New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-01-16
The Latest Miracle in Telegraphy.
A special from Milwaukee,, January 8, Il

The Latest Miracle in Telegraphy.
A special from Milwaukee, January 8, II
the Chicago Tribune, says:
Experiments in telegra ply of great inter
est and value we're to day made at the Offices
of the Western Union Telegraph Company
in this city, demonstrating publicly, for the
first time, that eight messages may be
transmitted simultaneously over & single
wire; and affording good grounds for be
lieving the number thai may be so trans
mitted is practically limited only by the
possibilities of sound. A public experiment
was made between Boston and New York
some months ago with tour wires, and was
a success. To-day's was the first public
demonstration with eight wires.
The experiments commenced at eleven
o'clock this morning. Mr.. Haskins, gen
eral superintenden here Of the Western
Union Telegraph Company, an electrician
of national fame, superintendent. Mr..
Elisha Gray, Of Chicago. discoverer OF the
system, and Mr.. Samuel White, Of Phils-
delphia, who is financially interested in the
experiments, were also present, together
with . large number of scientists. journal
lists, and wealthy citizens, including ladies.
For the purposes Of the trial two rooms
were used, one for transmitting and the
other for receiving. Eight operators occu-
pied each. The intention was to send eight
messages simultaneously over circuit of
two hundred milea, namely, fl n the trans
hitting room in Milwaukee,, by way of
Horizon, Portage and Wa:er,own, back to
the receiving-rUUm 10 Milwaukee.
Let US first look at the transmitting
room. Here the eight transmitting-opera-
tors we're seated at both sides of the large,
saare table, each with telegraphic instru-
ment-differing from the Morse instrument
in that. to the uninitiated eve. IL appeared
like two Morse instruments joined together
side by side-and a piece OF the Sentinel
newspaper before him.
The operators work the transmitting in
s.ruments as the Morse using the Morse
alphabet. the difference being that a must
cal tone ldashl. no. click dot, is trans
mitted as follows: Morse Instrument
click click, click. Tone instrument:
Short. Long.
Tha. is TO say, the rapid, sharp click
click. or dots. transmitted produce in the
act OF Transmission the short decisive
sounds Of short dashes received, and the
prolonged click transmitted the long
well-matured sounds. or long dashes re-
ceived; and so forth. The Morse operator,
the instrument that effects the change, and
a marvellous change !. is. Each instrument
is provided with tuner. which catches the
click tdo.) transmitted, and transforms it
into distinct musical tone tdash). The FIRST
discovery of Mr.. Gray was that musical
notes could be transmitted by wire and
rendered distinctly at the receiving end;
his next discovery, that more than one tone
could be cent at one time. To determine
the mum bef of tones that might be SO sent
was one Of the main objects of these exper-
Pi21 M M CT roS G.d
that tour could be simultaneously trans
mitted. The Milwaukee trial was designed
TO double the number.
To digress still further, and TO render the
whole matter as plain as possible, l may in
.roduce at this place Nr. Gray's language
IN describing the discovery: One of the
earliest discoveries in connection with these
experiment was the fact that Dot only Sim
Pile buo composite tones couli be sent
through the wire and received, either on the
metal plate or on the magnet. Not only
could a simple melody be transmitted, but
a harmony or melody could DE equally well.
from that time lave worked assiduously
With the view Of making a rapid Geographic
system embodying this discovery. The first
step was to analyz re the tones at the receiv
ng end. which, il successfully accomplish
ID. would open the way to multiple Morse,
A fast printing, an photographic, and other
systems.
Il would be impossible to give in this
paper all the experiments tried, for they
were very many indeed. l accomplished
the analysis in a number OF ways. The
of the anal yer ia very simple.
1t consists of an electro magnet adapted to
The resistance Of the circuit where 1t is in
teuded to be used. and OF a steel ribbon
strung in front OF this magnet in solid
metal frame, provided with a turning
screw at one end, go as TO readily give it the
proper tension. the length and size
Of the ribbon depends upon the note
we wish to receive upon it. II it is a
high note, we make it thinner and shorter;
il low EOte, we make it thicker and
longer If this ribbon is tuned so that it
will give certain note when made to
vibrate mechanically, and the note which
to its fundamental ia then
transmitted through its magnet, it will re-
spond and vibrate in unison with its trans
nitted note: but if another note be sent
which varies at all from its fundamental, it
win not respond. Ii composite tone is
sent, the ribbon will respond when it's own
note is being sent as part of the composite
tone, but as soon as its own tone is left out
it will Immediately stop. Thus l an able to
select out and indicate when any note is
being sent, in fact, to analyze the tones
This method Of Analysing tones trans
mi,ted through wire electrically is anala-
gous to HelmhOltz' method of separating
tones transmitted through the air.
The circuit being successfully completed,
and the operator in the receiving room all
ready. Mr.. Haskins gave the word, and the
experiment began by the transmission of
eight separate messages. To follow and
the development of the expert
ment, we must trot across to the receiving
room. Here, at little round table, on
which stood what resembled two large
black spools upright, connected by wires,
placed upon pine box with open ends, say
six inches wide by eighteen Tonga sort of
SOU are sounding funnel. The room was
filed with q hummlng, buzzing sound.
Every operator was busily writing, the bent
head bringing the LETT ear to the near end
Of the funnel, whence issued the sounds,
long, short, and medium, called dashes,
that stand equivalent to the dots or clicks
Of the old system.
Now we shall begin to understand the Oh
ject of the transmission of tones. Every
instrument is numbered-NO. to No. 8 in
same as telegraph stations,
and receives its messages, or dashee, in a
lone different to its neighbOrs. This is the
[Ong-hidden secret; different waves of sound
may be transmitted simultane Ously on q
single wire, but the tone of each separate
wave of sound must differ. Every trans
hitting machine, therefore, has it's distinct
particular tone, attuned perfectly by q
tuner, and the message it transmits will
travel - long Is there ls any wire to travel
On till it finds receiving instrument, or
'analyzer," of exactly the same tone. In
that analyzer it delivers its message.
It seems to make no difference how many
are sent ct the same time, 20 long
~ the wire 10 big enough to carry the
sound. the number being limited apparent