The Californian Who Tried to Save A President

By C. MacDonald

Happy President's Day! At least four Presidents have lived in California—Ronald Reagan, Herbert Hoover, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Nixon (who was born here) and Reagan are buried at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley. Gerald Ford died in Rancho Mirage but was buried at Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Former President Barack Obama recently purchased a home in Rancho Mirage, so the number of ex-presidents presence in The Golden State keeps on growing.

But this is an article about another President, James A. Garfield (born and buried in Ohio) and a man (that ended up in California), who tried to save his life.

You've probably never heard of Charles Sumner Tainter of San Diego. That name just doesn't ring a bell. But he was of the utmost importance to Alexander Graham Bell, who used Tainter's creative talents while developing a variety of inventions.

In fact, the two men would end up trying in vain to save the life of President Garfield.

Tainter, who lived in San Diego from 1905-1940, either invented or helped invent the Dictaphone, the Radiophone, the Graphophone and Wax Records.

Perhaps Tainter got the greatest amount of publicity when he teamed with Bell to save Garfield's life. Garfield was shot in a Washington D.C. railway station on July 2, 1881. One of the assassin's bullets entered his right side and penetrated within an inch or two of his spine. His life depended on locating and removing the bullet.

"There was no x-ray then and blind probing so near the spine was considered too dangerous," reported a San Diego newspaper. "Bell conceived the idea of using some electrical device to locate the bullet."

Night and day, Tainter and Bell, worked to create a device to save the president's life. They created a system involving two coils of insulated wire. If one coil was moved along over the other, a magnetic field around one, balanced the other and a steady sound on the phone ceased. Yet, if any metal object was placed between the fields, the steady sound would begin.

Tainter and Bell tried out the system by placing bullets in their mouths, under their arms, buried in meat and even brought in Civil War veterans, who carried shot and shell in their bodies.

On July 26, 1881, the device was set up in the White House and the first attempt to locate the bullet was made. The experiment was not successful because the apparatus was not sensitive enough, Tainter later said.

They thought they were successful in a second attempt but they discovered the President's mattress had metal springs that wrongly affected their probe.

Meanwhile, the President's condition deteriorated and he died on Sept. 19th.

Although discouraged, Tainter and Bell has many successes. Their 1880 Photophone used energy waves of reflected sunbeams. Bell gave credit to Tainter for the invention. In 1899, Tainter received a national award from France for his Graphophone invention. He also received a gold metal for his work with "talking machines" at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco in 1915.

In an effort to improve his ailing health, Tainter moved to San Diego in 1905. He lived at 2960 First Avenue and had a laboratory on Sixth Avenue.

Fellow journalist and author, the late Jerry MacMullen, recalled visiting Tainter's lab, when he was 10. "I recall a long workbench with tools and instruments on it," MacMullen said. "My dad told me he invented phonographs."

"The little lab was the target of awe to neighborhood youngsters, who were greatly impressed that Tainter was an inventor."

The San Diego Union reported Tainter died on April 20, 1940. His inventions helped make life more meaningful and enjoyable.

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