Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-06-10
a ST. LOUIS EDISON.
Machine EnabiinE Every Man to be
Tin own Operntnr.

fN"t ttc 500 LtUfb NelfNbitCf71
~ StyL9uis genius has Invented 3 tele-
gram ttahsIhit;er that promises to reyo-
lutiouize tie whole present system of
telegraphy. IL is a machine which brings
telegt3phy down 70 :ype-writing basis.
! and withIts assistance anybody can send
q lnesSags vi tfQut knowing the first prin-
cipie at bpefatfng. The machine is an
invention of Mr.. G. w. Beldrige, private
secretary to MT, II. C. Fierce, Vice Presi-
dGnTioG the ,Waters-Pierce Oil Company
and telegraph operator of considerable
experience. In appearance it very closely
resembles an ordinary type-writing ma
chine, and the keyboard can be arranged
| the same as either a Remington or Cali
graph typewriter. Mr.. Baldrige has two
| different styles of machine, one being in
| tended FOR ordinary use, and having forty
| one keys, while the other is more eabor-
| ate, having ifty-three keys, and is in
tended for reporting or doing the work or
dinarilY performed by the telephone. The
| tranSmtter is attached to a wire like an
| ordinary telegraph instrument aud Oper-
ates ike an ordinary typewriter. Every
time button is depressed 1t registers at
tue other end of the wire, the proper
! dashes, dots and spaces which represent
the letter on its face in the telegraph al
pbabet. AS the Morse" alphabet aver
ages three and three-eighths movements
of the hand to the letter in the ordinary
way Of telegraphlng, 1t will be seen what
saving the machine makes as only one
stroke Is required on 1t to form "A letter
The machine will register the sound at
the end so that any telegraph operator
can receive it, or it will print on any me-
chanlcal receiver so that anybody ac-
quainted with the telegraph ALPHABET can
readily read the message, and 1t requires
but very short time to familiarize ones
self with the telegraph alphabet. 1t is
claimed that no uniformity of stroke Is re-
quired as in the case OF the ordinary type
writing machine, but that, however indif-
terent the stroke, the registration is per-
feet. A key when depressed will not rise
until it has registered, and no other key
should be touched until the depressed one
rises. AS the transmission depends en-
tirely upon the revolution Of one shaft,
and as that shaft is controlled by clock
work. the speed OF which is adjustable,
the Instrument can be set to a speed linn
tied only by the operators ability to select
the key upon the keyboard. In the ma
| chine intended for reporting the twelve
additional keys register in full the dozen
words occurring most frequently in the
! English language; "rhat, -" what, - ''the,"
1T to- 'tOO,V two" would
''could,' "an." ''and," etc. With this in
strument an expert typewriter, employ
ing the same principles OF stenographic
abbreviatiOn, as, for instance, those used
in Mr.. BartholOmew's stenOgraph, can
take a speech on the machine and tele-
graph it at the same time. Thus a speech
made in the United States Senate at
Washington might be recorded in st.
Louis, Montreal, New York, or any other
point upon the circuit as it progresses.
A test has been made of the machine,
which is known as the "Baldridge trans
mitter, "Iand it is,said to have worked per-
! fectly.
Companies will be organized in different
cities on the principle of the Bell Tele-
phone Company, only the instruments
will be sold outright, but the company
will put up wires and rent them to their
customers. If the machine performs all
! that is claimed for it, and it operates all
right at the test, the telegraph companies
will probably adopt it instead of the in
struments now in use, as it possesses SC
many advantages over them.