North Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1867-current, 1869-03-17
A Telegraphic Exueriment.

The particulars Of an interesting tcle>
graphic experiment are given by the
Buffalo Courier as follows:
''For the purpose Of arriving at the diff
ference in mean time between San Fran
cisco and Boston, the wires of the Western
Union Telegraph Company have nightly
been connected for nearly month past
| from one side of the continent to the other:
! and the ticking of a chronomcter in Cam
bridge University has been observed and
recorded in San Francisco with most re-
markable degree of accuracy. This is zone
by connecting the pendulum of the chro-
nometcr at Cambridge with the wire in
such a manner that the main circuit is
broken, and instantly closed again at every
beat or tick Of the time piece.
SAT any time during the evening Of the
Fast month, a visitor to the operating
rooms of the Western Union Telegraph
Office in this city might have heard one of
the little instruments beating the mea-
sured time of the sixtieth part Of a minute,
with the monotony and regularity of a
thermometer itself Tick! tick tick
One, two, three, four, five minutes elapse,
and then the little monitor ceases. Back
Games the answer from San Francisco to
Boston: 'All right; your second signals
came good, and have been recorded for
| five minutes, Go ahead for five minutes
more Again, tick |! tick tick for five
| minutes, and then San Francisco says
again: 'All right. Are you ready to
take my s;gnals?' and the answer from
Boston is: Yes; go aheadr Tick tick
tick! says San Francisco for the allotted
five minutes, and Boston says, in his turn
'All rightr
"But Notwithstanding the speed with
which these pulsations of clock fly from
one side of our continent to the other, it
is knowa there is loss of time in the
transmission. How to arrive Mt this loss
and measure it is the next question. Moth
ing easier; second wire is switched into
place, repeater added at Boston, and
presto It's done. Now the clock ticks
made at San Francisco rush on the wings
Of light over the three thousand miles Of
wire to Boston, and back again over the
second wire, and record themselves at the
point of starting, in something less than
sixty seconds of time, having, in the in
terval, traversed six thousand miles. Last
night February 2SG witnessed the success
full completion of this last experiment,
and the flight Of electricity was actually
measured, so to speak, as easily~as one
measures yard Of muslin.
"Ncver before in the worlds history has
such a woderful feat been attempted; and
that this has been brought to Il successful
conclusion, is due entirely to the beautiful
working of the Western Union Company IS
wires, together with the assiduous atten-
ton and superior ability of its employees.
Trace the route on the map, and make the
immense distances so lightly glded over
| by the subtle fluid.
"Thc route is from Boston, through AL.
bany, Buffalo,, Detroit, Chicago, omaha,
Cheyenne, Salt Lake city and Virginia
city to San Francisco; and this route is,
of course, doubled, forming, for all practi-
cal purpose. but a single circuit. The
| places in italics indicate where repcaters
are used to form the double circuit