PURELY COMMENTARY
Emil Berliner
Continued from Page 2
long-distance use. Berliner was
appointed chief electrical in-
struments inspector of the
company.
In 1887 he improved Edison's
phonograph by introducing a
flat disc instead of a cylinder
and the use of a shallow groove.
The patent was acquired by the
Victor Talking Machine Com-
pany and served as the basis for
the modern gramophone. In his
later years he engaged in avia-
tion experiments and intro-
duced the use of a revolving
cylindered light engine. Bet-
ween 1919 and 1926 he built
three helicopters which he
tested in flight himself.
Berliner also interested
himself in public matters, par-
ticularly in the field of health
and hygiene. In 1890 he founded
the Society for the Prevention of
Sickness. In 1907 he organized
the first milk conference in
Washington, whose efforts con-
tributed to the pasteurization of
milk and an improvement in its
quality. He played a leading
part in the fight against the
spread of tuberculosis, and
wrote a number of articles on
hygiene and preventive
medicine. He set out his agnostic
ideas on matters of religion and
philosophy in his book Conclu-
sions (1899). Toward the end of
his life Berliner supported the
rebuilding of Palestine and was
active on behalf of the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem.
The article by Hasse gains added
importance with its reference to an ex-
hibition currently being held in the
Hanover History Museum in conjunc-
tion with the Polygram Company
displaying "the historic (Berliner)
record player never before shown in
public. So are photographs and
documents from the company's files,
from the museum's stocks and items
loaned."
The Berliner recollections are not
limited to what has thus far been
outlined. There were sensational battle
in the camp of inventors when some pre-
judicial campaigns were conducted
against him. On occasions there were
suspicions that they were motivated by
anti-Semitism.
There had been charges of patent
interference and there were occasions
when competitors infringed upon the
patents. There were occasional court
patents which were won by Berliner.
That called for the formation of a new
company to manufacture the
gramophone and records in a large
modern plant in Camden, N.J. It was
called the Victor Gramophone Co. It
reportedly relieved Berliner of defen-
ding litigation and infringements.
After a 14-year delay, a patent
covering all telephone parts, which was
then owned by the Bell Company, ap-
plied for by Berliner in 1877, was issued
by the U.S. Patent Office on Nov. 17,
1891. The Bell Company was thus given
a full monopoly with an additional 17
years from 1891. During the life of the
patent Berliner's name was affixed in-
side the phone box. A financial sensa-
KIN/ 9r1 1Q0
tion was caused and Bell stock advanc-
ed in the following ten days by 30
points, from $180 to $210.
On Nov. 8, 1901, the Boston Globe
contained an item stating: "We think
it's safe to say that this Berliner patent
is of more commercial value than the
original Bell Telephone patent." That's
when stock speculators and claimants
of prior inventions brought suit in the
Boston federal court to annul the
Berliner patent. They charged that the
patent was obtained fraudulently. The
circuit court decision was against
Berliner and other adventorous
speculators continued to make other
claims.
The lower court's ruling against
Berliner was overruled by the Circuit
Court of Appeals. It was followed by an
appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. On
May 10, 1897, the high court 6-1 deci-
sion completely vindicated Berliner.
The Emil Berliner story is in-
erasable from the history of inventions.
The puzzle is that it has not been recall-
ed except for the attention given it by
the exhibit of the Berliner originals in
Hanover.
It is important to quote an addi-
tional personality item in Encyclopedia
Judaica which credits Henry Adler
Berliner, the son of Emil Berliner, as
having cooperated with his father in
helicopter construction during and
after World War I. Henry Berliner, an
aeronautical pioneer, was president of
Berliner Aircrafting Inc. In Washington
and held numerous other important
aeronautical positions. In World War II,
during which he lost an arm, he was
chief of war plans for the Eighth Air
Force.
Littell
Continued from Page 2
Some of the authors of the essays,
like A. Roy and Ellis Eckardt, Carl Voss
and several other scholars, were also in-
spired by Reinhold Niebuhr.
Elie Wiesel, Emil Fackenheim and
other current activists provide en-
thusiastic support for the ecumenism
that invited acclaim for Dr. Littell.
In the concluding essay, the
honoree's wife attests to the high rank
of libertarianism that was reached by
her husband. Marcia Sachs Littell,
writing under the topic "Franklin H.
Littell: Scholar, Teacher, Social Inven-
tor," asserts that "he has lived his life
dually as a man of the campus and of
the church." She also mentions his men-
tor Reinhold Niebuhr. She refers to his
academic career as a university teacher
of religion. She asserts that he had
selected "to be on the frontier of issues
relating to religion and public life."
Mrs. Littell explains how her hus-
band inspired learning about the
Holocaust in churches, seminaries and
congregations. "He went on to become
a leader in ecumenical and inter-
organizational cooperation on public
issues," she stated as part of her tribute
to him as a "social inventor" who
pioneered in founding movements to ad-
vance his teachings.
Marcia Littell calls attention to her
husband's authorship of the columns
"Lest We Forget" and "Proclaim Liber-
ty," many of which appeared in the col-
umns of The Jewish News.
Franklin Littell is a creator. He ad-
vanced idealogical causes. He helped
establish the Philadelphia Anne Frank
Institute out of which grew the commit-
ment to remember the Holocaust and
strive for the prevention of recurring
nazi causes. He was an inspiration to a
score of important movements and Mar-
cia Littell lists them with pride.
Such are the well-merited tributes
to a great scholar who has authored 24
books and hundreds of articles on
ecumenism. It is a privilege to pay
honors to Franklin H. Littell.
Yiddish
Continued from Page 2
week. But he couldn't find paper; so he
had to buy it on the black market. He
pleaded again and again to make his
paper a daily one, but that was verboten
through the direct order of Ben-Gurion
himself.
After B-G stepped down, he was
finally granted permission for his dai-
ly. Equally arduous was the path of
those who wanted to offer Yiddish
theater. No place was granted the
troupe until they set up house in a ram-
shackle structure. But each time they
put on a Yiddish play they had to pay
a fine. Yiddish was given a place on the
state radio, but that was out of com-
miseration for the linguistic plight of
immigrants from Europe who otherwise
would not know what was going on in
their home.
Yiddish In Bloom
Forty students took Yiddish courses
in the summer program at Oxford
University. They came from all over the
world. In Israel, 62 students studied
Yiddish at Bar-Ilan University. Bar-
Ilan is projecting Yiddish courses in a
number of Latin American countries. In
Chicago, feet and hearts are pounding
as the Maxwell Klezmer Kapelia enter-
tains. In Baltimore a Yiddish festival
involved hundreds of people in
September. In Washington and Boston
Yiddish conferences are planned for
next year.
In Montreal there's a network of
Yiddish groups calling themselves
"Mame Lashon." In Israel, the last
issue of The Yiddish periodical
"Goldene Kait" (Golden Chain) has 122
pages, and, among other things, saluted
the Forward on its 90th anniversary
and the literary journal, "The
Gukunft" (the future) which the For-
ward started. In Montevideo, Uruguay,
a Yiddish literary quarterly is called
"Dah" (Here). In the Moscow Yiddish
magazine, "Sovetishe Haimland"
(Soviet Home), glasnost is evident in
prose and poetic pieces which glorify
the Jewish religion. Thus, I. Hamer
tells Forward readers, Yiddish is in
bloom throughout the world.
Such is the status of a linguistic
revolution that restores to Yiddish the
Mame Loshen designation. There are
many generations of Yiddish scholars
and writers, who contribute to the
glorification of the designation. There
is genuine glory in the attainment of
new vigor by the Yiddish langauge.
Michael Comay:
Leader's Charm
Treasured As Legacy
Meeting them frequently, often
singly and occasionally as a pair,
Michael and Joan Comay were always
the providers of charm that made them
the inspirers of admiration for Israelis
who are creative, dedicated to their
cause, unselfish in their motivations.
Coupling both names while paying
tribute to Michael Comay is not an ab-
normality. That's how they were in
their lifetime; together in advocating
Zionism, as a pair when lecturing in
behalf of Israel and just right for the
Jewish people, devoted to the cultural
and spiritual aims of our people when
literary classics were bylined Comay.
Michael took pride in the literary
works bearing the Joan Comay byline.
His inspiration was an acknowledged
fact when Joan produced Who's Who in
the Old Testament, Who's Who in Jewish
History and The Diaspora Story.
It was as a team that the Comays
created the charm unmatched
everywhere when leadership is a
twosome that glorifies the family name.
Joan will surely accept such treat-
ment of the memory of her distinguish-
ed husband. She now keeps it alive and
the legacy is in great measure in her
bylines.
The charm that was spelled out in
Comay remains unforgettable. Let the
story of Michael's life, appearing
elsewhere in these pages, speak for
themselves. The Comay name will
always arouse jubilation in having
shared friendship with it.
Dismay Of Moderator
Over 'Dreary Rhetoric'
Anger, puzzlement, outraged feel-
ing, bitter confrontation were
represented in the feelings aroused over
a platform that was given by our Book
Fair to an Arab lobbyist in a "debate"
with a representative of one of the
leading American Jewish movements.
One reporter already indicated that the
"debate" was a way of selling the book
that claimed to see the Middle East
issue Through Different Eyes. That
book, in our view, recevied proper treat-
ment in a brief review in the Nov. 16
New York Times Book Review section in
which Jack Lessenberry wrote:
What a nice idea for a public
affairs book, someone must
have thought. Bring together a
leading American Jewish
spokesman and an American
Arab counterpart. Let both have
at the issue of United States
policy in the Middle East, in a
sort of extended Lincoln-
Douglas debate, complete with
opportunities for lengthy rebut-
tal. Then add a little face-to-face
confrontation with an expert
moderator, give each side the
chance for rebuttal, and presto
— a lively, thought-provoking,
maybe even useful discussion.
Unfortunately, that's not
what happened. What we have
here is thousands of words of
dreary and utterly familiar