The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-05-10 00:00:00

LECTURE ON TELEGRAPHY.

In London, on Monday evening, Mr. W. H.
Preece, of the Postal Telegraph Department, gave, at
the Society of Arts, the third of the Cantor lectures on
telegraphy. He briefly described the various initru-
ments employed in the department in conducting what
may be called simplex telegraphy as opposed to
duplex and quadruplex telegraphy, which will form
the subject of his next lecture. _Alter alluding to
the object, history, principles involved, mechanical
constructions, modes of working, the faults of and the
progress made in the old dial alphabetical apparstus, a
description was given of the Morse system of dots
and dashes, the bell system, giving the equivalents of
dots and dashes by sound, and the "sounder system
of Theiler, which was shown for the first time in
England. A wire connecting with the central office
in Telegraph-street, (London), was brought into the
room, and mes'ages by the different systems were re-
ceived. The Hughes type-printer was shown, and
reference was made ri The Times receiving messages
from Vienna and Faris by it. Cowper's new writing
telegraph, which has been exhibited but a few times in
England, was in operation. The form of the letters
written has been conveyed over a distance as great as
36 miles, but it has not yet come into practical use,
The following are statistics of the various appara-
tus in use by the Postal Telegraph Department at the
present time throughout the United Kingdom :
Public and private instruments—Automatic, 167;
Printers, 1,560; bells, 277; sounders, 1,380; needles,
3,495; A B 0, 4,641; other kinds, 859—giving a total
of 12,379 instruments.
The mirror system of working on long cables, as
I well as Thompson's recorder, was briefly mentioned.

THE FIDDLER'S PzotrmaiaTT.—The longer bow he
draws, the truer his note I—Punch.

14,44 4,00410 V. 0.1.41 4

DESTRUCTIVE FIRES IN AMERICA.

. About midnight on the 19th ,ult. a fire broke out at
Eureka, Nev., in the rear portion of the Opera House,
a large frame building on Bateman-street, running
through from Buel to Spring-street. A heavy gale
was blowing at the time, and it was at once evident
that a disastrous conflagration must ensue. The
flames spread with great rapidity, and made a clean
track down Spring and Buel streets and Main-street
for nearly half a mile, spending their force finally
at a foundry and an adobe boarding-house close to
the Eureka Consolidated Mining Company's works.
Tnere is not a building left standing in all this
area, save Payton and Co.'s block and the stone
office of the Sentinel. The fire crossed Buel-street,
and in a moment the Eldorado building had caught.
The firemen made a gallant fight, contesting every
inch, step by step, until Robbin'e-street was reached,
and the danger was over in that direction. The total
loss is estimated at somewhat over 1000,000 dole., on
which there is not over 125,000 dole. insurance. Cold
weather succeeded the tire, accompanied with a fall
of snow, which caused much suffering among the
houseless people. Shelttr was tempora6y supplied
by tents, the material for which was promptly sent
by the San Francisco Relief Committee, There is no
lack of food, the provision stores mostly escaping the
fl_imes. Relief movements were begun at once in
San Francisco, Sacramento, Virginia City, and other
places.
The University of Notre Dame, two miles north of
South Bend, Ind., was destroyed by fire on the 23rd
ult., together with the Infirmary, Music Hall, Old
Men's Home, and Minum's play-house. Spontaneous
combustion, caused by the rays of the sun on the pitch
and gravel on the roof, is supposed to have caused
the fire. The flames were first seen in the base
of the dome which surmounted the university build-
ing. The dome burned like tinder, and soon the
statue of the Virgin Mary, weighing a ton, which
was given by the late Emperor Napoleon, fell,
crashing through the roof and opening a passage to
the interior for the now raging flames. By twelve
o'clock the college and four adjoining buildings were
a mass of ruins, and in the excitement that prevailed
much valuable property was sacrificed. The college
and circulating libraries, containing in all 25,000
volumes, the museum, which cost 10,000 dole., seven-
teen pianos and other musical instruments, were
destroyed. This college boasted of the largest,bell on
the American continent, the gift of the brothers of the
Sacred Heart in Paris, The loss is estimated at not
less than 200,000 dole. The college will be rebuilt at
ths earliest possible date.