BLACKMAIL CHECK.

Shannon News, 26 May 1925, Page 4

BLACKMAIL CHECK.

SECRETS REVEALED BY MECHANICAL EAR. "THE MOVING FINGER.” LONDON, March 14. An Instrument which can make a permanent record of a telephone or wireless message, unknown to the sender,, was shown yesterday to representatives of the, Services. A “Daily Chronicle” representative listened to conversatio’as between city offices, then move a lever and heard the words repeated' quite clearly oy the “Telegraphone.” The instrument is a combination of dictaphone and telephone, and permission has been granted by British and Continental Governments for its attachment to the telephone. If it comes into general use — Blackmailers will have a new difficulty to overcome. . .. Brokers can take verbal orders safely. Stenographers will be unnecessary at law courts. , Enemy messages, can be tapped without detection. . . All that is necessary is to attaen the instrument to an ordinary telephone with a two-wire cable. The box containing the telegraphone cafa be concealed in another room if desired. When. the recording lever is pushed down the moving wax cylinder inside the box is inscribed by a sapphirepointed needle, a special device amplifying the conversation which passes over the telephone. Each cylinder will take half an hour’s conversation —approximately 5000 words. By ,the telegraphone a telephone conversation might be reproduced in a law court where otherwise the conversation might be debarred as evidence. Already one Court has accepted a telegraphone record as evidnee —the Berlin Court of Appeals. The usefulness of the device is further extended by its application to radio communication, which can be recorded in the same way, whether on land, air or sea. A pilot 2000 ft up or a submarine in the ocean receiving secret messages could be “tapped” by the radio-tele-graphone. / When used for this purpose the receiver has a special switch set to receive a particular wave length. The moment the message is sent out, unknown to the senders the words are recorded on the cylinder even in the absence of the operator.