The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1877-11-07
ABOUT lTELEGRAPHING.
Employees and their, Wases-The Baftcrfe
... Gable NIessaRes-A Curious Feature
Ocean TeleRrnphy, ..,..ggs...-.. ...

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Gable 1Iessascs-A Curious Feature Of
Ocean TeleErnphy. .lr.sj@"Gy
The New York correspondent OF the
Troy Times writes: One OF the most
interesting places in this city Is the tel
eeraph building, corner of Broadway
and Dey street. Formerly this spot was
occupied by the Franklin House, q very
popular inn. From Franklin's connec-
ton with electricity, it seems proper that
the telegraph bnilding should be its sue
cessor. As o specimen Of grand COM
merciaI architecture, this structure has
no superior, and the fact that its cost
was 81, 600, 900 shows how much can be
laid out on space not exceeding % by
$50 feet. The telegraphic operations
carried on in this establishment are OF
an extent that would perplex an ordinary
observer. It may, however, be suggest
ed by the fact that the services OF 80
capable employees are required beside
operators The room occupied by the
latter is of vast size, and is on the sixth
floor. Here 265 skillfu persons watch
the clicking of the machines, A large
portion, of this force is composed OF
young women. !, The best operators re-
ceive $115 per month, and work entirely
by ear. There is a great surplus OF
talent in this" establishment, and many
Intellectual applications for employment
are made daily. .as !, y,,,V y cG... .r.,,,,
The, contrast between tho cheap ma
terials and the immense results in tele-
graphy is very striking. The power is
obtained simply from sulphate OF cop
per (blue vitriol), water and zinc. In the
battery room there are IA, ,00O cups in
use, each containing the necessary ele-
ments. The heaviest battery contains
$50 cups Tor cells), and is used solely for
Chicago dispatches. They cons .rne 20
barrels Of blue viEiol every month, and
5000 pounds Of zinc. On, one Of the
upper floors restaurant is in operations
where the employees have a frst.class
dinnerat reasonable price. They pur.
chase, tickets in advance, and these tick
cts are currency for dishes, which are
supplied on the European plan. This
system is becoming very general IN all
large, establishments. 9. During the hot
weather ton Of ice is consumed in this
establishment daily, nearly fifty water
coolers being in use. -,t"aN
-IThe cable battery contains q dozen
cells, T heed hardly say that the method
used in cable. practice, differs from OF.
dinary telegraphy., The term applied to
this method is !ttinduction." I have not
space for it's explanation, but one OF. it's
features is the reflection Of the needle.
The cheapest message on the eable is
seyenty-ffvee cents, and is limited to one
word. Some Of our readers may think
that one word can be Of little use, but Il
properly handled itjmay convey as much
information as an ordinary sentence.
This can be done by the method called
"packing. a Let us suppose that 9 New
York banking house arranges with its
London correspondent Q vocabulary OF
words, each of which has specific mean
ing. It The London house may telegraph
fofe instance, the word "thunder," and
the New Yorkers, by reference to their
book, will find the meaning OF "thun-
der" to be & the Bank Of, England has
advanced it's rate of interest to three per
cent. h Ali this, ,H hich lat long rate
would cost 1915, is obtained for q mere!
trife, and the system certainly shows
great ingenuity. The cable cyphers, as
these are called, are numerous and are
in charge OF q very expert operator. The
difference in time between New York
and London is curious feature in ocean
telegraphy. The London banker is In
the full swell Of traffic when the New
York agent is first thinking of '"getting
up."" At noon the London markets are
cabled to this city, where they arrive
at seven o'clock in the morning OF the
same day. The London agent OF the
New York press telegraphs the most i'm
uorta1it news issued in the London
Times at six o'clock in the morning. It
reaches here at one O'Clock the same
just in time to be inserted IN
the New York journals, whose readers
have the same matter that the Londoner
dipests With his breakfast. This is do
ine little better than even taking time
by the forelock." It is getting ahead
Of him in q prodigious manner.