Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-08-18
United States constructed under govern.

in the United States constructed under govern.
ment patronage. r
The Morse Electromagnetic Telegraph con.
sists mainly Of two parts-the receiving mag.
net and the registering apparatus The re.
ceiving magnet is surrounded by fine wire
and is Of the horseshoe form. An adjustable
armature is placed before the poles of the re.
ceiving magnet. The main circuit passes un-
broken through the receiving magnet to the
next station. :.
The registering apparatus has a powerful
horseshoe Eagnet placed vertically Above
the poles Of the magnet is an armature at.
tached to the end Of q movable lever ON the
other end Of which is steel style for the pur.
pose OF impressing marks on paper placed i'm
mediately above the style Intelligence is
transmitted by means of breaking and closing
the nam circuit: For this purpose q small
key Is employed. When this kew is pressed
down, the current passes to the receiving mag
net OF the distant station, causing the receiving
magnet to close the local circuit On the local
circuit being closed, the registering magnet be-
comes excited and attracts the armature down
ward, causing mark on the paper, placed
above the lever Of the armature. On the cir
cult being opened again by the operator 3
raising the key, all returns to its usual quies-
cent position. This operation is performed at
every closing and breaking of the circuit By
keeping the key depressed for an instant, dot
Is made; if it is depressed for q long time, a
line combination of dots and lines forms the
telegraphic alphabet used with this system
Ine speed OF this instrument is, in the haAds of
an expert, about thirty words per minute.
Professor Morse 9 instrument was for some
time the only instrument in use in this coun-
try, and Is now used to n greater extent than
all other telegraphs combined.
The House TELEGRAPH, the invention of
Royal e. House, differs materially from all
previously invented telegraphc instruments
printing messages in the ordinary Roman let,
ters
House obtained second patent in Decsm-
per, lo92 The House instrument is used to O
limited extent in this country. 1t is still less
used In England, where it is known as Jacob
Bretts Telegraph. This instrument is more
rapid than Morse's 5, printing accurately from
twenty-five to thirty words per minute.
The HUGHEs TELEGRAPH is the invention
of David L. Hughes, of kentucky, who OBJ
tanned patent in 1855 and in 1858 This,
like the House Telegraph, is a printing tele.
graph, but in principle ami in mechanism it is
totally unlike that instrument.
Ihe Hughes system OF telegraphing combines
not only all the advantages of all other exist
ing systems, but reduces the labor which eIec-
tricity has to perform to the lowest possible
point. In all other systems it requires several
| distinct electrical impulses to form a single
letter. In the House system, which is base
upon the number of waves sent, the average
number of impulses required to determine the
intended letter Is seven; in the Morse system,
which Is based upon the number and duration
OF the waves sent, the average is three and a
half To print letter every closing or break
ing of the circuit so that every electrical i'm
pulse should determine letter, has long been
a desideratum. more particularly since the
discovery that it requires appreciable time
to charge long wire with electricity; so that
on long circuits we should be obliged to send a
less number of electrical waves in given time
than one short circuit. On submerged cables
this and other effects are still more marked,
reducing the speed of transmission upwards of
two-thirds. If every wave, instead of every
three waves, produced letter, it is evident
enough that the speed of transmission through
the cable would be equal to that Of the air-lines
with the systems now in use, aud that the
speed of the air-lines would be increased two
thirds. The Hughes system uses but one elec-
trical impulse per letter, and by the use of a
new and exceedingly sensible magnet can work
on lines of far greater length, and with a rapid
ity exceeding that of any telegraph now in
existence.