THE AUDIBLE FAMILY ARCHIVE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 43, 6 March 1937, Page 17

THE AUDIBLE FAMILY ARCHIVE

Use for Gramophones _ u

TT HAS BEEN SAID that the phonogt&ph industry is dead owing to thd ittcraasing popuiatity of the tkdio, sayb * writer in LHUusfcfatlon, FaJfiA, but, on -vlftitirigr & gf&ibopfcotte record faatOfy the other day, 1 t vaa surprise.d at the aetivity th&t trae goifcg Oh, I fexpressod my surprise to the difeetor and he gave me the following oxplnnation.: "It ia infcvxtable, of coutse, that the Hood of radio musio which places at the dispOBititrn Of the ptlblic an inoxhaustible supply oi coogirt* must divott * considerable clientele from tho firamophone, but the true lover oi muslc will not abaixdon the tecord which give« him at asy chosen moment ihe musxcal composition he wanfcs rftndered by the artiste of his ehoice under sptcially f&vourable Conditions. But the discs that 1 saw being mh.de "wete not eolely xmiaical recordA Many came under the category of orders exeeuted for priyate indlviduals, a nurnber of whom were parente who brought their children periodicaliy to have the sound of their voices recorded. Thus they' could prefcerve in the family arehivee a eeriea of extremely touching recotds registering all the different •tages between tho baby and the growu man. There ia also another eort of . indivi* flual record which is being used more and moro and that is the recorded will. I do not know whether the law accords to these "vooal autographs" the eame y&lue that it does to the written teetamente deposited with the lawyer, but ia not to detail the clauscs oi a legacy that the disc is generally made ttse oi' That which certain father# of families wieh to leave to their children ie a moral teetameal ' There ie eomething noble and ssoving m the idea. A father, conecious of his reeponsibility, feeli, before he passes on, the urge to give eome good advice to thOee he loavw behind. While he ie nlive hig worde of wisdom pass away Into the ai? and his children do not otway# tafce them seriously* But, after

hie death, these saiae words apoken in his famiHa? voice will have quite a dififerent riag. From time to time his adjurations, eomihg as it wero from the other slde of the grave, will resound In the family eircle with impreBoive aud persuasivo eloqueace. A "moral testamettV rondered livisg by the disc, is a edolal aBBet of indlsputable value. The disc also permits the po^t-mot-tem phylng back of grudgee. The manager of the factory coniided to me that he had some time ago a very eim gular order. A testator, knowing that his time on carth wajs short, ,and having had to submit during his I&etime to a number of family tyrannles which he had not had the courage to resist, waa seized by the original idea of relieviag his auppressed feelings by letting hig heirs know what he' thought of them. A written will di.d not seem to him enough and he docreed that the lcgatees should be compellcd to listen to a tecord I in which he told each of them a few home triitEs— reproaches uttercd in his "living voice' ' without their being able to ihterrupt him. It was with the livelieet satisfaction he had registered this little family indictment, pieturing to himself the tragicomic scene which the publie reading of this revengeful will would cauee. Thus you see it was wrong to imagine that the record industry is ln peril. If it thus enables every person in the world to be absolutely frank for once in his life— retroBpect-ive, it is true — Ihe recording engineers will have plenty to do.

In Tokio & large and expensive restiurant not ohly eulploys tho most he&utifuil hosteeses and whit-rc-sses in the city, but also madntaihs » spbdal heauty ehop where thoy are made up hy eatperts— like movie Stars— 1 before ,they serve the patrons.— Treling Toetor.