Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-12-17

From Electricity.
Mr.. E. Rosewater Of the Omaha Bee gave an
exhaustive description of the government tele-
graphs of Europe before the New York Electric
Club on December 8. Mr.. Rosewater is Of
opinion that the postal system of this country
cannot attain its full measure of usefulness and
efficiency until the electric telegraph and long
distance telephone have been made an integral
part of the post Office system. with the pneu-
matte tube service as an auxiliary for convey
Ing letters and messages in our great centers of
population. In the early part of his lecture
MIR. Rosewater outlined the remarkable increase
that has taken place in the number of postal
telegraph messages in Great Britain since 1870.
From !. $50, III In that year the number has in
creased to 81, 403, 1893 in 1901.
In New York or Chicago a city message Of
ten words or less costs 20 cents. In London as
many words as can be written on the blank or
card, which varies from 100 to 600 words, can
be sent for 1913 cents, and. what is also of I'M
portance. the message will be delivered almost
before the girl that usually acts as operator in
the hotels or local offices in our cities would
have time to copy it.
One OF the strongest arguments advanced
against the introduction of government tele-
graph system in this country is set forth in the
possibilities it would open up for political cor
ruptlon. 1t was refreshing to hear from Mr..
hose water that In every country he visited the
telegraph service was kept free from politics.
NO case IN which anybody in the telegraphic
service had suffered In any way on account of
his political opinions had come under his notice.
The employees were amused even az the idea of
such thing. At the great Geographic center
OF Swansea, In Wales. the superinte ndent told
him that he and a large proportion of the
working force were ardent radicals and strongly
opposed to the Salisbury ministry, but the idea
that their places could be endangered or their
work lnterfered with on this account never
entered into their heads. At the Berlin Office a
furious socialist occupied al important place
In the service. This man was not merely hos
tile to the government, but to the very form of
the government, and yet, SO long he did his
work faithfully, he could not be disturbed. At
the same time the telegraph employees are ex-
peeted to refrain from active political work,
either on the stump or elsewhere. AZ this might
lead them into abuse or depreciation of their
superior officers and consequent destruction of
discipline.
An interesting fact to which Mr. Rosewater
referred in the course of his lecture is that in
Austria the bulk of all press dispatches are
transmitted by long distance telephone which
is part OF the postal teleg aph plant in that
country. This is also true Of Germany. All
the press dispatches between Vienna and
Prague, distance Of nearly 800 miles, are
transmitted by telephone at rates computed ac-
cording to the time consumed.
After the lecture the subject was warmly dis
cussed, the general tenor of the remarks Of
the speakers being that although government
control OF telegraphs might be an excellent
thing for European countries it was an expert
ment the success of which in this country
would be very doubtful.