The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-12-17

business. as IL the case In England an
on the continent, there ~ no competitio
and no redress whatever for delay O
| error I'm the transmission OF message
over and above the refun1ing Of IN
: sctual tolls l.sid uyon the message whicl
y may possibly be secured after CORE
spondence more or less prolonged, an
; the governments having direct con;ro
Of the telee-aphs exercise an espio1ag
over the contents 0f all messages trans
| udtted which would not be tolerated
by the people OF the United States. No"
| j wish 10 call attention 10 the fact ina
the employees Of the competing tele
graph companies Of the United state
are. In the main. persons who have been
in the business all their lives, the ten
ure OF their positions depending upon
their efficiency But II the telegram
business were controlled by the govern
ment. political loyalty 10 the party III
| power would be more apt 10 be regatoep
as the guage Of qualification thah an
ity 10 perform the duties Of the POSI-
ton.
| Fourteen years ago MI lIvers
first Visited this country. and AT that time
| ] understood him 10 say that mere was
| not an operator in Europe VINO leai
by sound. although the sound-readlhs
/ system had been in vogue In this country
| for upward Of thirty years. on MS re-
| turn 10 England he stated in paper
| read before a society Of which ne was
a member that England was twenty
years behind the United states Ia us
teleeraphic development. and Tor thlS
he was severely criticised by some Of the
English papers. About eight years later
MIR. Prcece again visited this country
and stated that they were making con-
siderable progress i'm the direction OF
Introducing the American. or Morse,
gound-readirg system. He again visited
the United states this year and informed
me that IL would be very difficult 20 DIS
tinguish an English from western
Union telegraph office. they were so
much alike and that tie American,
Morse. or sound reading system was in
general use IN England IT appears,
therefore that Mr.. Preecc has intro
duccd the American system in his own
country. and in this he has shown great
wisdom as il IS and always has been,
very mich superior 10 tho European
system. - IL had not been for Mr..
Freezes visits 10 the United states. ana
his ability 10 adopt cur system and inn
provements. / am afraid that the English
would still be dragging along with the
old-fashioned dial needle instruments,
as they are sirgularly ayerse TO what they
call American innovations.
Foreign Electricians Asioni'hed.
During the past summer ! have met
and cOnversed with representative cleo
tricians from nearly all parts of the world
who came here TO visit the exposition.
Each of them has inspected the Western
Union office and system i'm Chicago and IN
every case has stated distinctly that the
progress Of telegraphy in the United States |
was very far in advance of what it was
n I'M fPfrt Mt ton
boards. etc. appear TO be revelation to |
most Of them. Then again. the United |
states is the only country in which tele- |
graph lines are operated direct from dyna- !
no current. In Europe they still adhere |
o the old battery system Gin some cases |
lsing storage batteries), and the gentle |
men who visited me were surprised 20 see |
he great advance we have made in this |
direction The only European instruments /
which we have adopted in this country /
ire the English Wheatstonc. which we |
work to advantage on some of our long |
'ircuits; while in England they are grad |
Tally substituting our Morse system, in |
luGing the duplex. quadrupleX, etc. for |
heir old machinery In fact, an electric /
compfny of Chicago is
hipping Geographic instruments TO nearly /
I'll parts of Europe. IL appears to me- |
therefore,. that the United states is very /
much in advance Of all European cCun-
rics, in all branches Of electrical indus
ries, the telegraph and telephone included.
md, i'm fact in all mechanical industries,
cry nearly all Of the great inventions
having been made by Americans.
Have you anything to say in reference
o the electrical exhibit at the Worlds
FAIR"
The electrical exhibit was a very fine
ne; but no satisfactory exhibit OF eiectri-
al Industries in the United States could
Pc given within The confines of any single
building. TO appreciate the extent OF such
Industries one should travel all over The
1untry and see the thousands of cities
nd towns which ore lighted by electri,itv
nd furnished with transportation for the
eopie by means of electric street rail-
rays, running at a rate Of speed varying
rom hve TO twenty-five miles an hour
ms list which | hand you will give Won
ONE figures from which YOU can form
II idea of the extent of exhibits from the
Inherent countries. as they appeared in
ne Electricity Building at the Worlds
The list shows the following figures.