The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-05-01
Expedited" Lightning
Lines o4 the Postal Telegraph Conn
pan3 %eaTiy Completed Between
New 4ors1 ana chicago How At
works

BosroN, Mass, April 80. President
Beard, Of the Postal Telegraph company, said
| to night that next month the public will make
an intimate acquaintance with his new system
1t is the design of the company to connect all
the principal cities from the Atlantic to the Pa
ciiic The present plan il to equip fully the
line between New York and Chicago as soon as
the underground cable in the streets of Chi
caso is Finished, which will be some time in
May and it is proposed to open the line next
month for public business and to extend the
system immediately to 1ston, St LOUIS st
Paul, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington,
Harrisburg, Pittsburg the oil regions, Buffalo,
and Detroit The present route 10 Chicago is
VIA Burlington. Vt, and Cleveland This viii
be ext ended 10 st. Louis, and another iIne to
that city viii lie built VIA Harrisburg, Louis
vile, and Cincinnati From Louisville Que
viii be built via Memphis to New Orleans, via
Washington, Norfolk. Charleston, Savannah
Mobile, and other principal cities. From st.
LOU, a line viii so TO Omaha via Kansas City.
Estimates based on the cost of the line from
New York 10 Chicago show that the above
systems can be completed for less than
S6,Utt, UJd. These points include %
per cent or the entire Geographic
business of the country. These lines can be
equipped, notwithstanding the high cost of
copper wire, much more cheaply than the
same capacity OF wires under the present sys-
TEN. mr., Beard claims for his company that
with his compound wire consisting of steel
core OF two hundred pounds per mile, electro
plated with copper, five hundred pounds to A
mile, with the comparatively cheap equipment
and with the Gray harmonic and automatic
systems, it is evident that the cost of telegraph
ing Will be reduced at least one-half, besides
inSurng greater certainty and dispatch, and
that the revolution in telcGraphing will be
great that c used by railroads in travelling.
The manner of receiving and sending mes
seges by the harmonic system, with trained
Morse operators, IS very unique. The wire is
arranged. for six circuits, or paths, for the
six messages to be sent simultaneously over
the wire in this manner: New York sends five
messages here while Chicago sends one to
New York; whom the supply of business in
New York has been sent-say in five ten
minu es-the circuits can be reversed,
and Chicago sends five messages and
New Aori, message. As the number
of wires increased the necessity
for changing the sending and receiving circuits
is obvIated as it will be with two such
wires thoroughly equipped, twelve messages
would be passing between here and New York.
operator does not understand word he IL
obliged to stop the sendinf; operator at his end
of the wire, and thus four operators are Obliged
to stop work while the explanation is being
made and a new start taken, which prac-
ticaly renders one-half of the system
on that one wire ineffective The harmonic
system has improvement on this plan, by
which the one sending circuit used on the wire
while five messages are being received Is ar
ranged a @break" circuit for the five receiv
ing operators. Thus it will be seen that, while
one of the receiving operators and the sending
operator the break circuit are idle on the ac
count of the breaking, eight men are still kept
busy, four at either end, which only approx
mates delay in the full working capacity Of
the wire of one-thlrd