[Trade Journal]
Publication: Journal of the Society of Telegraph Engineers and of Electricians
London, England
vol. 10, no. 36, p. 127-147, col. 1
TELEGRAPHS IN JAPAN.
By J. MORRIS, Member, Local Honorary Secretary, for Japan.
Nine years ago Japan was described as a land of which little was known, and still less understood. Western civilisation has since that time progressed rapidly, and at this day it must be admitted that an average acquaintance with the general charac-teristics of the country and its people is now possessed by the reading public of the world.
Railways have been constructed and worked on a small scale between the present capital of Tokio and the open port of Yokohama, and between the ancient capital of Kioto and the ports of Osaka and Kobe—in all, about 70 miles; and the benefits accruing to the possessors of rapid and effective means of transit are so far appreciated by all classes that very considerable traffic is now being conducted thereby, and the Government is vigorously extending the system to places further inland—the centres of trade in tea and silk.
Mining operations in iron, gold, and silver are receiving a fair share of attention, and with the prospect of ultimate success—though the scarcity of good roads, apart from the celebrated one which traverses the country from north to south, is likely to prove a serious obstacle for some years to come.
Lighthouses have been erected around the coast to an extent which renders the otherwise dangerous seas of the Japan Islands comparatively easy of navigation, and have so far been maintained with a noble disregard of the "light dues" enforced in some countries upon shipping.
The advantages derived from the existence of a powerful fleet of merchant steamers were unmistakably felt in connection with the suppression of the late insurrection in the island of Kiushiu but the fact must not be lost sight of, that even this powerful weapon could only have been inefficiently wielded had it not been that the system of land telegraphs extended to most of the important towns of the empire, whereby the Government was not only placed almost instantaneously in possession of details of the outbreak, but was subsequently enabled to make such disposition of its military and naval forces as to effectually quell a rising which at one time seemed to threaten to end in another revolution.
It is, of course, with the past history and present doings of this branch of the public works service that I venture to trouble the members of the Society to-night and, while entering upon the task with great diffidence, I trust I may succeed in placing some few facts before the meeting which may not be wholly uninteresting.
As far back as the year 1869, attention had been directed to the telegraph, and two short lines had been provided and worked by Breguet alphabetical instruments, from Tokio to Yokohama, and Osaka to Kobe—in all, about 40 English miles; but it was in 1871 that a general telegraphic system for the empire was decided upon. Engineers were then engaged from England, and upon their arrival in the autumn of that year a rapid preliminary survey of the country was undertaken, and arrangements made for the provision of the requisite timber—the fittings in the shape of insulators, brackets, etc., as, indeed, wire and apparatus generally, having been ordered from England. In the course of the next spring and summer, communication was fairly established through one-half of the principal trunk line, and in the ensuing autumn the entire length of close upon 900 miles was completed and opened provisionally for traffic, though as yet without formal official sanction, that being reserved until the elaborate system of lines which had been agreed upon for the whole country could be carried out in its entirety.
Innumerable little difficulties, as may be, imagined, were met with in these early days. The people of the interior had scarcely become reconciled to the new order of things consequent upon the revolution of 1868 the old feudal system was practically in force, though nominally abolished the roads were but very imperfectly known even to the native staff; superstition and dislike to the introduction of Western notions, with general hatred of the foreign "barbarian:" all had a share in rendering the establishment of the telegraph in the interior anything but an easy task, or absolutely devoid of personal danger. Happily, this has long ceased, save in times of unusual excitement among the peasantry, and such instances are very rare.
The timber employed in these earlier works was not carefully selected,—a great deal was sacrificed to speed of construction,—yet, nevertheless, some of the poles then set up are in existence to this day. Most of them perished, however, with the third or fourth year of their existence, and all were replaced, with very few exceptions, within six years.
The tree from which the poles are commonly cut in Japan is the "sugi," a species of cedar (Cryptomeia Japonica) other woods are employed to some extent, among them the "hi-no-ki" (Retinirpora obtusa), and this last appears to be less affected by dry-rot than the cedar, Owing to various causes, however, there exists a great difficulty in the way of obtaining properly felled and seasoned timber and it is unlikely that this will be diminished from the fact that the supplies of wood in the immediate neighbourhood of the main trunk lines have become practically exhausted, and we have to look to the more remote inland hill-sides to yield sufficient for the annual maintenance requirements.
A few iron poles were imported, but they were too short in length to be generally employed, even if the first cost and subsequent charges attendant upon their transport from place to place had not been so vastly in excess of the price paid for wooden ones, which averages about 3s. 6d. for 24-feet lengths, gradually increasing to the 50-feet lengths, for which, however, a very disproportionately high rate is demanded.
The life of "sugi" poles naturally varies in duration very much, according to the soil upon which the tree has grown, and to that in which it has subsequently been erected as a rule it is not safe to expect that it will endure beyond four years, and decay, in its earliest stages, frequently makes its appearance within six months. Tarring has been extensively resorted to, and in some intances with success from the trouble and expense attending transport of tar to the country, however, it has latterly been found unadvisable to persevere, and the cheapest and simplest course appears to be to replace the poles after a four years' term, or, at least, as soon as decay has progressed so far as to make renewal desirable. This may sound somewhat strange but timber and labour are so cheap in the provinces, compared with the cost of transit of preserved timber by water or other means, combined with the fact that a numerous staff of linemen is everywhere regularly employed and available for repair work, it is a question whether a better policy could be pursued, at least at present. The Boucherising process has lately been tried, and with a fair measure of success, as far as the first cost of poles so treated is concerned but the calculations are based upon the assumption that this timber will be not less than three times as durable as that which has not been subjected to similar treatment: this the future can alone decide, in regard to Japanese wood. Creosoting is quite out of the question, owing to the enormous expense of sending the poles to and from the works, if these were established at the central depot, or even if at several convenient points in the interior, everything having to be conveyed on hand-barrows or on men's shoulders for many miles. So much for the item of timber.
The short lines previously referred to as having existed prior to 1871, were worked by Breguet instruments, but the new and long lines thereafter provided have all been worked by Morse apparatus supplied by Siemens Brothers, of the single-current pattern, and these have given thorough satisfaction. Upon the longest line, working between Yokohama and Nagasaki, automatic translators are employed at Kobe, but occasionally in very fine weather the wire has been worked direct without their aid, the batteries being of the value of about 80 cell Daniell, and the relays of 900 ohms resistance.
The Daniell battery is ordinarily employed throughout the system (a few Leclanche cells are in use for call-bells merely), and a stock of plates, cells, and copper sulphate is supplied to every station in advance, sufficient for six months' consumption.
The Breguet instruments were retained in use upon the short local lines in the capital for a considerable period, but gradually retired in favour of apparatus of the Morse type. Single-needle instruments were employed upon the Railway Department's wires between Tokio and Yohohama in 1872, and subsequently on those of the Me and Osaka section, opened two years later but these also have been replaced by the Morse system, with the object of attaining uniformity in regard to the apparatus in use as far as practicable. The "single-needle blocks" originally used on the railway are still, however, in operation for train signalling.
At first the wire was everywhere suspended from insulators of the Varley double-cup earthenware pattern, fixed in Warden's brackets, but it was shortly found advantageous to make use of wooden arms, particularly as there exists in the country a very suitable wood, known as "keyaki," and also a species of oak, both everywhere obtainable at moderate price. Moreover, it was natural that, in a country famous for its porcelain, attention should early be directed to the production of a material suitable for insulators. The first attempts in this direction were comparatively failures, and the home-made article turned out anything but well but want of success at the outset did not cause the manufacturers to despond, and, in the end a porcelain single-cup insulator was produced, which at once was found to answer all requirements, and has since given general satisfaction, dating from the year 1874.
The best material for porcelain to be found, for the purpose of making insulators, was obtained from a hill in the island of Kiushiu, regarding the use of which there was formerly the strictest prohibition, save when the articles to be made were destined to grace the palace of the Tycoon ("Sho-gun"). Insulators of this class, when tested, were found to be of a quality beyond the cacapity of a Thomson reflecting galvanometer of 20,000 ohms resistance, unshunted, with a battery of 200 Daniell cells, to determine.
(Several are sent herewith for inspection, as well as a double-cup insulator made as an experiment, but too costly for general use.)
At the present time an instrument of the same resistance, etc., is employed to test every insulator before it leaves the works, the standard being fixed at 40,000 megohms. Those made of the famous "Imari" or "Hizen" ware only fail to the extent of .797 per cent. to pass the ordeal others of Kioto ware are not quite so good. Defective cups are destroyed immediately. Later on I may be permitted to offer some statistics relative to the actual tests taken daily for insulation.
In connection with the establishment of the line joining the capital with Nagasaki in 1872, it became necessary to lay a sub-marine cable across the Straits of Shimo-no-seki, the western entrance of the "Inland Sea," which divides the island of Kiushiu from the mainland of Nihon. The Straits vary in width from two miles to only one-third of a mile at the narrowest point, and the most suitable position for the cable was found to be a little to the eastward of the narrow channel, where the width is 1,350 yards. The requisite length of shore-end cable was taken down from Yokohama by the steamer attached to the department, and the submersion was readily effected by means of small native lighters towed by ropes carried ashore, and there hauled in by some hundred or so of the villagers and fishermen. This cable has remained in perfect condition to this hour. Four others have since been carried across at the same point.
The only difficulty attending cable-laying operations in these Straits is occasioned by the very strong tidal currents, which sweep through the narrow channel with a velocity frequently exceeding 8 knots per hour : the period of slack water, too, is of so brief duration as to be almost undistinguishable. The cables are terminated upon Siemens' pattern plate dischargers, in convenient huts built for the purpose.
The experiment was tried of suspending an open wire across the Straits from poles erected on the adjoining hills, the length of span being about three-fourths of a mile. Owing to the lack of really suitable wire, it was not altogether successful, and after hanging for a week the wire was caught by the mast of a passing man-of-war.
There is no special difficulty to be contended with in the provision of an open line at this spot; but as the submarine connection is absolutely safe, and costs practically nothing for maintenance (if we leave out the item of very gradual deterioration), it is unlikely that the experiment will be repeated.
At Imagiri Inlet, about midway between Yokohama and Kobe, it became necessary to carry over the line on poles set below water level, in some cases to a depth of 12 feet, the width of the inlet being about 2-1/2 miles. This proved a somewhat tedious and expensive operation, especially as sea-going native vessels pass out by the central channel, the masts of which are so long as to necessitate the wires being kept 60 feet clear at high water. The works were substantially executed, and the line existed, with occasional mishaps, until the poles decayed in 1877 to an extent which rendered renewal imperative; and advantage was then taken of a by-road passing around the head of the inlet to do away with the crossing at its mouth, by the substitution of an entirely land line, which, though involving extra mileage, is less costly to maintain, and is practically secure in stormy weather.
The rivers of this country have proved a source of considerable trouble, especially in the hot season. In winter many are all but dry, but in floods during the summer and autumn months the channel becomes a mile or so in width in two or three of the most important rivers of the east coast ; and the velocity of the current at such times is prodigious, quantities of timber, even houses and cattle, being brought down from the hills and carried on with irresistible force to the open sea. The width from bank to bank being so great, it is not practicable to span such rivers, and consequently poles have to be planted in those portions of the flood. channel least likely to be disturbed by the scour. The earlier attempts in this direction were failures, but ultimately a system of construction was adopted which has for five years proved efficient to withstand the rush of the heaviest floods, and there is now no danger of the long-continued interruptions to communication which frequently occurred prior to 1874, when poles were regularly washed away in spite of all attempts at affording protection by fenders and embankments.
The widest of the east coast rivers, the Ten-riu, is now crossed in four spans averaging 450 yards each, the double ("H") masts being 60 feet high, and the wire employed of No. 11 gauge. The river Oigawa, where the floods are most serious, is crossed in three spans of about the same length, at a point where the banks approach each other, somewhat higher up stream than the regular ferry. All the poles are well protected by fenders, in a V shape, formed by piles driven in to a depth of 12 to 16 feet, the wire stays, in the same way, being attached to piles, so that they can readily be tightened if ever necessary.
Many attempts have been made to bridge these rivers, and no doubt immense benefit would accrue to the traffic on the highroad if this could be effected but, so far, the wooden structures provided in the winter months have annually been swept away by the first floods, and probably nothing short of iron screw-piles, carried down to a great depth, would afford any security as bridge supports, while, the beds being composed of large stones loosely mixed with sand far below the surface, boring operations are likely to be considerably impeded.
I was told that in the Fujikawa, another of these troublesome streams, the borings showed sand to a depth of 90 feet.
The frequent changes of channel rendered the preservation of a line of poles peculiarly hazardous, and it became necessary for this reason to reduce the number of supports to the lowest possible, and to make as long spans as consistent with safety in the much-dreaded typhoons which frequently blow with hurricane force around these islands in the autumn.
At the outset but one wire was suspended from the poles on the Southern trunk line. It soon became evident that the telegraph would be a popular institution, and greater facilities were needed for the rapidly increasing traffic: a second wire was therefore commenced in the same year. Extra wires have since been carried through, and at the present time there are 5 wires connecting the capital with the South, irrespective of the numerous branches and local lines, and of two alternative routes by the middle and west coast roads.
The total mileage on the 31st December, 1879, was as under:—
Poles ...... 3,929-3/4 English miles.
Wires ...... 9,345 ditto.
In 1871 a school was established for the training of the Japanese youths as operators.* They have year by year been educated and sent out to the various stations as rendered necessary by the extension of the service. In the year ending June 30th, 1880, in all 227 were appointed to new offices or sent out as reliefs: 97 remained under tuition.
These scholars are taught to write and speak English, and also French to some extent, with the rudiments of an English education generally; and they have to qualify as Morse operators by sending and receiving messages at a fair rate of speed previously determined upon.
The Japanese language having no regular alphabet, it became necessary to form a combination of Morse characters to represent the sounds of the syllabary known as the "Katakana." This was effected by using the letters of the International Code, supplemented by others formed of five dots and dashes (figures, of course, excepted), to produce a total of 47 signs, and the "native alphabet" so constituted has given tolerable satisfaction during the nine years which have passed since its introduction.
* This is quite distinct from the more advanced courses of telegraphy which have been given since 1873 at the Imperial College of Engineering, Tokio, to those of its students who select the telegraph as their profession.
The maintenance of the lines throughout is performed by a staff of inspectors and linemen, who have all undergone practical training on new and repair works ; the inspectors being required to qualify themselves for the general indoor duties at offices, such as the localisation of faults in wires or apparatus, battery testing, &c., before receiving their appointments. The linemen have nearly all been taught (under the eye of a European employ6, at some time or other) the methods of fitting and setting poles, jointing of wires, etc., and they can be trusted, as a rule, to execute minor repairs with reasonable despatch and skill.
It is a rare occurrence now to find an interruption lasting more than half-a-day on the trunk lines, unless in some exceptionally bad weather, or, as happens in the North in winter, accumulations of snow make the roads impassable.
The workmen thus employed are divided into five classes, and distinguished by stripes on the blue cotton livery supplied to them twice-a-year: on the back they bear the badge of the letter "Den," or "lightning."
In some few instances such men have risen to the grade of petty officers, but, as considerable acquaintance with Chinese writing and arithmetic is essential, the number of those who have so distinguished themselves is very limited.
In the ten months of the present year ending October 31st, there were 153 interruptions of less than 6 hours' duration, 85 of less than 12 hours, 27 less than 24 hours. 21 other faults exceeded this limit, but only 7 of them were of a serious character, and were due to floods in the remote provinces, which stopped all traffic by road.
If we have regard to the total (87) number of distinct circuits for the 304 days, we find an average of somewhat less than one interruption per day on 9,345 miles of wire.
The system originally provided one man to about every 15 miles of line—the man living in the town or village midway through his section, and walking half of the entire length each day (Sundays excepted). For economical reasons, and to afford more complete control, however, the men now reside at the stations (which are only 30 miles apart on an average along the trunk line), excepting in some special cases, and go out whenever a fault appears, late or early, patrolling their sections only once a week or so, and this plan seems to answer every purpose.
The extension of the telegraph has produced some interesting results in regard to the rice trade. In former years a stock of the staff of life equal to 14 years' consumption was always kept on hand in the granaries of the various castle towns, the residences of the numerous feudal lords but with all precautions famines would occur in the more remote principalities. This, happily, is now impossible, owing to the readiness with which supplies can be concentrated upon any district threatened with scarcity by failure of the crop and thus such large reserves are no longer needed, and quantities of grain can be placed upon the market which otherwise would be lying idle, and certainly not improving in quality.
Telegrams are constantly exchanged between Japan and the principal centres of the tea and silk commerce in Europe and America and, upon the receipt of information from abroad in any degree affecting the exports from Japan, it is immediately distri-buted to the agents' of all the principal merchants in all parts of the empire. In regard to these products, therefore, the telegraphs may be said to have practically worked a revolution in the method of carrying on mercantile operations. The value of all products, agricultural or otherwise, has vastly increased since the establishment of telegraphic communication, owing to the greater facilities afforded thereby to' trade generally, and this may be said of property of all kinds. Some idea of the extent to which the "wonder-working" wire is employed by Japanese merchants may be gained from the fact that recently, when the Government had to prohibit speculation in rice and paper currency for a brief period, the receipts at one office alone fell off to the amount of £70 as compared with the day before. Before telegraphs existed, relays of messengers, fleet of foot, were kept constantly in readiness, night and day, to convey despatches affecting the prices and shipments from the various ports—men who maintained a speed of 9 miles an hour for a distance equal (in one case which came directly under my own observation) to 65 English miles. Across the Straits of Shimonoseki, where five submarine cables now exist, the signalling was done by hand flags and lanterns.
The total receipts for the year ending June 30th, 1879, from all sources, amounted to £108,323; and the total expenditure (if we except the item of cost of building new lines) to £101,674, so that, for the first time in the history of the department, its revenue exceeded its working expenses. The new extension works involved a further outlay of £25,809.
The total number of telegrams dealt with during the year was 1,272,756, of which about 96 per cent. were in Japanese: inter. national messages numbered 22,695.
The proportion of telegrams in the native language averages about one to every 30 individuals, taking the population at 35-3/4 millions, as determined by the latest census.
The rate of increase in traffic and receipts is represented roughly by the diagrams which I have the honour to submit for the inspection of the members of the Society.
The experience of the last few years has shown indisputably that the tariff for native messages was originally framed on a basis too low to make the Telegraph Bureau a highly paying institution, but a low rate was adopted with the object of inducing the public to make general use of the system, and in the fear that a high tariff might have a prejudical effect. Doubtless, at this moment, so much dependence is placed upon the means of rapid interchange of news between the chief cities and ports, and the wires play so important a part in mercantile life, that an increase in charges would but little affect the traffic in bulk; but after the lapse of 9 years it is not thought advisable to make any change in this direction.
The average rate for 20 characters of the Japanese language, for a distance of about 60 miles, is roughly 3 son, or, at present rates, less than one penny, taking the entire line from Tokio to Nagasaki as a basis of calculation. Of course, the average for a shorter distance is higher; but the messages between Tokio and Yokohama are transmitted for 7 sen, which is about equal to 2-1/4d. for 20 miles.
The rates established for the foreign traffic throughout the country have been based on the fact that it costs more for their transmission,— skilled clerks are specially needed,—and as high a rate of speed as compared with Japanese traffic cannot be maintained. The average price for 20 words (exclusive of the special international rates) amounts to about one-tenth of a penny per mile, for messages passing between the capital and Nagasaki. In the last fiscal year, the income derived from foreign telegrams in this way was £4,719.
Submarine cables exist at places around the coast other than Shimonoseki there are two in the "Inland Sea," connecting Nihon with Shikoku, at a point where the channel is 6 miles wide; and two across the Tsugaru Straits, near Hakodate. The lighthouse steam tender "Meiji Maru" (a Clyde-built vessel) was employed in connection with the submersion of the Shikoku cables, and the Great Northern Telegraph Company's "H. C. Oersted" was engaged to lay those at Hakodate.
The Shikoku cables originally consisted of "deep sea Atlantic," with corresponding shore ends, but were never very strong, owing to previous deterioration during the 6 years the material lay at Yokohama without (at first) proper accommodation. The fishermen, moreover, frequently hauled them to the surface, unin. tentionally perhaps, when getting up their anchors, and then in ignorance of their electrical value, set themselves free by the primitive method of dividing the wires with a hatchet; finally, the teredo navalis completed the work of destruction by boring innumerable holes in both.
It was not until January of this year, when a strongly protected cable, 2-1/4 inches in diameter, with 2 conductors, was laid, that confidence in our ability to maintain a reliable line of communication at this point was fully restored.
In the North several mishaps have occurred, and at present only one of the two cables is at work; it is intended, however, during the ensuing spring, to lay a new one, with two conductors, from Imabetsu Bay direct to Hakodate, thus avoiding a long land line liable in winter, at any moment to be stopped by snow. The length of this cable will be about 33 miles.
Tests for insulation, and on fine days for conductivity twice-a week, are regularly made every morning at 7 o'clock, at three important stations, viz., Tokio, KW, and Nagasaki. As all the principal lines radiate from these three centres, accurate knowledge is possessed at headquarters of their condition by about 9.0 a.m., including some idea of the state of the weather everywhere.
Insulation is determined by a tangent galvanometer of 41 ohms resistance—conductivity, by the Wheatstone bridge. The wires in wet weather rarely give a lower insulation resistance than megohms per mile, while in fine weather, the Southern lines, for example, show no visible leakage when tested to Toyohashi, a distance of 180 miles, which implies that the resistance is greater than 90 megohms per mile.
Much has yet to be done in the way of obtaining accurate meteorological reports by telegraph from the many distant stations. Great benefits must follow from observations of wind and weather on these coasts, peculiarly fitted as the islands are from their geographical position for such scientific investigations.
The absence everywhere at present of iron-works, etc., in proximity to the lines doubtless is a great advantage, as far as insulation is concerned; but, on the other hand, the highroads are bordered by Oryptomeria, and in summer the branches cf these are the resorts of countless spiders, which endeavour, and not without success, to counteract the beneficial effects of fine weather on the working of the lines by spinning myriad threads of gossamer between the earth-wires, wooden arms, and insulators and the trees which they infest ; and nothing is needed beyond the heavy night-dews to render these fairy conductors almost perfection in their capabilities of working disaster. Men are constantly employed in sweeping the wires with bamboo brushes at this season, but the difficulty can in no way be completely overcome.
In the course of the year 1877, during the struggle with the Satsuma rebels, recourse was had to temporary lines of telegraph to a great extent, and were instrumental in bringing the war to a speedy termination, by reason of the facilities which they gave to the commanders of the loyal army for concentrating their forces quickly at given points, and for counteracting the effects of the rebel leaders' tactics in the field. The Satsuma men made foroed marches, and might have effected many surprises, but that the telegraph was ever at hand to defeat their schemes, and to give opportunity for employment, to the best purpose, of the Government troops. No fewer than 511 miles of line were constructed with this object, and 53 offices were opened at villages immediately in the rear of, or in direct connection with the afterwards victorious army. The materials employed in construction were light portable posts, vulcanite insulators, and No. 11 wire, every use being made of natural supports in the way of trees, etc., when prac-ticable and for insulators, when the stock became low, any thing in the shape of earthenware that could be picked up. There were but few interruptions to working of a serious character.
On the 31st December, 1879, there were 112 offices open for general traffic, local and international, and 70 others connected with Government departments, railways, or police. 53 in all are kept open, day and night. There are 348 Morse instruments in use, 25 single needle blocks, and 29 telephones of the Bell pattern.
Some of the latter have been made in the workshops, and answer very well. A pair of Edison telephones have been tried in Tokio privately, with excellent results.
Seventy-one instruments of various kinds are fixed in the school for the students to practise upon.
The staff of the department on the 31st December, 1879, numbered 1,803 individuals of all ranks, of which 496 were inspectors, linemen, and workmen, 707 were cashiers and clerks at stations, and 358 messengers—the remainder being engaged at headquarters as correspondents, writers, etc., or at the depot as accountants, mechanicians, etc., and in various other capacities.
The European employ6s now number 10 only, many having returned home on the expiration of their engagements, having been released by the Government in the belief that many of the duties of supervision and instruction can now be performed satisfactorily by the Japanese staff.
In conclusion,. I beg to present a few photographs taken from negatives of my own, which may serve in some way to indicate the character of the construction works carried out in Japan in connection with the rivers, etc.; and further, to submit a paper containing some statistical information furnished by the Japanese electrician relative to the tests of wire and insulators, particularly with regard to the results obtained from copper wire of native manufacture, insulated with lacquer, as a substitute for silk or cotton, and which promises to become a material of great service.
A special list of the wires, taken on the 1st and 2nd instant, for insulation in fine weather, with the object of ascertaining the exact resistance, gave as the total rate per mile, on a line 183 miles in length, the high record of 314.9 megohms.
Torso, December, 1880.
The PRESIDENT: The Society will, I am sure, recognise the great interest of this paper, which gives us another proof of the energy and intelligence of the Japanese Government in introducing beneficial improvements into their country.
There are many members present who have had experience in somewhat analogous work in countries other than Japan, and the Society will be glad to hear any remarks they may have to offer on the paper.
Mr. J. A. BETTS: I have had no experience with telegraphs in Japan ; and in China, where I was torpedo engineer to the Government, there is not at present a very extensive telegraph system. I believe that the first telegraph put up in China for the Chinese Government was constructed by myself. In my official capacity I had to instruct some native students in working the Morse instrument, and found them apt and quick. I therefore thought it best to construct a short line of 6 miles, and while that was being done the students practised on instruments in short circuit, and became proficient for proper working by single-current direct Morse when the line was completed in May, 1876. The stores for the line were obtained from England, but the construction was carried out under my supervision, without foreign assistance. The line was erected across a plain which in the ensuing winter became flooded with water. Frost and storms succeeded, and the line was carried away on the ice; but although the wires were much stretched, and touching the ice (which was very dry) in many places, working was not actually stopped. The poles were refixed in the ice, in which holes had been dug with ice-picks, and the line remained all right until its removal to another route in the spring. Mr. Morris has referred to the opposition shown by the natives to the construction of telegraphs in Japan. Such was not my experience in China, where I had less trouble of that description than I have experienced in England. In some cases in China opposition was made through fear of the "evil spirits" coming into their houses. The line I have spoken of was erected for military purposes, and was not intended to be used for public messages in fact, the Viceroy, Li Hung Chang, objected, on the ground that the line was solely for Government purposes. Afterwards he was persuaded, on financial grounds, to relax his objection, and in June, 1879, the line was extended from Tientsin to Taku Forts, a distance of 40 miles, and opened for traffic at the rate of a dollar a message of 10 words. In the first month the line paid more than its working cost. A code-book was adopted for the transmission of Chinese messages. A Frenchman had compiled a code-book with some 5,000 or 6,000 characters of the Chinese language, and put a number against each. By sending these numbers, and at the receiving end obtaining explanation of them by reference to the code-book, the transmission was completed. The arrangement answered very well, and continues to do so, as I have lately heard from Tientsin. The foreign use of, this telegraph is almost exclusively for signalling vessels riding outside the Taku bar when there is not sufficient water to cross. No doubt China is more conservative in regard to this matter than Japan, but there is perhaps one of the finest fields for telegraphs and railways in China that have ever been opened out in the world, and it is just about to be opened. The Great Northern Telegraph Company are commencing to put up a line from Shanghai, and are under contract to put up about 4 miles a day for a line of some 700 miles, going straight away to the capital of China. The Chinese Minister in London informed me yesterday that it was under the serious contemplation of his Government to open up railways in China to Pekin.
The PRESIDENT: Mr. Morris has sent an appendix to his paper, giving an account of the specimens which he has sent.
The SECRETARY then read the following
MEMORANDA RELATIVE TO THE SPECIMENS SENT.
Lacquered Paper Chamber.—This chamber has been invented by H. Oki, manufacturer of telegraph instruments in Tokio. It is made of Japanese lacquer and paper. Every sheet of paper is cemented with specially prepared lacquer, and finally linen is covered over it, and lacquered again. This chamber is strong, although not very high in insulation, and will stand rough treatment in our military telegraphs, therefore, all the battery chambers are of this kind.
Lacquered Copper Wire.—This process of covering wire has also been invented by H. Oki, whose chief object is to get a covered wire very cheap and efficient. Coils in his instruments are wound with it, and every layer of wire coated with paraffin to insure complete insulation. Instruments so made have been working for about a year. The enclosed coils are samples of the wire. It is common commercial copper wire, tested before covering: its specific conductivity is 90.7 per cent., and insulation between the layers of the wire practically perfect. A length of 10 feet was carefully suspended from insulators, and its resistance ascertained to be 2.67 ohms at 52° F. The coil is said to consist of 111 feet, and should therefore give a total resistance of 29:637 ohms; it actually gives 29.58 ohms, showing a difference of .057 of an ohm merely, which is doubtless due to slight variation in diameter. Larger coil not tested.
Silk-covered Copper Wire.—This wire was first made by S. Miyoshi, a mechanician in our workshop. Both the wire and silk will gradually be improved.
Morse Ink and Carbonic Paper.—These two substances are made by T. Taoka, a mechanician in the workshop. Both are now exclusively used in the offices of the empire.
Insulators (4).---These are made by Fukagawa, porcelain manufacturer at Arita, in Hizen, near Nagasaki. Their resistance is marked on the labels.
Porcelain Chamber and Porous Pot (circular).—These are also manufactured by Fukagawa, and are used in the insulator testing battery. The other oblong-shaped porous pot is in general use, together with the porcelain chamber, made at Seth, in Owari, near Nangoya.
Morse Paper.--This is made by Seishi-sha, at Oji, near Tokiyo, and is now exclusively used in the offices of the empire.
I have not been able to prepare all the specimens I should like to send, but I hope to forward a more complete collection on another occasion.
M. YOSHIDA.
Tokiyo, December 28th, 1880.
Mr. DRESING said, in reply to the President's call; I have not been in Japan, and cannot, therefore, give you any information about the Japanese telegraphs.
The Great Northern Company have got the submarine cable communications to Japan, and have, as Mr. Morris has pointed out, assisted the Government in laying some of their submarine cables: this is, as far as I am aware, the only active part the Great Northern Company have taken in the construction of the Japanese Government telegraphs.
Mr. JOSEPHS: I am not acquainted with Japan, but in India and other foreign countries I have always met with difficulties in the way of carriage and provision of material, similar to those described by the gentleman who read the paper.
Mr. Josephs being invited to relate his experiences when carrying wires in Northern India for the Afghan expedition, said he was not prepared at the moment to do so, though at some future time he hoped it would be possible to bring the matter before the Society in the shape of a paper.
The PRESIDENT drew the attention of members to the specimen of materials used in Japan, which were on exhibition in the room.
Mr. W. IL PREECE: I have not yet had the opportunity of closely examining the specimens exhibited, but from a first glance they look more like articles that come from Lambeth or Stoke-upon-Trent than from Japan, and the porous and earthenware pots seems to be of better stuff than we usually employ in Eng. land. What has surprised me most, and looks most promising, is the lacquered wire. There seems to be something to be gained by using this wire in making electro-magnets. The closer the layers of wires, and the greater the number of convolutions round a bar of iron in a given space, the greater will be the strength obtained in the magnet and any invention which will remove the necessity for the use of silk or very fine cotton, or cotton and silk mixed, without increasing the space, will certainly be beneficial to telegraphy generally. I have been much interested in the paper, not because I have ever been to Japan, but because I look upon a paper of this kind as one of those very things for which this Society was specially constituted. It was specially constituted to bring together in one central point (and that point the centre of the world at the present moment) experiences, ideas, and investigations from all parts of the globe. We have had papers from Africa, Persia, and India we now have a paper from Japan and we have the promise of a paper describing telegraphic operations in the north of India in connection with the military expedition to Afghanistan. That part of Mr. Morris's paper which refers to the wonderful power conferred by electricity of taking steps to ameliorate the sufferings caused by those fearful catastrophes (which seem part and parcel of one's existence in Eastern countries) is very striking. In India, where British rule has been extant for some 100 years, where the enterprise and power of the empire has been devoted to the extension of railway and telegraph interests, we have not succeeded in entirely eradicating famines but we find in Japan that one of the greatest blessings that the great power electricity has given us has been showered on that nation by reducing the tendency to suffering from famine.
The cheapness of transmission of telegrams in Japan, too, is remarkable. Where else in the universe besides Japan is it possible to send a message 20 miles for 2-1/4d.? The presence of spiders (and such spiders) referred to by Mr. Morris must be very troublesome, and every practical telegraphist present will feel glad that he does not live in Japan where his wires would be coated with such masses of gossamer. We have spiders in England, but they are poor, miserable, weak creatures compared with those in Japan, which get their web across the wires and put them to earth.
The ingenuity of the Japanese in making the various articles exhibited deserves notice. They have not only produced by native manufacture, insulators, porous cells, and ink bottles, but they have devoted their skill to making telephones. Now, with a country devoid of patent laws, and with people possessing the ability of imitating, even to the trade mark, apparatus of different kinds, I would ask how is it possible for companies thrown upon our commercial market, with enormous purchase-money for patent rights and promoters' fees, to make a business in a country like Japan, where telephones can be constructed cheaper than in England, and perhaps as good, if not better?
I have pleasure in proposing that the best thanks of the Society be given to Mr. Morris for his paper, which must have cost him much time and trouble.
The PRESIDENT: In putting the vote of thanks to the meeting, I would ask Mr. Preece to allow me to include the name of M. Yoshida, the Japanese electrician, who has sent a description of the specimens exhibited.
A hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Morris for his paper, and also to Mr. Yoshida for his description of specimens. The meeting then adjourned until Thursday, April 14th, 1881.
