ediction in 1878 as to the value of such an appliance is
being realized, when we find that up to this time the sales run up to
12,695 in number. At the present time the annual sales of the business
phonographs and supplies, cylinders, etc., are not less than $350,000.

We must not forget that the basic patent of Edison on the phonograph has
long since expired, thus throwing open to the world the wonderful art
of reproducing human speech and other sounds. The world was not slow to
take advantage of the fact, hence there are in the field numerous other
concerns in the same business. It is conservatively estimated by those
who know the trade and are in position to form an opinion, that the
figures above given represent only about one-half of the entire business
of the country in phonographs, records, cylinders, and supplies.

Taking next his inventions that pertain to a more recently established
but rapidly expanding branch of business that provides for the amusement
of the public, popularly known as "motion pictures," we also find a
general recognition of value created. Referring the reader to a previous
chapter for a discussion of Edison's standing as a pioneer inventor in
this art, let us glance at the commercial proportions of this young but
lusty business, whose ramifications extend to all but the most remote
and primitive hamlets of our country.

The manufacture of the projecting machines and accessories, together
with the reproduction of films, is carried on at the Orange Valley
plant, and from the inception of the motion-picture business to the
present time there have been made upward of 16,000 projecting machines
and many million feet of films carrying small photographs of moving
objects. Although the motion-picture business, as a commercial
enterprise, is still in its youth, it is of sufficient moment to call
for the annual production of thousands of machines and many million
feet of films in Edison's shops, having a sale value of not less than
$750,000. To produce the originals from which these Edison films are
made, there have been established two "studios," the largest of which is
in the Bronx, New York City.

In this, as well as in the phonograph business, there are many other
manufacturers in the field. Indeed, the annual product of the Edison
Manufacturing Company in this line is only a fractional part of the
total that is absorbed by the 8000 or more motion-picture theatres and
exhibitions that are in o