All About Inventions and Discoveries
The Romance of modern scientific and mechanical Achievements

The Telephone 153 day, and his fear that the instrument would fail to work after all. He held on to the receiver, but his heart sank as he failed to catch the slightest sound from Bell, who was posted at the transmitter. Pre- sently he caught the faintest sign of his comrade’s voice. It increased in loudness and clearness as Bell made one or two adjustments, and at last the human tones became more distinct than they had ever been in the laboratory. Bell, in common with every other pioneer, con- sidered that he had perfected an invention which was destined to influence the whole trend of civilisa- tion. It was such a remarkable achievement that he concluded the public would jump at it. But he was destined to speedy disillusionment. The public would have nothing to do with it. The company which was founded to exploit his discovery, and which was created with little capital, comprised four men : Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas A. Watson, Gardiner G. Hubbard (the inventor’s father-in-law), and Thomas Sanders, the father of the deaf-mute pupil, in whose home Bell had set up his cellar labora- tory, and who constituted the sole financial support to the scheme. Bell and Watson strove hard to induce the public to appreciate the invention. The two stumped the eastern States, giving demonstrations. Bell would set up his receiver in the room in which he delivered his lecture of education, while Watson sat in another room, speaking sentences into the instrument and which at the receiver were reiterated with sufficient volume to be heard by one and all there assembled. But the public laughed. They described Bell as an