cials awoke to
the fact that here, possibly, was a dangerous rival, and dropped the
viewpoint that Bell's telephone was a mere plaything. They acquired
the inventions of Edison, Gray, and Dolbear, and entered the telephone
field, announcing that they were prepared to furnish the very best
in telephonic communication. This sudden assault by the most powerful
corporation in America, while it served to arouse public confidence in
the telephone, made it necessary for Hubbard to reorganize his forces
and find a general capable of doing battle against such a foe.

Hubbard's political activities had brought to him a Presidential
appointment as head of a commission on mail transportation. In the
course of the work for the Government he had come much in contact with
a young man named Theodore N. Vail, who was head of the Government
mail service. He had been impressed by Vail's ability and had in turn
introduced Vail to the telephone and aroused his enthusiasm in its
possibilities. This Vail was a cousin of the Alfred Vail who
was Morse's co-worker, and who played so prominent a part in the
development of the telegraph. His experience in the Post-office
Department had given him an understanding of the problems of
communication in the United States, and had developed his executive
ability. Realizing the possibilities of the telephone, he relinquished
his governmental post and cast his fortunes with the telephone
pioneers, becoming general manager of the Bell company.

The Western Union strengthened its position by the introduction of a
new and improved transmitter. This was the work of Thomas Edison, and
was so much better than Bell's transmitter that it enabled the Western
Union to offer much better telephonic equipment. As we have seen,
Bell's transmitter and receiver were very similar, being about the
same as the receiver now in common use. In his transmitter Edison
placed tiny bits of carbon in contact with the diaphragm. As the
diaphragm vibrated under the sound-impulses the pressure upon the
carbon granules was varied. An electric current was passed through
the carbon particles, whose electrical resistance was varied by the
changing pressure from the diaphragm. Thus the current was thrown into
undulations corresponding to the sound-waves, and passed over the
line and produced corresponding sounds in the receiver. Much stronger
currents could be utilized than those generated by Bell's instrument,
and thus the transmitter wa