strange little thing. The little thing had a long metal bar on it, a larger wheel at one end, and a small handle at the other. Edison cranked the handle around and
wrapped a small sheet of tinfoil around the cylinder, fitted it with a small needle, and sang a baby-hypnotizing song into the cylinder. When the action was completed, the machine revolved again, and it actually re-sang the
hypnotic song word for word. It is not enough to describe the first feelings of those who were there, to say that they were amazed. There was great merriment, and all the editorial staff shouted to each other
that Edison had brought in a talking monster. In a short time the city's newspaper offices were crowded like a tidal wave of journalists clamoring to see the most novel machine in the world
and for a moment the offices were crowded to overflowing. Once the invention was publicized, it aroused a rapid and great frenzy in the community for months. The railroads sent special cars to
see it. Many people began to disbelieve in the invention, suspecting that he had first hidden something talking inside to deceive people. A church bishop recited
a list of specialized terms from the Bible into a radio dial at top speed, and when they were repeated word for word from the machine, they were convinced that there was nothing false about it.
This was the world's first phonograph