved leader and his telephone1 so ,i turned my back on those girls and made that telephone rattle with the stirring strains of 8,hold the ,fort10 as it never had before4 ,then ,i listened again4 ,ah1 the sweetness of appreciation6 ,that ,new ,york audience was applauding vigorously4 ,when it stopped1 the same voice came with a new note of triumph in it4 8,mr4 ,watson1 the audience heard that perfectly and call for an encore40 ,i sang through my entire repertoire and began again on 8,hold the ,fort10 before that audience was satisfied4 ,that experience did me good1 ,i have never had stage fright since4 ,but the 8supposititious ,mr4 ,watson10 as they called me then1 had to do the singing at all of ,bell's subsequent lectures4 ,nobody else had a chance at the job2 one experience was enough for ,mr4 ,bell4 ,my baritone had his hat on his head and a cynical expression on his face1 when ,i finished working on those songs4 8,is that what you wanted80 he asked4 8,yes40 8,well1 boss1 ,i couldn't do that40 ,of course he couldn't4 ,an ,exhibition in ,lawrence ,another occasion is burnt into my memory that wasn't such a triumph over difficulties4 ,in these lectures we always had another trouble to contend with1 besides the rusty joints in the wires2 that was the operators cutting in1 during the lectures1 their highest resistance relays1 which enabled them to hear some of the intermittent current effects ,i sent to the hall4 ,inductance1 retardation1 and all that sort of thing which you have so largely conquered since were invented long before the telephone was1 and were awaiting her on earth all ready to slam it when ,bell came along4 ,bell lectured at ,lawrence1 ,massachusetts1 one evening in ,may1 and ,i prepared to furnish him with the usual program from the laboratory in ,boston4 ,illustration3 ,watson's 8,buzzer0 ,but the wire the company assigned us was the worst yet4 ,it worked fairly well when we tried it in the afternoon1 but in the evening every station on the line had evidently cut in its relay1 and do my best ,i couldn't get a sound through to the hall4 ,the local newspaper generally sent a reporter to my end of the wire to write up the occurrences there4 ,this is the report of such an envoy as it appeared in the ,lawrence paper the morning after ,bell's lecture there3 8,mr4 ,fisher returned this morning4 ,he says that ,watson1 the organist and himself occupied the laboratory1 sitting in their shirt sleeves with their collars off4 ,watson shouted his lungs into the telephone mouthpiece1 #8,hoy6 ,hoy6 ,hoy6' and receiving no response1 inquired of ,fisher if he pardoned for a little #8hamburg edging' on his language4 ,mr4 ,fisher endeavored to transmit to his ,lawrence townsman the tune of #8,federal ,street' played upon the cornet1 but the air was not distinguishable here4 ,about #aj ,p4,m41 ,watson discovered the #8,northern ,lights' and found his wires alive with lightning1 which was not included in the original scheme of the telephone4 ,he says the loose electricity abroad in the world was too much for him40 ,waiting for ,watson ,the next morning a poem appeared in the ,lawrence paper4 ,the writer must have sat up all night to write it4 ,it was entitled 8,waiting for ,watson10 and as ,i am very proud of the only poem ,i ever had written about me1 ,i am going to ask your permission to read it4 ,please notice the great variety of human feeling the poet put into it4 ,it even suggests missiles1 though it flings none4 ,lawrence1 ,mass41 ,daily ,american1 ,tuesday1 ,may #bi1 #ahgg4 ,,waiting ,,for ,,watson ,to the great hall we strayed1 ,fairly our fee we paid1 ,seven hundred there delayed1 ,but1 where was ,watson8 ,was he out on his beer8 ,walked he off on his ear8 ,something was wrong1 'tis clear4 ,what was it1 ,watson8 ,seven hundred souls were there1 ,waiting with stony stare1 ,in that expectant air-- ,waiting for ,watson4 ,oh1 how our ears we strained1 ,how our hopes waxed and waned1 ,patience to dregs we drained1 ,yes1 we did1 ,watson6 ,softly the bandmen played1 ,rumbled the ,night ,brigade1 ,for this our stamps we paid1 ,only this1 ,watson6 ,but1 ,hope's by fruitage fed1 ,promise and ,act should wed1 ,faith without works is dead1 ,is it not1 ,watson8 ,give but one lusty groan1 ,for bread we'll take a stone1 ,ring your old telephone6 ,ring1 brother ,watson4 ,doubtless 'tis very fine1 ,when1 all along the line1 ,things work most superfine-- ,doubtless 'tis ,watson4 ,let's hear the thrills and thrums1 ,that your skilled digit drums1 ,striking our tympanums-- ,music from ,watson4 ,we know that1 every day1 ,schemes laid to work and pay1 ,fail and 8gang aft a-gley0-- ,often1 friend ,watson4 ,and we'll not curse1 or fling1 ,but1 next time1 do the thing ,and we'll all rise and sing1 8,bully for ,watson60 ,or1 by the unseen powers1 ,hope in our bosom sours1 ,no telephone in ours-- 8,please1 ,mr4 ,watson40 ,illustration3 ,the ,first ,telephone ,advertisement1 ,used the ,year ,following the ,issuance of the ,original ,patent1 ,offered to ,furnish ,telephones 8for the ,transmission of ,articulate ,speech ,through ,instruments ,not ,more ,than ,twenty ,miles ,apart40 ,the ,telephone4 ,the proprietors of the ,telephone1 the invention of ,alexander ,graham ,bell1 for which patents have been issued by the ,united ,states and ,great ,britain1 are now prepared to furnish ,telephones for the transmission of articulate speech through instruments not more than twenty miles apart4 ,conversation can be easily carried on after slight practice and with the occasional repetition of a word or sentence4 ,on first listening to the ,telephone1 though the sound is perfectly audible1 the articulation seems to be indistinct2 but after a few trials the ear becomes accustomed to the peculiar sound and finds little difficulty in understanding the words4 ,the ,telephone should be set in a quiet place1 where there is no noise which would interrupt ordinary conversation4 ,the advantages of the ,telephone over the ,telegraph for local business are #ast4 ,that no skilled operator is required1 but direct communication may be had by speech without the intervention of a third person4 #b;d4 ,that the communication is much more rapid1 the average number of words transmitted a minute by ,morse ,sounder being from fifteen to twenty1 by ,telephone from one to two hundred4 #c;d4 ,that no expense is required either for its operation1 maintenance1 or repair4 ,it needs no battery1 and has no complicated machinery4 ,it is unsurpassed for economy and simplicity4 ,the ,terms for leasing two ,telephones for social purposes connecting a dwelling-house with any other building will be #bj a year1 for business purposes #dj a year1 payable semiannually in advance1 with the cost of expressage from ,boston1 ,new ,york1 ,cincinnati1 ,chicago1 ,st4 ,louis1 or ,san ,francisco4 ,the instruments will be kept in good working order by the lessors1 free of expense1 except from injuries resulting from great carelessness4 ,several ,telephones can be placed on the same line at an additional rental of #aj for each instrument2 but the use of more than two on the some line where privacy is required is not advised4 ,any person within ordinary hearing distance can hear the voice calling through the ,telephone4 ,if a louder call is required one can be furnished for #e4 ,telegraph lines will be constructed by the proprietors if desired4 ,the price will vary from #ajj to #aej a mile2 any good mechanic can construct a line2 ,no4 #i wire costs #h cents a pound1 #cbj pounds to the mile2 #cd insulators at #be cents each2 the price of poles and setting varies in every locality2 stringing wire #e per mile2 sundries #aj per mile4 ,parties leasing the ,telephones incur no expense beyond the annual rental and the repair of the line wire4 ,on the following pages are extracts from the ,press and other sources relating to the ,telephone4 ,,gardiner ,g4 ,,hubbard4 ,cambridge1 ,mass41 ,may1 #ahgg4 ,for further information and orders address ,,thos4 ,a4 ,,watson1 #aji ,court ,st41 ,boston4 ,my ,last ,public ,appearance ,but my vacation was about over4 ,besides raising the wind1 the lectures had stirred up a great demand for telephone lines4 ,the public was ready for the telephone long before we were ready for the public1 and this pleasant artistic interlude had to stop2 ,i was needed in the shop to build some telephones to satisfy the insistent demand4 ,fred ,gower1 a young newspaper man of ,providence1 had become interested with ,mr4 ,bell in the lecture work4 ,he had an unique scheme for a dual lecture with my illustrations sent from a central point to halls in two cities at the same time4 ,i think my last appearance in public was one of these dualities4 ,bell lectured at ,new ,haven and ,gower gave the talk at ,hartford1 while ,i was in between at ,middletown1 ,conn41 with my apparatus1 including my songs4 ,it didn't work very well4 ,the two lecturers didn't speak synchronously4 ,gower told me afterwards that ,i was giving him1 8,how do you do10 when he wanted 8,hold the ,fort10 and ,bell said ,i made it awkward for him by singing 8,do ,not ,trust ,him1 ,gentle ,lady10 when he needed the trombone solo4 ,the 8,gower-,bell0 ,telephone ,in the following ,august1 ,professor ,bell married and went to ,england1 taking with him a complete set of up-to-date telephones1 with which he intended to start the trouble in that country4 ,fred ,gower became so fascinated with lecturing on the telephone that he gave up an exclusive right ,mr4 ,hubbard had granted him for renting telephones all over ,new ,england1 for the exclusive privilege of using the telephone for lecture purposes all over the ,united ,states4 ,but it wasn't remunerative after ,bell and ,i gave it up4 ,the discriminating public preferred ,mr4 ,bell as speaker--and ,i always felt that the singing never reached the early heights4 ,illustration3 ,magneto ,wall ,set 7,williams' ,coffin7 ,gower went to ,england later4 ,there he made some small modification of ,bell's telephone1 called it the 8,gower-,bell0 telephone1 and made a fortune out of his hyphenated atrocity4 ,later he married ,lillian ,nordica1 although she soon separated from him4 ,he became interested in ballooning4 ,the last scene in his life before the curtain dropped showed a balloon over the waters of the ,english ,channel4 ,a fishing boat hails him1 8,where are you bound80 ,gower's voice replies1 8,to ,london40 ,then the balloon and its pilot drifted into the mist forever4 ,developing a ,calling ,apparatus2 the ,watson 8,buzzer0 ,illustration3 ,francis ,blake ,as ,i said1 ,i went back to work1 and my next two years was a continuous performance4 ,it began to dawn on us that people engaged in getting their living in the ordinary walks of life couldn't be expected to keep the telephone at their ear all the time waiting for a call1 especially as it weighed about ten pounds then and was as big as a small packing case1 so it devolved on me to get up some sort of a call signal4 ,williams on his line used to call by thumping the diaphragm through the mouthpiece with the butt of a lead pencil4 ,if there was someone close to the telephone at the other end1 and it was very still1 it did pretty well1 but it seriously damaged the vitals of the machine and therefore ,i decided it wasn't really practical for the general public2 besides1 we might have to supply a pencil with every telephone and that would be expensive4 ,then ,i rigged a little hammer inside the box with a button on the outside4 ,when the button was thumped the hammer would hit the side of the diaphragm where it could not be damaged1 the usual electrical transformation took place1 and a much more modest but still unmistakable thump would issue from the telephone at the other end4 ,that was the first calling apparatus ever devised for use with the telephone1 not counting ,williams' lead pencil1 and several with that attachment were put into practical use4 ,but the exacting public wanted something better1 and ,i devised the ,watson 8,buzzer0--the only practical use we ever made of the harmonic telegraph relics4 ,many of these were sent out4 ,it was a vast improvement on the ,watson 8,thumper10 but still it didn't take the popular fancy4 ,it made a sound quite like the horseradish grater automobile signal we are so familiar with nowadays1 and aroused just the same feeling of resentment which that does4 ,it brought me only a fleeting fame for ,i soon superseded it by a magneto-electric call bell that solved the problem1 and was destined to make a long-suffering public turn cranks for the next fifteen years or so1 as it never had before1 or ever will hereafter4 ,illustration3 ,the ,blake ,transmitter ,perhaps ,i didn't have any trouble with the plaguy thing6 ,the generator part of it was only an adaptation of a magneto shocking machine ,i found in ,davis' ,manual of ,magnetism and worked well enough1 but ,i was guilty of the jingling part of it4 ,at any rate1 ,i felt guilty when letters began to come from our agents reciting their woes with the thing1 which they said had a trick of sticking and failing on the most important occasions to tinkle in response to the frantic crankings of the man who wanted you4 ,but ,i soon got it so it behaved itself and it has been good ever since1 for ,chief ,engineer ,carty told me the other day that nothing better has ever been invented1 that they have been manufactured by the millions all over the world1 and that identical jingler to-day does practically all the world's telephone calling4 8,williams' ,coffins0 ,for some reason1 my usual good luck ,i presume1 the magneto call bells didn't get my name attached to them4 ,i never regretted this1 for the agents1 who bought them from ,williams1 impressed by the long and narrow box in which the mechanism was placed1 promptly christened them 8,williams' ,coffins40 ,i always thought that a narrow escape for me6 ,the first few hundreds of these call bells were a continuous shock to me for other reasons than their failure to respond4 ,i used on them a switch1 that had to be thrown one way by hand1 when the telephone was being used1 and then thrown back by hand to put the bell in circuit again4 ,but the average man or woman wouldn't do this more than half the time1 and ,i was obliged to try a series of devices1 which culminated in that remarkable achievement of the human brain--the automatic switch--that only demanded of the public that it should hang up the telephone after it got through talking4 ,this the public learned to do quite well after a few years of practice4 ,illustration3 ,the ,first ,commercial ,telephone ,switchboard1 ,used in ,new ,haven1 ,conn41 in #ahgh with ,eight ,lines and ,twenty-one ,subscribers ,the ,blake ,transmitter ,you wouldn't believe me if ,i should tell you a tithe of the difficulties we got into by flexible cords breaking inside the covering1 when we first began to use hand telephones6 ,then they began to clamor for switchboards for the first centrals1 and individual call bells began to keep me awake nights4 ,the latter were very important then1 for such luxuries as one station lines were scarce4 ,six to twenty stations on a wire was the rule1 and we were trying hard to get a signal that would call one station without disturbing the whole town4 ,all of these and many other things had to be done at once1 and1 as if this was not enough1 it suddenly became necessary for me to devise a battery transmitter4 ,the ,western ,union people had discovered that the telephone was not such a toy as they had thought1 and as our #ajj1jjj offer was no longer open for acceptance1 they decided to get a share of the business for themselves1 and ,edison evolved for them his carbon-button transmitter4 ,this was the hardest blow yet4 ,illustration3 ,theodore ,n4 ,vail in #ahgh ,we were still using the magneto transmitter1 although ,bell's patent clearly covered the battery transmitter4 ,our transmitter was doing much to develop the ,american voice and lungs1 making them powerful but not melodious4 ,this was1 by the way1 the telephone epoch when they used to say that all the farmers waiting in a country grocery would rush out and hold their horses when they saw any one preparing to use the telephone4 ,edison's transmitter talked louder than the magnetos we were using and our agents began to clamor for them1 and ,i had to work nights to get up something just as good4 ,fortunately for my constitution1 ,frank ,blake came along with his transmitter4 ,we bought it and ,i got a little sleep for a few days4 ,then our little ,david of a corporation sued that big ,goliath1 the ,western ,union ,company1 for infringing the ,bell patents1 and ,i had to devote my leisure to testifying in that suit1 and making reproductions of the earliest apparatus to prove to the court that they would really talk and were not a bluff1 as our opponents were asserting4 ,then ,i put in the rest of my leisure making trips among our agents this side of the ,mississippi to bring them up to date and see what the enemy were up to4 ,i kept a diary of those trips4 ,it reads rather funnily to-day1 but ,i won't go into that4 ,it would detract from the seriousness of this discourse4 ,wire ,troubles ,nor must ,i forget an occasional diversion in the way of a sleet storm which1 combining with our wires then beginning to fill the air with house top lines and pole lines along the sidewalks1 would make things extremely interesting for all concerned4 ,i don't remember ever going out to erect new poles and run wires after such a catastrophe4 ,i think ,i must have done so1 but such a trifling matter naturally would have made but little impression upon me4 ,is it any wonder that my memory of those two years seems like a combination of the ,balkan war1 the rush hours on the subway and a panic on the stock market8 ,illustration3 ,location of the ,first ,telephone ,switchboard in ,boston--,holmes ,burglar ,alarm ,building ,memories ,i was always glad ,i was not treasurer of the company1 although ,i filled about all the other offices during those two years4 ,tom ,sanders was our treasurer1 and a mighty good one he made4 ,had it not been for his pluck and optimism1 we might all of us have failed to attain the prosperity that came to us later4 ,the preparation of this paper has aroused in me many delightful memories1 but with them have been mixed sad thoughts1 too1 for friends who have gone4 ,jovial ,tom ,sanders6 ,how everybody loved him6 ,no matter how discouraging the outlook was the skies cleared whenever he came into the shop4 ,i can hear his ringing laugh now6 ,it was a red-letter day for me when he hired the first bookkeeper the telephone business ever had--the keen1 energetic1 systematic ,robert ,w4 ,devonshire4 ,you must not forget 8,dev40 ,i never shall1 for after he came ,i didn't have to keep the list of telephone leases in my head any more4 ,then ,thomas ,d4 ,lockwood was hired to take part of my engineering load1 but he developed such an extraordinary faculty for comprehending the intricacies of patents and patent law1 that our lawyers captured him very soon1 and kept him at work until he practically captured their job4 ,and how proud ,i was when the company could afford the extravagance of a clerk for me4 ,he is still working for the company--,mr4 ,george ,w4 ,pierce4 ,i suppose ,i did have some fun during this time1 but the only diversion that lingers in my mind is arranging telephones in a diver's helmet for the first time1 and finding that the diver could not hear when he was under water1 going down myself to see what the matter was4 ,i still feel the pathos of the moment1 when1 arrayed for the descent1 just before ,i disappeared beneath the limpid waters of ,boston harbor1 my usually undemonstrative assistant put his arm around my inflated neck and kissed me on the glass plate4 ,the ,coming of ,theodore ,n4 ,vail ,but matters soon began to straighten out--the clouds gradually cleared away4 ,the ,western ,union tornado ceased to rage1 and ,david found to his delight that he had hit ,goliath squarely in the forehead with a rock labelled ,patent ,no4 #agddfe4 ,then for the first time stock in the ,bell ,company began to be worth something on the stock market4 ,illustration3 ,wooden ,hand ,telephone ,used ,commercially in #ahgg4 ,it ,resembles the ,present ,desk ,telephone ,receiver ,something else happened about that time fully as important4 ,the ,company awoke to the fact that the ,watson generator was overloaded1 and that it ought to get a new dynamo4 ,watson could still hold up the engineering end perhaps1 but we must have a business manager4 ,president ,hubbard said he knew just the man for us--a thousand horsepower steam engine wasting his abilities in the ,united ,states ,railway ,mail ,service1 and he sent me down to ,washington to investigate and report4 ,i must have been impressed1 for ,i telegraphed to ,mr4 ,hubbard to hire the man if he could raise money enough to pay his salary4 ,he did so4 ,this was one of the best things ,i ever helped to do4 ,when the new manager came to work a short time later1 he said to me3 8,watson1 ,i want my desk alongside of yours for a few months until ,i learn the ropes40 ,but the balance of the conceit that previous two years had not knocked out of me vanished1 when in about a fortnight1 ,i found he knew all ,i had learned1 and that at the end of a month ,i was toddling along in the rear trying to catch up1 which ,i never did4 ,he has still quite an important position in the business4 ,his name is ,theodore ,n4 ,vail4 ,may his light never dim for many and many a year6 7,editor's ,note3 ,mr4 ,vail died ,apr4 #af1 #aibj47 ,the ,bell ,system ,the needs of the new business attracted other men with good ideas who entered our service1 such men as ,emile ,berliner and ,george ,l4 ,anders and many others4 ,every agency became a center of inventive activity1 each with its special group of ingenious1 thinking men--every one of whom contributed something1 and sometimes a great deal to the improvement of apparatus or methods4 ,i remember particularly ,ed4 ,gilliland1 of ,indianapolis1 an ingenious man and excellent mechanic1 who improved the generator of my magneto call bell1 shortening the box and making it less funereal4 ,he did much also for central office switchboards4 ,this was the beginning of the great wave of telephonic activity1 not only in electrical and mechanical invention1 but also in business and operative organization1 which has been increasing in its force ever since1 to which men in this audience have made and are making splendid contributions4 ,to-day that wave has become a mighty flood on which the great ,bell system floats majestically as it moves ever onward to new achievements4 ,turning to ,other ,activities ,my connection with the telephone business ceased in #ahha4 ,the strenuous years ,i had passed through had fixed in me a habit of not sleeping nights as much as ,i should1 and a doctor man told me ,i would better go abroad for a year or two for a change4 ,there was not the least need of this1 but as it coincided exactly with my desires1 and as the telephone business had become1 ,i thought1 merely a matter of routine1 with nothing more to do except pay dividends and fight infringers1 ,i resigned my position as ,general ,inspector of the ,company1 and went over the ocean for the first time4 ,when ,i returned to this country a year or so later1 ,i found the telephone business had not suffered in the least from my absence1 but there were so many better men doing the work that ,i had been doing1 that ,i didn't care to go into it again4 ,i was looking for more trouble in life and so ,i went into shipbuilding1 where ,i found all ,i needed4 ,before ,mr4 ,bell went to ,england on his bridal trip1 we agreed that as soon as the telephone became a matter of routine business he and ,i would begin experimenting on flying machines1 on which subject he was full of ideas at that early time4 ,i never carried out this agreement4 ,bell did some notable work on airships later1 but ,i turned my attention to battleships4 ,my ,greatest ,pride ,such is my very inadequate story of the earliest days of the telephone so far as they made part of my life4 ,to-day when ,i go into a central office or talk over a long distance wire or read the annual report of the ,american ,telephone and ,telegraph ,company1 filled with figures up in the millions and even billions1 when ,i think of the growth of the business1 and the marvelous improvements that have been made since the day ,i left it1 thinking there was nothing more to do but routine1 ,i must say that all that early work ,i have told you about seems to shrink into a very small measure1 and1 proud as ,i always shall be1 that ,i had the opportunity of doing some of that earliest work myself1 my greatest pride is that ,i am one of the great army of telephone men1 every one of whom has played his part in making the ,bell ,telephone service what it is to-day4 ,i thank you4 ,early ,chronology of the ,telephone #ahdg1 ,march #c--;,birth of ,alexander ,graham ,bell at ,edinburgh1 ,scotland4 #ahed1 ,january #ah--;,birth of ,thomas ,a4 ,watson at ,salem1 ,mass4 #ahgj1 ,august #a--;,bell moves to ,america with his parents1 arriving in ,canada on this date1 and settling at ,brantford1 ,ontario4 #ahgb1 ,october #a--,permanent residence in the ,united ,states taken up by ,bell at #ce ,west ,newton ,street1 ,boston4 #ahge1 ,february #bg--,written agreement between ,bell1 ,sanders1 and ,hubbard forming 8,bell ,patent ,association0 to promote inventor's work in telegraph field4 ,june #b--;,bell completes the invention of the ,telephone1 electrically transmitting overtones for the first time and verifying his principle of the electrical transmission of speech at #aji ,court ,street1 ,boston4 ,june #c--;,first telephone instrument constructed by ,watson according to ,bell's specifications4 ,september--,bell at ,brantford begins writing specifications for a telephone patent4 #ahgf1 ,february #ad--;,application for telephone patent filed with ,u4 ,s4 ,patent ,office1 ,washington1 ,d4 ,c4 ,march #g--,u4 ,s4 ,patent #agd1dfe issued to ,bell1 covering fundamental principles of the ,electric ,speaking ,telephone4 ,march #aj--;,first complete sentence transmitted by telephone by ,bell to ,watson1 8,mr4 ,watson1 come here2 ,i want you40 ,between two rooms at #e ,exeter ,place1 ,boston4 ,june #be--;,bell exhibits his ,telephone to the ,judges of the ,centennial ,exhibition at ,philadelphia1 on which he is awarded the ,exhibition's medal4 ,august #aj--;,experimental one-way talk--#h miles1 ,brantford to ,paris1 ,ontario4 ,september #a--;,contract with ,thomas ,a4 ,watson for one-half his time--the beginning of telephone research laboratories4 ,october #i--;,first experimental two-way telephone conversation between different towns--#b miles1 between ,boston and ,cambridgeport1 ,mass4 ,november #bf--;,conversation over railroad telegraph wires--#af miles1 ,boston to ,salem4 #ahgg1 ,february #ab--;,bell's first public lecture and demonstration of his new invention given before the ,essex ,institute in ,salem1 where he had lived and had done some of his experimenting4 ,april #d--;,first outdoor line for regular telephone use installed--,boston to ,somerville4 ,may #ag--,telephone lines first interconnected by means of an experimental switchboard at #cdb ,washington ,street1 ,boston4 ,july #i--8;,bell ,telephone ,co41 ,gardiner ,g4 ,hubbard1 ,trustee10 the first telephone organization1 formed4 ,august #a--;,first stock issue--#e1jjj shares--dividing interest in the business between seven original stockholders3 ,a4 ,g4 ,bell1 ,mrs4 ,bell1 ,g4 ,g4 ,hubbard1 ,mrs4 ,hubbard1 ,c4 ,e4 ,hubbard1 ,thomas ,sanders and ,thomas ,a4 ,watson4 ,august #aj--;,first ,bell telephone employee hired in ,boston--,robert ,w4 ,devonshire4 #ahgh1 ,january #bh--,opening of first commercial telephone exchange at ,new ,haven1 ,conn41 serving #h lines and #ba telephones4 ,may #bb--,theodore ,n4 ,vail accepts ,general ,managership of ,bell ,telephone ,company4 #ahgi1 ,march #ac--;,certificate of ,incorporation filed in ,boston for ,national ,bell ,telephone ,company for purpose of unifying telephone development throughout the country4 ,november #aj--;,agreement signed by ,western ,union ,telegraph ,co4 admitting validity of ,bell's basic telephone patents4 #ahhj1 ,december #ca--dg1ijj ,bell telephones in the ,united ,states4 #ahha1 ,january #a--;,first telephone dividend1 inaugurating a continuous regular series of payments to stockholders4 ,january #aj--;,formal opening of telephone service by overhead wire between ,boston and ,providence--#de miles4 ,a metallic circuit was first successfully tried out on this route by ,j4 ,j4 ,carty4 #ahhb1 ,april #af--;,experimental laying of underground telephone cable--#e miles1 ,attleboro to ,west ,mansfield1 ,mass4 #ahhd1 ,march #bg--,telephone service opened experimentally between ,boston and ,new ,york by overhead wires of hard-drawn copper--#bce miles4 #ahhe1 ,march #c--;,certificate of ,incorporation filed in ,albany1 ,n4 ,y41 for the ,american ,telephone and ,telegraph ,company for the purpose of effecting intercommunication 8with one or more points in each and every other city1 town or place in said ,state1 and in each and every other of the ,united ,states1 and in ,canada and ,mexico--and also by cable and other appropriate means with the rest of the known world40 ,telephone ,milestones #ahib ,service opened between ,new ,york and ,chicago1 #ijj miles4 #aijb ,first long-distance underground cable in use1 #aj miles--,new ,york to ,newark4 #aiae ,first conversation from coast to coast1 #c1fej miles--,boston to ,san ,francisco4 #aiba ,opening of deep sea cable1 #aae miles--,key ,west1 ,fla41 to ,havana1 ,cuba4 #aibg ,transatlantic telephone service opened between ,new ,york and ,london1 #c1ejj miles4 ,first public demonstration of television by wire and radio4 #aibi ,ship-to-shore telephone service established4 #aica ,teletypewriter exchange service inaugurated4 #aice ,first telephone call around the world4 #aicg ,connections possible to #ic of world's telephones4 #aich ,direct radio telephone circuit established between ,san ,francisco and ,australia4 ,illustration3 ,the map shows areas served generally by the principal telephone subsidiaries of the ,american ,telephone and ,telegraph ,company2 also areas served by ,the ,southern ,new ,england ,telephone ,company and ,the ,cincinnati and ,suburban ,bell ,telephone ,company1 which companies are not controlled but have license contract arrangements with the ,american ,company4 ,other telephone companies also operate in nearly all of these areas and have connecting arrangements with ,bell ,system companies4 ,,bell ,,system ,,statistics ,dec4 #ca1 #aibj ,dec4 #ca1 #aibe ,dec4 #ca1 #aicj ,dec4 #ca1 #aice ,dec4 #ca1 #aich ,number of ,telephones#b #h1acc1gei #aa1iji1ega #ae1ahg1bif #ac1egc1jbe #ae1gfa1jie ,number of ,central #e1gfg #f1adg #f1fci #f1hif #f1ige ,offices ,miles of ,pole ,lines #cfb1dha #cid1ebi #dbh1bab #djg1ded #cii1cfh ,miles of ,wire3 ,in ,underground ,cable #ad1bjg1jjj #bg1gfi1jjj #de1aaf1jjj #dg1fci1jjj #ej1ghc1jjj ,in ,aerial ,cable #f1ide1jjj #ab1hce1jjj #bc1ggg1jjj #bf1dbe1jjj #bh1jgb1jjj ,open ,wire #c1gaa1jjj #d1cci1jjj #e1bca1jjj #d1efb1jjj #d1eij1jjj ,total #bd1hfc1jjj #dd1idc1jjj #gd1abd1jjj #gh1fbf1jjj #hc1dde1jjj ,per ,cent ,total ,wire #he4a #ij4c #ib4i #id4b #id4e ,mileage in ,cable ,average ,daily ,telephone ,conversations3#c ,exchange #ca1hah1jjj #dh1jea1jjj #fa1aej1jjj #eh1jff1jjj #fg1djj1jjj ,toll and ,long #a1cjg1jjj #b1jij1jjj #b1hhd1jjj #b1bbd1jjj #b1dig1jjj ,distance ,total #cc1abe1jjj #ej1ada1jjj #fd1jcd1jjj #fj1bij1jjj #fi1hig1jjj ,total ,plant #a1cgc1hjb1jjj #b1eff1hji1jjj #d1jbh1hcf1jjj #d1ahg1gij1jjj #d1dhi1jgh1jjj ,number of ,employees#d #bbh1idc #bib1ijb #cah1aai #bda1afi #beg1ddc ,number of ,a4,t4,t4 ,co4 #aci1ddh #cfb1agi #efg1fid #feg1dfe #fdf1hhb ,stockholders ,footnotes #a8;,ahoy60 was the first telephone shout1 and was used during the experiments1 but 8hello60 superseded it when the telephone got into practical use4 #b;,excludes private line telephones numbering #gi1fab on ,december #ca1 #aich4 ,including telephones of about #f1ejj connecting companies and more than #be1jjj connecting rural lines1 the total number of telephones in the ,united ,states which can be interconnected is approximately #ai1hhe1jjj4 #c;,for year ending ,december #ca4 #d,the employees of the ,western ,electric ,company1 ,inc41 and the ,bell ,telephone ,laboratories1 ,inc41 numbering #cd1iaj on ,december #ca1 #aich1 are not included4 ,,printed ,,in ,,the ,u4,s4,a4 #a-a-dj ,illustration3 #aji ,court ,street1 ,boston1 ,where ,bell ,discovered the ,principle of the ,speaking ,telephone ,transcriber's ,notes --,retained publication information from the printed edition3 this e,book is public-domain in the country of publication4 --,silently corrected a few palpable typos4 --,in the text versions only1 text in italics is delimited by underscores4