Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1879-01-15
AUTOGRAPHIC .TELEGRAPHY.
A New Apparatus for Sending Messages
i'm the Handwriting of the Writer,

A New Apparatus for Sending Messages
i'm the Handwriting Of the Writer.
lhat a,o1 h London Times LAX
Autographs biography, or the pro-
cess Of transmitting messages in the &C
tual handwriting Of the sender, has oc-
casionally, during the past thirty years,
constituted the social study of scientific
minds. So long since as 1850, Mr.. T.
Z. BLACKWELL invented q, copying tele-
graph, by means Of which autOgraphic
telegraphy was effected. and this was
| probably the first time itlWas effectually
accomplished. In this instance the
message was written by the sender with
a gummy ink Or varnish on metallic
paper Or tin-foil, and this writing was,
by the aid of mechanism, used to actu-
ate electric currents in such a way as
to produce record at the distant sta
ton by the chemical decomposition of
a solution with which the receiving pa
per was damped. Both the written
message and the paper were fixed
around cylinders Of similar form and
dimensions, one being placed in the
transmitting and the other in the re-
cordlng instrument, and the cylinders
were caused to revOlve with CORES
ponding velocities. Each time the
gummy and, consequently, raised lines
of the writing were crossed by a pointer
under which the metallic paper was
| traversed in the transmitter, a mark
corresponding in position was made on
the prepared paper at the receiving
| end. 1t therefore followed that the
sum of all the marks reproduced the
writing In white ON blue ground, but
the process failed to become one of pub
lie utility, owing to the extrem e slowness
| with which the apparatus worked and
the difficulty that was experienced IN
maintaining uniform and synchronous
motion in the Instruments. In 1856,
the Able Caselli, IN Italy, .endeavored
to solve the problem of autographs
telegraphy in a similar manner. His
apparatus was exhibited in England
and it was used practically between
Paris and Marseilles and Paris and
Lyons. Plans, drawings, and autograph
sketches were faithfully reproduced at
different places, but it was found that
the apparatus had not only the defects
of RakeWell's but it was costly and COM
pllcated. The other subsequent work
ers in this direction were NJ. Meyer and
M. Lenoir, who tried to accomplish the
same results with ordinary ink They,
however, pursued their Investigations
quite independently Of and unknown
to each other. We have recently been
afforded the opportunity, of examining
the latest example Of this class of ap-
paratus at the general postoffice, where
If 10 S11h oG fns h
for trial. This is the invention of M.
Dartmouth, Of Paris, and its general
principles are similar to those which
govern Bakewells system, The dis
tinguishing feature in D'Arlincourt's
apparatus, however, is the introduction
of an extremely ingenious sychronous
movement, by means Of which the
speed Of travel of the cylinder is rend-
cred Uniform, both in the transmitting
and the recording machine The mes
sage to be sent, which may be either in
the ordinary hand Or shorthand, is
written with a thick gummy ink upon
a strip Of metallic-faced paper about
twelve inches long and two and one
half inches deep, which is wrapped
around the cylinder Of the transmitting
instrum ent. q Al strip of white paper
chemically prepared and Of similar
dimensions is placed on the cylinder of
the recording apparatus, and the instru-
ments are placed in electrical connec-
ton and started. The raised writing,
actuating the electric current, causes q
reproduction of the original message in
fac san1he on the paper IN the recording
instrument, which may be hundreds of
miles away from the other Upon the
occasion Of our visit the two instru-
ments, although in the same room,
were practically placed two hundred
miles apart. The writing can be pro-
duced in either blue, brown, red or
black, according to the chemical pre-
paratlon of the paper, but always on
white ground, and number Of copies
can be taken from one original. In the
same way sketches, plans Or drawings
may be faithfully transmitted; some
sketches were, In fact, actually repro
duced on the occasion of our visit. AL
though the apparatus is perfect in its
action, 1t still has one drawback, which
was common toaits predecessors-the
slowness of reproduction. The time
occupied in revolving the cylinder a
sufficient number Of times to allow the
pointer to Traverse the whole surface of
the paper is seven minutes, and this
rate of speed is far below that required
and attained in practice for commercial
purposes. The postothce authorities,
to whom We are indebted for our in
spection, do not, therefore, see their
way to utilize M. D'Arncourt's ingenious
invention at present. It is, however,
being worked in France, in. fortresses,
and for similar military purposes. for
use in which, ard in some special cases,
it is exceedingly we'll adapted,
his HIS story is told by the New Haven
Conn., Palladium of pair of robins
which Lieut.. j. G. Shepard, of New Lon
don, once owned, and, which afterward
came into the possession of Col. P. w.
Hudson, of South Manchester: In the
90 .Ixr,> f1cJ l., 7