The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1858-09-30
DELAY IN TELEGRAPHING ACROSS THE
OCEAN,

Much curiosity exists to know the time re-
quired to transmit messages over the Atlantic
Telegraph. Mr.. De Sanity, the electrician in
chief at Trinity Bay, rays that the reception of
the Queens message was commenced early on
Monday morning, and not finished until Tues
day morning; but it was stopped for several
hours, to allow of repairs to the cable. The
time necessary for the transmission of the Pres
ident message would depend on its length and
the condition of the line and instruments al the
time; perhaps, under favorable circumstances,
an hour and a half. he adds, that he is unable
to give any information for publication as to
the working of the cable.
Just previously 10 the reception of the
Queens message, the Boston Daily Adoertiser
received from private source at Trinity Bay
precise explanation of the cause of the delay
in the working of the telegraph The Difficult.
ty does not appear to be of O character to Gre
ate any fear that it will not be eventually over
come, though 1t may require material altera-
tons OF the instruments now in use. We uuo:e
from the Advertiser.
p" 1t appears that in the passage of one cleo
trlcal signal across the ocean, not only is an
appreciable time consumed, but the signal it,
self changes in degree its original character,
1t is, 80 to speak, stretched out. A signal
which on short line would seem perfectly
sharp and prompt, takes the form of long
wave, and requires from six to ten seconds to
declare itself between the beginning of it's effect
and its end. Between what such signal
would be at the end of short wire, and what it
Is at the end of the Atlantic wires, there is
somewhat the same difference as between the
shortest (stsccato) blasts of a whistle, and
note drawn out with the swell of an organ to
the length of six or even ten seconds. A dis
fspnf foo Tn 20 he nAn g. Al
prolonged signal it has most force in the mid
die of its period, and gains and loses that force
gradually.
" OF the length of time which this modified
signal requires for passing the ocean we are
not informed, nor do we know that it has been
ascertained. 1t is evident, however, that it
must be at least six seconds, the shortest period
in which one signal completes itself. Now. it
is we'll known by Faraday's and Wheatstone's
observations on long wires, that, for at least
half the period required for the transmission OF
any signal, the current must be continued nm
broken +; no new signal must be begun. O her
wise, the signal returns to the operator that being
its shortest opportunity to discharge itself. At
the shortest, therefore, one signal on the cable
will require more than three seconds at the
point OF starting, and six seconds to record it
self.
NCooCio WIZ nave me SlglL6St KDOWIeQQH
of Geographic machinery will understand how
materially such a modification of the prompt.
ness of the signal must affect any form of the
apparatus ia use. The quickest tap of Morse's
telegraph, for instance, is exchanged, with such
signal, for long crescendo and diminuendo
wave. In Morse's alphabet spaces, short taps
or dots, and long ones or dashes, are variously
modified TO make the several letters. word
of ten letters may consist of thirty or FORTY OF
such signs. 1t will readily be seen how i'm oos.
sible it would be for an operator to transmit
| such word, until experiment enables him pre
cisely to adapt his spaces to his dots and
dashes to tell when dot ends and when a
space begins; 30 great is the immediate change
when an instant dot is changed into signal
ak seconds long.
| We give this illustration merely because il
is so simple. Similar changes in computation
and combination will be required for the needle
telegraphs or the printing telegraphs. There
is no reason why Hughes's telegraph, which i:
highly and deservedy praised, should escape
them, more than any other. We must be con
tent to wait till these experiments and new
computations have been made The essentia
victory has been gained in the transmission O
rapid, well pronounced signals, from side t.
side. 0 At of those signals an alphabet can b,
io.med, or recording machinery can be driver