Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-08-12
TELEGRAPH ACROSS THE ATLANTIC.
HOwIT WILL BE WORKED.

Telegraph gives the following information how
the telegraph across the Atlantic will be worked;
THE BAri ERY To EE Used IN rELEGRAPgIyG
me primary source of the influence which
VIII Dc charged with the service of Atlantic
le'|graphy WILL be a giant voltaic battery. Of
.en capaeious eells, which may be appropriately
termed the " MhitehOuse Laminated or Per-
petual maintenance Battery, on account of
one peculiarity which especially fits it for the
employment il is designed for This battery is
made upon the Since principle, so far as the
adoption oi platiniZed silver and zinc for its
plates Is concerned; but il differs from every
form OF combination that has hitherto been in
use, an having the plates Of each cell so subdi-
vIded into subordinate portions that any one of
these may be taken away from the rest for the
purpose OF renewal or repair, without the action
of the rest of the excited surface of the cell
being suspended for single moment The bat
tery, In fact, may be entirely renewed n hun
Ldrod times without its operation being trou bled
: With even passing intermission. So long as a
air amount of attention is given to the renewal
OF Its zinc element, piecemeal. it is indeed Lit.
orally exhaustless and permanent. This very
desirable quality Is secured by a singularly
simple and ingenious contrivance. The cell
Itself Is formed of quadrangular trough of
gutta percha, woOd-strengthened outside in
which dilute acid Is contained, the proportion
ct acid to water being part in IL or l6 There
are grooves In the gutta percha, into which
several metal plates slide in a vertical position
These plates are silver and zinc alternately but
they are not pairs of plates IN an electrical
sense Each zinc plate rests firmly at the bot
tom, on long bar OF zinc which runs from end
To end OF the trough, and thus virtually unites
the whole into one continuous extent of zine
presenting not less than 2 900 square inches of
excItable surface to the excitable LIQUID Each
silver plate hangs in similar way from a me-
talIc bar, which runs from end to end of the
1vh rLoI1 e. A.
thus virtually united into one continuous
surface of equal extent to the face of the
: Iinc. The sinc does not reach so high as the
thapper longitudinal bar, and the silver does not
hsng down as low as the inferior longitudinal
hxr The battery is thus composed of single
PAR OF laminated plates, although to the eye
II seems to be made up of several pairs of
plates. Nature has set the example of ar
ranging extended surface into reduplicating
!, folds, when it is required that such surface
shall be packed away in a narrow space at the
same time that large acting area is preserved
IN the laminated antenne of the cock chafer
Ihe antennSe, indeed, are the types of the
WhitehOuse battery. If any one of these re-
duplicated segments of either kind of metal is
removed, the remaining portion continues its
action steadily, the effect merely being the
same that would be produced if a fragment of
an ordinary pair of plates were temporarily
cut away. The silver lamine are of consider
able thickness, and securely - piatinated" all
Over-that is, platinum is thrown down upon
their surfaces IN compact metallic FORM and
not merely in the black pulyeTulent state con-
sequently they are almost exempt from wear
Zach zinc lamins is Withdrawn as soon az its
amalgamatiOn Is injuriOusly affected or so soon
rs its own substance is mainly eaten away by
the action of the chemical menstruum in which
IL Is Immersed, and freshly amalgamated OF
new zinc lamina, is inserted into its plaes
The eaPability of the Pieee-meal renewal of the
eonsumPtive element of the battery in this in
terpolatory and tragmentary way is then the
cause Of its perpetual maintaining power.
The intensity OF ayOltac arrangement depends
upon the number of its pairs of plates or cells
IL, in the experiment, the intensity of the
electricity had been increased, without any
alteration of quantity, merely by multiplying
the number OF the cells engaged, or by some
analogous modification of Instrumental agency.
the body which resisted the current Of the bat
terry with such complete effect, would have
been flashed through and burnt up, like the
fragment of metal that had inferior powers of
resistance.
NEW DEVICE TO AVOID DESTRUCTION OF TIE
METAL.
The flashes of light and cracking sharks
produced on making and breaking contact with
the poles of this grand battery, are very un-
desirable phenomena in one particular They
are accompanied by a considerable waste of the
metal of the pole. Each spark is really a con-
ciuofdOto fragment oil the metal absorbed into
itself by the electrical agent so 10 speak |
and flown away with it. To avoid this dan
ger, an ingenious continuance of the EIectri- |
clan of the Company will be used. First he |
arranged a set Of twenty brass springs, some
thing OF the form and appearance of the keys
oil musical instrument, in opposite pairs, so
that a round horizontal bar, turning pivot-ways |
on its centre, and fattened at the top could |
lift by an edge either of the sets of ten springs
right or left, as it was turned This enabled |
the contact to be distributed through the entire
length Of the edge and breadth of the brass |
springs, and the course of the current to be re-
yersed accordingly as the right or left edge |
(the bar being worked by a crank -handIe) was |
raised TO the right or left set of springs-the |
right set, 1t will be understood. being the rep
reSentatives Of one pole Of the battery, and the
left set Of the other pole. By this arrangement
four-ffths OF the sparks were destroyed, simply
on account of the large surface of metal |
through which the electrical current had to pass
when contact was completed. Still there re-
mained enough to constitute a very undesira- |
Bile residue. This was disposed Of finally, after
sundry tentative attempts, by coiling a piece |
OF hne platinum wire and placing it in pOrce |
laih vessel OF water, and then leaving this fine
platinum coil in constant communication with
. hs opposite polls. The battery is unuuestion- |
ably one OF the most economical that has ever
7resn Set TO work. considering the amount of
serEice 1t IS able to perform. 1t is calculated
VIC SOeNVi tne ten-celeQ bat
7eery II operation at the terminal stations on
Isitber side of the Atlantic, including all wear
Z and tear, and consumption Of matersal, will
not exceed one shilling per hour.
l.. TRANSMISSION OF THE CURRENT.
The primary yoltaic current procured from
this battery, will be used 10 ''stimu ulate and
call up" the energies Of those heeter messen-
gers, electrical in nature, by the aid of which
alone can the message be expedited. The vol
tale current therefore passes to a silk covered
wire, In innHnerable coils, envelOping bar Of
soft IRON Immediately sheathed in gu tia percha
Several miles of this fine wire mo 2O) are
twined about this iron centre then comes an
other coat OF gutta-percha; then another coil
OF wire, thicker this time, NO l4) and l!
miles In length The yolaic current, passing
through the wires, and reaching the iron cere'
converts 1t into powerful magnet, exciting n
current OF electricity, which is delivered to the
No 20 coil, and thence to the cable whence Il
departs on Its transatlantic voyage. Eleetri-
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