Carson daily appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1873-1877, 1874-02-01
AUTOMATIC TELEGRAPaY.

In the pending controversy between
the friends of the Postal Telegraph pro-
lect and the Western Union Telegraph
Company, the advantage of being in
intimate relationship with the workings
os the bigge.t telegraph system in the
world has all along been upon the side
of the monopolists. But the other side
the peoples s;de-is picking up van
tase point here and there; and as offer
ing one very important argument in
favor of Il system which has been de
.ided by the Western Union people, we
reproduce the following interesting state
ment from the editorial columns of the
san Francisco Post:
In his recent report, advocating IA
Postal telegraph, Postmaster General
Creswell aliudes to the automatic sys-
TEN as u great Improvement. which will
largely reduce the cost of telesraphinc
In his argument for the continuance of
the private monopoly. Mr. Orton, the
President of the Western Union Tele-
graph Company, denied that the auto
matte system was a success, and declar-
ed Ii to De slower and more expensive
than the present mode. The Autonlat-
&c Company. which has already put mp
wires between Washington aud New
York, challenged the Western Union
Company to !! test. and last night the
test was made. The Presidents mes
sage. with the Spanish protocol attached,
document of over Il,O0t words, was
sent at the same time by both compa-
MES. III the presence of a number of
spectators. The Western Union Com
pany used eight wires, with one skiilful
operator at each end. sending the mes
sage in eight pieces at the same time
The Automatic Company used only one
wire and with this one wire beat the
eight wires of the Western Union one
minute.
The principle of the automatic sys-
tenn is very simple. Telesraphic signals
are made by opening and shutting IN
electric current; and the limit OF speed
under the old system is the ability of
the human hand to make the motions
which. send the electric current at one
end of the line, and of the human ear to
distinguish the signals at the oth.r end
liz automatic telegraphy the messages
characters upon thin strips of foil. and
these being passed under the instrument |
the proper signals are made with rap |
idity, as this test shows, move than eight |
times as great as the human hand is ca
pablo Of making them, and are iottcd /
down upon roll OF paper at the other |
end of the line with the same rapitlitv /
In the test made last I.isht. ten prrfora-
tors We're employed TO write the message
IN Morse characters upon slips, for the
instrument IL Washington. and thirteen
copy SIS TO write 1t out as it was received
n New York. There were TWENTY-FIVE
persons employed il 4 e transmission w
the automatic, against sixteen EN- rluyei
i'y the Western [ mon: but as q mach
higher degree of skill Is required from
the Norsc operators than from the per-
forstoTs and copyists of the automatic,
the cost of labor by the automatic plan
IS really less. But the great advantage
is IN the increase of capacity which the
automatic system gives to the wires. II
there had been a great pressure of bust
ness, orif a storm had Frustrated all but
Dne of the Western Union wires, the au-
tomato company would have had the
dispatch complete seven hours before it
,ouid have been sent by the Western (
Union II
In the enormous increase of business. | ,
which the cheap rates of the postal tele-
,raph will bring, this invention will play
IN important part, enabling one wire to
10 upon occasion the work, which, un- ,
Ter the present system, will tax the ca
,icity of eight