Show 0 A theatrical MANAGERS PLAN OF correspondence how it originated and av was developed used pint first as an advertisement Adert lenient tho the phonograph as n a substitute jitters letters I 1 and rostal card cards phonograph letters were popularized by A A member of the theatrical profession and the so called fad bids fair to become a commendable and useful practice I 1 the phonograph letter la is just what its name implies a letter by phonograph it consists of a communication spoken into a phonograph the phonograph letter was wag f first ii used in a general way by a theatrical matia manager ger who was handling one of mr T II 11 frenchs franchs Frenc hs fauntleroy companies in the south ho ire noticed that one of 0 the antrae attractions in nearly every town visited was a phonograph so fitted up that ono one or it a dozen persons could listen to its story or song at one and the same time As customary with itinerant showmen the first thing that suggested itself to him was the chanco chance for advertisement so sending for liis its agent to come back to wilmington ni ington N X C the town where the echeme scheme was first tried lie had bad the see scene no in the second act where cedric meets the old earl for the first time repeated to and recorded by the phonograph some ten or a dozen cy cylinders cyin inders dere containing this scene from the play were prepared and the ad advance van co agent carried them away with him in every town visited thereafter he left one of these cylinders with the local phonograph agent who gladly included it in his limited repertoire of 0 phonographic works and advertised it the result was scores of people heard this scene long before the company arrived and as the record of intonation voice and inflection was absolute and the performers were among the best to whom the respective spec tive parts have ever been In trusted the advertisement was most successful As engagements were met the manager 1 picked up the fauntleroy cylinders at the local agencies and shipped them ahead I 1 again to be used by the advance man and dealt out as before la in the tour through the country an injury to the Wn managers agers hand band which rendered writing painful and for a time impossible suggested the idea of using the cylinders for correspondence an and d they were tried accordingly the first letter dictated for that is what it really amounts to was to bis his wife besides setting forth the fact that he had ball injured liis ills liand hand itna could not write the cylinder gave the gossip current of the day clay and the general matters of business and included about all that the customary hand written epistle of a man to his wife usually contains besides that several members of the company saluted the managers wife each giving her a quiet little tip aa as it were of the dally daily doings of her liege lord the cylinder was carefully wrapped in a heet sheet of cotton encased incased in a cardboard carton and mailed A few days went by and then came a letter to the manager from homo home acknowledging the receipt of this present and asking what it was and what use could be made of it it then dawned upon the manager managerial Jal mind that having no information of the change he had ball made in ili the manner of carrying on his correspondence his tits better half might well be excused it if she should attempt to polish the cylinders surface and use it for an ash receiver ora or 1 receptacle for hairpins hair pins accordingly ho he wired her to take the present to the phonograph depot in the town in which ehe she lived and its use would bo be explained the dutiful wife did as directed and followed it up by purchasing a halt half dozen cylinders dictating letters and playing banjo solos to each which were at once cent to her spouse inobe in the south on receipt of the cylinders he put them on th the epho phonograph and had what was recorded thereon reproduced for his own satisfaction and tho the amusement of everal several of his company one cylinder however was a conundrum it simply hissed and made a noise resembling the bursting of a paper bag which was followed br by a prolonged growl and a sharp quick sound resembling tho the breaking of a piece of wood the operator suggested the managers manage ies wife was splitting ep lilting wood to make a f fire ire and worked nt at the instrument some time trying to adjust it po so that the record could bo be got distinctly finally ho lie gave it up let the cylinder go on revolving when clear and distinct came the voice of the managers wife have just broken a bottle I 1 look toward you and chick says me ire tool 11 then all was clear she I 1 had pulled a cork from some effervescing mixture ls probably and drunk success to the new now scheme for corresponding this accounted tor for the hissing noise and explosion and the noise like likened ile d to that of splitting wood was soon brought out by a readjustment of the machine as the growling and bark of the managers manager I 1 is little dog now quite a number of professional and traveling men make use of the phonograph letter system they require only two tivo things care in packing picking and edge of tho speed at which the recording instrument la Is run at the time of dictation this should be marked on the carton containing cylinder for to secure a perfect reproduction of the matter thereon recorded the phonograph used need to grind it out must bo run at precisely the dame speed chusit thus if the recording phonograph is set to seventy revolutions which in a general way wity is about right for letter dictation tb the e carton should bo be marked axx this will trill at once advise the operator of the machine upon which the record is to be reproduced how to adjust his instrument and there will bo be no delay or breaks inquiries made at the office of a phonograph company elicited the fact that the phonograph is used for a it variety of purposes mandof many of them akin to correspondence for instance a leading soprano of a denver church chur cli who wanted to adopt tho the stage as a profession wrote to a manager in this city for an engagement Here lie replied tilled that he must first hear her bing sing and thus get the compass and quality of her voice before he could decide upon her case and the matter slipped from his tits mind instanter some weeks later ho he received a letter accompanied compa compan nied led bya by ft phonograph cylinder upon which was recorded a very good rendering of a well known test piece forthe for alie voice which the manager had reproduced and was so satisfied with it that he sent for her to come to new york new york mall and express |