The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-06-30
oCEAN rELEGRAPHT.
How tho Atlantic ossie Is Worked.

We fud the following interesting ACCOUNT VI
the working Of the Atlantic cable in recent
lecture by the Hon. William J. McAlpne, on
the subject OF "Modern Engineering :" (
Telegrsphy may. with propriety. be consld:
erred one OF the branches OF engineering, ana
is peculisrly Of modern development. cLevsr
Iritefieays that itmsy be tresdiby each Of the
fiye Senses On 1and lines each siEnaf fsmade
by susoerdiIg IfhsIh dow Of the electric current
and dashes"Lthe use Of which, in different or
ders consitu.e es the alphabet Of the telegraph.
when these arc printed they are read by
sisieht but ordinarily, the operator reads them
by isound" as easily as musician reads tne
letters OF the scale by the same SENSE. Ii the
operator has uoinstrument. he will grasp the
Wlre no his hand and read the sigosls BY feel
inen the intern esions OF the flow OF the eiec.
trio current. In like manner, BY placing the
w,re across his tongue he can "tAste" the sama
intermisuon, but this is dangerous expert
mept. And 1t is said that the electricity can
be made to dissolve chemical and produce Q
pungent odofia the telsgraph,c alphabet 1hicn
can be read by ''suaelhng, but foS thus DO not
youch. I believe that the method OF signaling
through the Atlantic cable is known in detail
to but few persons. The operation is exactly
reversed from that o6 the lsud wires. % /,
The -gutta-percha covering. OF the copper
Wires. ,tndar the pressure Of great depth OF
water, becomes an absorbent OF the electricity
which Is beng set through them to the extent
OF 80 per cent. The hfst portion OF the electrlc
wave OF 10 per cent? CROSSES tho ocean tl7V,
mn es) in two secon g, and 1t would be followed
BY succession or 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 only confusion. but great de-
Law. To remedy this Professor Varlay intro
all ~
positive and negShyd at such intervals as
allow the first wave OF 10 per cent. to pass tor
ward, and then that tpott,on iapsorbed by the
covering is ueutralized by It's opposite and the
cable is cleared for the trausmisson Of second
| pair OF curapts.o The battery used, ls very
small one, {thres or Daniels cups.l and the
signal beng to par oant ot khissmall current,
is powerless to move any OF the other instru
ments in nse on land. The instrument used
consists OF q minute polsrized needle, suspend
ed on single strand OF q spiders web. or one
from the silkworm, In. the middle OF this
minute needle is placed an almost MICROSCOPIC
.muror, which reflects slngle ray OF Liz ut rom
powerful lamp.
| The currents Of electricity affect this needle
alternstely voithe right and lef5 for space OF
bme corresponding 10 that occupied in the sig
nal OF the land.lIne, the same kind OF alphaDet
being used IN poth cases. The receiver (noi
operator) sits in dirk room. and the slnal
mirror rejects the ray OF light upon piece oi
white paper before him, on which black line
ia drawn, to the right and LETT OF which the
hsnt is alternately reflected. Tue receiver
reads these signals by ''sght and transmits
them into another person, placed outside ol
the dirk room. by means OF an Ordinary To-
strumeut. A short time since, General Rev.
nods told me that be had sent message,
without either WIRE or cable, ninety-two miles
across an arm Vt Like Superior. by means ol
the helio,rope or mirror, and on tho return ol
this messenger, VINO had been sent with
written copv, be found that the helotrope mes
sage had been received, understood and obsyed
he had two assistants, who had been tele'
graphic operators who had for whole SUM
mer been amasing themselves IN talking 70
each other with these instruments, though
they were stationed ten. twenty, or thirty
| miles apart. When the rebel General Morgan
made bis great rad through Indiana sno
Ohio he captured ono OF my operators, and
compelled him to telegraph, in General Lew
Waljace's name to Cincinnati. asking how
many regular troops ware IN that city. Morgan
read By s'sound" and therefore the opera OF
did not dare to intimate that he was under
duress, aud oou d only venture to add an extra
initial to his OWL signature. The Receiving
operator at CINCINNATI knew that Morgan vas
in that neigaborhood. and suspecsing from
he ezra initial letter that all was NOT rig IT.
replied greatly exsg .e'ating the force OF regu-
lars aud the consequence was tnat morgan
changed his route to Gronit OF twenty miles
beyond the city, an thus saved it nom sack,
and the probable loss OF millions Of dollars.