, 1872-12-05
POSTAL TELEGRAPH.
Talk with the Hon. VIM. S. 0rt0n.
President Of the Western
Union Company.
Te)egraphy Over the Globe'--Our Ameri.
can Companies--.lnteresting
Details.

Details.
From Our O1c1 Correspondent.
WASHINGTON, Nov. @, 1872.
The reelection Of General Grant, and the con-
ddent air with which Postmaster General Cres-
well comes to the front to broach again his
scheme Of te1egraphy, induced me, T. few days
past, to hail the Hon. ". S. Orton in the street,
and ask the favor Of an hours interview with
him On the subject.
r. S. ORION.
Established at the Arlington Hotel, in WASH
ington, Mr. Orton obliged me- with communities
tive mood for much of an nfternoon.f
This gentleman is the President Of the great
est Magnetic Company in the world: the Vest
ern Union Of the United States. This Company
was assuming such magnitude and growth in
1865 that its Directors were troubled to dis
cover person equal to the opportunities it
would give for faithfulness and distinction, and
who might become it's executive officer, grasp
dts spreading necessities, and become its
magistrate.
They had observed that 11r. Orton, native of
Western New York, WIS = fresh and efficient
head OF q new and great department in the
and they invited him to take the Presidency Of
the Western Union Company. He did SO, after
consideration; and the character and extent Of
that Company as it now exists, and the position
:ot it's President toward the project of Govern
ment telegraphy, may be found from his answers
to my questions, and in his own original remarks
and comments.
Imay add that Hi. Orton is, in some respects
= Mr. Boutwell, illuminated, the same general
complexion and type of face raised upon better
stature, lighted with q larger and brighter eye,
and altogether more animated and interesting.
THE CONVERSATION.
"Mr. Orton, will you please tell me how much
4nagnetic wire exists now in the Republic?" ?"
Mr. Orion" About 165, 900 miles, Of which
the Western Union Company will control, Jan. /,
1873, 140, 600 miles,
Please tell me the names OF all the COM
panies operating this extent Of wire"
Mr. Orton-'' First, the Western Union Com
pany. Second, the Pacific d Atlantic, Of which
George q. Thurston, Of Pittsburgh, is President,
and which is the ablest and most used OF al the
Others. It's wires stretch from New York to St.
Paul By Chicago and to New Orleans BY St.
Louis and Memphis. Third, the Atlantic d
Pacific, Of which John Duff is President, and
which is controlled by the managing men of the
Union Pacific Railroad, and hooks On to the
telegraph of that road at Omaha. Fourth, the
Southern d Atlantic, which reaches from Washing
tonic Montgomery, coastwise. Fifth, the Frank
lin, between Boston and Washington, presided
over BY Mr. Brown, a Boston merchant. Sixth,
the Great Western, with headquarters in Chi
cago. And, seventh and last, the Reading L.
Pottsville Telegraph Company, which connects
the coal mines and mining towns, aud is owned
By that aggressive corporation, the Philadelphia
4 Reading Railroad"
"The old Overland Telegraph poles have been
abandcned7 2"
Mr. Orton-"Yes, after the Pacific Railway
Was completed, the Messrs Wells l. Fargo re-
moved their line Of Offices from the old mail road
agency for the repair and care Of the wires, the
latter also took up the new route"
"Had the first overland ine yindcated itself
in public use and profits when it Was removed 2''
ar. Orton-" think so, in both respects, as
it Was in existence and use between 1862 and
1863"
"Can you state any facts Of pro1imate impor-
tsnce as to the ocean cables connecting us With
MIR. Orton-"The Western Union Company
has an arrangement with the united cables,
which, I think, establishes their efficacy BY
guaranteeing q network Of shore-communication
with them, which has never yet been wholly
French and the English, (which pool their
receipts, and the English Company has two
working cables; fourth cable will be laid next
summer from England direct to Halifax,
The present cables land at Newfoundland and
st. Pierre, and are thence connected with the
main land by cable to Duxbury and to Nova
Scotia. Nova Scotia and Newfoundland are
again connected, while the Newfoundland Te1e-
graph Company is an exclusive concession-th9
only one Of its kind ever made by Great Britain
for fifty years, covering the coasts Of New
foundland and Labrador, and with it the West
ern Union Company also keeps connection, 80
that, while one, and even two, cables ara often
out Of order 5. time, silence has not yet wholly
prevailed At any time"
t' Are telegraphs and cables operated at gain
or -! los5: o.I speaking r. as to broad areas7"
except in the United States, IRE now operated at
loss saving only submarine cables, nearly all
OF which are pnvate property"
Are cables favorite forms Of investment with
fnoneyed men?"
United States, very little money has ever been
raised for the purpose. It yet remains to be
seen how long cable after submergement will
stand graphing without rupture, to know what
to save the investors. Cable profits are, there
fore, only apparent profits at present"
Is it not possible that the English business
capitalst-who is also the English statesman at
the present day-may design BY this great cable
system, OF which England is the centre, to keep
English influence, commerce, and capital para,
the globe ?"
Mr. o1ton-"T That might be; but the time
seems to me to be near at hand when coal and
OF American export, will turn the balance and
settle that CONTROVERSY against England. There
is singular mingllng Of prejudice and faulty
in the head Of the Intelligent Fnglishman to
make him blind to the subject, but it seems very
clear to me-"
(Which american cities lead in patronizing
the telegraph2"
Mr. 0rton-"New York stands alone in tha
first rank Boston and Chicago only are in the
second rank, md nearly even. Phi1adelphia and
San Francisco may be grouped together in the
third rank. And in the fourth rank come, nearly
equal to each other, Baltimore, Washington,
New Orleans, st. Louis, and Cincinnati"
g How many people does the Western Union
Company employ, and where is it's most distant
operator :"
AIr. Orton-" We employ Of all classes about
5000 persons and, since the abandonment OF
Cape Race Station, suppose o9s most lonely
operator may be in British Columbia"
g Is the telegraph Of equal necessity night
and day according to your experienced"
Mr. Orton-'' The circuits of the Atlantic
cables, owing to the difference in time, must be
always manned, night and day. There is no