, 1875-02-24

DTGSSlOu WIllCu IL oCOlII W nave lltQ vi
his mind, although recorded in somewhat
crude and homely language, is remarkable
as foreshadowing very closely indeed what
has come to pass since then. He says -
'sThe result seemed to be that that most
extraordinary fluid, or agency, electricity,
may actually be employed for a more prac-
tically useful purpose than the gratifca-
ton of the philosophers inquisitive re-
search, the schoolboy's idle amusement, or
the physicians tool that it may be COM
PEELED to travel as many hundred miles be-
meath our feet as the subterranean ghost
which nightly haunts our metropolis, our
provincial towns, and even our high roads
and that in such an enlightened country
and obscure climate as this its travels would
be productive of, at the least, as much
public and private benefit" Why" he
asks, " has no serious trial yet been made
ofthe qualifications of so diligent a courier?
And if he should be proved competent to
the task, why should not our Kings hold
councils at Brighton with their Ministers
in London7 Why should not our Govern
ment govern at Portsmouth almost as
promptly as in DoWning-strcet2 Why
should our defaulters escape by default OF
our foggy climate and, since our piteous
ianamo,ati are not all Alphei, why should
they add to the torments of absence those
dilatory tormentors, pens, ink, paper, and
posts? Let us have electrical c0nUe1sa2loRe
offices, communicating with each other
all over the kingdom, if we can" 1t would
hardly be possible at the present day to
describe more accurately the progress OF
Electric Telegraphy than in these charac-
t~eristic sentences Of Mr.. Ronalds. We
have " electrical conre,Sa2ione Offices " all
over the kingdom. The wires which prac-
tically connect BalmoraI, Windsor, and
Osborne with Downing-strce enable Her
Majesty to "hold councils with her Min
listers in London at any moment and the
extensive system Of Admiralty and War
Office teleeraphs enables the Government
to govern at Portsmouth, (and many
places besideS) Gas promptly as in Down
ing-strect." One of the very first acts Of
the very earliest telegraph was the cap
ture Of Tawell, the Quaker murderer aud
the curious ramitication of police telegra-
ply in London, if not an absolute prOtec-
ton against our "foggy climate" is at
lcdSG u IcIlOI u UHUoC VIII lIlSuu OtuCA~
wise elude e grasp of the law. AS for
our " piteous i2nomorati," it is perfectly
well known that they use the wires as
freely as most people, and that " love tolo-
grams" are gradually taking the place of
love letters"
But, besides foreshadowing many of the
uses Of the telegraph, Mr.. Ronalds has
placed on record in his homely treatise
many practical suggestions as to its con-
struction and maintenance which are ac-
tually being followed-uncorsciously
perhaps, for his is no text book of the sci
ence-at the present day. His back gar
den at Hammersmith appears to have been
the scene not only Of one of the earliest
aerial telegraphs, but also Of the first ex-
pertinent with an underground line. He
tells us that "a trench was dug in the
garden, 525 feet in length, and 4 feet deep.
In this was laid q trough of wood, 3 inch
es square, well lined inside and out
with pitch and within this trough thick
glass tubes were placed, through which the
wire ran. The trough was then covered
with pieces of wood, screwed upon it
while the pitch was hot they also, in
turn, were we'll covered with pitch, and
the earth then thrown into the trench
again." Mr.. Ronalds goes on to describe
his method of signalling through this eX-