New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-08-31
DR. NORyIN GREEN HEARD.
TELEGRAPHY HERE AND ABROAD

IIsH AND AMERICAN SYSTEMS CoMr"nD'
rho announcement that DIR. Norvin Green would
eppear before the Senate SUP, gu " S.
fion and Labor yesterday and give testimony In De-
half of the Western Union Telegraph Company
called ont n larger attendance than usual; Among
tLa snectators were half q dozen OF the oetter
o,sp headers of the labor movement IN this city
and n number of lawyers. Previous 10 the exam
n Of Dr. Gref Rob sss Bs
teiior who. although now q resident oil
ma ivn,ted States was formerly connected
with several LABOR organiza9ons 10 England; ne
y as much higher than that OF Englisn workmen.
He complained of the unfair treatment to which
labonnG men were subjected in the United states
by oyerbearing landlords EvictiOns were not made
An the old country except for the oil at
least SIX months rent Hereon the contrary tenants
were nut out OF doors at the end OF one month Last
wear there were 1880 evictions OF this KIND IN
New-YofK alone. MIR Bllssert further stated that
clothing manufactured III the lower grade OF tene-
uent houses often became an effective agent ior
scattering disease among the inhabitants oil distant
cities. -
tnned his testimony for several hours. He re-
celyed the earnest attention OF all present. Every
question asked received full. decisive answer, no
attempt being made to AVOID a single Inc Oh
= have been president of the Western Union for
five years," said Dr. Green, and have oeen con-
nected with various other telegraph companies ior
senator BIaIr-Wil you please give us history
OF lhe development o. telegraphy 10 this country
Or Greep-Mr. MOIse's invention was brought
before the public In 1887 and soon afIerward an
appropriation was sought from Congress tor con-
dnctlng experIments. The following year an APP
oropliation of $4,000 was made for this purpose.
An attempt was made 10 lay an Underground wire
between Washington and Baltimore. 6ue 1t proved
q fa,ule IL wound be almost imp0ssiblse even with
our presept knowledge of insulation to lay sue
cessu ground wire covering SO long adistance
Underground wires are practicable for shortl is
RANGES but even then they invariably prove q
eetriuent to public service. When III London
fouud hat while sonc of the wires had been placed
under ground there were still d large number IN the
air on high poles. When II was found that the
underground system would not work on the
Washington and Baltimore iine, the pole system
was adopted. At the time when l went into the
telegraph business 1854, lines had been extended
into Inc Sou b and West. Not one OF the new lines
however, had paid single dividend; The New
having 3 per cent per annum. and few other
Northern lines were weddings small margin on the
original investment. Toe New-Of eans aud Ohio
(,ompany proved total failure aud the Peoples
Telegraph companies. Of which there were several.
followed its wake h~se smaller companies
were gradually picked up by the stronger corpora
tons at extremely low figures Ii was not until 1866
that telegraph property began 10 pay tar dlvi,
dends. The expenses Tor running the oinces and
caring for the lines very heavy, and the pub
lie seemed to be slow in approaching the difficulties
under which the companies labored. 1t is faci
n3nles has taken pace, 1t has proved u positive
Gam 10 the public in every instance. In 1866 the
United States telegraph Company which had ex-
Norfbwest and the American Telegraph Company
were absorbed by the Western Union. This COM
plrted ur system. The capital oil the company at
mat time was 81 OeI 900. Thai of the Bell fee-
phone Company is to day only about $21. 5000
1t was nece>s ary in those days TO purchase the
rights of way along the railroad lines. The num-
her of these now owned by the Western Union is
ABOUT 600 and cover the United States from the
Atlantic to the Pacific aud from the Great Lakes to
company was formerly 5000 mile. but
at the present time 1t is less
than 5000 The of the business is best shown
by a table which 1 presented at the last meeting
OF the stockhod r. From this it appears that the
number miles OF wire has increased from 40, 900
10 $50 600 During the last hve years the number of
miles of poles owned by the company thas in
creased from 76955 131 900; miles of wire. from
194,32 TO 374 1858; offices ron 1000 to i2o6s
recelpts. from $9.S12 352 81 to $17,114,l65 90;
expenses. from $6.672,224 81 to SO, 900, O95 90;
and the profits from So. 40. 1877 SO to 81. l1S 900.
The capacity of the company is now double what it
was five years ago. l am satisfied, after having ex-
amined foreign telegraph systems that there Is no
service IN the world so perfect as that of the West
erp Union. This is shown by the rapiditv with
which messages are forwarded. During the month
of June $50 messages from the Procuce Exchange
were sent TO Chicago at an average speed OF 80
seconds each between the Cotton Exchange and
New Orleans the average time per message was
Senator Blalr-W hat are your methods for the
delivery of messsgesf
DR. Green-We employ different methods in diff
ferenL cities. In New-York we deliver through the
American District Telegraph messengers. The aim
an each instance is of course, 10 deliver the mess
ages as quickly asposab o.
senator Blair-How does the English Postal sys-
tenn G. mpare with that of the Western Unionf
DR.. CIR en-C0rrespondence at long distances IS
exceedingly slow under the English system. The
everage time for the transmission of messages be-
tween London aud Paris which are about the same
distance apart as New-York and Boston, Is two
hours Then, too the offices are not open at night
except in a few cases. The London Times stated a
few weeks ago that there were only five offices in
London and fourteen IN ne whole 81 Pie England
able summer resort OF England, no mess"
ages can be sent between o'clock
The blunders and mistakes made by the operators
are many aud Of frequent occurrence. BtdckwoOds
Magazine few months ago published an article
ten aud a half pages III length upon the plumbers
made In England alone.
Senator George-How do the rates compare with
those of the Western Union
Dr (ireen-Our service is cheaper for distances of
from 200 to 4. 500 miles than that of any other
system IN the world. The British Postal system
claims TO be working at a PROFIT, and yet NOTICE
that appropriations are made every year by the
Government for its support IL Is Obliged TO lease
many of its wires. In this country there are many
so-called private wires. They are leased by the
Western Union to newspapers, brokers and bankers
ut a fixed yearly rental. The company puts up the
wire, furnishes the instruments and Keeps them In
repair. There are eighteen Of these wires
between New-York and Philadelphia. 10
respect to the capitalization of the Western Union,
would say that much OF the testimony given be-
f,le ,his committee in regard1O it has bee IncOr-
rsct Ii as been staiei that the capital ock was
greatly increased between 1851 and 1881 The
fruth "a that the stock was not increased dollar
curing that time Dunng that period the lines of
the company were largely extended and improve
ments made in all the great centres. In 1881 the
stock and bonds of the od Anglican odn Union
stock. The stock of the American Union
was purchased with earnings of the COM
pany which belonged to the stockholders We
soon found that 1t would be necessary to
purchase the Atlantic and Pacific. This was
done at cost of SIS, 100000. payment being made
IN our stock During the first six years OF ITS ex-
istence the Western Union paid no dividends bnt
devoted ITS profits to eDlargIng It's plant. The
present capital OF the company is $S0.OOOOO0'
Senator Pugh-What wages are PAID to employees !
month"; Some of the women operators who work
the wires in the hotels and boarded by the pro-
prietors receive only $15. Some OF the male opera