The Phoenix herald., 1879-06-07
subterranean Telegraphy.

The dispatches announce new sys- tenn of telegraph wires, the patents for which have just been purchased by the Western Union telegraph. It has long been a favorite theory with many that underground lines would ultimately take the place of aerial lines, but here tofore the actual practice has been far from satisfactory. The expense was too great; the difficulty experienced in finding faults in the buried wires and making repairs, and the obstacles in the way of perfect insulation, were serious barriers to the successful intro duction of subterranean telegraphy. But of late years the German govern ment has laid many miles of under ground wires, and has so far perfected the system as to demonstrate its prac- tibility. But that which is quite prac- tical in the densely populated countries of Europe, IS not necessarily feasible in the United States, with its great area of territory and other typographical difficulties. The question of lay ing wires underground has attracted considerable attention in the large cities where the multiplication of tele- graph and telephone wires has made 1t matter of serious public considera- H.
 that reaches us from Philadelphia of the purchase of the Brooks patents by the Western Union company, would in- dicate that the system now announced has the necessary elements of utility for the country covered by the Western Union wires, else that corporation would hardly have paid, as alleged, the sum of $300,0 for the control of the patents. MT. David Brooks Is prac- tical electrician, the inventor of the Brooks insulator and other useful cleo trical material and telegraph apparatus. For years Mir. Brooks had entertained the belief that a system of underground telegraphy could be devised which would be far superior in point of econ omy and convenience to the |" over head" system. The object was to find something which, placed in the iron pipe containing the wires, would prove impenetrable to the dampness and moisture. MT. Brooks began to exper- iment with oils. The telegraph system he had in view was simply a number of small wires-twenty, thirty, forty or fifty-a little thicker than pins, all bun dled together with cotton binding, and each one 8 separate medium of com munication. The greatest number of wires he contemplated putting together in this style was fifty, to contain which he had iron pipes made one inch and a quarter in diameter. The wires, each one bound in its own cotton and all huddled together in a tight netting, were thrust into the pipe rope-fashion. After the pipe was laid, oil was intro duced into 1t at one end and allowed to run the entire length, the source of sup ply being an elevated vessel always kept full, so as to keep a constant pressure on the oil already in the pipe. The first experiment with this plan was made in West Philadelphia about two years ago, the line being about one mile long. Few telegraph men then be- lieved the plan practical, but the ex- periments demonstrate that so far from being only a temporary success, 1t has improved with time, so that after two years its insulation is said to have in creased about eighty fold. The next experiment made was at the instance and expense of the Philadelphia, Will mington and Baltimore railroad com pany. A line was laid across the Schuylkill in September, 1877, in thirty five feet of water. It has been in opera tion ever since, and, like the other, its insulation has increased instead of de- preciating. Other tests have been made equally satisfactory, the result of which is that the system has been adopt ed by the Western Union company, and is to be put to practical use at once. A line of pipe inclosing fifty copper wires is to be laid between New York and Philadelphia this summer, and will doubtless be rapidly extended to other large commercial centers and the na- tional capital. Doubtless the system will also come into use for telephonic purposes. The multiplication of wires between cities will enable business men to use the telephone for business pur- poses between different cities, and thus greatly enhance the value of that unique invention. Harrington Halck-Eye.