The Sun.
London, England, 1870-05-26 00:00:00

MALICIOUS INJURY TO TELEGRAPH

WIRES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SUN."
.SII,—I am directed by the Postmaster-General to addro.ss
to you the following remarks, in the hope that 3 ott will give
them publicity in your paper.
The telegraphs of the United Kingdom are now the Pr.;
perty of the nation, and every member of the conintueit3'
Interested in their maintenance and preservation They.ldrle
Ie
subject to continual injury from the wanton attacks of _,
and mischievous persons, chiefly boys, who amuse them,
selves by throwing stones at the insulators on the telerP
posts.
The following statements will show how rent is tit:
damage done to the telegraphs of the cation by this Nvott_
and mischievous conduct. One of the engineers of the ,
partment reports of the telegraphs in the neighbourhood u
Newcastle, that, "although the whole line had been gened
over by a repairing gang and every chipped insulator Ile
been replaced, fOO insulators had been wantonly breh.et:
in the course of six weeks." Another engineer, In tlu,:it
a different part of the country, reports that ,0
is a Sunday morning's amusement of inle persons
throw stones at the insulators on the lines outside to wut
'and villages." Another officer of the department rePerlis
that "at a point between Canterbury and Dover he found
4
iron band a yard long, with iron nails in it, thrown over tile,
,u
telegraph wires, and placing at least two of them in nO,
tact." The engineer of the department iu South Wales
ar
ports that, "as fast as new insulators are put np, tbey
broken by the boys with stone throwing, and that
large number of new insulators must be at once put
The engine r of the department in the south of 500';
land reports that within a fortnight from the thne:3
which he had reinsulated an important lino 11,
large number of the insulators had been Wilftl„;..
broken." Another engineer, in describing a large nil- .
ber of breakages wilfully caused,in the immediate neighbour
hood of London, adds, "most of the contacts, which, of course
cause interruptions of communication, are brought about
r
the breakage of insulators by btone- throwers." A"e,t,ll:ci
engineer reports that whereas he had "entirely reiusnlen,
1'
the line between Loughborough and Leicester, within slo
weeks from the time of the reinsulation no less than
insulators had been broken by stone throwing."
Under these circumstances the Postmaster-General, ie
i°
whom the property is vested, with the assistance of the
hoed
Office, has taken steps to have the telegraph lines watch 7
and to have persons detected in the act of wilfully init„lf,ll',l
them prosecuted under the Malicious Injuries Act,
and 25th Victoria, chap. 97 ; and he has obtained undo: this
act several convictions,of which public notice ha--; been give°.
It occurs to Lord Hartington, however, that much Wn;
venience and much expense would be saved if the enhim
would co-operate with him, by acting, as it were, as tLi
whi
guardians of their own property. There can be little donut
that a great number of persons who perpetrate this donut
damage are ignorant of the extent and nature of the mischie
which they do, and it is very much to be desired that tbet
more intelligent members of the community should eV!
themselves for the protection of the national property v.,11
warning any one whom they may observe to be engaged it
injuring that property of the effect's of his miscondue.,
and by reporting the same if the warning fails to produce
the desired result.
It is especially desirable that schoolmasters and all those
who have the charge of youths should issue admonitory
warnings of this kind, and thereby prevent the boys undo,
their charge from subjecting themselves to a prosecution
law.
The importance of perfect telegraphic communication to
the whole of the community is now so generally admitte,
and the inconvenience resulting from interruptions of the;
communication is so serious, that the Postmaster-Gene°
does not hesitate to ask for the co-operation of all the
intelligent members of the community with him in t"
preservation of that property, without which that ee,te-
munication cannot be maintained. - I am, Sir, your ene-
dient servant,
FRANK IVES ScunAnottE•
General Post Office, London, May 24th.