The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-10 00:00:00

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THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH I lir INDIA.

A correspondence of great interest has just been pub-
lished regarding the establishment of the electric tele-
graph system in India. According to a nrinute from
the Governor-General dated in April last, it appears that
Dr. O'Shaughnessy, the Deputy Assay, Master at the
Calcutta Mint, has constructed 82 miles of experimental
lines with such economy and success as to in duce the
Court of Directors in London to determine up on the
formation of new lines to the extent of upwards or 3,000
and
the PtLscoidmienecciets
,ththeevaNrioorutshs-WeatsestoefrnaOireornvinmeesen,
the Punjaub. In the report of Dr. O'Shauguhs, ne et:7e,
which has been transmitted to the India Ho
full details are given of the methods of constructio n
he has adopted, and which Lord Dalhousie describes ak.s
remarkable alike for their simplicity, cheapness,
and perfect efficacy. The works already completed in-
volve lengthened river crossings (the Huldee and the
Hooghly), and for these portions a gutta percha covered
wire, secured in the angles of a chain cable, is employed,
and is found to afford complete protection against the
,rappels of the heavy native boats which ince& alley
pass up and down, and are often compelled to Jrag
their anchors. It is, however, in the land portions of i'the
lines that Dr. O'Shauf,dine,sy's methods present tl.`e
•4-reatest divergence from any that have been hitherto'
used either in England or America. He uses no wire
whatever, but employs instead a thick iron rod three-
eighths of an inch in diameter, and vveirrhin, one ton to
the mile, while for supports bamboo sticks are adopted in
place of the ordinary posts. The advantages gained by
the rods are immunity from fracture by gusts of wind
or ordinary mechanical violence, and the absence of ally
necessity fix insulation, owing to the free passage which
the mass of metal gives to the electric currents, while in
point of expense they do not involve any increase of im,
portance. They cost 101. per mile, and 21. 10s. for
welding ; and this, it is stated, falls far below what
would be expended on the winders, insulators, zincing,
and straining posts absolutely necessary on a wire line.
In experiments with wires they have been found to bel
broken by every north-wester, while in the hurricane of
1851 not a single rod was damaged. The fact that they
cannot be broken or bent withoutgiving great trouble, and
requiring the use of smiths' tools, is likewise of the utmost
importance in a country where the lines must not only
traverse districts where they cannot be protected against
idlers, but also wildernesses inhabited only by wild
beasts. As regards the value of the bamboo, as com-
pared with the ordinary timber posts, the results are no
less striking.
_lt is not so durable ; but, allowing for
the necessary replacernen4lts cost is still little more than
a fifth of that for posts. It was at first employed only
with a temporary view; bid the way in which it was
found to resist the severest storms, which uprooted
trees and levelled houses, soon led to the conviction that
it was superior to any other material. In the hurricane
of 1851, already alluded to, and which caused un-
paralleled damage at Calcutta, not a single bamboo
on the lines was broken. "It was the realisation
of the fable of the • bulrush and the oak ; the bam-
boo bent slightly to the hurricane, and rose erect
when its violence had ceased." With regard to the
instruments used at the stations, it was found that
in a country like India, unless they could be reduced
to such a condition of simplicity that when deranged
they could be set right by mere school-boys, and with-
out the aid of a mechanic, regular and sustained corre-
spondence would be totally impracticable. Accordingly,
after trying and discarding every English and American
plan, and being reduced almost to despair, Dr. O'Shaugh-
nessy contrived a little single needle horizontal tele-
graph, which has since been in use at all the stations,
and which works in all weathers without danger of in-
terruption. "It sometimes," he says, " becomes dis-
ordered, but it is changed, or replaced, ' or cured' in a
few seconds by the signallers on duty ; and, if totally
destroyed, is but the loss of 65." A battery of 12 to 20
pieces of platinum wire with zinc plates suffices to work
the lines through the heaviest rain and most violent
storms, and the total cost of a complete set of instru-
ments of every kind for each station, comprising battery,
reverser, telegraph, and alarm, is less than 10/. The
outlay for the construction of the lines themselves, in-
dependently of river-crossings has been at the rate of
421. per mile ; but, with the experience obtained, it
would, for the future, not exceed 351. per mile for a
single, and 551. for a double line. The revenue thus far
derived from the 82 miles opened has exceeded the
highest expectations. The monthly cost amounts to
921., and this has been almost exactly met by the re-
ceipts, so that the whole of the Government correspond-
ence has been conducted without charge. Under these
circumstances, Dr. O'Shaughnessy considers that a
double line along the valley of the Ganges to Alla-
habad, and vid Agra to Bombay, would yield a large
profit, especially if the rate of 'barge were low and
uniform, not exceeding 2s. for each message of 16 words,
whatever might be the distance through which it is trans-
mitted. In the view thus stated Lord Dalhousie ap-
pears perfectly to concur, and he has expressed the
" intense desire he has felt, ever since the first report on
the subject was submitted to him, to see the main line
of electric telegraph between Calcutta and Peshawur,
Bombay and Calcutta, and Madras and Calcutta, fairly
commenced before he quits India during the present
year." This desire, it is to be inferred, will be fulfilled,
the Court of Directors having, about four months back,
given all the necessary orders here for the preparation
and shipment of the materials for lines of 3,150 miles,
leaving it to the Governor-General in Council to decide
upon the precise routes that should be adopted.—Times.

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