, 1880-06-13
THE TELEPHONE.
A NeyR Method OF Reporting ParHa-
mentary Debates.

! NevR method OF Reporting F2fua
| mentary Debates.
London Times.
| 4 new nnethod OF reporting the late debates o.
| the House 'of Commups-those, namely, which
| are continued after miduight-has within th
| last few days been brought into operation in tn
| office Of this journal; and some account Of th
| method employed will probably be Of Interest t
the public. There has for some time been
! tendency amonx the most prominent public
| men to deliver their Parliamentary speeches Il
very lnte hours, and this, together with the dts
patch Of the first morning trains from tn
| London terminf an hour earlier than former
| ~, has placed great difficulties In the Wa.
! of Parliamentary reporting. After abou
o'clock In the morning to produce in time TO
the early edition u full report of speech. how
ever important 1t might be, became matter O.
extreme difficulty, and after 2 the record Of pro
ceedings became necessarily u mere abstract
The inevitable crrtalment Of the reports ha!
been felt as Il grievance by many members o1
the House and has been one cause Of the effort!
recently made, by appointing select committees
and otherwise, to get a better provision for the
tics seem now to be in fair way to yield-suf-
tciently ut least for ul practical purposes-1c
the Increased powers Of work which have been
afforded by tho judicious application OF modern
scientific inventions.
The hrst step III this direction must undoubt-
ediy be ascribed TO the increased rapidity OF
setting up type, which has been duc-to the enl-
ployment Of IL machine as substitute. for the
lnnn.iAl labor of the compositor. The most
skIllful worklnnn,' setting up type BY band,
forty lines per hour, or maximum rate OF fifty
lines per hour during short periods Of great
pressure; but the mnchiuc. in w1tch the types
striking upon keys something like those of 4
plano or organ. enables It fuir workman to attain
an average speed Of l0o lines All hour even when
usswfkS 1S.Af
read for himself: and this speed can be doubled,
or nearly so. when the opcr.tor IS assisted by 4
readcr and thus comWres from dictaGon.
The original form Of the machine in use Mt
this 0tllce was introduced here soon after the
Franco-Gcrmnu wnr, and has ever since been
undergoing such notifications IL detail as expo
has now reached Il state Of very great efficiency.
1t has for some time been the custom to trims
nit the foreign intelligence from Paris, vienna,
printing telegruph' and to dictate the contents
Of the telcgrnphic eiip to Il composltnr at the
machine. ES this combination remarkable ia
cilities in dealing with late manuscript have
been obtained, and it bus been possible to carry
on the work Of typeaetrlng almost the time of
going to press; bu the copy received from the
House was necessarily somewhat delayed while
the reporter Transcribed his notes and In TRIMS
mission. The composltOr was compelled to lag
behind the actual Progress Of the debate: ana
precious time thus lost at each step OF the
process mounted up In the end to considerable
total.
At this point in tho history Of the matter the
telephone was brought into actual operation as
mcnns OF verbal communication between dis
TINT points: and the conductors of this journal,
having obtaned permission from the Metropol-
itan Board of Works to ny down ,hc necessary
wires in the subway OF the Embankment,
formed new connection between the House of
Commons and the o5ice and placed one Of Edi-
sons jOud-spcaking telephones ut either end.
The Immediate result OF this arrangement has
been to bring the conpositor at the machine iutO
direct communication with the parliamentary
Il s3t Afonf
to tie reported aud Ir1utcd from half to three
quarters OF an hOus< litter thnn hId previously
can be read dircctiE jutr the Telephone receiver
In roUm adjoining the gallery, either by
the reporter himself when relieved or by another
person employed for the purpose: aud the conf
positUr ut his machine In the otllce sits with his
ears tn juxtAposttion with the other terminal Of
the Instrument. The plan which has been found
out distractlng sounds of other kinds Is to place
the disc Of the telephone above and behind the
compositor, and then to arrange two tubes, each
With two trumpet-shaped cxtrcmitics. In such 8
manner that these extrcmties are applied Al one
end to the TWO sides Ut tho telephone disc and at
the other end to tho two ears Of the et,mpositor.
Tho coMposttor is also furnished with speak
Ing instrument. with a key for ringing a bell.
and with Il bell which is rung from the House;
q simple code ot: bell signals, consist
fur the ordinary requirements Of each message.
me ,composstor announces by the b"ll thar nc Is
'
with bis machine. strikes the bell again for the
reader to continue bis ilctut1on, nnd SO on until
the work IL c1rr!cd as far Us time will allow. Il
there IS any doubt or r4hitlculty nbout tho words,
bell Signal will cause them to be repeated. Or
explanations can De sought and received by
direct vocal communication. In this power In
deed, resides one nj the chief advantages Of the
method. ind one which ought to lead to greater
accuracy thnn has ever previously been attain
ahle- The names Of people. Places etc., can be
spelt out letter by letteE If there Is any doubt
about them.
Telephone reporting Is as yet only in Its in-
fancJ, aud the present rlcchauical and personal
arrangements will no doubt be modified in many
respects. Enough has been done, however. to
show the complete practicrbi1ity Of the mothod,
which seems to hold great possibilities OF fur
thcr development There are certAin iinpedi-
nients still in the way, arising from the difficulty
Of connecting the telephone wires against tho
disturbances caused by induced currents, and
also IRON the effect Of certain kinds of. yibra-
ton n confusing or oyerpowering the trans
United sounds: but these IRE matters Of detail,
1alr way to be overcome. A difficulty Of atl-
other kind arose from tho action Of tho
Post -OAlce, which, in. tho interests Of Its real
or 81, supposed monopoly, ut first placed every
o. tne telephone to reporting purposes This
opposition, however,, could not be sustained;
aud It Will not be surprising If, before long, tho
ulrect communication between the reporter and
to extend the time available for re-
porting IN the House, Should be rendered equally
applfgnblafo speeches delivered IN every part Uf
ing INC hlngdoua. Our predecessors in fornlcr times
methods which have long been superseded; and
It seems not unlikely that the fully written |
lranscfipte or the reporter may be gathered
'eIore Tong TO tho spccu1 stent,urs and tho |