[Trade Journal]
Publication: Reports of the Commissioners of the United States to the International Exhibition Held at Vienna 1873
Washington, DC, United States
vol. 2, p. 14-32, col. 1
CHAPTER II.
CONSTRUCTION OF LINES AND ADMINISTRATION.
WIRE CONDUCTORS IN EUROPE; BATTERIES; MEASURES OF RESISTANCE; MORSE'S ' ALPHABET; PRESERVATION OF TIMBER; LINE-CONSTRUCTION; INSULATORS; UNDER GROUND-WIRES; PNEUMATIC TUBES; MONOPOLY OF THE TELEGRAPH; COST OF LINES; BRANCH-LINES; RATES; SYSTEM DESIRABLE.
19. WIRE CONDUCTORS.—The wires employed in Europe for the long circuits, called the "international circuits," and working generally direct -from capital to capital, forming thus the transcontinental lines, are of five millimeters diameter. The material of this wire would weigh about five hundred and forty pounds per English mile. On the main routes of travel, more than half of all the wires seen are of this larger size. By agreement between the nationalities, effected some years since, this size of wire was adopted as the " international." For the less important circuits, wire of four millimeters diameter is employed, the weight of which per mile is about three hundred and twenty pounds, a size corresponding very nearly to the American No. 9.
For the branch-lines, that is for the lines leading from the main routes to the towns and villages not situated in the path of railways, there is employed in France, Belgium, and Switzerland a wire of three millimeters. Its weight is about two hundred pounds per English mile. In Germany, there is employed for similar purposes a wire of two and a half millimeters diameter, weighing about one hundred and forty pounds. This smaller size is also used for running in wires to stations, for crossings of the railway-track, &c., uses for which it is specially adapted, being so light that it can be pulled very taut, and the slack taken up without material strain upon the posts. If caught by passing trains the consequences are not so serious as when wires of greater strength are employed.
An erroneous opinion is prevalent among telegraph people in our country that a small wire cannot be used for such purposes without materially diminishing the conductivity of the circuit. It does so, however, -only in proportion as it reduces the weight of the wire of that circuit, which forms a portion of the resistance. In a line, for example, of two hundred miles, if all the crossings and running-in wires were of No. 13 wire, the loss in conductivity on that account would be so small as to be practically inappreciable. The smaller wire, again, is more easily spliced and manipulated. The English practice is to use upon the longer and important circuits a wire of No. 4 gauge, the weight of which, per mile, is about eight hundred pounds; in some instances, however, No. 3 is used, the weight of which is about nine hundred and forty pounds.
20. GALVANIZED WIRE.—It is the opinion of Dr. Militzer, technical counselor of the Austrian telegraphs, that it is inexpedient to galvanize wires; and that the advantages to be derived, as compared with its disadvantages, do not compensate for the increase in cost. In Austria a wire of very superior quality is used, which is made from Styrian iron. In undergoing the process of galvanizing it loses, as does all wire, both in strength and pliability, while its cost is increased about 50 per cent. At a cost no greater than that of the galvanized wire, a wire half again as large, and, consequently, of 50 per cent. greater conductivity, an ungalvauized wire may be used; or, to put it differently, three uugalvanized wires cost no more than two galvanized wires of equal size. The wires are drawn in long lengths, and the joints are carefully soldered. If the quality of the wire is superior, and it is well annealed, especially when the larger sizes are considered, it is questionable whether the several advantages of greater durability, improved appearance, &c., possessed by the galvanized wire, compensate fully for the increased expense of its manufacture. At all events, the opinion of so eminent an authority as Dr. Militzer is worthy of careful consideration. Austria, finally, is the only country, according to my observation, in which plain or ungalvanized wires were employed. By way of comparison, it may be as well to state that more than half of all the wire used in America is of No. 9 gauge, the weight of which is three hundred and twenty pounds per English mile; a portion of the balance is No. 8, weight, three hundred and eighty pounds per mile; perhaps 3 per cent. is No. 6, weight, about five hundred and forty pounds per mile; and some No. 10, weight, about two hundred and seventy pounds per mile.
21. GALVANIC BATTERIES.—The Prussian government exhibits at Vienna the Callaud elements, of a pattern very similar to those generally it, use in this country. The French exhibit the same. The Callaud, as incidentally remarked, is a modified form of the Daniell. The Austrian government employs another form, known as the Meidinger. The French, likewise, employed at one time the sulphate of mercury element, known as the Marie-Davy, and the peroxide of manganese element, or the Le-clanche; but neither of these exclusively.
In one form or another the Daniell element has been employed for telegraphic purposes in all European countries, from the introduction of telegraphy to the present. The several forms in question are the Minotto, in which a layer of sand, about four inches in depth, rests upon the sulphate of copper; the Meidinger and the Callaud, in which the separation of the two solutions is effected by their difference in density, and the Daniell proper, in which the two solutions are separated by a porous cap. For telegraphic purposes the form of battery at present most generally employed is the Callaud, which has been adopted to the exclusion of all others by the governments of Prussia and France.
22. The battery used on the experimental line of Professor Morse, between Baltimore and Washington, was the Grove, which has been used almost exclusively by American Telegraph Companies up to this date. The electro-motive force of the Grove is about twice that of the Daniell, while its resistance is not more than half that of the latter. These properties combined produced an effect, when the Grove element was used for a sounder or Morse register, of manifesting roughly about four times the strength of the Daniell. Had the instruments, in the first place, been adapted to the Daniell, by winding the magnets with a smaller-sized wire, the strength of the Grove would then have shown itself to be approximately only about double that of the Daniell. But while the strength of the latter element is but one-half that of the former, it is found to be ample for all the needs of practice. The cost of the Grove is about double that of the Daniell; that is, one cell of the former will cost as much as two of the latter element; while to obtain the same electro-motive force the expense, which would involve the use of two cups of the one form for one of the other, would be about equal.
The advantages of the Daniell element are:
First. Very decided on the score of economical maintenance; inasmuch as, compared with the Grove, the maintenance of the Daniell, including both labor and materials, does not involve one-fourth the expense of the former.
Second. The Daniell possesses an advantage on the score of constancy. After the Grove is set the strength of the battery runs down very rapidly, so that as a consequence every instrument in the circuit requires adjusting to the diminished force of the current, say as often as once per hour.
Third. There are no disagreeable or unhealthy fumes evolved from the Daniell, a condition unavoidable with the employment of nitric acid in the Grove. Within the experience of the writer four battery-keepers have died in the city of Philadelphia of lung disease, contracted in all probability from this cause.
The improvement effected in the Daniell cell by dispensing with the porous cup is a most advantageous feature, seeing that it accomplishes the more perfect separation of the liquids, and reduces the consumption of material to a minimum. It is an unavoidable feature in all batteries that only a portion of their material is utilized. A Grove when set without closing the circuit soon exhausts itself by local action. The Daniell continues to operate until a complete intermixture has taken place between the several solutions, which shortly takes place through the porous cup, when its action, so far as the instruments are concerned, ceases. Local action then ensues, and the consumption of zinc goes on at a greater rate than before.
For an equal amount of work performed, it is probable that not one- quarter as much zinc is Consumed in the Callaud as in the Daniell cell, a difference which is to be ascribed solely to the more perfect separation of the solution in the former. It is true that the internal resistance of the Callaud is greater than that of the Daniell, but this objection is overcome by an improvement known as Lockwood's; a device which consists in permitting a portion of the copper-plate in the form of a spiral wire, to extend upward into the zinc solution. When this spiral is brought to within an inch of the zinc plate, the resistance is reduced to an average of one unit per cell. By reducing the resistance to this point, it permits of many wires being worked from one battery, and the experience of operators has shown that the more such a battery is worked the less will be the tendency of the sulphate of copper solution to rise and become mixed with that of the zinc. It must be premised that the presence of the copper spiral as above indicated, does not in the least detract from the strength of the battery.
Another noteworthy improvement of the Callaud is the device of covering the surface of the liquid with paraffin oil to prevent its evaporation, a function which is performed most effectually. It also serves to prevent the formation of crystals of the zinc-salt from occurring on the surface, and in addition it completely insulates the battery. It has been objected to the use of paraffine oil that it adheres to the zinc when taken out for cleansing or renewal, as well as to the blue-stone, when this is dropped in to replenish the battery. These difficulties are, however, very simply overcome. If the zinc is not permitted to dry, but is immediately rinsed on being removed from the cell, or if the blue-stone is simply wetted with water before being dropped through the oil, no oil will adhere to their surfaces.
This form of battery is peculiarly adapted to the American system of closed circuits, and had it been adopted in the United States when first it came into use in Europe, not only would it have resulted in the saving of hundreds of thousands of dollars, but also in the avoidance of many inconveniences, and the production of much better effects.
24. MEASURES OF RESISTANCE.—Breguet, of Paris, exhibits a set of resistances adapted to the French system of measurement, and having the mercury unit as a basis. Ten of these units are equal to one mercury unit; Digney, of Paris, exhibits the same in portable form, as they are employed by the French and Swiss governments in the telegraph. service.
The Prussian department has resistance coils representing from one to ten thousand of the mercury units, as manufactured by Siemens & Haiske, of Berlin. Siemens Brothers, of London, exhibit the same. There are in use at present two systems of resistance measures, to wit : the British Association, or absolute unit, and the mercury unit, which represents a prism of mercury of one millimeter in cross-section and one meter in length. The B. A. unit represents the resistance through which a unit of work is performed, in a unit of time, by a unit of electro-motive force. To establish the exact value of this resistance is a diffi cult matter, and a subject upon which experts differ from each other; and resistance coils, having this resistance as its representative, or basis, differ very materially from each other. In view of these difficulties, the mercury unit was adopted as the standard of electrical measurement by representatives of the several European governments assembled at Vienna in the year 1868, which decision was affirmed at a similar convention held in Rome about a year ago.
25. THE MORSE ALPHABET.—The alphabet as used in America was, in the early history of the telegraph, improved materially by the Germans. These improvements consisted in doing away with the spaced letters, or those letters formed of dots with unequal spaces between them; and in introducing other changes whereby the characters were made more easily legible, and the liabilities of error in reading were reduced. The original characters of Professor Morse, not used in the European alphabet, are the U, O, R, Y, Z, and the character &.
The changes introduced by the Germans were so manifestly improvements upon the original, that they were soon adopted by all the other countries of Europe, and this modified alphabet is now in universal use except in North America.
About the year 1847, when the telegraph reached Saint Louis, and before railroads had extended into the Western States, an election for United States Senator was held in the State of Missouri. The name of the successful candidate was telegraphed and published in all the East-ern papers as Grier; his real name, however, was Geyer. The names Grier and Geyer appear to be very similar when written in the American Morse characters inasmuch as there are the same number of dots and dashes and spaces in each, the variation consisting simply in the length of these spaces, and that of very slight degree. When written in the European Morse alphabet, these names have so little resemblance that the reading of the one for the other, by an operator, would be an inexcusable blunder.
In the American alphabet, again, the characters T and L are each a dash, differing only in length, the consequence of which is the frequent mistaking of the one for the other. In the European alphabet they bear no resemblance. It is fair to presume that the errors growing out of the misinterpretation of these characters more than equal those from all other causes combined.
Professor Morse advocated, many years since, the adoption, in this country, of the changes made by the Germans. It can be effected in a day .precisely as it was accomplished in Europe. England was the last country to adopt the change, which was effected by the mutual agreement and concerted action of the three telegraph companies at that time controlling the business.
26. PRESERVATION OF TIMBER.—In the mountainous districts of France, Germany, and Switzerland there flourishes a species of evergreen or fir, a tree very straight in its growth, and otherwise well adapted to serve for telegraph-posts, with the one drawback, however, that it decays very rapidly. This difficulty, however, has been measurably overcome by the preservative process of Boncherie, which consists in injecting the wood with a solution of sulphate of copper. When prepared according to this process, this timber used for telegraph-posts is made to last from fifteen to twenty years. The posts are subjected to this process in the forest directly after cutting and while yet fall of sap; the expense of thus treating them varying usually from one to one and a half dollars per post. In many regions of the United States there is a wood of very similar character to that above named, which is known as hemlock or spruce, and which, on account of its perishable nature, has very little value as a timber. It is probable that this species may be found serviceable at some future time, if prepared for such use by Bouchereizing. The wood is more readily and more perfectly protected in proportion as it is porous and rich in sap. After undergoing the preservative process the timber is permitted to season, which proceeds very quickly, when it becomes very light and portable, an advantage, inasmuch as the posts are handled and transported with greater ease. By far the greater number, if not all the posts of the French, German, and Belgian telegraph service are now subjected to this preservative process. There is no timber in those countries which is naturally as durable as the American chestnut, which is quite abundant throughout the Middle and New England States, or as the white cedar of the Northwest. At the present time it is probable that the use of these timbers in their natural state would be more economical than resorting to the process of Boucherie.
27. MODERN LINE CONSTUCTION.—The number of posts per mile usually employed in this country is double the number used in Europe. The greatest number used in England is twenty for ten or more wires. In France it is about sixteen; yet their lines are very substantially built.
If a No. 8 wire is stretched one span at a time, and pulled up to the full strength of two men, and the poles are thirty or more to the mile, such lines will be so tight as to break from contraction in cold weather, provided the line has been strung during the warmer months. On curves and angles this contraction forces the posts out of line; but if the posts are but twenty or less to the mile, two men cannot pull up the span so taut as not to leave sufficient curve or slack in the wire to counteract the strain which it will probably suffer from contraction daring the cold season. The breaking-strain of a No. 8 wire is from twelve, hundred to eighteen hundred pounds, according to its quality. To bring up the span to within twenty inches of being straight, requires a tension of about four hundred and twenty pounds where the poles are stationed twenty to the mile. The same force will bring up the span to within twenty-four inches of being straight where sixteen poles to the mile are employed. Such a strain will split or detach any ordinary wood-bracket or pin, when the wire is strung one span at a time, and tied or fastened to the common glass insulators. The support of the French insulator is a wrought-iron bracket, weighing three and a half pounds, and has sufficient strength to sustain a tension of one thousand pounds without bending or breaking. This system of a reduced number of posts is not practicable with the common glass insulators of our country. They are of too frail a nature. As used with thirty to forty poles to the mile, a large percentage of them are broken in suspending the wires, so much so that not unfrequently as much as 30 per cent. goes to waste in this manner.
It has been objected to the system of a reduced number of posts, that the wires are more liable to be broken by sleet, but this is by no means a necessary consequence. A No. 8 or No. 9 wire of good quality will sustain the necessary tension, say three hundred and fifty to four hundred and fifty pounds, and an additional strain of one thousand pounds without breaking, a strain far greater than that which the sleet is able to bring to bear upon it; but if fifty posts are used to the mile, with wires pulled tight, the sleet will be able to break every span. With sixty posts to the mile, to avoid this very difficulty over the Alleghanies [sic] Alleghenies, the writer has seen the wires entirely prostrated by sleet, owing to the tight stretching of the wires. It has likewise been urged that the wires are more liable to be crossed and twisted by high winds, but with a secure fastening at the insulators, such a result does not follow. The weight of the wires keeps them at their proper distance apart; and when moved by the wind they "swing and keep time together."
The illustration (Fig. 2) herewith appended, shows the method adopted by the French in supporting their wires. Two poles are set about seven feet apart, and in a line at right angles to the direction of the wires. These posts are firmly secured to each other by an iron bar, one and a quarter inches in diameter, fastened with screw-nuts. Upon the side bearing against the strain of the wires is placed a third post, in the form of a brace. This brace is omitted where the wires are on the straight line, but is erected when this is otherwise. This arrangement forms an immovable support, capable of safely carrying twenty or more wires.
The illustration (Fig. 3) shows the Austrian method of accomplishing the same purpose. By placing the cross-arms upon each side, and attaching them to the posts with screw-bolts, a structure of great strength is obtained, and at a less cost than upon the French system.
28. INSULATORS.—The exhibit of insulators in the Prussian department of the Vienna Exhibition, comprising more than twenty different styles, include in the list the earlier kinds, as well as those at the present time in use by that government. That employed at present was first designed by Colonel Chauvin, formerly director of the Prussian tele-graphs. It has a double shed or drip, of greater height than is usually employed, and is placed in an iron bracket of great strength, weighing about three and a half pounds, so formed as to prevent the under surface of the instrument from being wetted by dashing drops of rain.
The first insulators employed on the continent were of glass, and not unlike those in use at the present day in this country. The observation was, however, soon made that the instruments would afford better results when constructed of porcelain. The choice of this material for the above purpose, however, involved the necessity of constant care in selecting the good from among the defective, inasmuch as its quality varies greatly even with pieces from the same burning. The defective pieces are porous, not having received sufficient fusion in the kiln, and consequently are readily permeable to moisture. To detect these defective pieces, for rejection, requires the use of astatic galvanometers. When these precautions are observed, a much better material for insulators than ordinary glass is obtained; besides which, it possesses greater strength, and is susceptible of being molded into forms more suited to the purposes of practice than is glass.
29. The form of instrument known as the Prussian insulator is manufactured largely in France and Belgium. It is used in Germany, France, Italy, Norway, Sweden, and Russia. Those used in Germany are manufactured in Berlin. The French manufacturers make these insulators of the same material as is employed in the manufacture of the French china ware. With this single exception, material quite as good is made in this country at the Trenton, N. J., potteries as is made in Europe; but porcelain has never been used for this purpose with us, and consequently the method of selecting the good from the bad by the use of astatic galvanometers is unknown. As made in France or Prussia, the cost of the Prussian insulator and its iron bracket is about fifty cents each.
The firm of Siemens Brothers, of England, exhibit all the varieties of insulators manufactured in their works, from the early history of the telegraph. Their exhibit includes all or nearly all the forms of this instrument used in England, or manufactured there for export. Among the latter is the Brooks insulator, the invention of the writer, very similar to those made in the United States.
While in Europe, in the year 1867, the writer procured sets of insulators of the following nationalities: Wiirtemberg, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Prussia, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, and England. Of the last-named nationality there were three standard kinds, viz: the United Kingdom's, the British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company's, and Varley's Double Inverts. These instruments were procured for the purpose of galvanometric measurement and comparison with those of this country, including the form manufactured by the writer. Of these several instruments one hundred and nine separate tests, during the occurrence of rain, have been made and recorded within the past six years, the results of the same having been quite uniform. The following is a summary of these results: The instruments of the French-Prussian pattern gave the best results, exceeding the best of the English insulators in the proportion of four and a half to one; and exceeding the poorest English in the proportion of five to one. Of all the European instruments the English proved to be the poorest, their performance averaging within a fraction of that of the common glass insulators in use in this country. Had the average of two hundred measurements been taken, so as to include the lighter rains, which did not seriously affect the other insulators, the average performance of the English insulators would have been much lower, even below the American glass insulator, inasmuch as a moderate rain produces a much more serious effect upon them.
30. There is no function in its operation which so seriously affects the economy and efficiency of the telegraph as its insulation. It is by no means uncommon, upon a wet day, for a person to leave a dispatch at the telegraph-office in Philadelphia, directed to New York, and thereupon to take the cars and arrive before the dispatch.
To transact the business between New York and Philadelphia, there are, probably, as many as forty wires. On a fair day, the entire business can be executed upon four wires, with the use of the printing-instruments, with an average delay of less than five minutes to each message. But as a result of their very defective insulation, where they have been exposed to the effects of a few hours' rain, the whole of the wires, worked to their utmost capacity, are insufficient to save the business from hours of delay.
The French, in virtue of the better system of insulation which they have adopted, are able to effect far more upon one wire between Marseilles and Paris, or Lyons and Paris, or Havre and Paris, than the English between London and Liverpool. In equally wet weather, the superiority of the French over the English practice, measured by the amount of work which each is able to perform, will be in the proportion of three to one, at least, and, more probably, in the proportion of five to one. On all the leading routes in France, the Hughes printer is worked, in the rain, at full speed. On corresponding routes in England, it is only possible to work the Morse instrument, and that at a very reduced rate of speed, in spite of the fact that the English have the advantage of larger wires, greater conductivity, and shorter circuit-distances.
32. The French work two wires in all kinds of weather, direct from Paris to Berlin, with the use of the Hughes printer; but are unable to work direct to Vienna, because of the inferior character of the insulation of the Swiss wires, upon which a common glass insulator is in use. The Swiss authorities admit the imperfection of their insulation, and are at present engaged in remedying the evil by introducing the Prussian insulator, as manufactured at the Belgium potteries. The sample specimens of this insulator, shown to the writer in Berne, were somewhat inferior to those manufactured in Prussia.
They are unable to work from Paris to London with the Hughes instrument, on account of the defective character of the English insulation, but can work from Paris to the English side of the channel, where re-transmission is made.
In his Handbook of Practical Telegraphy, Mr. Colley gives, as the insulation per mile of a No. 4 wire, in rain, between Dublin and Belfast, while "working well," 91,900 units, and that of a No. 8 wire in the same circuit and under the same circumstances, as 112,000 units. Lines of any length, say, two hundred miles, cannot be worked with such an escape in this country with our American system of closed circuits; yet there are wires in use by our railroad companies of that length, with three times the resistance of a No. 8 wire, added in the form of relays, working well in rain.
The English endeavor to overcome the effects of bad insulation by the use of larger wires, upon the following principle: If a wire of a given size or weight per foot works up to a certain capacity one hundred miles in the rain, then a wire of twice the size and weight can be worked two hundred miles to the same capacity in rain, making allowance for the increased number of insulators. If the same number of posts were used on the larger wire, that is, half the number per mile, then the larger wire would have exactly equal capacity with the smaller one of half the length. To mitigate the effects of their bad insulation, the English have ground-wires attached to their posts to carry the leaking current to the earth, instead of into the other wires or each other. They also have a separate battery for each wire. This necessitates the employment of forty thousand cells of battery at the central station in London, a sufficient number, used as main batteries, to work all the lines of telegraph in Europe, provided the same were properly insulated.
Theoretically considered, there are fewer cross-currents and disturbances in rain, when working with a separate battery for each wire, than when a number are worked from the same battery, but when the wires are as well insulated as those of the French, this difference is practically inappreciable.
The English, in their telegraph practice, have labored under the disadvantages of bad insulation from the beginning. On this account, the old needle-system was retained in use by them for twenty years, simply because the condition of their wires would admit of no other. Five per cent. of the current leaving the battery will operate the needles at the other terminals ; but the speed attained upon the needle-system is na more than half that of the Morse, while the liability to error is twice as great. The condition of the wires in England at this day is improved to the extent of admitting the Morse system of open circuits, but to operate them upon the American system, which is far more economical and convenient, would be impracticable.
33. The extent to which the Hughes printing instrument is used in England and in France, affords a good standard of comparison by which we may fudge of the comparative excellence of the insulation of the wires in the two countries.
In the London central station there are employed—
The average daily business of Paris proper, not counting repeated messages, but only those originating in Paris to go to other points, and those delivered in that city, amounts to as much as 12,000 dispatches; at times it has reached as high as 15,000.
The average daily business of London, as the writer has been informed, is 15,000 dispatches, but the repeated and local dispatches of the London central station reach upon an average 15,000 dispatches. The statistics of this kind of business at Paris, the writer was unable to obtain, but it is trifling when compared with that of London, since the system of transmission with pneumatic tubes is employed in Paris to a much larger extent than in London.
If the insulation is inferior, the needle system can be operated with the least difficulty; next in order is the open-circuit Morse system to which reference has been made before; while to be able to use the Hughes printer necessitates comparatively perfect insulation. For this reason the Hughes instrument is little used in our own country.
In clear weather, the condition of the wires permits of its employment with all of its advantages, but when the wires are under the effects of rain, these instruments must be placed aside and the Morse substituted, and the dispatches are transmitted at a very reduced rate of speed.
To have two sets of instruments, the one for fair and the other for foul weather, is neither advisable nor economical; so that in this country as well as in England the printing instruments are used but to a very limited extent, and even this limited use is confined to the shortest circuits and the largest wires.
34. UNDERGROUND WIRES IN CITIES.—The wires are run under ground in the cities of Berlin, Dresden, Breslau, Dantzig, Stettin, Hamburg, Bremen, Cologne, Frankfort on the Main, Mayence, Carla-rube, and other large cities and towns of Germany, and in Geneva, Lausanne, Berne, Neufchatel, Zurich, Winterthur, Schaffhausen, Saint Galle, and Lugano, in Switzerland. In nearly all the cities of Europe neither posts nor wires .are visible, but the system of underground cables is adopted instead. These cables contain from five to seven conductors each, insulated with gutta-percha, and the whole protected with an armor of iron wires. This system has shown itself in practice to be both economical and reliable. There are now in Paris working lines that have been buried for twenty years, and which have been the cause of little or no expense except their first cost. It is especially worthy of note in this particular that during the reign of the commune, when almost every institution of public utility was destroyed not an underground wire was disturbed.
There are, probably, five times as many wires in our cities as in European cities of equal size and importance, a condition which is attributable entirely to competition between rival companies, and the consequent multiplication of needless branch offices. One of the most obvious results of this condition of things is that our finest avenues are obstructed, and their appearance marred by unsightly posts and wires. In no part of Europe, not even in the by-ways of the country, do we see such ill-prepared and ill-shaped posts, standing so persistently out of perpendicular, as may be seen in any of our finest thoroughfares. Expensive flagstones and pavements are broken up and injured to make way for these unsightly fixtures, from which, from present indications, there seems to be no relief.
Another disadvantage of this system resides in the fact that the posts so exposed are frequently destroyed by fires, &c., and the working of the wires interrupted when they are most urgently needed.
Wires on mountains are often broken by accumulations of ice and sleet. Our wires to the Pacific have been interrupted from this cause for weeks. In Switzerland the passes of Saint Gothard, the Simplon, and others are crossed by cables laid on the ground, and telegraphic communication effectually preserved by that means. The French accomplish the same object by the use of an iron wire seven millimeters in diameter. This wire is of such size and strength as to withstand any accumulation of ice and sleet.
36. PNEUMATIC TUBES.—The delivery and transmission of dispatches, in the cities of London, Paris, and Berlin is greatly facilitated by the systematized .employment of pneumatic tubes in connection with the telegraph. The central telegraph station of Paris is not located in a business mart or thronged center, but is central in position, or equidistant, as regards those business marts. In our own large cities such stations are invariably in or near the business centers or exchanges.
The following details of the operation of the pneumatic system in Paris may be of interest. Within a certain radius of the Paris central station the dispatches are delivered by messengers. Beyond the central station there is a circle or zone reached by pneumatic tubes, embracing eleven stations. Beyond the circumference of the circle reached by the tubes are other radiating points in connection with the central station by local telegraphs. Of, the telegraph business of that city probably no less than four-fifths of it is reached or handled with the aid of the pneumatic system. As aids or auxiliaries to the operation of the tubes, the latter system stands in connection with local telegraph lines in much the same manner as the railways employ the telegraph to control and facilitate the movements of trains.
The number of branch offices in Paris, where, next to London, the largest business of any city in the world is transacted, is less than twenty, but for promptness and efficiency the system of working there employed is worthy of highest praise and emulation. As they come from the printing instrument the printed slips are cut, pasted on a sheet, folded, put into an envelope, sent through the tube, a distance of three-quarters of a mile, and placed in the hands of a messenger, all within a space of time averaging not more than four minutes. The chief object which appears to be sought is dispatch, and not, as is unfortunately the case in this country, to make or obtain business. When there were but three telegraph offices in Philadelphia, a main office on Third street, with a branch in the Exchange, and one at the Continental Hotel, there was no competition between rival lines or offices; now there are in that city one hundred or more branch offices. The only motive for the establishment of so many branches is the effort to divert business from opposition lines, and the expense necessarily incurred is enormous; and the public are ultimately the bearers of this burden in the form of excessive rates which are charged.
A branch office of some one of the telegraph companies may probably be found, upon an average, within five minutes' walk of any portion of the city of Philadelphia. Bat as an indication of their inefficiency in meeting the needs of the community, it is not saying too much when it is asserted that, should the sender of a dispatch avail himself of the street-cars, and carry his dispatch in person to the central office, instead of directing himself to the nearest branch office, his message would, as a rule, reach its destination much sooner than if he had adopted the latter alternative.
37. THE MONOPOLY OF THE TELEGRAPH.—The rates of telegraphing in this country have always been high, yet but few of the stockholders, or those who furnished the money to construct the lines, have ever received any return for their investments. In most cases the Morse patent was sold to individuals, who organized companies, received subscriptions to stock, and constructed the lines, deriving personally large profits thereby. Usually about three times the amount of money necessary to build the lines was subscribed by the stockholders, and an equal amount of stock was issued for the patent; so that those organizing the companies not only derived large profits from the construction of the lines, but also held the controlling interest in the stock. By this mode of procedure, a few individual speculators have each succeeded in realizing far greater profits from the Morse patent than were ever realized by its inventor.
As the railway system of the country was developed, the telegraph became indispensable as an auxiliary to its operations. The privilege of the telegraph, however, the railroad owners could only procure by granting exclusive rights to the telegraph company to set the poles and string the wires upon the line of the road. These rights were made perpetual, and were of more avail in securing the monopolizing of the telegraph than the patent itself, since, among other things, lines of telegraph upon highways in this country are expensive to maintain Again, these exclusive rights have been greatly strengthened by the liberal use of the, franking privilege, giving free transmission to the messages of railway officials, legislators, lobbyists, editors, and correspondents of the press. The establishment of the New York Associated Press has as its chief object, so far as the telegraph company is concerned, to silence the criticism and secure the influence of those journals enjoying its advantages, in the matter of preventing governmental interference. By the exclusive transmission of news at reduced rates to that association, the members of the latter possess a monopoly of journalism, to the extent of publishing a daily paper with news from abroad and from all parts of the Union. No journal is permitted to enter the association or to compete with them.
Of the influence of this monopoly, the following instance will give an adequate notion. The last journal to enter this association was the New York World. The value of this arrangement was then fixed by the other journals at $125,000. It is, therefore, to be expected that when such a value is placed upon its privileges, the influence of its partici-pants will be strenuously devoted to the maintenance of the monopoly; and as zealously against the interference of Government in the interests of the people.
The journals constituting the Associated Press sell their news to the press in other parts of the Union, the latter being protected against competition by suitable arrangements with the telegraph company, the result being that no newspaper can obtain their dispatches and enjoy the privilege of the association, except upon payment to its members of such bonus as they may choose to impose. The daily journals outside of New York are thus in turn secured against competition in the early dissemination of news, and their influence in turn will naturally be exerted against any change which would be even remotely liable to affect their interests.
An arrangement of a very similar nature formerly existed in England. The influence of the entire press of that country was exerted to ward off government interference with its perpetuation. The journals of this country have repeatedly reproduced all the criticisms and strictures of the English papers on Mr. Scudamore, and those who were instrumental with him in bringing about cheap telegraphing in that country; yet, among the great class of its citizens who paid for their dispatches before the government took charge of the lines, and who pay for them now, Mr. Scudamore is the most popular man in England.
38. ESTIMATED COST OF NEW TELEGRAPH-LINES.—The Government has from time to time received estimates of the cost of new lines of telegraph. With reference to these, the writer is convinced that the estimates are, in the main, too high, provided that the best constructed European lines are taken as models. In these estimates, the number of posts specified to the mile is thirty or more. Twenty posts per mile is amply sufficient for any number of wires; more than that number is not only not advantageous, but positively detrimental, entailing increased cost of maintenance. The greater the number of poles, the greater is the number of insulators required; this last item is therefore correspondingly too high by at least 30 per cent ; the multiplication of insulators being in turn a positive disadvantage, since every such instrument upon a line is, theoretically, a leak, and hence the fewer the number employed the less will be the loss of the current.
If the number of wires is no more than two for one set of poles, sixteen poles to the mile is ample. The estimates for poles and insulators are, therefore, for a much larger number than is required by modern and improved construction. The same estimate specifies No. 8 galvanized wire, with improved insulation. No. 11 wire, costing only about half as much as No. 8, will answer every purpose. Excepting the longer circuits, say for three-fourths of the whole number of miles of telegraph specified, the item for wire could be reduced by one-half, or the total estimate for wire by about 30 per cent. The number of miles of wire specified, one hundred and twenty-five thousand, if properly erected, would afford ample facilities for the transaction of any amount of business five times greater than is found to be required at the present day, with existing rates.
39. In Europe there are many more branch lines—lines extending off the line of railways—than in this country. There is a train, called the mail, which leaves nearly all the cities of the Union in the morning. This train makes many stoppages; and at some of the stations a carriage conveys the mail and a few passengers to towns not situated on the line of the road. There is scarcely a post-office of this description where a telegraph station would not be equally desirable, a desideratum which could only be attained by the systematic extension of branch lines.
For a line of one wire, twelve poles to the mile is all that would be required, a No. 11 wire (weight per mile two hundred pounds) is best adapted, and the cost of such a line will not be half as great as for one constructed with No. 8 wire and thirty-three poles to the mile, the kind of line for which estimates have been made.
In most of the European countries, such minor stations are maintained for the convenience of citizens, just as there and in this country minor post-offices are maintained. Telegraph stations, at such points, should, with equal propriety and utility, be erected and maintained in this country. Should the Government, through its agents, propose to furnish the wire and instruments for such branch lines, the citizens would, without doubt, in most cases, be glad to provide the poles and labor and supply the operator. The receipts from such minor stations might be appropriated to the citizens of the place to go toward providing a fund for the maintenance of the poles, a portion of the same going to the per son in charge of the instrument. Upon such terms, some person could readily be found wherever there was a postal station who would be willing to take charge of the instrument. Again, as the instrument most suitable for such stations is the ink-writer, the difficulty of finding an operator will be materially lessened, or altogether obviated, since any person of average intelligence can learn to operate and to read from that instrument readily in a day by earnest application; a fact which when appreciated would, beyond question, make such a post very desirable, for an accomplishment of this kind would be sought by many, with the object of making such knowledge of future benefit rather than of immediate profit. As its share, the Government could appropriate the receipts from the return business, which could constitute a fluid from which to repay the outlay for wires and instruments. It is by the systematic development of a system similar in its tenor to that above suggested, that France and Germany are covered with a veritable net-work of wires, by which the telegraph is brought in fact within the reach and means of the people of every portion of the territory of those countries. In this country there are thousands of postal stations that could be reached in this manner without cost to the Government.
Again, so far as the item of labor is concerned, the trunk lines can be built and maintained by the railway companies for less than one-half the money that the telegraph companies expend for this purpose. This the railroad company should do, and be paid for it, the same as for carrying the mails, or performing any other service for the Government.
40. The foregoing suggestions are the outgrowth of many years' experience with the telegraphic system, as practiced at home and abroad, and, though crude and imperfect, the writer is convinced that they must form the basis of that system which aims to bring the telegraph veritably within the reach of the people at the least public cost. The writer entered the telegraph service in this country in the year 1845; first in the construction of the line between Baltimore and New York, and afterward in the construction of the line between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The line between Washington and New York was known as that of the "Magnetic Telegraph Company." For one hundred dollars paid in, two shares, of one hundred dollars each, were issued to the subscribers to stock. An equal amount of stock was issued to the patentees, so that for every one hundred dollars paid in there were four hundred dollars of stock issued.
At first two wires on one set of poles were the extent of its facilities, but the profits of the company soon enabled it to increase the number of its wires, as well as to pay its stockholders dividends of 12 per cent. on its capital stock. The stock of the company was subsequently very much increased.
For the line between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, three shares of stock were issued for one paid iu, and the stock was subsequently doubled, so that six shares were issued for one paid. This stock paid from 12 to 15 per cent. on its thee when absorbed by the present Western Union Telegraph Company. The original rates upon which these dividends were declared were:
To nearly every point from Philadelphia, as may be drawn from the foregoing, the rates of transmitting telegraphic messages have been raised; besides which, an extra charge is now made for delivery of the dispatches, which, formerly, were delivered free of charge. From the years 1845 to 1866, the writer was in the service of the telegraph in this country, either in the capacity of manager, director, or superintendent, save for the year 1851, when employed in Mexico in the construction of a line from Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico. Since 1866, he has twice visited Europe, and has given the subject much attention.
41. It is the profound conviction of the writer, and one which is shared by every independent observer who has given the subject careful attention, that we are far in the rear of all civilized nations in the matter of making the telegraphic service a popular medium of communication, and this, too, in face of the fact that almost every valuable invention and improvement connected with the telegraph is of American origin. There is no country in which the telegraph could be made so invaluable in serving public necessity and convenience as in the United States, where those having business or other relations requiring correspondence are so widely separated from each other, and in no country is need more inefficiently realized.
Finally, the writer may be pardoned for venturing a few words concerning the rates or charges for telegraphing in this country.
Take as an example a wire or circuit worked one thousand miles, on which circuit there are way-stations. If a dispatch is sent from one station to the next or nearest station, or less than fifty miles, the minimum charge for ten words is 25 cents, which only occurs where there is no extra charge for delivery and when the message is delivered within a short distance of the receiving-station.
It costs the telegraph company just as much to send this dispatch as to send one the entire length of the circuit, and while it is being sent over this short distance the balance of the line is idle or waiting; but, on the other hand, if a message is sent the entire circuit, the charge is one dollar or more, the actual cost of transmission being the same in both cases.
Take another example, in which the message is sent from one circuit to a parallel circuit, or from one circuit on to another, or where the dispatch requires re-transmission. The distance in such a case may be less than fifty miles, and the charges only 25 cents, yet the labor involved and the time during which the wires are occupied in its transmission are double that of the case in which one dollar or more is charged.
It is obvious, therefore, that the theory upon which the telegraph company proceeds in its charges, is to measure the necessities or object gained by those sending dispatches, and not the labor and expense involved in their transmission. A letter is sent from one part of the Union to another—from Maine to Oregon—for 3 cents, but if the cost of transmitting letters be compared with that of transmitting telegraphic dispatches, there would be vastly more justice in regulating the charge for carrying letters by distance than in the case of the telegraph. If we were to compare the average distance that dispatches are sent in Canada with their average distance in this country, it would be found that this is greater in Canada than with us, inasmuch as the large cities and towns of the former country in which the bulk of the telegraphic business is transacted are farther apart than in this country. Canada, however, has a uniform charge of 25 cents for telegraphic messages, and the telegraph company makes dividends to its stockholders of 10 per cent. on a capital much in excess of what would build lines of modern and improved construction having three times their capacity.
42. A proper telegraphic system would require wires extending from one extremity of the country to the other, but it is only a very small percentage of the whole number of dispatches that would require this long transmission.
With the improved construction of lines that will not be reduced in their efficiency by unfavorable weather, and that will admit of the use of printing-instruments, and by the adoption of the automatic processes for those circuits having the greatest amount of business, the writer can see no good reason to justify a charge greater than 25 cents for twenty words, and then pay a fair rate of interest on the .capital expended in constructing the lines. If worked, then, with the simple object of defraying running expenses, a uniform charge of 20 cents would be ample.
