Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 March 1901 — THE PHONOGRAPH. [ARTICLE]

THE PHONOGRAPH.

Prominent Hole Played by It In the Recent Campaign. “The phonographic record played quite a prominent role in the recent campaign/' said a St. Louis electrician at one of the hotels the other evening, according to the New Orleans Times-Democrat. “It was used to some extent four years ago, but jt was then in the experimental stage as a political adjunct, and the reproductions were confined almost entirely to Bryan’s ‘cross of gold’ peroration. This time extensive preparations were made in advance, and each party had dozens of selections from which to choose. The most popular were brief extracts from addresses by j the'different candidates, but campaign songs, declarations of principles and jokes with the laugh on either side one wishes have been sold by the hundred. The demand was principally from the country and small to liven up the meetings of political clubs, and in a number of states congressional candidates have employed the machine for sending messages of good cheer to constituents in remote parts of their districts. I spent several hours in a record factory, and was greatly interested in watching them turn out a new set of selections. It was a curious spectacle. One of the first things undertaken was an eight-minute Bryan speech. The op-erating-room was long and narrow, with a huge brass horn at one end and a sounding board at the other. A little baldheaded man sat on a stool in front of the horn, holding a sheet of typewritten copy, and behind him at irregular intervals were seven or eight men armed with megaphones. In plain view was a large dial, divided into minutes, to mark the time. When everything was ready the little man began to declaim, speaking in a very deep, slow voice, with distinct pauses between the words, which completely robbed the selection of anything like dramatic quality. Now and then he raised his hand, and the chaps with megaphones bellowed solemnly into space. It was a most depressing seance, but when the cylinder was put into the reproducing machine I could hardly believe my ears. The speech was delivered very rapidly but with beautifully distinct enunciation, and the voice sounded fully an octave J higher than that of the little baldheaded fellow on the stool. It Was superbly clear and ringing and was j very like the tones of the great Nej braskan himself. Even the applause | had taken a new spirit and animation i and sounded like the thunderous in- ! terruptions of a vast assemblage. I was greatly puzzled, but the miracle was easily explained. All thal was done was to speed up the machine about a third faster than it had been J going when the record was taken. That not only raised the pitch, but se- ; cured a distinctness unobtainable by any other means. It seems that there are tricks in all trades but ours.”