The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 9, 1899, Page 22

DAY, JULY 9, 189 MERICA {s the birthplace ot the teleph Its discovery was made in Philadelphia .at the Centennial d the story of its in- vention is in many respects the t marvelous and interesting part of s one of the world's wonders. Alexander Gra ell, the gentus who gave it scientific birth, was born in Edin- 1 Scotland, in 1847. His father, Alex- Mellville Bell, was the inventor one, ly known ng June, 18 1t m known as ** e speech’—a EVS- teaching deaf mutes how to epeak t hem through visible mbinations of the vocal produce art shortly afterw: with his parents tes offered work that sensitive €5 mers the Guadax There powerful peons breeds, worl “Or above the led diminu- thing were f his vith f: him on eve to d about “‘One night a faint rap on my door just as retiring. I asked the visitor d it to be my g w His face was > of miser I have a great s cret to tell yc said. 1 can trust no one but you annot longer re main silent. Yo I never regret granting me ““Look he said, softly, putting intc some of the quee gold colns of antiq had. ever seen ‘Do you ¥ are? Well, I will tell you > part of the k Leon.’ t the sound. I knew the enough to the « in 18 history 1try well during a temporary of a revolution- ary nature, in Old Mexieo, the rich tre of the San Leon church, amountir to some $8,000,000 fn gold, ether with valuz relies and altar piece re stolen and c¢ ried into the mo no one knew whither. I turned the coins o feeling in my hand, tepping upon queer sense o perilou fas, ing ground. ‘And do you kr wt this treasure is?' I e an placed his ear said, ‘Before it! pause, . senor, v little history . peoplé are luca, near the City o Mexi I was an on son. eon } with some r's bl in e t up with me. He and was tle. When he ift for himself goats and day as he together to drive yon out of reach of missed one. He MYSTIRY OF FAMOUS TREASURE THE SAN LFON MOMNASTERY ephone, He d mother in s talk with Pro- the construction of the t en wrote to his father Canada, telling them fesser Henry. “T felt,” said he, trom his' (Professor Henry's) interest I determined to ask dvice abo! apparatus I have designed for the trana- n of the ce by telegra £ o much encouraged to do- nt, or a great it out myself in mech phys d_on d all my Flesh and was _exag- > expense of tiple tele- his part- it that of the entirely on he w and off b; ling with the e PRAOF -ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL.. I with the Commissioner of Patents Elisha Gray of Philadelphia also filled a caveat warning inventors against any attempt to patent an instrument such the tele- phone, as he was doing some work looking to the transmisston of speech by the elec- tric current. Had this been filed before Bell's application, there Is a possibility that he would not have been granted a i patent. x Patent No. 174,465, perhaps the most im- fl ortant ever allowed by the United Stafe atent Office, was issued on March 1876, 1 invention to Graham Bell for his orig] of an electric speaking telephone. Meanwhile Bell sent the rude instru- ments which _constituted his first tel ) phone on to the Centennial position In L Philadelphia. They were placed in an ob- “NED scure corner of the Massachusetts ex- hibit, and attracted little or no attentio Gardiner Hubbard was attending the Exposition during the latter part of Ju He learned that on June 28, board of judges of the sition, incl ing Professor Henry Sir ‘William Thomson, since: Lord Kelvin, would, in company ‘with the Emperor of Brazil ) spect some of the inventions i monics of the distinguished scientist, Elisha Gray. As a special favor Mr. Hubbard g obtained from them a pror to allow »ung Bell to show his - contriv- ‘ nce to the party. He phed O Bell to come to Philadelp Class work at this time pressing, £ and Bell had about made his_mind to let the night train for New York and O Philadelphia leave witho him when A Hubbard rriage. dy to go to question which some one w announced t awaiting him in her c: Why, en’t ou r¢ Philadelphia?” th i greeted him B The young man began to explain about duties “‘which would deter him from tak- ing the trip. “Well, come take a drive withk me," sald his flancee. He got in the carriage immediately and was driven to the &ta- tion. There Miss Hubbard descended. Mr. Bell aid likewise. The New York train was already wait- ing on the track, with steam up, ready to_puil out. Mr. Bell, you are going to Philadelphia to_exhibit vour invention,” was the de- cilded order that the young man received. And go to Philadelphia he did. The next morning Bell arrived in Phil- adelphia and prepared to exhibit his tele- i hone. Sir Willlam Thomson, Professor enry and the Emperor of Brazil had taken a long time in examining the really remarkable Invention of Elisha Gray and must bave felt considerably bored when = young Bell finally gained thelr attention. But he had not proceeded far before the became intensely interested. After J plaining the theory of the telephone, Bell laced %ir William Thomson at one of his nstruments, and stationing another mem- L) ber of the party at the other, he told them to go ahead and talk to one another. “To be, or not to be, that is the ques- tion?” began Sir Willlam. “Do you hear me?’ The answer came back, “Yes, quite plainly.”” The members of the party were simply astounded. The Emperor of Brazil was then statloned at one of the instruments and carried on an animated conversation with Elisha Gra who stated his wonder at the marvelous in- vention of Bell. For a week Sir William, Professor Henry and others experimented with and examined the telephone instruments. When they had sa mselves as to the great sclen ctical value of > the invention of praise from P them for Bell and his telephone could prove too strong. -— = - all unts were published in the press over_the world. In adsh?;]'; u;::)euf:;u fas on every tongue an qung et voke to find himself famous beyond 'S S Gest dreams. It might be stated pats enthetically that the Boston press Shorts afterward announced the marriage. 07 Miss Mabel Hubbard to Alexander Gr ham_Bell. But the the . Centennial reely be recognized erfully complete hone which Bell exhibited L Exposition would as the parent of instruments that the ed tosday. It is true, however, g Sic principles of the instruments whicn ransmit message: amounting -into are identically the ons annually iyt same ‘as those first applied by Bell. The remainder has been a matter of evolution 4 of adaptation. Of late the principal W effected along the telephony until con- be carried on between 00 miles apart. Bell himself discovered th convenient form rec coe of Tron a membrane was ited 3 ular iron dis in front of a magnet. to vibrate in much with the transmitter into spoken at the other end e bee r contriv- 2ly simil eiver, as it is now serve as a trans- mitter improved form of the Blake carbon ansmitte s 1 Sahem now been generally adopted. 1 \ of transmitter sub- stitutes for the magnet behind the iron diaphragm a number of small pieces of loose bon piaced between a carbon dia- phragm and a solld support. Carbon was found to be preferable to metal count of its pecullar properties for trans- mitting sound. So delicate and suscepti- ble to sound is the carbon transmitter that the footfalls of a fly crossing the carbon disk produce a perceptible sound in_the telephone. The carbon transmitter substitutes for the impulses of electricity, which were induced in the original form of transmit- ter by the action of the iron diaphragm on the magnet, an electric current which passes directly through the carbon dla- phragm and the loose carbon behind it. In this case, the vibrations of the voice falling on the carbon disk affect the cur- rent directly. The electrical impulses are accentuated by the motion transmitted through the disk to the loose carbon. In this shape they are transmitted to the wire, and o series of impulses corresponding —ex- actly.in rapidity and shape or quality to those sent out are then reconverted into facsimile gounds at the recelving instru- ment. The method described is known as the battery system, and is in general use at present on all lines of any great length. In the most improved instruments the Blake carbon transmitter is used in con- nection with the Bell receiver. Specially contrived batteries are now used for reinforcing the current on long distance lines, and magnetic coils are used to convert the eféctric vibrations the voice into suitable form ance transmission. A thou- ements in call bells for at- ention of the central sta- ingement and construction transmitting and recelving instru- ts themselves, In the system of switch rds and switches employed at the cen- 1 stations, and in methods of making wave been added since the ne w first put into practical on by Graham Bell and his asso- on ac- caused by for long sand it fmpr g the a both stood in a dark and weird cave. Then the man struck a match to find his goat, when he a gleaming cru- calling missing at ‘“ ‘He heard faint ¢ after great difficult cifix in the darkr beyond. hour of day did he Along on the ledges about him had wandered in ‘Dek hung what were once leather pouches, eight of their load had long and the floor of the cave but the and could retreat. advanced the goat 1 not tither Mexicun Peon Carrying Flve rjundred Pounds of Ore on His Back. was a vast heap of dust-covered gold coin. Crazed with amazement and ter- ror, Paolo seized a handful of these coins and dashed out of the cave and thence on down the mountain side as if pursued by demons. ‘‘He kept his secret well for five then he came to me, his one | nd and confidant. When I saw the | coins I was crazy. We planned to go | up to the mountain canyon the mnext day, and we did so. I saw that the man spoke the truth. I drove my hand | into the heaps of gold, senor, up to the houlder. It was the lost treasure of n Leon without the slightest doubt 1 have a pistol—here it is, senor—you da fri see, the hammer will not stay cocked. Well, in handling piece there the pistol went off and shot poor Paclo through the heart. Dumb with terror, I seized hat and staff and dashed from the cave, hurrying heloy ‘“For five days there was no searc for poor Paolo. Then my aunt came to | me and said, “Francesco, vou hav ,‘, Paolo's hat. You must have seen him last. Where is he?” I wa ch with fright. ‘“‘Moreove contin- | ued, “Here are some coins I | founded hidden in his blank Whose | are the; T confess that I could ha 3 ve | snatched them from her hand, but I restrained myself. Two of the coins were sent to. the City of Mexico. and | immediately Government officials were out there with the news that these coins were part of the lost treasure of San Leon. “ ‘The country was in an uproar over the discovery. It was thought that Paolo was at the head of a band, and that they were somewhere in the moun- tains still with the great treasure. A hundred of the civil military were or- dered to patrol all the mountain passes of the district. In terror of apprehen- sion, senor, I fled, and here I am.’ “The man's story was so straightfor- ward that I never questioned it. nor do I to this day. When he proposed that we return for the treasure, for he vow- ed that he would never dare to do so unless I went ahead of him and turned poor Paolo’s open eyes to the wall while we gathered up the golden store, I was with him. The gamble and danger of the game fascinated me. I took $300, intrusted it to him, gave him a “new suit of clothes and a rifle and. equipped with a camping outfit, started by rall to the south. Near our destination we left the railroad and proceeded on horseback, securing good animals from the ranchers. “We had not penetrated the moun- tain district far—our very promised | brutal land—when we happened upon three of the patrolling soldiers. They halted us and demanded to know our mission. Paolo told them that I was from the States and seeking a purchase of a ranch, that I. could not speak a word of Spanish and that he was my valet and interpreter. We exchanged com- pliments and sed on. But only a few miles further they came after us pellmell and plied us with more aues- tions, leaving us a second time. When this was repeated a third time Fran- cesco whispered, ‘Senor, you down. the fat one ahead and I will kill the other two. I am a dead shot. We cannot be stopped here on the very threshold of success.’ “But I demurred. There was. to be no killing for me. I knew the conse- quences, and preferred that the gold MOST FIENDISH MAN whose boast Is that he hastaken one hun- dred and ; ives and whose proud delight is to enlarge upon the several and original meth- ods employed in this cold-blooded butchery can hardly be believed possible in this civilized close of the nineteenth century. In the olden days of Frehch revolution, the Spanish Inquisition and the gory red ax of robber German barons, such characters cut out many a cruel page of bloody history, but for such a monster to ex- ist in » days of mercy and to have ruled at the very door of our own free country seems almost incredible. Yet does live and, until quite recently, held full and “professional executioner” for Maceo in a. This brute, for he is little else, Is named s a burly negro, coal black, with beetling brows and sunken, bead es of snakelike brilliancy, cruel, cold and seldom blinking. His large mouth, massive chin and strong white dog teeth give but a hint of his marvel- ous physlecal strength. His muscles stand out on arms and shoulders like great ripe cocoanuts. Never has “Tren Con” been known to miss or take two blows with his keen ma- th such a one sway as Santiago de Cuba “Tren Con.” ' H e cheta on a quivering, helpless victim. Maceo made this black flend his official executioner with full discretionary power, and the dark tales of devilish tortures as well as the negro's own boast of 162 heads indi- that he carried out the duties of his horrible office well and to e full 1imit of authority. “Tren Con” is now in the hands of the American soldiers at Morro to be tried for murder, and will doubtless soon be a thing of the past. He was captured with thirty other robbers, members of a band under his own leadership, who had been the terror of the country people until the boys in blue “rounded up” the bandits, capturing the thirty aforementioned besides killing thirteen. Since his imprisonm of regret for the mar in the book of judgment cate it he has never uttered a single word lives that are written against his' name but on the contrary has taken espe- cial delight in: regaling 1rds with sickening accounts of ingenious methods for extracting information from political » and the proper etiquette governing the office of: pub- lic executions. He seems to fedr nothing in the realization of the fact that he must soon pay the penalty of his crimes by himselt suffering the death penalty, and in discussing the mat- ter merely says that he could perform the job better thamn any bungling American executioner. He. is closely watched lest he should increase his horrible record of 162 lives to 163—with him- self in the double role of slayer and victim. . EXECUTIONER LIVING AT THE PRESENT DAY appeared. “Francesco was like one insane after that. What tidings the girl brought or whether' he told, her his secret .or not, I never discovered. Once more and for the last time Francesco asked me if I would go on up the mountains, killing everything in our way to succe: Still I stood my ground, and the next morn- ing at daybreak I awoke and there by my side stood my Francesco's rifle and belt, all the money, with a strict memo- randum of accounts, and the clothing I had given him even to the last stitch. When I hunted about camp for the mAn he was gone. “I tracked him toward the railroad and followed on blindly over the ties. A mile beyond the curve I saw a wo- man on the railroad bridge, bent down should be untarnished with blood. The soldiers demanded that we go down to the city and get permission of the gov- ernment to pass into the mountains This I knew was impc then, and we went down the directioni thirty miles utterly di: nso- late, my companion continually calling to me to wheel round and do the trick that would liberate us. Vot daring to , enter the city, we camped outside for five days, unde- cided. For three days we argued; then there came a woman on the scene. She was a very beautiful creature, evident- ly Francesco's former sweetheart. She was the only one in the country who had recognized him as a new personal- ity. For a day or two they mooned about the place, and then the girl dis- ible to do just in =] as if weeping. I came upo Was the beautiful, creature I had sea about camp. I asked her what was the matter. She only pointed into the river far below. There I discerned the still form of Francesco floating face up in (hmlk'nr\id waters. He was a suicide. The reason? I never discovered whether it w love -or madness. I think, however, that in his cupic y really killed h half-bl'n\]l“ll' lg;”!"“e was insane with remorse, and the love affair aggravated him to desperation. Of that I do not know, but one thing I am certain, Francesco had the secret of the great San Leon treasure which I came within an ace of sharing with him, but which will now remain a se- cret probably for another hundred, yos, it may be a thousand years.” e