Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-05-21
TELEGRAPHY.
An Astonishing Invention That Threstens
to Supersede All Others.

An invention has recently been per-
fected at Philadelphia that bids fair to
revolutionize all existing systems of
| electrical communication, both tele-
graphic and telephone. The secret
of it has been carefully guarded by the
| inventors and the small company of
large capitalists who control it while
it was being fully covered by patents,
both American and foreign. Now that
all is secure, it is to be suddenly sprung
upon the public by an exhibition at the
Continental hotel. probably during the
| present week, as one of the gigantic
! scientific surprises of the century. To
state in brief what it is, it is nothing
less than making telegraphy as simple,
rapid, and easily within the command
of everybody as is the operating of the
caligraph or typewriter. Etfecting
what is claimed for it, it will be the
means OF greatly reducing the cost of
telegraphy, of enabling the opening of
some forty thousand new telegraph
stations in railroad and express Offices
throughout the United States where
there have hitherto been none, and of
taking the place generally of the tele-
phone. Any person who can pick out
a word on the keys of type writer
can transmit message by the system
accurately and with rapidly, only re-
stricted by the speed of the picking,
while, as for receiving messages, the
instrument does that automatically.
whether there is anybody superintend-
ing its operations or not There was
private exhibition of the system re-
Gently, the results attained at which
seemed to fully sustain all that is
claimed for this most remarkable in
vention
The instrument used is both a trans
mittcr and a receiver The two in
struments used in this exhibition were
connected by about one hundred miles
OF wire coiled about the offices. Each
appeared in its front part to be simply
an ordinary typewriter, with the let
ters, numerals, etc., on raised keys.
Behind this rises a small column with
blank paper wrapped around it and
moved up line by line as required by
simple device. Inside that column is a
small hammer that strikes outwardly,
SO as to, whenever a key is touched,
press the paper against the periphery
of horizontal wheel that lies between
the keyboard and the column. On
that periphery, in high relief, are the
letters of the alphabet, numerals, and
points for punctuation. The wheel
spins around with lightning-like rapid
ity as the keys are successfully touched
by an expert. When it has to recede
in the alphabetical order it flies back
to fixed point, as does the wheel of a
gold and stock indicator, but much
more swiftly. All the delicate and
intricate electrical attachments neces-
sary are below. and when understood
are much less complicated than they
seem, their apparent complication be-
ing caused by their multiplicity. A
separate wire leads from each KEY to
single common wire, and each of those |
key-connected wires serves either for
transmission or reception of messages.
The sending or receiving of particu-
lar letter or figure is governed by the |
strength OF current required for Just |
that individual one, and for no other. |
1t seems very strange that all those va
rious impulses should be flashed along |
wlre-eyen in opposite directions at |
the same time-without jostling each |
other or getting mixed up, but they do. |
Many messages were sent during tests |
by non-experts at speed of from forty |
to fifty words per minute with greater |
accuracy than is usually shown by ex-
pert ''sound" operators, and that speed. |
it was affirmed, could be very greatly |
increased. A noticeable and valuable |
feature OF the system is that it prints |
clearly IN the sight of the person trans
uniting a message just what is being
sent to the receiver, so that errors are
avoided, or if committed are readily |
corrected. The messages sent over a
wire by this instrument cannot be read
by sound, SO that it is much more favora-
Die to the privacy often desirable in |
business than either the Morse system
or the telephone. Inasmuch as the in
strument can be adjusted to any system
OF wire communication and will work
to as great distances as is required in
telegraphy it will be of inestimable val
ue to railroad and express companies, |
bankers, brokers, mechanics and the |
general public. There are no formida-
bic complications in its construction,
and expert electricians who have exam
lned 1t pronounce it ono of the most |
wonderful achievements of the age. |
Should it only do half what is claimed
for it, and that it shows it can do, it
would practically revolutionize telegra-
ply.
The company controlling this great
invention has been organized upon
capital of 100000, but no stock is
for sale, all being held as an investment.