The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1875-07-16
WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY.
Mr.. EdisOn-s Remarkable Discoveries
Four Messages Transmitted Simlul-
~taneOusIy Over Il Single Wire.
MISSOURI.
From the New York SUM-

himself II the invention OF Geographic
systems and instruments. Last year he
perfected what Is known as the American
automatic system. which is III use on the
lines of the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph
Company. This system is based upon his
discovery that the rapidity with which
electric waves can be transmitted over
Geographic circuits is practically infinite,
and that kilograms can be transmitted IL
great speed if suitable apparatus can be
devised 10 transmit. record, and overcome
certain interfering phenomena which arose
70 reduce the rapidity.
On the wire between New York and
Washington. $3.50 words have been trans
mitted and legibly recorded in one min
ute. The .vcrage word consists of five
letters, and each letter of four waves.
making II necessary 10 transmit sixty
three thousand waves in a minute, or Il
little over enc Thousand waves a second.
The message to be transmitted is on a
long strip of thin paper, about half an
inch wide. IN the enter Of which. and
running from end to end, are groups of
holes. 4 large hole serves to transmit 4
long wave. or dash. and a small hole
transmits ii dot. This strip is prepared
with great rapidity by an operator seated
before & machine having a keyboard like
that OF Il piano. After she paper is pre-
pared it i taken 20 a machine connected
with the wire. This machine is a simple
metallic Hanged wheel. turned bva crank,
upon which N" paper rolls. &nG is carried
forward aS the wheel reyOlrcS. This
metallic drum is connected with the bat
terry. Resting upon the paper in line
with the row of holes is a lever, with a
smaller roller at its end. This lever is
connected with the telegraph wire. If the
paper is passed rapidly through this ma
chine, the Intervention of the paper pre-
vents the little roller from coming in ~
tact with the drum underneath (paper be
ing an insulator of electricity, bat the
moment a hole passes, the small roller
comes in contact with the drum, and con-
meets the battery with the line for a
period of time propOrtiOnate to the size of
the hole. With this arrangement almost
any speed OF transmission is mechanically
practicable.
RECORDING 1000 TIMES \ SECOND.
The most curious part is the method of
recording the message at the distant sta
ton. A metallic drum driven by crank
motion similar. to that in the transmitting
machine. carries 4 continuous strip of pa
per moistened with 4 solution of Ferri
cyanide Of potassium. The drum is con-
nected with the earth, and a small piece of
iron wire connected with the telegraph
line rests on the moistencd paper. When
a wave of electricity comes over the line
it goes down the small iron wire resting
on the prepared paper. and then through
the paper to The wheel underneath and to
the earth; the current resolves the water
into its primary c!cmentS-OXygen and
hydrogen and the oxygen (Which is in a
peculiar state called naScent) instantly at
tacks the iron point, forming oxide of iron.
This oxide instantly combines with the
Ferri cyanide of potassium and forms
Prussian blue-thc basis Of many writing
inks. IF the wave is short a small blue
dot is formed, if long a long mark or dash
is made. and the combination of the dots
and dashes forms the letters of the Morse
alphabet. The point Of an iron wire is
thus ruSted and cleaned, and a new and
cOl0red compound formed 1000 times in a
second by Il force 300 miles away.
The system for long time received lit
tie encouragement from the telegraph
managers. Gen. I. L. Exert, formerly
superintendent of The Western Union Tel
egraph Company. was the first prominent
teiegrapher who saw hat it was 10 be the
telegraph OF the future.
Mr.. Ed. on has been engaged for everal
years in e~ndeavOring to increase the speed
of Morse transmission by methods radical
ly different in principle from those of the
automatic, and has accomplished prac-
ticaIly what was for a long time considered
impossible. More thai twenty years ago
Gintl, a German electrician, devised a pl II
for transmitting W messages over a sin
gle wire in opposite directions at the same
time, and others since that time have tried
the same thing, but no success was at
tanned until Edison in 1865 and Stearns in
1869 brought out their systems. MIR
Stearns's system was purchased by the
Western Union Telegraph Company in
1872, and was at once put in use on their
lines, proving of immense value by
doubling the carrying capacity of all the
main circuits.
4 WONDERFUL DISCOVERY.
Mr. Edi>on's crOwning discovery was
bringing to light the fact that by a peculiar
manipulation of the electric currents four
messages can be transmitted over a single