1/SUDGE: 2/LAWYER: 1/JUDGE: 2/LAWYER: 3/BELL: 2/LAWYER: 1/ Teacher Script/ ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL, INVENTOR OF THE TELEPHONE. (THE READING BEGINS WHEN READERS ARE IN PLACE.) This is a preliminary hearing to determine ownership of patent rights to the telephone. Five claims have been filed. You may begin. Your Honor, my client, Alexander Graham Bell, will present a review of his research and experimentation concerning the telephone. His telephone patent was the first granted, and all others should be considered void. (1/JUDGE ADDRESSES 3/BELL) Mr. Bell, you have been summoned here from your summer home in Canada to defend your patent rights. You may produce witnesses, papers, and drawings to support your claim. (2/LAWYER MOTIONS FOR 3/BELL TO SPEAK.) Mr. Bell, please begin with some personal background which explains your interest in the transmission of sound. My father, who lived in Canada, was a speech teacher. | learned that profession from him and went to Boston to begin my work. | later became a U.S. citizen, although | reside in Canada during the summers. What was the nature of your work? ‘© 1093, Take Part Productions Ltd, Box 96756, North Vancouver, BC, Canada, V7L L3. This Take Part Read-Nous Story Script may nat be cuplicted,Page 2/ Teacher Script/ ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL, INVENTOR OF THE TELEPHONE 3/BELL: 4/MABEL: 1/JUDGE: 4/MABEL: 2/LAWYER: 6/HUBBARD: 2/LAWYER: | taught deaf people to speak by using my father’s methods. Through my work with the deaf, | began experiments in the field of sound waves which cause vibrations in the eardrum. My husband taught speech during the day and worked on his inventions at night. | was one of his students. That was how we met. | have been deaf since childhood, Your speech is excellent, Mrs. Bell. (4/MABEL SMILES AT 3/BELL.) | had a good teacher. Alexander often visited in our home, to court me and to visit my father about business. What was the business Mr. Bell had with your father? (HUBBARD LEANS FORWARD AND RAISES HAND FOR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. JUDGE NODS TO HUBBARD.) ‘As her father, | should answer that question instead of my daughter, An associate and | invested money in Bell's research into a harmonic telegraph, but Bel! and Watson began work on the telephone. Mr. Watson was Mr. Bell's associate. © 1903, Take Part Productions Lid. ox 86756, North Vancouver, BC, Canada, VTL 4L3. This Take Part Read-Aoud Story Serpt may not be duplicated.Page 3/ Teacher Script/ ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL, INVENTOR OF THE TELEPHONE 1/4UDGE: 5/WATSON: 2/LAWYER: 5/WATSON: 3/BELL: 8/WATSON: 4/MABEL: 6/HUBBARD: We need specific dates. Mr. Watson, can you remember when you met Bell? (WATSON RUBS CHIN THOUGHTFULLY BEFORE ANSWERING.) Yes, it was in 1874. | worked in an electrical shop, and inventors were always coming in and asking us to build models. Why do you remember Mr. Bell and the date so clearly? | remember, because we had an unusual rapport. He had the ideas, but | had the knowledge of electrical engineering. He knew what he wanted to build, and | knew how to build it. | told Watson that my dream was to send speech along the wire, not just the dots and dashes that the telegraph sent. ‘The day of our first mesting, we talked until the shop closed. Then, we went back to Mr. Bell's lodgings and talked until late at night. We were both excited about the projects. My husband became discouraged with the harmonic telegraph. ‘There were many other inventors working on the same project. He came to my father to ask him to invest in the telephone. | told him | wouldn't fund that idea, and told Bell he couldn't marry my daughter if he continued with his crazy telephone scheme. ‘© 1959, Take Part Productions Ltd, Box 86756, North Vancouver, BC, Canada, VFL 4L3. This Take Part Read-Aloud Stary Script may not be cuplicated.Page 4/ Teacher Script/ ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL, INVENTOR OF THE TELEPHONE 4/MABEL: 3/BELL: 4/MABEL: 3/BELL: 5/WATSON: 3/BELL: 5/WATSON: 3/BELL: 5/WATSON: | assured Alexander that my mother would help us overcome Father's objections to the marriage and encouraged him to continue with his telephone experiments. (BELL PATS MABEL'S HAND AFFECTIONATELY.) Mabel was very patient about postponing our marriage. | knew that without my father's backing, the experiments on the telephone would be delayed, but | believed in the telephone too. We found the proper method quite by accident. We were working on the harmonic telegraph and the wire got stuck. | gave the wire a tug and Bell came running from the other room. ‘The sound had been carried over the wire. | designed a transmitter and receiver, and Watson built them. We began experimenting with the wire in exactly the same position as it had been on the day wa heard the sound transmitted. We performed many experiments and we were convinced that success was imminent. | was in one room and Mr. Bell was in another. We were getting ready to perform another test. ‘© 1963, Take Pan Productions Ltd, Box 86756, North Vancowver, BC, Canada, V7L 4L3, This Take Part Read-Aloud Story Script may not be cuplicatedPage 5/ Teacher Script/ ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL, INVENTOR OF THE TELEPHONE 3/BELL: 5/WATSON: 3/BELL: 2/LAWYER: 4/MABEL: 5/WATSON: 3/BELL: It was 1875, and on that day, another accident occurred. | spilled some acid and | said, “Mr. Watson, come here - ! want you!" I heard him as clearly as if he were by my side. | rushed to the other room. | don't remember what we did about the acid spill (BELL LAUGHS AND SMILES AT WATSON.) Neither do I, but | do remember that we spent the rest of the day talking on the telephone. Mr. Bell then began work on filing papers for the patent. He applied for a patent on February 14, 1876. No one had filed for a patent for the telephone prior to that date, and Alexander had been working on the telephone for two years before making application. (WATSON MIMES PASSING PAPERS TO 1/JUDGE.) We have sketches Bell drew for early designs. These are all dated. The real model of the first drawing would have been as big as 2 room. We knew that one would not work. (LAWYER PRETENDS TO HAND PAPER TO 1/JUDGE.) © 1999, Take Part Productions Lt, Box 86756, Nertn Vancouver, BC, Canada, V7L 4L3. This Take Part Raad-Aloud Story Seipt may not be duplicate.