The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-02-16
TELEGRApHEp ON a TRAIN.
Messages Sent Over the Wires from Car Co
ing at Full Speed.

ing at Full Speed.
New York World
The New Haven train that left the Grand Cen
trail Depot at BOP o'clock yesterday afternoon
carried loo gentlemen who wanted to see tele
gram sent from train going at the rate of forty
miles an hour Mr. Lucius j. Phelps, of the
Phelps Induction Telegraph Company, explained
to the gentlemen that such thing could be done,
and declared that he would send telegram from
any place along the line of the Port Morris
branch of the railroad from Harlem river to
New Rochelle. When the train got onto the
branch Dir. Phelps pointed to long box, about
three inches in height, lying between the rails.
The box was twelve miles long and inside were
telegraph wres.
+ Mr. Phelps said that any one who has tele
phone in his office knows that very often, while
the conversation of other parties, owing to the
conductors being parallel The inventor deter
mined to put this knowledge to practical use.
In the box on the road-bed an insulated wire
Is carried along the line of the road and through
it from battery at the initial station strong
electric current is forced In the baggage car of
the train yesterday was an induction coil consist
ing OF ninety convolutions of insulated wire, so
arranged as to present numerous parallel surfa-
ces In order to protect the wire it was inclosed
IN tWolnch iron pipe placed under and along
the car about seven inches from the line wire be-
tween the rails. The ends of the wire forming
this induction coil were connected with instru
ments in a corner of the baggage-car The Pc
GUITAR feature OIL yesterdays experiment. lay III
the fact that the lines were operated on an open
circuit, the signals being sent by closing the cir
cult for the instant of transmission and the cir
cult being broken second later By this means
there is no work for the batteries except while
the messages are being sent. The sending of
kilograms from moving train has been unsno-
cossfu'iy tried before, by attempting to use the
who el as conductors.
Mr.. j. d. Barlow yesterday wrote despatch
at the Mott Haven end of the road, sealed it and
md fO the raOular Tqilr NH
ator. Dir. Phelps said he would get it on the.
train when the party was six seven miles
away from Mott Haven. The train went faster
than the telegram, for the despatch didn't catch
up to 1t until the train was at New Rochelle and
then it was somewhat garbled Other dis
patches were sent and one or two came through
all right, thus showing that the invention was
possible, and would be perfectly practicable after
several minor defects have been remedied
Nlr. Phelps said, when speaking about the in
vention, that collisions would be almost impos-
sbe when the wires were used on all trains, and
added that the invention would be perfected
so that eventually Geographic communication
could be had between two trains passing one an
other at the rate of sixty miles an hour.
From the records of 1885," Mr.. Phelps said,
there have been 102 collisions on railroads, in
volving great loss of life and property, and i'm
mense expense to the corporations The block
signal system is admirable, but does not fill the
necessary requirements. By this invention the
train dispatcher can sit in his Office and tell
where every train is on the road" An illustra-
ton of this assertion was made by the Mott
Haven railroad operator, who. when the special
train was swinging along at the rate of twenty
miles an hour, telegraphed to the man at the
instrument in the baggage-car to go slower and
the speed was at once decreased. Again the
operator sent word to hurry along, and the sig
mails were family heard in the baggage-car.
A despatch sent from the train to the
Mott Haven man, asking him if he would like to
drink little of the prime brandy in the bag
gage car, and the answer came back in jiffy
that the Mott Haven operator always did have a
partiality for prime brandy, especially in the
winter time 1t was impossible to telegraph a
bottS of brandy, and hence the train sped on to
New Rochelle. Mr.. Phelps said that he believed
every train would soon be provided with bat
te-y~rRa recounted the benefits as follows: A
merchant could go out the road and be in
constant communication with his home. Acct
dents would be impossible and cashiers on their
way to Canada could be arrested on their trains
The battery is in daily use on the branch line.