[Trade Journal]
Publication: Transactions International Electrical Congress
Albany, NY, United States
vol. 3, p. 393-407, col. 1
TELEGRAPHY AND TELEPHONY IN JAPAN.
BY SAITARO OL
Telegraphy, as in all other countries, is also the oldest and was the first practical application of electricity in Japan. It is generally believed that Commodore Perry of the United States, when he came over to Japan in 1854, brought two sets of telegraph instruments with him and presented them to the Shogun (at that time the Lieutenant General, or Governor General, of the Empire). The first telegraph line, however, was constructed between Tokyo and Yokohama in 1869, the instruments used being Breguet's instruments, which were employed for some time until all were superseded by Morse inkwriters. There was not very much progress until 1877, when the civil war broke out in the southern districts; this naturally necessitated an increased use of the telegraph and the lines were extended to the important places of the Empire. These 36 years from 1869 to 1904, have wrought a remarkable change in our social conditions in general, and in the domain of means of communication for the public some progress has been made.
In order to show the progress made, during these thirty-six years, I give the following table:
It may be remarked here that about 3400 miles more of wires are to be added to the existing lines this year so as to meet the increase of traffic. The above table refers to those only which are used for the public traffic, excepting that of Formosa. There are, in addition, a good many private telegraph and telephone lines worked exclusively for railway and for various other industrial purposes which, according to the latest report, amount to the remarkable figures shown below:
The first telegraph line in this country was constructed by some English engineers and linemen in the service of the Japanese government. The chief engineer was Mr. E. Gilbert, who had been connected with a railway company in Scotland before he came to Japan, and as may be imagined, the method of surveying, construction and maintenance of the land lines laid out by him was naturally after the English practice, and is continued, with more or less changes, down to the present day. The lines are built in a solid manner, so that they can withstand the attacks of storms, which are almost certain to come once or twice in autumn every year.
As to the telephone lines in towns, the method of construction may be said to follow American rather than English practice, and in some places where no cables are employed, as many as 100 to 150 wires are run upon a pole planted along the side of the streets. In large towns, however, these crowded overhead wires are generally being taken down and laid underground, and as will be seen from the table I give later on, there are at present some miles of underground lines.
Poles are generally of cedar, which grows in abundant quantity in different parts of the country. The number of main poles used varies, of course, with the number of wires put up, the nature of the route through which the lines pass, etc.; but in the open country there are, as a rule, from 38 to 26 per mile; and where there are too many wires for one pole to carry, trussed poles often H poles are employed. Ordinary main poles are of 22 to 24 feet. Taking the average, 64% of the main poles are stayed, while 14% are strutted. Boucherizing is a common practice as a means of preservation of the poles, but lately creosoting is being tried, though on a small scale.
Boucherized poles last about 18 years on an average, whilst untreated poles begin to decay within 5 or 6 years; and owing to the fact that the price of timber, which was fabulously cheap in the earlier days of telegraphy, has become somewhat expensive with the recent progress of engineering work in general, various compounds and methods of preserving wood have naturally had the attention of the engineers concerned. Considering, however, the different conditions of this country, the most suitable one for telegraph and telephone purposes seems, so far, to be the boucherizing process. 46% of the poles are boucherized, the remaining untreated.
Arms with double-cup porcelain insulators are exclusively used and are always fixed on that side of the pole facing the so-called up-station. For telegraph lines, two-wire arms of 24" and 34" are generally used except where many wires are to be run. They are secured to the poles a foot apart, and alternately in case more than two wires have to be put up.
Telephone wires are run on 4, 6 or 8-wire arms most commonly, and long-distance lines on braced 6-wire arms. The distance between the centers of the arms is 1 foot 6 inches, the minimum distance allowed from the ground to the lowest arm being 16 ft. The span of the long-distance lines is usually 48 yards, the minimum transposition being done at every twentieth pole.
No. 8 S.W.G. iron wire is the standard for the telegraph lines, though No. 11 iron wire is sometimes used for short lines. The long circuits for fast automatic or quadruplex working are of No. 12 S.W.G. copper wire. As a rule, an earth wire is attached to each pole.
For telephone lines in towns where there is not much snow we use No. 17 S.W.G. hard drawn copper wire, and silicon bronze wires, but in the northern districts where snowfall is abundant during the winter, No. 14 iron wire is run for subscribers' lines. For the interurban telephone service three gauges of copper wires No. 8 S.W.G., No. 12 S.W.G. and No. 14 S.W.G. are employed.
For long spans such as river crossings, steel is almost always used in the case of telegraph lines, and bimetallic wire for telephone circuits of long distance. We had many long spars when railways were few, but at present we have our telegraph lines at river crossings, attached to railway bridges, or cables are laid on the girders in a trough. The longest air span now in existence is 800 yards with steel wire, and 320 yards with bimetallic wires, each of 170 lbs. per mile. Figs. 1 and 2 are respectively a general view of a telegraph line, and a telephone line in a town.
Underground construction for the telegraph lines is rather limited at present, it being confined to a part of Tokyo only; but the increase of telegraph wires from year to year, in addition to those for telephony, electric light and power, etc., shows the necessity of laying more wires underground in the large towns, and it is very likely that in the course of a few years the telegraph lines in the busy part of the large towns will be put underground. The greater part of the telephone lines, however, in large cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Yokohama, etc., is already laid underground.
When the first underground construction was undertaken in Tokyo in 1896, we adopted 3 in. cast-iron pipes and the same system was employed, to a considerable extent, in the other towns also; but my visit to the United States in 1898 gave me a favorable impression as to vitrified clay conduit, and immediately after my return home, I advised the authorities to adopt it where we have more than three ducts. Since then the single-duct vitrified clay conduit has become the standard of underground working, as our manufacturers can make it excellently and cheaply.
Underground cable used for telegraph purposes has prepared fibre insulation and is covered with lead pipe. The telephone cable for underground work is of the dry-core paper insulation, and in large towns apparatus for sending compressed dry air from 3 to 4 atmospheres into the cable are provided for. This proves very useful in Japan as the cables are all imported, and in case cables should get low in insulation we can easily repair them. 100-pair cable was used when the underground work was commenced, but now, 200-pair cable is very common, No. 20 S.W.G. being the size of the conductors. Smaller wire cable has been suggested for some uses, but it has not yet come into actual use. Most of the lines in towns being overhead, we have naturally a great many aerial cables, both of India rubber and dry-core type, put up on poles to avoid too many telephone wires crowded together, or to cross electric light and power conductors, which are also carried along the streets like the telegraph and the telephone lines.
The laying of submarine cable was considered the most difficult work, and except in a narrow strait or in a river the work was almost always executed by the Great Northern Telegraph Co.'s steamer. The features of the country, however, called for a number of submarine cables in various parts, and in order to establish new communications and to maintain efficient working, it became necessary to do the work with our own staff. Sometimes we equipped a steamer with rough machinery to lay a new cable or to repair a broken one, and although not without inconveniences in most cases, still we accomplished our object and in this way our engineers and workmen have obtained some useful experience in this branch of telegraph engineering.
When Formosa was annexed to Japan in 1895 it became an urgent necessity to put the new possession in direct communication with Japan, and consequently measures were at once taken to lay cables connecting the Islands of Kiushu, Liuchu and Formosa. A cable steamer was built and fitted out at Glasgow for the purpose of laying and repairing cables and was brought out to Japan in June, 1896. The "Okinawa Maru," our cable ship, is a twin-screw steel steamer, having a double bottom. The gross tonnage is 2,212, the length between perpendiculars being 290 feet, the breadth extreme 40 feet, and the depth of hold 24 feet. She is equipped with triple-expansion engines, double-ended boilers, and has three cable tanks of 15,952 cubic feet, 8,389 cubic feet, and 6,945 cubic feet capacity, respectively.
It remained still a question with us whether our engineers could manage to lay cables in very deep waters, as their experience had been previously limited to comparatively shallow waters, and it was strongly suggested to engage some experienced foreign engineers for the work. We wanted, however, to gain all possible experience and so we took up the work ourselves. The cables were successfully laid though not without some difficulties; they have been working well during the past eight years, being worked duplex with direct siphon recorders.
As mentioned elsewhere, Breguet instruments were the first instruments used for the transmission of public messages, while Wheatstone needle instruments were used for the railway service. The complication of the mechanism of the former and the consequent liability to get out of order made its extensive use unsuitable, and very soon the Morse inkwriter replaced it.
Of about 1,100 telegraph circuits now working, 850 are fitted up with Morse instruments and the remaining 250 circuits are fitted with telephones. Out of 850 circuits, 90 are worked duplex, 9 quadruples, 4 automatic, and the remainder simplex. The sounders were first introduced in Japan in 1895, and have been working in comparatively large offices only. At present about 40% of the total instruments are sounders. Duplex telegraphy was tried in 1879 but its practical success dates from 1889; as to quadruplex working, it was only from 1893 that we could put it into actual use on important circuits. The Wheatstone's automatic is limited to a few circuits in ordinary circumstances; but violent storms occur among the Islands, particularly in autumn, and often cause an extensive breakdown of the important lines; on such occasions the automatic working is found valuable to dispose of the accumulation of messages. Repeater boards are employed in important centers to the best advantage of working. Telegraph exchanges are confined to circuits in towns or to very short and less important lines only.
The More signals used in telegrams written in the Japanese characters are 50 in number in addition to those representing figures, and the signs of punctuation, etc. These signals are partly composed of those representing the Morse Alphabet, and partly of additional combinations of dots and dashes.
Telegraphically speaking, about 3.65 Japanese letters are equivalent to one word in English, which, on an average, consists of 4.67 Morse letters, and therefore one Japanese Morse signal corresponds to 1.28 international Morse signal. It may be perhaps interesting here to note how Japan is related telegraphically to foreign countries. Of the whole number of foreign messages forwarded or received, and which amount to some 800,000 a year at present, about 40% are credited to Korea, 28% to China, 9% to England, 7% to the United States, 4% to India, 3% to Germany, 2% to France, 2% to Russia and 4% to all other countries.
Testing lines is carried out in 24 different offices located in the important centers of the country. Conductivity and insulation resistances of the lines are regularly measured once a month, while the condition of the lines is ascertained every day by observing the current strengths received from the distant stations.
The lines are all worked open circuit with Daniell cells, except in Tokyo and Osaka, where storage batteries have been in use since year before last. The change from primary batteries to secondary in these two large offices brought about a considerable reduction in the expense of maintaining batteries therein, and changes in the other large stations are now being planned.
The charge for inland telegrams in Japanese letters is 20 sen (1 sen = ½ U. S. cent) per message of fifteen letters or less of text, the address of the receiver being free in this case; and for every five letters or less exceeding the first fifteen the additional charge is 5 sen. Inland messages in Roman letters are charged 25 sen per message of five words or less, the additional charge being 5 sen per word. For telegrams within the limits of a town, 10 sen per message in Japanese and 15 sen per message in Roman letters are charged; for additional letters or words exceeding the numbers allowed for one message 3 sen are charged per five letters or one word.
Fig 3 is a chart of the telegraph system of the Empire in 1904.
The telephone was first brought to Japan in 1877 by a mechanic returning home from America, and was a magneto telephone encased in a box. Soon after its introduction, the telephone was put into practical use as an auxiliary to the police service in Osaka and vicinity, a considerable length of lines being built for that purpose. Some of the circuits then constructed were more than 30 miles in length and as many as ten such magneto instruments were connected in series on a single circuit of iron wire. As can be readily understood, conversation was no easy task unless by those who had experience in using the instrument. After the introduction of the carbon microphone the application of the telephone for industrial and commercial purposes began to increase remark-ably, and it was in 1883 that the idea of starting telephone exchanges first occurred to the authorities. A company was promoted for carrying on the business and a petition was forwarded to the Government asking for a license to start an exchange and carry on the telephone business in Tokyo. That was in 1884. The question whether it should be carried out as a Government undertaking or entrusted to a private capital remained unsettled until 1889, when it was decided, after deliberation, to undertake the work as a state monopoly.
While the matter was still in consideration by the Administration, it was thought necessary that our engineers should get more detailed information for the successful working of telephone exchanges. The writer was appointed to make a tour to Europe and America to study telephone matters. My stay in Europe and America lasted a year and a half, and it was in December, 1889, that I returned home from my first trip abroad. At that time an appropriation for the telephone undertaking had already been made, and the work was to be started as soon as possible in Tokyo and Yokohama. The executive office was opened in Tokyo, and letters and circulars were sent out to business men, to the nobility, to Government officials, to manufacturers and, in fact, to any person in the city of more or less prominence. We advertised in the popular papers the opening of telephone exchanges and invited subscriptions from the general public. We did not confine ourselves to letters and circulars or to the newspapers alone, in introducing the telephone to the public, but, in addition, we put up a switchboard and telephones in the building of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce, and in the Rice and in the Stock Exchanges, and invited people of various occupations to try the instruments in order to be convinced of the practical utility of the telephone. In Yokohama the writer gave a popular lecture to convey to the public an idea of the commercial and social uses of the telephone. In fact, we spared no pains to secure a satisfactory result in the new enterprise, but notwithstanding such efforts on our part, we got only about 70 contracts in Tokyo and 20 in Yokohama when we commenced the construction of the lines. The service was started in Tokyo and Yokohama in December of 1890, the number of subscribers at that time being about 200 in Tokyo and 40 in Yokohama. However, the actual opening of the exchanges and establishment of communication between the subscribers spoke far more eloquently to the public than any letters, newspapers or lectures, and before long our facilities were far behind the demand. The growth of the telephone exchange business since 1890 may be seen from the following table:
The increase of traffic necessitated putting up more toll circuits, and some 100 miles of new line with about 1,600 miles more wire are now under construction. On completion of the line, Tokyo and Nagasaki, which cities are 800 miles apart, will probably be put in direct communication.
When the exchanges were started in Tokyo and Yokohama, single circuits of No. 18 S.W.G. hard-drawn copper wire were arranged for subscribers' lines, the 100-wire standard switchboards of the Western Electric type and a modified form of the Gower-Bell telephone set with a battery for calling, were employed, the toll lines between the two towns being metallic circuits of No. 12 S.W.G. copper wires No. 18 copper wires were afterwards changed to No. 17, which is now the standard size of wire for subscribers' lines, except in the northern snowy districts; and the modified Gower-Bell set with calling battery, has been changed to the solid back or Delville set with a magneto.
Small exchanges not having upwards of 600 subscribers are operated with the 100-wire standard switchboard, and for exchanges where more than 600 subscribers are to be connected, multiple switchboards are generally used. At present Tokyo has five exchanges, the largest of which contains 4,000 subscribers and the smallest 1,500, and each exchange is equipped with bridging multiple switchboards. In Osaka there are two exchanges, both of which are also fitted with bridging magneto multiples, having an ultimate capacity of 6,300. Reverse trunking is used between different exchanges in a town and also on short toll lines. Yokohama, Kobe and Nagasaki are also worked with bridging magneto multiples, these towns having only one exchange in each. Kyoto, our ancient capital, was worked with the old series-multiple switchboards, but an alteration to the relay switchboards, manufactured by the Western Electric Co., was effected in May last year, and since then the system is working satisfactorily. Kyoto has no branch exchanges; it has an ultimate capacity of 6,300 and the present equipment 3,000. The series-multiple switchboards are still in use at Nagoya. All other exchanges are being operated with the 100-wire standard switchboards, but some of them experience inconvenience at times in working, due to increase of subscribers, and we anticipate supplying them with multiple switchboards. Fig. 4 shows the interior of the exchange in Tokyo, and Fig. 5 the interior of the Kyoto exchange.
In order to give an idea of the present situation of our telephone exchanges, I give the following figures for the seven towns where the exchanges are worked with multiple switchboards:
A subscriber's set is furnished with either the solid-back or the Delville transmitter and always equipped with an arrester. A desk set, artistically designed, is liked by some people and supplied, if required, upon an extra payment of 6 yen per annum. Where the C. B. system is employed, the same type as the post-office wall set is in use, the transmitter being the solid back. Fuller's bichromate battery for the solid back, and the Leclanche for the Delville are generally used.
The automatic telephone, which has come into use since 1899 is somewhat like the Grey instrument, and so constructed that the operator is enabled to distinguish the kinds of coin put into the slot by hearing different sounds made by the coin in its sliding down along each chute. Fig. 6 shows a view of an automatic call box in the street of Tokyo.
No party lines are in existence at present, except a few telephone call office circuits in small villages. This system, however, has been often considered, with a view to meeting the pressing demand of the public for the telephone, but so far it has not come into use.
The actual number of toll line circuits amounts to about 100. In addition to that number 22 telephone circuits are formed by utilizing the telegraph lines for simultaneous transmission, and 20 by duplex telephony or virtual circuit. Simultaneous transmission of telegraph and telephone was first experimented in 1884 after the Van Rysselberghe system between Tokyo and Yokohama, but the experiment was not made with sufficient care and it ended in failure. The second experiment was conducted rather more carefully in 1886 by using the telegraph wires crossed and it resulted in a success.
When the telephone exchanges were started in Tokyo and Yokohama in 1890, all the lines connecting the two towns were specially constructed with copper wire transposed at intervals as a precaution against disturbance from external causes, and there did not exist much necessity to have recourse to the telegraph lines. In 1894 duplex telephone circuits were tried between Osaka and Kobe, which are 23 miles apart, and were worked quite successfully. In order to actuate the indicators on the duplex circuit, the neutral points of the repeating coils were earthed, and by using the circuit so formed by earthing, direct signal current was sent so as not to cause disturbance to the conversation. The telephone lines between Tokyo and Osaka were opened to the public use in 1896. Combining these lines, which are 377 miles in length, duplex telephony was successfully applied.
In course of time telephone exchanges were gradually opened in various provincial towns, which has enhanced the popularity of the telephone to a great extent and petitions for telephone facilities came in to the hands of the authorities from various quarters. This brought up the necessity of opening telephone call offices first in those places which did not possess telephones, and to save money. existing telegraph lines were used. At present some 1,000 miles of telegraph wires are worked simultaneously for the telephone. Fig. 7 shows the toll line system in Japan at the present Moment.
The flat rate system is adopted in all towns. The charges are as follows:
These are for subscribers located within the town limits. Those living in the vicinity beyond the town limits, but within a certain telephone area specified by the government, can be connected to the exchange by a payment of 10 yen per 120 yards or under, for construction of a line beyond the city limits; and a payment of 2 yen per annum per 120 yards or under beyond the city limits as additional subscription.
Interurban lines are charged for according to the distance and for a conversation not exceeding 5 minutes. The basis of the toll rate is approximately as follows:
In a small provincial town or in a village specified by the government, and which is connected by a toll line to any other town having an exchange, people can be connected at their own expense to the post-office of the specified town or village in order to make use of the toll line from their house.
Small switchboards are provided and worked in such post-offices by the Government, and the subscribers have to pay to the Government 24 yen per annum for the service in addition to the charges for the maintenance of the line, the instrument, etc., which by the agreement must be entrusted to the Government. Seventeen such special exchanges are now working.
The financial condition of the telephone undertaking is a satisfactory one as shown by the following table:
The work is partly suspended for the present, owing to outbreak of the war, but when the peace is restored and commercial activity is resumed, it will, no doubt, be continued to meet the public requirements.
DISCUSSION.
CHAIRMAN JONES: In opening the discussion of this paper, it is not that I feel at all qualified to break the ice, but I am glad to take up a paper like this, so replete with valuable information and statistics relative to the work which is being done in Japan. I think many would be surprised, if shown the map, at the extent of the wires stretched from the northern to the southern bounds of Japan. The work is very methodical and complete, when we think that only a few years ago telephony, even in England and this country, was an experiment. We find this paper by Mr. Oi is not only creditable to him, but I think reflects a great deal of credit upon electrical engineers in general, because it is through them that the people of Japan have largely been inspired.
If there are no further remarks to be made upon the paper of Mi. Oi, we will pass on to the paper of Mr. Joseph Hollos, which is now presented to you for discussion.
