The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1869-09-09
OCEAN TELEGRAPHING.
Telegraphing Ninety-twO Miles on Lake Superior
Without Wires.

from recent lecture by Hon. VIM J.
McAlpine, @. e., on the subject of Ancient
and Modern Engineering
TELEGRAPHY.
IA Telegraphy may, with propriety, bel
considered one of the branches of engin-
eering, and is peculiarly of modern devel |
opment. A clever writer says that it
may b. read by each of the seven senses.
On land lines each signal is made by sus
pending thefow ofthe electric current for
two different intervals of times, called
"d5ts and dashes' use of which, in
different orders, constitutes the alphabet
of The telegraph. When these are print
ed, they read by sight" but ordinarily
the operator reads them by" sound as
easily as tlle musician reads the letters OF
the scale by the same sense. If the opeT-
ator has no instrument, he will grasp the
wire in his hands, and read the signals by
feeling" the intermission of the flow of
the electric current. n In like manner, by
placing the'wire across his tongue, he can
"taste" the same intermission (but this is
dangerous experiment.. And 1T is. said
that the electricity can be made to dis
solve chemical and produce pungent
odor in the telegraphic alphabet, which
can be read by smelling" but for this /
90 not vouch. believe that the method
of designating through the Atlantic Cable
is known in detail to but few. persons.
The operation is exactly reversed from
that on the land lines. The guttav percha
.coveringg Of the the copper wires, under
the pressure of a great depth of water, be-
comes on absorbent of the electricity
which is sent through them to the extent
of 80 per cent The first portion of the
electric wave of 10 per cent crosses the
ocean (1,700 miles in two seconds, and it
will be followed by succession of waves
from the restoration of that portion of
the electricity which has been absorbed
by the gutta percha in impulses, and the
signal would be repeated like echoes, and
produce not onlyeconfusien, but great de-
lay. To remedy this, Professor Varley1
introduced Key (which sends alternate
currents, positive and negative, at such
intervals as allow the first wave of 10 per
cent to pass forward, and then, that por-
ton absorbed by the covering is neutral
lied by its opposite, and the cable is clear
Tor the transmission of second pair Of
currents The battery used is very
small one (three of Daniels cups and the
signal being only 10 per cent. Of this
small current, is powerless to move any of
the other instruments in use on land.
The instrument consists of minute polar
lied needle, suspended on single strain
of spiders web or one from the silk
Worm, In the middle of the minute
needle. is placed an almost microscopic
mirror, which reflects a single ray of
light from powerful lamp. The cur
rents of electricity affect this needle alter
nately to the right and to the left for a
space Of time corresp ending to that occu
pied in the signal on the land line, the
same kind of alphabet being used in both
cases. The receiver (not operator) sits in
dark room, and the small mirror reflects
the ray of lightupon a piece of paper be-
fore him, on which black line is drawn
to right and left of which the light is al
. ternately reflected. The receiver reads
these signals by sight, and transmits
to another person, placed outside the
dark room, by means of an ordinary instru
ment. f.deTrs ra ,sfeJ aJrF
A short time since General Reynolds
told me that he sent message, without
either wire or cable, ninety-two miles
across an arm of Lake Superior, bymeans
of the Heliotrope or mirror, and on the
return Of the messenger (who had been
sent with the written copy hefcund that
the Heliotrope message had been received
understood and obeyed. He had two
assistants, who had been telegraph opera
tors who lad for whole summer been
amusing themselyesin talking to each
other with these Instruments, though they
were stationed ten, twenty, or thirty miles
apart. When the rebel General Morgan
made his great raid through Indiana and
Ohio, he captured one of my operator S,
and compelled him to telegraph, in Gene.
raj Lew. Wallace's name,to CINCINNATI ask