VIII 



THE EVOLUTION OF THE TELEPHONES 



No one knows exactly who invented the 

 telephone; there are quite a number of 

 claimants to that honour. But to Graham 

 Bell must greatest credit be given amongst 

 the early pioneers, because he solved many 

 problems which had baffled previous ex- 

 perimenters. Just a little more than fifty 

 years ago Graham Bell succeeded in re- 

 producing sounds at a distance by means of 

 electricity. 



And from that first successful trial in 

 America we have the wonderful and com- 

 plex system of to-day, amongst which the 

 British is one of the best. Sometimes you 

 will see in the Press that it is the worst 

 the writer has had a bad telephone day, 

 so like the fisherman who has had no catch, 

 he condemns the whole system. 



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