Iowa news. [volume] (Dubuque, Upper Mississippi Lead Mines, Wisconsin Territory) 1837-1841, 1837-11-18

conducting substances il. sse.s he.nix .hia slip.
OF baked wood, similarly coated, the whls proper
y fastened together and coated externally. These
sips might be perhaps ten yards long, md at the I
Jennings precautions for the expansion AMI contrac-
ton OF the wire, by the change Of temperature,
might be adorsg, The whole might be enclosed |
IN strong oblong trough of woud, coat.d within |
and pitched without, and buried two or three feet
under the turnpike road.
The expense Of making The telegraph pfoposed |
IS OF course An important element in the consdera-
ton Of It's practicablity and utility.
. Inc chief material necessary, viz: copper wire,
is BY no means expensive. 1t is sold ut Is Cd. per
pound Of sixty yards in length. The cost of wire
from Edinburgh to London, say 400 miles, would
thus be about f1OO-but say for sollerings, &C.,
El0O additional--or that each copper wire, laid
from Edinburgh to London, would 1000 ster-
ling; and thar the total expense for the wires me-
cessary to indicate separately each letter ofthe al
phabet, would he E25,000. The purchase of SO
large quantity wanld, Of course, be made at a
considerable less price; but probably one two
additional wires might be needed, and the circuit
ofthe electrical influence must be provided for by
one or more return wires.
The coating, separating and troughing of the
wires can be accomplished by low priced materials,
and the total expense of the whole werk, Except
the price Of the wires,) allowing large sum for
incidental expenditure, has been roughly sstma-
ted at E75,O 900, making ma Xmum expenditure
Of say 100000 for the completion Of the Tele-
graph. For propor,ioned additional sum il might
DO extended to Glasgow.
The average Of the Parliamentary Estimates for
Railways is abou, El5,700 per mile, so that tho
posed, would only amount to as much as the con-
struc,ion of q Railway of belwern six and seven
miles in length.
As to the working ofthe Telegraph, it is appre-
hsnded, that even ifthe speed of writing were not
attained, there could at leas, be difficulty in in
dicating one letter per second. AT this rate
Communication which would contain sixty-fve
words, would occupy about five minutes. This is
supposing the vowels to be all indicated. But alb
breviation, in this and many other respects, would
no doubt be contrived; and the number of words
in the communication supposed, are greater than
necessary for an ordinary banking or commercial
letter, or for friendly inquiries, and responses Sup
posing, however, that each communication was TO
occupy FIVE minutes, and TO be charged FIVE shil-
ilinY each---ir the telegraph was worked twelve
hours day, Chat is, six hours from each end,) it
wopld produce a revenue of SO daily, or El0,S0o
/ per annum, supposing there were 800 working days
in The year. II, however, the plan is practicable,
public intelligence that would no doubt be trans
mitted by the Telegraph, would be sufficient 10
keep j IN operation night and day.
4 No one can doubt that there wouldbc very great
demand for the services Of such perfect Telegraph
as is mere supposed capable of being constructed.
In every department OF commerce, in shipping, II,
banking, and MI money transactions, in the COM
mnnicntion ofpublic and political intelligence, in
the law, and in family and friendly intercourse,
the utility of the telegraph would be immense. by
coming at the same time to the two ends OF tho te-
legraph, parties might almost enjoy all the advan-
tages Of personal interview, at trifing expense
The consequence of such a machine being estab-
lished would be to bring, as it were, tho cities Of
London and Edinburgh Into the immediate neigh
borhood Of each other, and to produce transactions
and communications of kinds not hitherto known
or practlced. Were the example followed all over
the kingdom, itwould create, perhaps, one Of the
greatest changes in human affairs, called into OPP
Grafton by the ingenuity of man.
The plan, from its affinity 10 the Post Office, was
lately communicated tn his Majesty's Government,
as worthy of their attention, in place OF being left
TO the joint enterprise of individuals, which, how
ever, it is in view to call INTO action by Para.
mentary authority, il necessary.
Arrangements are being made for having the ne
Icessary experiments tried the metallic conductor
of fifty hundred miles in length, and il the same
instantaneous and perfect indication OF the cleo
trio or galvanc fluid is fouad to take place, as in
the case Of the recent experiments at the UNIVERSE
|ty, tho triumph of the scheme would be complete.
Further notice will be given to the public ofthe pro-
gress Of the plan.
WILLIAM ALEXANDER.