The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1890-09-18
AN INVENTION THAT Is EXPECTED I
REvoLuTIoNfZE THE 1T -ISEss.

When Professor Morse demon strated
that 1t was possible to carry intelligence
from point to point by means of elect
graph, he simply anticipated future
adopted. The real telegraph has Only
recently been discovered. Morses
system, wonderful as 1t was then, has
been so modified and improved that no.
thing remains Of it in the telegraphy OF
to-day except the alphabet of dots and
dashes. The clumsy old register with
Its string of tape and cumbrous weights,
gave way to the neat, compact "sounder"
and men learned to hear the language of
the wires spoken rather than to read 1t as
i. was written. In the telegraph of the
future even the Morse alphabet will cease
to exist and return will be made to the
ancient Roman characters taught In our
schools under the familiar title of "our
b C's.'
Now, in order to read a telegram be-
fore it is copied by the operator one
must know how many dots and dashes
make A, how many make B, etc. In the
future, and the near future too, any one
can read a telegram who can read the
Press. In fact, II you possess the "open
sesame" to the work rooms Of the Essick
Printing Telegraph company in New York
city you can do 1t now. And what is
more to the point, II you have ordinary
Intelligence and know how to spell cor
rectly you can also trasmit your message
or telegraph to distant point as easily as
you can print out letter on typewrit-
er.
The name of the man whose brain has
made this possible is Samuel N. Essick.
He Is by no means the only man who has
made attempts to solve the problem OF
transmission of Roman characters by
electricity. Hundreds have worked at it
since Morse's time, and several have been
partially successful. It is not necessary
to enumerate here the reasons which have
prevented others from being entirely
successful, but 1t Is enough to say that
with the exception of speed, the Essick
instrument can do anything in Roman
characters that the Morse instrument csn
do in Morse characters, and little more.
In the matter of speed there Is now but
little difference. and In few days there
will be Essick instruments in working
order which will transmit and record as
many or more words per minute than can
the most expert Morse operator In the
country.
The Essick machine, briefly described,
Is nothing more or less than an electrical
typewriter, capable of duplicating the
work of the operator on similar in
strument situated thousand miles, more
or less, distant from the person mani
puating the keyboard.
The operator places himself before this
keyboard. He strikes the little knobs
with his fingers and whirring sound en-
sues. The instrument on top of the
pedestal begins to buzz in bewildering
sort of way, and. presently sort of
tramcar attached to the left of the in
strument begins to move slowly from
right to left carrying with 1t piece of
plain white paper, the face of which is
presented to the eye. A series of little
hammers thumb upon the face of the
paper, each one making letter as 1t
strikes, until by the time the little car has
moved a. far to the left as 1t can there is
row of letters upon the paper CORES
ponding to those which have been touch
ed upon the keyboard by the operator
The same row of letters is duplicated on
every instrument upon that line, no
matter how far away it may be or how
many instruments there are on the line.
When the little car has gone as far to
the left as it can 60 it jumps back again
just as the car on typewriter does and
another row is begun. Thus Tow after
row is recorded, one behind the other,
until, when the message is completed, it
reads just as would the lines on the page
of a book or in a manuscript written by
hand.