Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-09-23

press association was very anxious for good
service. and persuaded the telegraph COM
the circuit when the break lasted over q
| certain period. The forfeit was small. APP
parently. but at the end Of the
erseb SIX Called 96n whsp ne ssey
owed the press association several
hundred dollars. The latter had kept strict
tab on the breakage and 1t is needless to
say new contract was agreed upon. The
wires of that company were put up on con-
| tract. and to say that they were carelessly
| strung but family describes 1t. A heavy
storm meant poles and wires down for
| miles.
IN the great blizzard, as in the late Sc
we're storm, the service Of both telegraph
and long-distance telephone companies
| was completely Frustrated. There are ser
| ious objections aside from expense in the
matter OF telegraph service underground.
but there is no obstacle or objection aside
from expense to the construction Of pole
lines that will not tumble down. miles at a
stretch. at every strong gust Of wind.
have always felt that the advocacy Of gov
eminent telegraphy was a mistake. but II
we are to have absolutely uninterrupted
| centers 1t must be through government
control as the expense will then play
small part.
Senator Frye's Bill.
The bill recently introduced in the Sem
ate by Senator Frye is a good one. 1t d.
reefs that experiments shall be made to de-
termine the most effective means Of MAIN
tanning communication by telephone or
| other electrical apparatus from nghtships
and outlying lighthouses to the shore The
purpose aimed at, of course is that of Sc
curing assistance for vessels In distress
whose signals for aid can be seen by the
nghtsnlps and lighthouses, but not from the
shore When the appliances for laying
cable are at hand the matter of an extern
sive line is a small one, and the large coast
cities should be included in the bill BY
re1err1ng to maps showing cable routes
particularly the coast OF South America,
suggests an admirable plan for the Atlantic
coast OF North America. Let the terminus
| be on the coast of Florida in the south and
| on the coast of Maine or New HAMPSHIRE in
the north, including way stations at all the
large cities and important lighthouses and
iife-saving stations between the two points
named. The value of such line cannot
be conceived. AS an adjunct to the weather
| bureau IT would increase the latter's eff
cheney ten-fold; as a means of saving life
and property in time of storm II would
demonstrate Its usefulness at the first trial.
and as a matter Of communication between
citizens and press cannot help but be cor
daily Endorsed by ALL
In the hands of few builders who I'M
derstand their business such line could
be constructed and communication estab-
hshed inside Of nine months. With Offices
centrally located a paying business would
certainly result. This would take the i'm
| portance away from the land lines as far
as reliance Is concerned and place our tele-
graphic communication on a footing COM
mensurate with the wealth and dignity of
our country. One thing is unquestioned, and
| that Is, as long as the present telegraph
| companies earn their per cent interest
| annually on their present lines, there il
not much likelihood of improvement when
| the improvement W uld parallel their own
property. The people and the business of
the country demands the relief have men,
| toned. and there seems to me but one way
| out Of the difficulty and that Is through an
amendment to Senator Frye's bill. spoken
of before"
Losses by Interruptions.
do you know of any circumstances under
which the government or any private citi-
| zen was a heavy loser a direct result of
storm interrupting Geographic communi-
cation?" The Star man inquired.
AS to the government no. As to q pri-
| vate citizen. many" replied the telegraph
man. In referring to the government In
connection with interrupted telegraphic
communication / was only speaking of pos
| s bilities No doubt there are cases by the
hundred in which the government has been
| embarrassed by delayed communica ton, but
| their business is done so privately and
guarded so well through use of a code that
| the press and public seldom hear Of their
yexatious worries
II received a hint recently that the State
Department not long since was pulling its
| hair. fguratively speaking. over the delay
| OF a message that involved the immediate
! movement Of large gunboat In the direc-
| ton OF South American. waters. The
weather was bad at the time, and the code
| difficult to transmit over the wires in the
| best of times. was repeated back and for
ward so often to insure correctness that
delay of considerable magnitude resulted.
The message went through all right in time
but many delays OF that nature would put
| new competitor in the field. as Uncle Sam
is not to be trifed with when his own per-
| son is threatened.
An Army ORcer's Experience.
I'm regard to a private citizen being the
sufferer from poor telegraphic service, there
is an old army officer up at the Ebbitt
| House that can tell a story better than ].
He was the bright particular star in the
drama, and the dialogue he carried on for
two hours with the manager OF a brokerage
office would shatter the wires of a telephone
ana the wax cylinder Of a graphophone re-
fuse to register. This army officer has sew
eral very influential and wealthy friends i'm
| New York city. They are connected with
railroad hnencfering of considerable. i'm
portance. and in this way are enabled very
frequently to forestall the stock market.
When these periods materalize the old Off
Ger up at the Ebbitt is very seldom forgot
ten, ana as result his financial enrich
ment amounts to about fifty times as much
as his half pay from the government
Il think 1t was the day before the great
slump In 'Cordage' that the old gentle
man received the tip to sell that stock
short. The message containing this infor-
| nation came to him about l o'clock in the
afternoon and he lost no time getting over
to the office of his broker with whom he
dealt exclusively. He came sailing into the
office putting and blowing from the hur-
ried trip up the stairs and In a minute was
closeted with the broker. As a result OF
the conference I was handed a messap &c
| to be sent to New York ordering the brok
ers correspondent in that city to sell two
| thousand shares of 'Cordage' short On
| my wire were the Baltimore and Phfla-
| delphia correspondents of the same New
York firm. The Philadelphia operator was
| transmitting message at the time and at
| Its conclusion baltimore secured the cir
| cult and started in to send a message
| While he was doing this a heavy storm
| that had been brewing all day broke over
the city and snap went the circuit
Thirty Thousand Dollars Ont.
Time was mighty precious and the
broker started messenger with the order
in code to the two competing companies IN
the street a couple of squares He re-
turned on the run in about five minutes
| with the startling information that the
| wires were working bad and that the mes
sage was received at both offices subject to
delay.
1T was now past o'clock and how the
old man did fret and fume. swearing like
thoroughbred trooper in one breath and
| In the next anxiousy inQuiring about the
wires. To cut long story short the wires