The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1881-07-30
rELEGRAPHIC NEWS
A BIG THING.
Or a Good Deal Of a Hoax.

Or a Good Deal OF q Hoax.
Chicago, GA special from New
York: Keene's new telegraph company
was formally organized to-day. 1t ia
becoming quite the fashion nowadays
for millionaires sDd prominent Wall
street operators to control organizations
of this character, and following VsHder-
bilt and Gould, Keene new comes a for
his share of the great telegrsphic com
petition which is sure to rise up against
the monopoly OF the Western Union.
The new company is well provided with
moneyed backing, as is evidenced by the
names Of some Of the incorporators: ].
w, Msckey, Of Bonanza fame; Geo. D.
Roberts, mine manipulation; Il. Victor
Newcomb, James O'Brien, also Of Bon
ANA memery, and others. The stock is
chiefly in the hands of California, New
York and Boston capits lists, al
though q considerable portion is
said to be taken in Europe The
purpose is to construct q system
of lines IN the United States, Canada and
Mexico, and do general telegraph busi-
ness. The prospectus promises that lines
equivalent in working capacity to the
present Western Union system, shsll be
in operation by January, '69. The new
company recently obtained facilities
which they claim will enable them TO do
this without interfering with the rights
and patents held by the Western Union.
The first point gained by the combination
was patents on q new system of auto
matte and fac sigliIe telegraph, the
patentee being w. A. Lego. These
patents have been assigned to the Electro
graphic Manufacturing Company, incor-
porated last October, and the price paid
the latter for the exclusive rights to use
the Lego automatic and fac SfnlGte ma
chine is said to be $1,000, 900. The Elec-
geographic did Eot propose to 60
into the general Geographic business,
but will continue to perfect and manu-
facture machines. By the automatic
system messages can be sent at the aver
age rate of 200 to 800 words q minute,
while by the old method twenty-five
words minute is The capacity Of the
instruments with proper wire and instru-
ments in perfect order. Managers Of the
new company say they have every res-
son to believe a rate Of 5000 words per
minute is practicable. The American
Rapid Telegraph Company is similar to
this in many respects, but practically the
speed is limited to less than 1000 words
per minute. The new company can
transmit more words in quarter of an
hour than by the old method in twenty
four hours. They Can do more business
with one wire between two points than
the Western Union can do with all theirs.
The instruments consists Of an iron
wheel about two feet ard half in
diameter, with a carefully turned
fat surface, one foot broad.
Above this is an instrument like the
Morse sounder, moving from left to
right upon 8 screw, while the large wheel
turns around slowly st right angles.
Above the screw is a csn of especially
prepared ausliue ink. The operator
works the sounder as ne would the Morse
instrument in sending message, and as
the large wheel revolyes the negative of
the message he desires sent appears in
elongated Morse characters in analine
ink ID parallel lines around the periphery
Of the large wheel, the surface OF which
can receive the impress Of 500 words. a
message of this length can be put on the
wheel in hslf the time it would take an
operator to send it of, as in the latter
case the operator cannot send
message more rapidly than the
receiver caD receive it and
write it out. If the receiver loses a
word the time of both the sender and the
receiver is lost in repeating it. 4 mes
sage can be put upon this wheel at the
rate of eighty TO 100 words per minute,
and while the message is being written
the wire can be used in sending other
messages. When the message has been
completed on the wheel the Morse-like
instrument is thrown back to the starting
point, snd the ink point is replaced by 3
metallic button on q long arm which
presses constantly On the wheel; the
wheel and button are put in Gil cult, the
large wheel is regolved at high rate Of
speed, while the button travels from left
to right across the surface, keeping con-
stantly on the line Of the negative
of the Morse character. When the
button is on the ''in, character,
the circuit is broken: when on
the wheel itself between the ehsrac-
tiers, it is reversed. By this system in
sending message of say 1000 words to
San Francisco. which by the present
method would take several hours before
the last Of the message had been re-
ceived off the wheel, the first of it would
be received, and this without increasing
the cost of transmission. The managers
say it will reduce the cost OF telegraphy
to a fraction mora than the uiusl postal
rates. One Of them said, to-day. that
long messages will cost but little more
than short ones. An equal rate, as with
letters, should be made for ali points east
of the Mississippi, and two or tbreetimes
SIS much charged for points beyond. The
prospectus says the company proposes to
construct lines of telegraph across the
continent, communicating with theocesn
cables, and connecting with all the lead
ing cities and towns in the United States,
Canada and Mexico. One advantage
claimed By the new company is The pos
session Of the Gray harmonic multiple
and Way duplex system of telegraph
ing. The Gray harmonic system allows
six messages sent simultaneously over g
single wire in the same or opposite d.
rections. The wire 10 be used much
greater than that of any othe' wire in
use, the resistance being so much less
tosn that on ordinary telegraph wire, as
TO bring Chicsgo Geographically as near
| New York as Syracuse, COMPARED with
| the best wire low in use.
bringing San Francisco tbs side of
| Chicsgo. The patents covering this wire
and machinery and appliances used in its
manufacture, as well as the factory, have
recently been purchased b! the Postsl
| Telegraph Company. Theprice paid is
| said to have been 81 500 900. This will