432 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



Learning that the Centennial judges had arranged for a special 

 inspection of certain telegraph and electrical apparatus on Sunday, 

 June 25, when only those specially invited would be present and the 

 building would be comparatively quiet, Mr. Hubbard sent a telegram 

 requesting Graham Bell to arrive in Philadelphia not later than Sun- 

 day morning. But the class examinations were of far more impor- 

 tance just then than any explanation he could give the judges. So 

 Graham Bell decided not to go. Then he received a message that Mr. 

 Hubbard's daughter, Mabel (who a year later became Mrs. Bell), was 

 leaving for Philadelphia, and hurried to the station in Boston to bid 

 her good-bye. Mabel was as anxious as was her father to have Graham 

 Bell explain his invention to the judges at the Centennial, and when 

 she found that his sense of duty to his classes outweighed her influence, 

 woman-like she burst into tears just as the train started. This was 

 more than Graham Bell could stand, so he jumped aboard the moving 

 train and with neither ticket nor baggage went through to Philadelphia. 



As the weather was excessively hot in Philadelphia on Saturday 

 evening Mr. Hubbard went to his Washington home ' tired out.' Sun- 

 day was another hot day, and after the judges had completed their 

 inspection of all the other exhibits, and ' when it was already late, and 

 the allotted time very nearly exhausted,' and while ' it was very warm, 

 and signs of impatience were becoming manifest on the part of some 

 of those present,' Graham Bell extended an invitation to the judges 

 to inspect his telephones. 



After some delay and discussion the judges proceeded to the Massa- 

 chusetts section, where the apparatus was exhibited on a small table 

 in a narrow space ' between the stairway and the wall.' Accompanying 

 the judges were a large number of distinguished visitors, including the 

 emperor of Brazil. Fortunately, but a short time before, the emperor 

 had visited Graham Bell's school in Boston and had become interested 

 in the method of instruction and also in the telephone. When Graham 

 Bell saw that the emperor was with the judges he did not dream that 

 his brief interview would be recalled. But his majesty cordially 

 greeted him and spoke so enthusiastically about the telephone, that, 

 tired as the judges were, they concluded to investigate thoroughly its 

 merits. And from that moment the future of the telephone was assured. 



Chief among the judges was Sir William Thomson (now Lord 

 Kelvin), then and now the world's leading electrical scientist. He 

 listened at the receiver, while Graham Bell's assistant talked into the 

 transmitter. Sir William then went to the distant transmitter and 

 repeated certain lines from Hamlet, which were heard as the receiver 

 passed from one visitor to another. Forgotten was all thought of 

 fatigue, of heat and discomfort, and nearly every visitor was glad of 

 the opportunity of going to the end of the line and talking into that 

 crude transmitter. 



