The Sun.
London, England, 1840-07-29 00:00:00

ELECTRICAL TELEGRA PH.

The following evidence on this important invention,
given before the Committee on Railways, by Vrofessor
Wheatstone, will be read with interest :

326. Lord Granville Somerset—Suppose the Great
Western Railway were completed between Lon-
don and Bristol, do you contemplate the possibility of
carrying your telegraph through the whole way, so as
to signify from London to Bristol anything you wish to
communicate, and vice versa from Bristol to London ?
The experiment has not been tried, but I have every
reason to lacslieve that it can be done.

You must multiply your power considerably in that
case ; but if you can multiply your power sufficiently,
there is no difficulty, in your opinion, in performing that ?
—One very important circumstance I have ascertained
is the little power requisite to produce this effect ; it
was formerly thought, that to send a current to any con-
siderable extent, very strong batteries must be employed,
but, in fact, a very weak battery is sufficient, provided
only it consist of a number of elements proportionate
to the distance. _ _ .

328. Do you see any practical difficulty in propor-
tioning the number of your batteries to that extent, of
100 or 120 miles ?—I think there is none.
329. So far as your experiments have gone, you
think you should be able to effect this telegraphic com-
munication between Bristol and London 2—Yes ; pos-
sibly several stations may be required, but, at any rate,
the stations may be at very far greater distances from
each other than would be required for an, ordi-
nary system of telegraphs ; my opinion is, that the in-
termediate stations will not be required.
329.* You think you may communicate to the Read-
ing station, the Reading station to another in the direc-
tion of Bristol, and that to Bristol ?—Yes ; this means
would be adapted if it should he found impracticable
to effect an immediate communication between the two
extreme stations.

331. Lord Granville Somerset—How long has the
line been laid down upon the Great Western think
it was finished in July last.
332. Do you think you have had experience
enough during the last winter to ascertain that it, will
not fail you in consequence of any inclemency of wea-
ther, or circumstances of that nature ?—lf the wires
are properly protected, I think there is no fear whatever.
333. Do you conceive they can be so protected, that
weather will have no effect upon them ?—Yes, that is
my judgment from experiment.
334. Mr. Loch—ls there any appreciable loss of
time in making a communication from the Paddington
station to the extremity of the line to which the tele-
graph is now carried ?—From some experiments I
made some years ago, published in the Philosophical
Transactions, when I first turned my attention to the
possibility of effecting telegraphic communications, I
ascertained that electricity travelled through a copper
wire at the rate of about 200,000 miles in a second ;
consequently there is no appreciable time lost in the
communication of the electrical effect ; the only time
that would be lost would be at relay stations, if they
were necessary. ,
338. Chairman—Have the applications you have had
from foreign countries to put up this means of commu-
nication been in connection with railways, or separate
from railways ?—All in connection with railways.
339. Is it of any consequence that it should be on a
railway, or does a railway offer any advantage in that
respect ?—Not the slightest advantage with regard to
laying down the line, but a great one with respect to its
protection from injury.
340. Sir John Guest—Have you tried to pass the line
through water?—There would be no difficulty in doing
so, but the experiment has not yet been made.
341. Chairman—Could you communicate from Do-
ver to Calais in that way ?—I think it perfectly prac-
ticable.
342. Have you any further observationslo make ?
An electrical telegraph offers a great many advantages
over an ordinary telegraph ; it will work day and
night, but an ordinary telegraph will act only during
day ; it will also work in all states of weather; an or-
dinary telegraph can only work in fine weather. There
are a great number of days in the year in which no
communication can be given by an ordinary telegraph,
and, besides, a great many communications are stopped
before they can be finished, on account of changes in
the state of the atmosphere ; no inconveniences of this
kind would attend the electrical telegraph. Another
advantage is, that the expense of the separate stations
is by no means comparable to that of the ordinary
telegraph ;no look-out men are required, and the ap-
paratus may be worked in any room where there are
persons to attend to it. There is another advantage
the electric possesses over the ordinary telegraph, viz.
the rapidity with which the signals may be made to
follow each other. Thirty signals may be conveniently
made in a minute ; that number cannot bd made by
the ordinary telegraph. There is one thing I will take
the opportunity to mention : I have been confining the
attention of the Committee to the telegraph now work-
ing on the Great Western Railroad, but having lately
occupied myself in carrying into effect numerous im-
provements which have suggested themselves to me, I
have, conjointly with Mr. Cooke, who has turned his
attention greatly to the same subject, obtained a new
patent for a telegraphic arrangement, which I think
will present very great advantages over that which at
present exists. It can be applied without entailing any
additional expense of consequence to the line now laid
down ; it will only be necessary to substitute the new
for the former instruments. This new apparatus re-
quires only a single pair of wires to effect all which the
present one does with five, so that three independent
telegraphs may be immediately placed on the line of
the Great Western ; it presents in the same place all
the letters of the alphabet according to any order of
succession, and the apparatus is so extremely simple,
that any person without any previous acquaintance with
it can send a communication and read the answer.

343. Sir John Guest—Does not the possibility of
cutting off the communication between one point and
another occur to you ?--The same objection may be
made with regard to railroads themselves.
344. Suppose any person were to stop the commu-
nication from one town to another ?—By destroying the
continuity of the rails, they might stop the passage of
the trains.
345. The common telegraphic communication could
be kept up notwithstanding that ?—Certainly.
346. Chairman—Can you state the expense which
would be incurred in laying it down ?—I am hardly pre-
pared to state that. because one only line has been
laid down at present.

[Mr. Saunders, who was next examined stated, that
the expense would amount to 250/. or 3001. a mile.]

REMARKABLE INSTINCT OF A CAT.—Mr.
Samuel Whiteside, of Skippool Mill, near Poulton-le-Fylde,
had, during the last spring, three goslings hatched under a hen,
from which they were immediately taken, and brought into
the house for a few days, in order to strengthen them, previous
to their being turned out without a parent to protect them.
In the meantime the eat, in a maternal sort of manner, took a
fancy to them, and brought them daily two or three mice,
morning and evening. One day in particular, one of the
goslings was missing, and on search being made, it was found
upon the hayloft, with the cat by its side. She had frequently
carried them one by one, until such time as they were grown
too large for her to carry. She still, continues to bring them
mice as usual, lies down with them, and protects them. Gri-
malkin's diligence has been such in providing for her young
charge that she has been observed to procare and bring them
upwards of twenty mice in a day.—Preston Pilot.
SERPENTINE—ATTEMPTED SUlClDE.—Yes-
terday a young woman attempted to destroy herself by jumping
into the One-arch Pond. She was, however, saved by a young
man named James Wood, who jumped in after her, and having
brought her to shore, took her to the Receiving-house. She
was in a very excited state, and Dr. Wooley found it necessary
to take several ounces of blood from her. She said her name
was Harriet Nelson, that she was 19 years of age, and subsisted
by sewing. She had of late had no work, and was not able to
pay her rent, and fearing that she would die of starvation, she
determined upon destroying herself. She was taken to the
Workhouse in Mount-street, Grosvenor-square.
TORTURE IN SCOTLAND.—iI somewhat re-
markable case is at present under judicial investigation by the
Sheriff, and, an far as we have been able to learn, the following
are the particulars :—On Tuesday last three police-officers be-
longing to the Anderson establishment, were apprehended and
committed to jail by the Sheriff, on a charge of having flogged
a boy, while a prisoner in the prince office, to compel him to
confess a theft with which he was charged, but of whic`i he as-
serted he was innocent. An enormous pair of cow hide laws,
with six thongs, with which the boy alleges the injury
was inflicted, were found in the police-office. But, as the
matter is undergoing thorough investigation in the proper
quartet, it would be improper to say anything more on the
subject at present, farther than that we have been informed
that starving and promise-making, if not flogging, are not un-
frequently resorted to by policemen for the purpose of extort-
ing- confessions. It is to be hoped, however, that the present
inquiry may be the meant of putting a stop to a practice so
illegal, and which reminds us of the days of the thumbikins and
the boot. Fortunately, such proceedings, so far from being
tolerated, are directly reprobated by the officers of the law,
and we have more than once heard the Lords of Justiciary
denounce, in the sternest manner, the practice by inferior
meanspooistohmeexotto,rotr
promise.—Glasgow
cflraosmgowpriAsorngeurss.,
CONSUMED IN THE UNITED STATES.
amounted a to
into the United States during the
t whetherohffie
sc emrups SUGAR
Abtf
Raany threat;
—According
ftfoor%en rseopoarrt ot the Socretary of the Treasury,
182,580,327 poun 30Ttrlhere - September,eralo i mll-83)r9t,ed
12,690,916 pounds, making a grand total
clayed sugars. &e.,
of 193'231'273 hounds.
into Ntw York, 75,21 9,736
year ending the 30th
this Of
quantity there were imported
into Boston 36,669,297 pounds ; • -
tpoimuonrdes,;
la7n,d3liBn onPohill}aoduenldpsh;iai.n2too,2oNse,swB7oprolneanndss;
sin,stoss-8,;a417-
pounds; into Charleston. 5,269,172 pounds; into Norfolk,
4,172,134 pounds; into Salem, 2,601,218 pounds; and the
balance into the smaller ports. —New York Paper.