Ted and the Telephone

by Sara Ware Bassett

  CHAPTER IX

  THE STORY OF THE FIRST TELEPHONE

  "I am going down to Freeman's Falls this afternoon to get some rubbertape," Ted remarked to Laurie, as the two boys and the tutor wereeating a picnic lunch in Ted's cabin one Saturday.

  "Oh, make somebody else do your errand and stay here," Laurie begged."Anybody can buy that stuff. Some of the men must be going to theFalls. Ask Wharton to make them do your shopping."

  "Perhaps Ted had other things to attend to," ventured Mr. Hazen.

  "No, I hadn't," was the prompt reply.

  "In that case I am sure any of the men would be glad to get whateveryou please," the tutor declared.

  "Save your energy, old man," put in Laurie. "Electrical supplies areeasy enough to buy when you know what you want."

  "They are now," Mr. Hazen remarked, with a quiet smile, "but they havenot always been. In fact, it was not so very long ago that it wasalmost impossible to purchase either books on electricity or electricalstuff of any sort. People's knowledge of such matters was so scantythat little was written about them; and as for shops of this type--why,they were practically unknown."

  "Where did persons get what they wanted?" asked Ted with surprise.

  "Nobody wanted electrical materials," laughed Mr. Hazen. "There was nocall for them. Even had the shops supplied them, nobody would haveknown what to do with them."

  "But there must have been some who would," the boy persisted. "Where,for example, did Mr. Bell get his things?"

  "Practically all Mr. Bell's work was done at a little shop on CourtStreet, Boston," answered Mr. Hazen. "This shop, however, was nothinglike the electrical supply shops we have now. Had Alexander Graham Bellentered its doors and asked, for instance, for a telephone transmitter,he would have found no such thing in stock. On the contrary, the shopconsisted of a number of benches where men or boys experimented or madecrude electrical contrivances that had previously been ordered bycustomers. The shop was owned by Charles Williams, a clever mechanicalman, who was deeply interested in electrical problems of all sorts. Ina tiny showcase in the front part of the store were displayed what fewtextbooks on electricity he had been able to gather together and thesehe allowed the men in his employ to read at lunch time and to usefreely in connection with their work. He was a person greatly belovedby those associated with him and he had the rare wisdom to leave everyman he employed unhampered, thereby making individual initiative thelaw of his business."

  The tutor paused, then noticing that both the boys were listeningintently, he continued:

  "If a man had an idea that had been carefully thought out, he was givenfree rein to execute it. Tom Watson, one of the boys at the shop,constructed a miniature electric engine, and although the feat tookboth time and material, there was no quarrel because of that. The placewas literally a workshop, and so long as there were no drones in it andthe men toiled intelligently, Mr. Williams had no fault to find. Youcan imagine what valuable training such a practical environmentfurnished. Nobody nagged at the men, nobody drove them on. Each of thethirty or forty employees pegged away at his particular task, eitherdoing work for a specific customer or trying to perfect some notion ofhis own. If you were a person of ideas, it was an ideal conservatory inwhich to foster them."

  "Gee! I'd have liked the chance to work in a place like that!" Tedsighed.

  "It would not have been a bad starter, I assure you," agreed Mr. Hazen."At that time there were, as I told you, few such shops in the country;and this one, simple and crude as it was, was one of the largest. Therewas another in Chicago which was bigger and perhaps more perfectlyorganized; but Williams's shop was about as good as any and certainlygave its men an excellent all-round education in electrical matters.Many of them went out later and became leaders in the rapidly growingworld of science and these few historic little shops thus became theancestors of our vast electrical plants."

  "It seems funny to think it all started from such small beginnings,doesn't it," mused Laurie thoughtfully.

  "It certainly is interesting," Mr. Hazen replied. "And if it interestsus in this far-away time, think what it must have meant to the pioneersto witness the marvels half a century brought forth and look back overthe trail they had blazed. For it was a golden era of discovery, thatperiod when the new-born power of electricity made its appearance; andbecause Williams's shop was known to be a nursery for ideas, into itflocked every variety of dreamer. There were those who dreamedepoch-making dreams and eventually made them come true; and there werethose who merely saw visions too impractical ever to become realities.To work amid this mecca of minds must have been not only an educationin science but in human nature as well. Every sort of crank who hadgathered a wild notion out of the blue meandered into Williams's shopin the hope that somebody could be found there who would provide eitherthe money or the labor to further his particular scheme.

  "Now in this shop," went on Mr. Hazen, "there was, as I told you, ayoung neophyte by the name of Thomas Watson. Tom had not found hisniche in life. He had tried being a clerk, a bookkeeper, and acarpenter and none of these several occupations had seemed to fit him.Then one fortunate day he happened in at Williams's shop andimmediately he knew this was the place where he belonged. He was a boyof mechanical tastes who had a real genius for tools and machinery. Hewas given a chance to turn castings by hand at five dollars a week andhe took the job eagerly."

  "Think how a boy would howl at working for that now," Laurie exclaimed.

  "No doubt there were boys who would have howled then," answered Mr.Hazen, "although in those days young fellows expected to work hard andreceive little pay until they had learned their trade. Perhaps theyouthful Mr. Watson had the common sense to cherish this creed; at anyrate, there was not a lazy bone in his body, and as there were no suchthings to be had as automatic screw machines, he went vigorously towork making the castings by hand, trying as he did so not to blind hiseyes with the flying splinters of metal."

  "Then what happened?" demanded Laurie.

  "Well, Watson stuck at his job and in the meantime gleaned right andleft such scraps of practical knowledge as a boy would pick up in sucha place. By the end of his second year he had had his finger in manypies and had worked on about every sort of electrical contrivance thenknown: call bells, annunciators, galvanometers; telegraph keys,sounders, relays, registers, and printing telegraph instruments. Thinkwhat a rich experience his two years of apprenticeship had given him!"

  "You bet!" ejaculated Ted appreciatively.

  "Now as Tom Watson was not only clever but was willing to take infinitepains with whatever he set his hand to, never stinting nor measuringhis time or strength, he became a great favorite with those who came tothe shop to have different kinds of experimental apparatus made. Manyof the ideas brought to him to be worked out came from visionaries whohad succeeded in capturing the financial backing of an unwary believerand convinced themselves and him that here was an idea that was to stirthe universe. But too many of these schemes, alas, proved worthless andas their common fate was the rubbish heap, it is strange that theindefatigable Thomas Watson did not have his faith in pioneer workentirely destroyed. But youth is buoyed up by perpetual hope; andparadoxical as it may seem, his enthusiasm never lagged. Each time hefelt, with the inventor, that they might be standing on the brink ofgigantic unfoldings and he toiled with energy to bring somethingpractical out of the chaos. And when at length it became evident beyondall question that the idea was never to unfold into anything practical,he would, with the same zealous spirit, attack another seer's problem."

  "Didn't he ever meet any successful inventors?" questioned Ted.

  "Yes, indeed," the tutor answered. "Scattered among the cranks andcastle builders were several brilliant, solid-headed men. There wasMoses G. Farmer, for example, one of the foremost electricians of thattime, who had many an excellent and workable idea and who taught youngWatson no end of valuable lessons. Then one day into the workshop cameAlexander Graham Bell. In his hand he carried a mechanical contr
ivanceWatson had previously made for him and on espying Tom in the distancehe made a direct line for the workman's bench. After explaining thatthe device did not do the thing he was desirous it should, he toldWatson that it was the receiver and transmitter of his HarmonicTelegraph."

  "And that was the beginning of Mr. Watson's work with Mr. Bell?" askedTed breathlessly.

  "Yes, that was the real beginning."

  "Think of working with a man like that!" the boy cried with sparklingeyes. "It must have been tremendously interesting."

  "It was interesting," responded Mr. Hazen, "but nevertheless much ofthe time it must have been inexpressibly tedious work. A young man lesspatient and persistent than Watson would probably have tired of thetask. Just why he did not lose his courage through the six years ofstruggle that followed I do not understand. For how was he to know butthat this idea would eventually prove as hopeless and unprofitable ashad so many others to which he had devoted his energy? Beyond Mr.Bell's own magnetic personality there was only slender foundation forhis faith for in spite of the efforts of both men the harmonictelegraph failed to take form. Instead, like a tantalizing sprite, itdanced before them, always beckoning, never materializing. In theory itwas perfectly consistent but in practise it could not be coaxed intobehaving as it logically should. Had it but been possible for thoseworking on it to realize that beyond their temporary failure lay asuccess glorious past all belief, think what the knowledge would havemeant. But to always be following the gleam and never overtaking it,ah, that might well have discouraged prophets of stouter heart!"

  "Were these transmitters and receivers made from electromagnets andstrips of flat steel, as you told us the other day?" asked Ted.

  "Yes, their essential parts comprised just those elements--anelectromagnet and a scrap of flattened clock spring which, as I haveexplained, was clamped by one end to the pole of the magnet and leftfree at the other to vibrate over the opposite pole. In addition thetransmitter had make-and-break points such as an ordinary telephonebell has, and when these came in contact with the current, the springsinside continually gave out a sort of wail keyed to correspond with thepitch of the spring. As Mr. Bell had six of these instruments tuned toas many different pitches--and six receivers to answer them--you maypicture to yourself the hideousness of the sounds amid which theexperimenters labored."

  "I suppose when each transmitter sent out its particular whine its ownsimilarly tuned receiver spring would wriggle in response," Lauriesaid.

  "Exactly so."

  "There must have been lovely music when all six of them began to sing!"laughed Ted.

  "Mr. Watson wrote once that it was as if all the miseries of the worldwere concentrated in that workroom, and I can imagine it being true,"answered the tutor. "Well, young Watson certainly did all he could tomake the harmonic telegraph a reality. He made the receivers andtransmitters exactly as Mr. Bell requested; but on testing them out,great was the surprise of the inventor to find that his idea, sofeasible in theory, refused to work. Nevertheless, his faith was notshaken. He insisted on trying to discover the flaw in his logic andcorrect it, and as Watson had now completed some work that he had beendoing for Moses Farmer, the two began a series of experiments thatlasted all winter."

  "Jove!" ejaculated Laurie.

  "Marvels of science are not born in a moment," answered Mr. Hazen. "YetI do not wonder that you gasp, for think of what it must have meant totoil for weeks and months at those wailing instruments! It is a miraclethe men did not go mad. They were not always able to work together forMr. Bell had his living to earn and therefore was compelled to devote agood measure of his time to his college classes and his deaf pupils. Inconsequence, he did a portion of his experimental work at Salem whileWatson carried on his at the shop, fitting it in with other odd jobsthat came his way. Frequently Mr. Bell remained in Boston in theevening and the two worked at the Williams's shop until late into thenight."

  "Wasn't it lucky there were no labor unions in those days?" put in Tedmischievously.

  "Indeed it was!" responded Mr. Hazen. "The shop would then have beenbarred and bolted at five o'clock, I suppose, and Alexander Graham Bellmight have had a million bright ideas for all the good they would havedone him. But at that golden period of our history, if an ambitiousfellow like Watson wished to put in extra hours of work, the moreslothful ones had no authority to stand over him with a club and say heshouldn't. Therefore the young apprentice toiled on with Mr. Bell,unmolested; and Charles Williams, the proprietor of the shop, wasperfectly willing he should. One evening, when the two were alone, Mr.Bell remarked, 'If I could make a current of electricity vary inintensity precisely as the air varies in density during the productionof sound, I should be able to transmit speech telegraphically.' Thiswas his first allusion to the telephone but that the idea of such aninstrument had been for some time in his mind was evident by the factthat he sketched in for Watson the kind of apparatus he thoughtnecessary for such a device and they speculated concerning itsconstruction. The project never went any farther, however, because Mr.Thomas Saunders and Mr. Gardiner Hubbard, who were financing Mr. Bell'sexperiments, felt the chances of this contrivance workingsatisfactorily were too uncertain. Already much time and money had beenspent on the harmonic telegraph and they argued this scheme should becompleted before a new venture was tried."

  "I suppose that point of view was quite justifiable," mused Ted. "Butwasn't it a pity?"

  "Yes, it was," agreed Mr. Hazen. "Yet here again we realize how manmoves inch by inch, never knowing what is just around the turn of theroad. He can only go it blindly and do the best he knows at the time.Naturally neither Mr. Hubbard nor Mr. Saunders wanted to swamp any moremoney until they had received results for what they had spent already;and those results, alas, were not forthcoming. Over and over again poorWatson blamed himself lest some imperceptible defect in his part of thework was responsible for Mr. Bell's lack of success. The spring of 1875came and still no light glimmered on the horizon. The harmonictelegraph seemed as far away from completion as ever. Patiently the menplodded on. Then on a June day, a day that began even less auspiciouslythan had other days, the heavens suddenly opened and Alexander GrahamBell had his vision!"

  "What was it?"

  "Tell us about it!" cried both boys in a breath.

  "It was a warm, close afternoon in the loft over the Williams's shopand the transmitters and receivers were whining there more dolefullythan usual. Several of them, sensitive to the weather, were out oftune, and as Mr. Bell had trained his ear to sounds until it wasabnormally acute, he was tuning the springs of the receivers to thepitch of the transmitters, a service he always preferred to performhimself. To do this he placed the receiver against his ear and calledto Watson, who was in the adjoining room, to start the current throughthe electromagnet of the corresponding transmitter. When this was done,Mr. Bell was able to turn a screw and adjust the instrument to thepitch desired. Watson admits in a book he has himself written that hewas out of spirits that day and feeling irritable and impatient. Thewhiners had got on his nerves, I fancy. One of the springs that he wastrying to start appeared to stick and in order to force it to vibratehe gave it a quick snap with his finger. Still it would not go and hesnapped it sharply several times. Immediately there was a cry from Mr.Bell who rushed into the hall, exclaiming, 'What did you do then? Don'tchange anything. Let me see.'

  "Watson was alarmed. Had he knocked out the entire circuit or what hadhe done in his fit of temper? Well, there was no escape from confessionnow; no pretending he had not vented his nervousness on the mechanismbefore him. With honesty he told the truth and even illustrated hishasty action. The thing was simple enough. In some way themake-and-break points of the transmitter spring had become weldedtogether so that even when Watson snapped the instrument the circuithad remained unbroken, while by means of the piece of magnetized steelvibrating over the pole of the magnet an electric current wasgenerated, the type of current that did exactly what Mr. Bell haddreamed of a current doing--a current of
electricity that varied inintensity precisely as the air within the radius of that particularspring was varying in density. And not only did that undulatory currentpass through the wire to the receiver Mr. Bell was holding, but as goodluck would have it the mechanism was such that it transformed thatcurrent back into a faint but unmistakable echo of the sound issuingfrom the vibrating spring that generated it. But a fact more fortunatethan all this was that the one man to whom the incident carriedsignificance had the instrument at his ear at that particular moment.That was pure chance--a Heaven-sent, miraculous coincidence! But thatMr. Bell recognized the value and importance of that whispered echothat reached him over the wire and knew, when he heard it, that it wasthe embodiment of the idea that had been haunting him--that was notchance; it was genius!"

  The room had been tensely still and now both boys drew a sigh ofrelief.

  "How strange!" murmured Ted in an awed tone.

  "Yes, it was like magic, was it not?" replied the tutor. "For thespeaking telephone was born at that moment. Whatever practical work wasnecessary to make the invention perfect (and there were many, manydetails to be solved) was done afterward. But on June 2, 1875, thetelephone as Bell had dreamed it came into the world. That singledemonstration on that hot morning in Williams's shop proved myriadfacts to the inventor. One was that if a mechanism could transmit themany complex vibrations of one sound it could do the same for anysound, even human speech. He saw now that the intricate paraphernaliahe had supposed necessary to achieve his long-imagined result was notto be needed, for did not the simple contrivance in his hand do thetrick? The two men in the stuffy little loft could scarcely containtheir delight. For hours they went on repeating the experiment in orderto make sure they were really awake. They verified their discoverybeyond all shadow of doubt. One spring and then another was tried andalways the same great law acted with invariable precision. Heat,fatigue, even the dingy garret itself was forgotten in the flight ofthose busy, exultant hours. Before they separated that night, AlexanderGraham Bell had given to Thomas Watson directions for making the firstelectric speaking telephone in the world!"