The Phonogram (II), Issue 23

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PHONOGRAM

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The PHONOGRAM

SJ&B§CRIHJIO^ THIRTY CENTS A Y-EAR

sTng' TE 111 M B E rT, TO

Published by HERBERT A. SHATTUCK
ar- Number 13? Fifth Avenue, New York City

\ \ » " » i.:,

r [ Printed Monthly for those inter ested in the Arts of Records

ltd. I Reproducing Sound j w»/fc for those interested
Animated Pictures. -.1J Official Handbook of The
Order of The Phonogram . * y* very
* %‘Speciar Department will hfi devoted to >

Ss • • •* it ■

„•:> ''SalI . £>ucstions ■/snd J Answers re - ' .

' iWfu Pkow* draflii, * ■
Grams, and Scopes. Cor-
respondence welcomed
by the Editor.

PAGE

Notes .

Edward Clarance
Two Great Improvements
The Phonograph and the Rube
Improvement of the Phonograph
A Twentieth Century Sleighing Party
Oliver Cromwell and the Collar Button

MARCH 1902 67

NOTES.

If I was talking to a dealer in Phonographs last week and
he told me the following funny little story which I think
will interest my readers. A lady came into his store the
other day and whispered to him very mysteriously “I want
to buy a talking machine, one that will take down and
repeat conversation.” So he showed her an Edison
Phonograph and explained to her how to make the rec-
ords. She was somewhat surprised by his explanation and
said that she had always understood one could stand in the
middle of the room and the Phonograph would catch even
the slightest whisper and then she went on to tell my dealer
friend why she wanted a machine. She supposed that she
could put the horn over the key hole of the door and make
a record of the proceedings in the next room. My dealer
friend told her she would have to find some other way to
catch her husband at it.

Editor Phonogram: — Enclosed please find the price of
a year’s subscription to the Phonogram. I have been
constantly in the Phonograph business for seven years, and
without a doubt the Phonogram is the best publication we
have ever had in this line. Let the good work go on.
It’s worth $1 .00 a year; make it larger and charge us
more for it. I have had pointers from the Phonogram
that have been worth ten times the subscription price to
me. There’s nothing like it; it fills a long felt want; it’s
just what was needed. Every one should become a member
of The Order of the Phonogram.

Thos. H. Leonard.

MARCH 1902 69

Second ; play a Moulded Record with the new Model C
Reproducer. The effect is wonderful. The difference is
startlingly apparent. The Moulded Records have a quality
that proves conclusively the wonderful advance in the Art
of Record Making. The volume is nearly twice that of
the present Edison Records, and almost the equal of the
Concert Records.

Third ; play a new Moulded Record with the present Re-
producer. Both volume and tone quality suffer in this
comparison; but by playing the present record immediately
after you take off the Moulded Record you convince your
hearer of the wonderful improvement of the Moulded Rec-
ord even when played with the present Reproducer. This
demonstration will satisfy the listener that the new Model
C Reproducer is not an absolute necessity with the Moulded
Record, and that he can continue to buy Moulded Records
without going to the expense of equipping his Phonograph
with a New Model C Reproducer. But the fourth demon-
stration will decide your listener that he must have a Model
C Reproducer , right aivay :

Fourth ; play the present Record with the New Model C
Reproducer. This proves without a question the superior-

0

ity of the Model C Reproducer, with its mica diaphragm
and its button sapphire. Tones and sound values that
were never dreamed of as existing in the present record, are
brought out with surprising clearness and volume by the
wonderful Model C Reproducer. Now make the differ-
ence plain to the listener by substituting the present Repro-
ducer for the New Model C. Down falls both tone and
volume. The listener says “ Is it possible I ever thought
that record loud ? ” Now put back the Model C Repro-
ducer, and play the present Record again. The results are

£

70

THE PHONOGRAM

so very much improved that your hearer immediately
decides to buy the New Model C Reproducer in order to
bring out all the hitherto hidden good qualities of the
present Record.

Fifth j play again a New Moulded Record with the
Model C Reproducer. Here is the Acme of Perfection in
this combination. Your hearer, while he is delighted by
the manner a Model C Reproducer improves the present
record, will, if he wants the best, insist on being supplied
from now on with the very best Edison' Products, the
Moulded Record and the New Model C Reproducer.

^ I wish to call the attention of my readers to the very
liberal exchange proposition as found on page eighty of this
issue. This exchange may be effected through any dealer
in Phonographs. If you want one of the new mica dia-
phragm Reproducers which cost $5.00 each, all you have
to do Is to take our old Reproducer back to your nearest
dealer, and if it is in good condition, he will allow you
£2 '00 for it, thus making the new model C Reproducer
cost you only $3.00. It makes no difference, my friends,
how old your present Reproducer is. Some of you doubt-
less have the old Standard Speaker which dates way back
to 1895, ’96, ’97 and ’98. Some of you may have one
of the older models still, the kind they used way back in
1890 and ’91, when the spectacle model w'as the finest
thing on earth. As I say, it makes no difference how old
your Speaker is; provided it is in good condition, you wil 1
get £2.00 for it if you will bring it back and get one of
the latest model C style, and pay the difference, £3.00.
My advice to every Phonograph owner is to take advantage
of this offer at the very earliest opportunity.

•; The Phonograph will appear in an entirely new and
unKjifc'role if, as itfmow intended, ~it is' producedjjn court
to* establish an alibi for an 'accused murderer in' Chicago!
Louis G. Thoms, the purser of a steamboat, is charges
with the murder of a young womaifl .’ Thoms says that on
tBe night that the murder is alleged tO* have been com^
fitted, he was at the house of a friendjVwhere he dictated
a'story to a Phonograph, and investigation shows that one
Sf the cylinders of the machine in question bears the record
•of his story. Apparently, so says the New York Sun, aft

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that is necessary to complete the alibi is to fix conclusively
tfie time when the record was'made. **

{ ^[ Many people have asked mediately, “ Where’s \Billy
-Golden?” “What has become of Mr. Madeira?” “Why
.don’t vve hear Mr. Albert' C, Campbell's melodious \&ifc
4ny more on .Edison records * ?•- *

'PSR all' I know; •

Billy, I believe, is running a fashionable hotel in Washing-
ton, D.C., and Madeira is in the typewriter business in St.
Paul, Minn., while Mr. Campbell’s voice, — well to
speak in base-ball parlance, — he has a glass arm.

*[ Dear Sir: — Your Phonogram has always interested
me; and to show my interest in it, I enclose you for pub-
lication a news item that will interest your readers.

Sincerely yours, William M. Verbeck.

On which I wish to comment, that this is the proper spirit
to show. News items, subscriptions, writings of general
interest — all are welcome.

. *

EDWARD CLARANCE.

Edward Clarance was born at Boston, Mass., in 1863.
At an early age Mr. Clarance developed decided vocal
talent. His singing has met with the approval of the
public and he has appeared in nearly every prominent vaude-
ville theatre in the United States and Canada. His enun-
ciation is clear and distinct and his records for the Phono-
graph are deservedly popular.

Half the pleasures in life come through the
. ear. The only way to preserve these pleas-
ures in their perfection and to enjoy them at
* will , is by owning a genuine Edison Phono-
graph . — Chapin

73

MARCH 1902

OLIVER bROMWELL' AND THE COLLAR

BUTTON.

Oliver Cromwell was once putting on a clean shirt and
a new collar. He had fastened the back ahd one end in
front, when out popped the Collar button.

“ God Bless Me ” said Oliver.

The button fell on the floor and bounced away to the
Unknown. “ Let the Harbor Lights Be Burning” hum-
med Oliver as he stooped down to look under the bureau.
Not there ! The strain of bending over broke his suspenders
at the back, so he paused, softly singing to himself “ I
Need Thee Every Hour.”

Did Oliver Emit any Bad Words ? Not He. Did
Oliver cavort around with his wife’s parasol and sweep up
the Dust of Ages from under the folding bed in a wild
search for the Collar button ? Not So. Reverently he
waited with bowed head. “ Speak Samuel, Where Art
Thou ” breathed Oliver softly : for it was his custom thus
to call by name each lowly object. But it was not yet
time.

So Oliver paused again.

But hark ! from behind a Stately Chiffonier standing in
the north-east corner there piped up a shrill little voice like
a cricket at dusk. “ Here I am !”

“ Ring the Bells of Heaven ” quoth the Sturdy Round-

head as he moved the furniture away from the wall and

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closed his hand over the recalcitrant Samuel.

For, you see, Oliver Cromwell had equipped his Collar
button with a tiny little Edison Phonograph Cylinder con-
cealed in the rounded top ; and all it needed was Patience
until the jar of falling should release this concealed mechan-

ism and make the guiding Phonographic announcement,
“ Here I am ! Here I am ! ”

The World owes Much to the Great Genius of Thomas
A. Edison.

An ounce of patience is ivorth a pound
of profanity. — New York Sun.

A TWENTIETH CENTURY SLEIGHING PARTY

Now that we once more are welcoming our annual
never-to-be forgotten visitor, Mr. Jack Frost, and his
colleague, Mr. Snow, accompanied by all their glories,

' and now that sleighing parties are in vogue, allow me, for
the benefit of my fellow Phonogram readers, to give you

4

an account of how I spent an enjoyable evening very
recently.

Several friends and myself met one evening at the resi-
dence of one of our mutual friends, and in the course of
conversation it was suggested that we have a sleighing
party. The idea met with the hearty approval of every-
one, and an evening was decided upon.

There had been a good downhill of snow, and the cold
weather had frozen the snow in a manner which made it
excellent for sleighing. The appointed evening turned out
to be a most beautiful one, a full moon sending its silver,
light broadcast, making the snow glisten like diamonds.

When we were about to start off on our ride, the happy
idea struck me, that the addition of two more guests would
make the ride a more pleasant one, so, it turned out that
a most pressing invitation was extended to the two very
distinguished characters, Mr. Home Phonograph and Mr.
Edison Record.

MARCH 1902 75

With the assistance of one of the gentlemen of the
party, we escorted our two guests to a place of honor in
our sleigh.

Mr. Record proved himself to be a veritable phenomenon
in the music line and gladdened our hearts with his 'fault-
less renditions of the latest music. After having ridden
several miles we stopped at a cozy road-house, and after ’
having warmed ourselves Mr. Record once more came to
the front placing his ever ready talents at our disposal.
He played for us a great variety of dance music, and when
it was finally time to return to our respective homes, a re-
solution was passed extending to our most worthy friends,
Mr. Phonograph and his talented assistant, Mr. Edison
Record, a hearty vote of thanks for the able manner in
which they had so creditably entertained us.

If some of my fellow readers will try this experiment,
they will readily understand how these two characters,
Messrs. Phonograph and Edison Record come to have such
large following and make ardent admirers of all that have
had the good fortune to listen to their talents.

Samuel Warsawer.

The Phonograph is always ready to amuse
your friends . — Openeer

IMPROVEMENT OF THE PHONOGRAPH.

This instrument, which since its invention has been used
chiefly as a toy, may receive such important improvements
in the next few years that it will realize the expectations
that were raised when it was first described. At that time,
we are reminded in an article in The Scientific American , it
took a remarkably strong hold on the imagination. Public

76 THE PHONOGRAM

speeches, we were told, would soon be reproduced in any
part of the country' j letters would be spoken instead of written,
and reuttered in the accents of the sender’s own voice, and
the voices of great singers and noted men would be preserved
for future generations. How have these prophesies been
realized ? Says the writer of the article just referred to :

“ Up to the present time, the instrument, has been put
to these uses to a very limited extent, to the last one
scarcely at all. The wax records ordinarily used are not
adapted to the purpose, because they are not sufficiently
durable. There are now, however, two or three satis-
factory ways in which Phonographic records can be pre-
served indefinitely, the most interesting of which, perhaps,
is described in a recent patent of Mr. Edison’s. From an
ordinary wax record he produces a very perfect duplicate
made of silver with a thin plating of gold. There seems
to be no reason why such records will not last for centuries,
and a collection of them, preserved perhaps by our museums
and learned institutions, should be of the highest value to
the future student of history, language and music, more
especially as it is possible, by processes already well known,
to obtain from them at any time an almost indefinite
number of excellent copies. If we had a collection of rec-
ords made, say, in the age of Elizabeth, and as perfect as
those now produced, we would learn much of the speech
of the sixteenth century.

“Mr. Edison’s process is simple but interesting. He
takes a copper electroplate of a wax record. This copper
relief obtained is then electroplated with silver, the surface
of which, next the copper, of course has precisely the form
of the original wax surface. The copper matrix is then
dissolved away with acid. In the electroplating process

the wax record is revolved under a bell-jar, in a Crookes
vacuum, through which an electric discharge is passing
between electrodes of gold. This causes a discharge
of a vapor of infinitesimal particles of gold, which attach
themselves to whatever they strike, forming a continuous
coating of excessive thinness, and following the outline of
the surface with absolute fidelity. Upon this coating the
copper matrix is plated, to form the inside surface upon
which the silver is deposited when the wax is removed.

“The gold, like the silver, being unaffected by the acid
used, remains as a plating on the silver record when the
copper matrix is dissolved away. The amount of gold used
is scarely appreciable, and the silver may, of course, be a
thin shell, backed up by other material, so that the records
are not as expensive as might be supposed from the
materials employed.” — From the Literary Digest.

Tie Improved Reproducer and the Nam
Moulded Records mill double the efficiency
of your Phonograph . — Omni

THE PHONOGRAPH AND THE RUBE.

‘ Yes, sir, said Uncle Reuben, as the Phonograph
stopped, “that’s mighty good — mighty good !”

“Just wait awhile,” said the youth, as he slipped on
another record, “ and I’ll explain it to you.”

“Oh, I understand it all right,” responded Reuben.
“Understand it all except one thing.”

“ What’s that ?” asked the youth.

“ Well,” answered Reuben, with an abashed grin, “ I
understand how these sleight-o’hand fellers pull big rabbits
and pigeons out o’ little hats, but I’ll be danged if I under-
stand how you git a fiill brass band in that box.”— Indiana-
polis Sun.

7 *

T H

P H O N O G R AM

TWO GREAT IMPROVEMENTS.

The beginning of the new year 1902 will mark Two
Great Improvements in Edison Phonographs and Edison
Records. First, the New High Speed Hard Wax Moulded
Standard size Records, and second, the New Edison Re-
producers for all machines except Gem type.

The High Speed Hard Wax Moulded Edison Records
are made of an entirely new composition, much harder
than the ordinary Standard Record. They may be handled
without fear of spoiling the surface with finger marks
they are not, however, indestructible. Their speed is 160
revolutions, faster than ever before successfully attempted
on Standard size Records. To reproduce them perfectly,
it is absolutely necessary that a Phonograph should run at
the same speed, that is, 1 60 revolutions per minute and no
more; the, variation of a few revplutions making a vast
difference in. the reproduction. These Records are made
from a permanent Mas?**, .and*.no..care>.<ir ejpense is
spared to make it perfect consequently* 'a 11 Edison Rec
ords made from this Master are exactly alike, and are all
exact copies of the Perfect Master for loudness, clear
ness, naturalness and depth of cut. Flaws and imperfec
dons are a thing of the past.

Edison Concert Records. There will be a decided im
provement made in Concert Records, but they will not be
made of different composition, or by moulded process, at
present.

The New Edison Moulded Record List No. 350 con
tains 678 selections. This List will be added to monthly
by Supplemental Lists, in the same manner as heretofore
and as soon as selections are listed in the Moulded Record

TWO GREAT IMPROVEMENTS.

The beginning of the new year 1902 will mark Two
Great Improvements in Edison Phonographs and Edison
Records. First, the New High Speed Hard Wax Moulded
Standard size Records, and second, the New Edison Re-
producers for all machines except Gem type.

The High Speed Hard Wax Moulded Edison Records
are made of an entirely new composition, much harder
than the ordinary Standard Record. They may be handled
without fear of spoiling the surface with Anger marks;
they are not, however, indestructible. Their speed is 160
revolutions, faster than ever before successfully attempted
on Standard size Records. To reproduce them perfectly,
it is absolutely necessary that a Phonograph should run at
the same speed, that is, 1 60 revolutions per minute and no
more; the. variation of a few rcvplutions making a vast
difference in. the reproduction. These Records are made
from a permanent Mas?**, .andvno..car.e>.t*refpense is
spared to make it ptrfecl'; consequently fall Edison Rec-
ords made from this Master are exactly alike, and are all
exact copies of the Perfect Master for loudness, clear-
ness, naturalness and depth of cut. Flaws and imperfec-
tions are a thing of the past.

Edison Concert Records. There will be a decided im
provement made in Concert Records, but they will not be
made of different composition, or by moulded process, at
present.

The New Edison Moulded Record List No. 350 con
tains 678 selections. This List will be added to monthly
by Supplemental Lists, in the same manner as heretofore ,
and as soon as selections are listed in the Moulded Record

THE PHONOGRAM

Reproducer will work satisfactorily on the present Record ;
in either case producing much better results than are now
being secured by the use of the present Reproducer and the
present Record. It is, of course, understood that the best
results are attained by using the new Record and new

ft c • « 1 .

Reproducer in conjunction with each other.

M r • * a # ^ ^

Gem Reproducers. In improving the Reproducers for
the higher priced Phonographs, the Gem type machines
have not been overlooked. From now on, they will be
equipped with the present style Standard Reproducer,
known as Model B. This will materially improve the re-
producing quality of these machines, when used with either
the present or the new moulded Record.

The price of the New Reproducers, either Model C or
Model D, is #5.00. The price of the new Gem Repro-
ducer, Model B, — including new arm when necessary ,

is $3.00.

- Exchange of Reproducers. A credit of fa 00 wilt be
a Mowed for an obsolete type Edison Reproducer, Gem type
excepted, providing it is returned- in perfect condition,
charges prepaid, and conditional on your ordering a Mode!
C Reproducer. This will enable you to obtain a new styit
Reproducer at a price equivalent to % 3.00.

NATIONAL PHONOGRAPH COMPANY

Factory, Orange, N.J., U.S.A.j New York Office
135 Fifth Ave.; Chicago Oftice, 144 Wabash
Ave.; Foreign Dept., 15 Cedar St., N.Y.

, AT# fist ftfffr Edistn Rectrds this