Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1858-09-15
From the Cleveland Leader.
The Atlantic Telegraph.

4 -
There is a strange silence at this end o
the line relative 10 the working Of the tel.
egraph aud almost all we know Of lis ca.
pacity and the success attending lie opera
tions is derived from the English Journals
We were not permitted to know how long
time it required to transmit. the mes.
sages Of the Queen and the President, uu.
I'll the steamer arrived from Liverpool. In
fact, all the Information we have in regard
to it, except the two or three messages
which have been made public, is derived
from the English papers.
The London Times on the flst announ.
css the reception on the day previous Of
the message containing the news Of The
collision between the Arabia and Europa.
This message contained twenty -one words,
and at 5 O'Clock the same evening further
particulars we're asked for. A reply was
returned to this enquiry at half past seven,
two and . half hours afterwards, giving
the additional information in sixty words.
"A Paris letter says that project for
an electric telegraph to connect Europe
With China was 10 course Of preparation 10
that city, and would be presented 10 the
Emperor on his return to Paris.
The London Morning Post gives the
following interesting account ofths work
ing Of the telegraph.
The slowness Of the signals through the
Atlantic telegraph cable does not depend
on the retsrdation of the electricity 10 pas
sing through toe length Of the wire II
the wire we're suspended 10 the air there
would be no difficulty in transmitting IS
rapidly as the instruments could be wor>
ked; but when the wire is covered with
gutta perchs, and immersed 10 water, II re-
tains the electricity, and the charge oucs
communicated to the wire requires time
for its discharge. The first signal made )
transmitted almost iastaDtaneously through
the conducting wirs to the instrument at
the other end; but the wire does not readi.
ly part with the charge, aud the electricity
it retains prevents the effect Of . second
signal from being perceived on, the dis
tant instrument. This peculiar effect be-
gins TO be perceived in an immersed wire
at a distance Of so miles, and increases in.
force as :he distance increased 20 that, ct
200 miles, communication by Morse's tel.
egraph would be impracticable, unless
means were adopted to counteract the de-
tanning influence Of the external cOnduc-
tor. When the telegraph to The Hague
was laid down, the difficulty Of transmits.
sion through q submerged wire became
for the first time observed, and the Morse
instrument then employed would not act
in consequence. But the difficulty was
shortly overcome by discharging the wire
sfter each signal, which was done by send
ing an electrical current in the reverse di-
rectioc. With the needle telegraph the
effect had been scarcely perceived, for in
the ordinary working Of that instrument
in which the electricity operates always ia
the same direction, a special arrangement
for reversing the current becomes essen.
TALLY necessary. How far that arrange
ment only viii suffice to clearthe wire has
not yet been determined, but it seems evil
dent that il il insufficient for the Atlantic
cable.
If the difficulty that has arisen we're
owing to the retardation of the electric
current, there would be little hope Of its
being overcome, for the natural velocity of
electricity could not be increased; but
when it is known that the slowness with
which one signal follows another is attrib-
uted to peculiar condition of the wire,
which has been efectually neutralized BY
special arrangements for a distance Of Two
or three hundred miles, It may BE- reason
ably expected that other contriVsnces may
be adopted that will overcome the difficult
ty even across the Atlantic.