Advance in Telegraphy

The Advance in Telegraphy.

In the paper on the "Inception of Electrical Science and the Evolution of Telegraphy," read by Mr. F. N. Gisborne, F. R. S. C., Superintendent of Government Telegraphs, at the last meeting of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers in Montreal, some of the conclusions drawn by the author are as follows:

That timber poles, preferably of cedar, duly provided with lightning conductors at every fifth or tenth pole, are best adapted for telegraph lines throughout Canada, excepting through prairie lands subject to fires, where iron posts are desirable.

That No. 6 galvanized iron wire, per specification hereinbefore cited, is preferable to copper or composite wires for aerial lines of considerable length, and in exposed localities.

That porcelain insulators are the most economical and efficient, under similar condition.

That gravity batteries are the most reliable for closed circuits, and Gassner's dry cells for open circuits.

That in towns and populous districts all electric wires, gas and water pipes, should be placed in traversable underground conduits, or the wires in sidewalk troughs.

That the Morse and Vail system, with sounding apparatus operated by dot and dash signals, is the most effective in the hands of skilled operators, for general purposes.

That the Wheatstone automatic transmitter, by a paper tape or strip previously perforated with dot and dash, or all dot lettering drawn rapidly between contact makers, and reproduced mechanically upon plain, or chemically upon prepared receiving paper at the possible rate of 1,000, and practical rate of 400 or 500 words per minute, is the best combination for the rapid transmission of intelligence.

That the most successful and profitable telegraph companies of the future will abandon the present system of a multiplicity of wires for the transmission of intelligence; and at business centers and important stations will employ female labor for perforating and comparing with the original manuscript, despatches to be forwarded by automatic transmitters; an additional wire or two being operated by Morse sounders for the correction, when needed, of automatically transmitted messages, and also for the requirements of intermediate local business. Such additional wire or wires being available for duplex, quadruplex, or multiplex instruments.