Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-08-18
TELEGRAPHS.


general head Of " Telegraph" p
The idea Of employment of electricity as
means of conveying Intelligence to a distance
appears to have been long entertained, and ex-
periments to ascertain the practicability Of
electrical communication between distant
places were early made by scientific men
throughout the civilized world. In 1929, Grey
and Wheeler discovered that current Of cleo
tricity could be made to flow through consider
able lengths OF wire. In l746, Winckler at
Leipsic, and lie Monnier at Paris, experimental
on the same subject of the transmission of the
electric current through conducting bodies. In
l147, DR.. Watson, in England, repeated and
extended these experiments, sending a current
through two miles of wire and two of earth;
sending shocks across the Thames and the New
River. DIR. Franklin, in I74S, and DeIuo, in
2 ll49, repeated many Of these experiments In
sttition, experiments bearing more or less on
! the % bject Of electric telegraphy were made by
a iLssage in IVA, Reusser in 1894, Cavallo in
Esx betancourt in l1so, Soemmering in 1907,
/. and Prof. 0ersted in 1919.
fhe FIRST electric telegraph actually applied
: seems TO have been the invention of 81. d. +.
1Sslva Humboldt says his telegraph was estab-
: hshed between Madrid and Aranjues in 1893
ass distance of about twenty-six miles.
% = In 1916, Francis Ronalds, Of Hammersmith,
England, constructed a telegraph of eight miles
In length. This telegraph was enc of the best
that had been invented, and was capable of
transmitting intelligence with considerable ra-
pidity. In 1923, he argued the Importance of
his invention for government purposes, writing
to Lord Melville on the subject, but without ef-
feet.
In 1927, Harrison G. Dyer, an American.
constructed telegraph on Long Island, using
frietionsl electricity. The line was about two
miles in length.
Previous to 1909 no mode of electric teIe-
graphing capable Of any extended use had been
discovered The principal cause of failure
seems to have in the employment of fractional
electricity, which is on sccount of its intensity
5 confined with great difficulty to conducting
y bodies, rapid and incontinuOus in its action,
I'D ftem its small quantity, devoid Of ener
gssis force.
70 81. = Sosmmsring made step forward by his ap-
o Plication OF galvanism to the purposes of tele
/, ,grsphinS- In 1909 he constructed, at Munich,
% ateiegrsphic apparatus, using 30 wires. The
~ signals we're made by the decomposition Of water
IN - tubes, which were in connection with the
z % wires Of the line. Telegraphs employing the
pure galvsnic force were also invented by
Schveigger, De Haer, K. Smith, Scotland,
-about lS43;) Balm, 1916; and Morse l849.
Bain's was the only telegraph on this princi-
:, pc thAt was extensively used. He used very
y simple apparatus, receiving the galvanic cur
rent upon chemically prepared paper, where it
- made . light blue mark. A combination of dots
constituted his alphabet. This telegraph was
oASoouiuSIy Iapiu' OelnS capable OI ITa6Smlt-
ting l.2OO letters per minute. In 1850 about
zoo miles Of telegraph in England, and l, 500 in
America, were worked under Balm patents
His plain has gone now almost entirely out OF
use, other and better instruments supersedng
il.
The property which lightning possesses of re-
Vlslng or destroying the poles of the natural
magnet, and of impsring magnetism to iron,
bad long been known; but not until 1890 was
the fact turned to any useful purpose Profess
sor Oersted, Of Copenhagen, discovered. during
1919, that if n wire charged with electricity is
placed parallel to a magnetic needle the needle
will devIate from its natural position at right
angles with the conducting wire; and that this
deviation follows regular law. Proceeding on
the groundwork of Professor 0ersted many
other discoveries were made by Arago, Ampere
Faraday, Davy, Sturgeon, and Professor Henry
Arago and Ampere in France, and Sir II.
Davy IN England, discovered that a current of
electricity would render steel magnetic; and
Ampere found that by cOiling the wire in the
form Of a helix round steel the effect was greatly
increased. William Sturgeon, of London in the
year lo25, discovered and construC ID the electro
magnet The electro magnet is one Of the most
valuable parts Of the electric telegraph now in
use, and mas entered moro or less into nearly
every telegraph invention since its discovery
Oersted great discovery gave a new diTec.
tiOn to the science of electric telezraphing
Galyanic telegraphs were, in turn, discarded,
anu ma8ueIo-eieeIhc teIegraPns TOOK their
place.
Ampere was the irst to make use of Oersted's
discovery In telegraphiDg. In 1920 he invented
telegraph, using 50 magnetic needles His
plan was not practically carried out.
Baron de Schilling invented q needle tele-
graph IN 1882, at St. Petersburg. His instru-
ment had five needles, which, by their yibra-
tIons on the right or left, indicated signals.
He afterwards improved his instrument, using
but one needle
In 1887 DIR. Steinheil had a telegraphic in
strument working distance of IL miles His
telegraph of one wire, and either one or two
magnetic needles, as might be desired, made
permanent marks on paper. and also tele-
graphed by sound. When writing, his needles
were furnished with inktubes and by their
motions marks were recorded on paper; when
telegraphing by sound, the needles were made
to strike bells Of different tones. He used the
earth as part of his circuit. This was yery
nearly perfect instrument and is infinitely
superior to the majority of telegraphic instru-
ments since invented.
June IL, 1887, Messrs. Cooke & Wheatstone.
In kogiand, obtained a patent for improve
p ments IN giving signals and sounding alarms in
= distant places, by means of electric currents
transmitted through metallic eircuits - This
2 seems to have been the first telegraph that was
patented In Europe. Cooke Il Wheatstone's
nrst telegraph was a needle telegraph Ihey
used i've magnetic needles and five wires An
eiectro- magnet was used to sound an alarm A
second patent, taken out by Cooke only, was
: Issued In April. 1888. These instruments were
found to be very imperfect, and after short
trial abandoned
A different form Of telegraph, the invention
@ OF the same parties, having but two needles,
: has until very recently, been in general use
IN England; but the Morse system is now being
adopted there and upon the continent.
The last patent tax en- out by Cooke & Wheat
stone is dated May 8, lSi5. During the same
year an act of Parliament was obtained incor-
Poratlng 8 The Electric Telegraph Company"
working these patents.
The needle telegraph is, comparatively, very
$40" Ihe average speed per message being but
Ia words per minute IL is. however vsf sY-
tensiTely used in England. Cooke 4 Wheat
stone took out patent in America, but their
instrument was never practically used in the
United States " WV
Since Cooke Wheststone's first patent. m