Milford chronicle., 1893-03-17
ANINTRICATEDEYICE
A SYSTEM or SECRET TELEGRAPH
CALL FOR RAILROADS.

III CALL FOR RAILROADS.
An Invention That Insures Certain
Amount of Secrecy Along the Line Of a
Railroad Where There are Many Sta
tions with Operators at Each.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad com
pany has adopted an ingenious consliv-
Gnee for use in the telegraph depart
ment, and worlcnen under the direction
Of Superintendent Charles Seldom have
put In q little plant in the basement Of
Camden station, where the men employed
at headquarters can become familiar with
its use. There are along the various
lines Of the great Baltimore Rnd Ohio
system scores Of offices where the agent
is also the telegraph operator His du-
ties as agent frequently call him so far
away from his instrument that it Is i'm
possible under the present system to
make him hear this call when it is de-
sired to communicate with him.
The new device is so arranged that in
all offices where these circumstances ex-
ist a bell win be placed, and the operator
at terminal or division headquarters can
call the operator wanted without in
forming any other Office on the line, no
matter how many Offices there may be
which have these bells ia them. As tel
egraph lines are operated at present, If,
for example, the Baltimore Office desires
to call the Wheeling Office, nearly 400
miles away, the call passes through every
intermediate Office, but under the new
system the turning Of a switch viii cut
of all the offices except the one wanted
The system viii also be applied to
those Offices where the amount of bust
ness done at night is not sufficient to jus
tify the employment Of a night operator,
and where the day operator resides in
the depot building, there being instances
when it is desirable from various causes
to communicate with the operator after
the close Of the regular business hours.
The invention is the result Of over 20
years Of experimenting, and the combl-
nation of more than 20 patents.
The contrivance is the New York cleo
tric secret service system. The trans
mitter at the central point is operated by
an ordinary telegraph key. This trans ,
mitter can send out any combination Of I
dots, dashes and spaces. At each station /
there are instruments so arranged that i
they will respond only to the particular 7
combination for which they are ar /
ranged. /
When the operator at the central sta
lion desires to call up a station along the T
ine, he places the key where it will make {
he necessary combination that cuts out i
III other stations but the one he wants. a
This causes a bell at the station he wants
o ring, and at the same time operates a q
magnet which causes an answering sig C.
lal to sound in the central station. He n
hus knows that his call was audible at Il
he station he desires to communicate u
With. The bell at this station will con d
inue to ring until the operator answers, a.
nd if no answer is made the bell will b
ing all day. el
The system may be hkened in some re- eC
poets to the system of the combination 81
ock. For instance, if to unlock a door
aving a combination lock it be neces-
ary to turn three points in one direction,
vo points in the opposite direction and pl
ne point in the first direction certain m
otis must fall in certain positions. If tn
lese turns be made on another lock hay US
g a different combination, they will "
ave no effect. th
In like manner, when a certain combi- Sc
alton is made at the central station that n
)rresponds with the combination of a el'
,rtain station along tho line, theobstluc- br
ons fall and the electric current is he
osed between that station and the cen ali
al station, while the obstruction to the an
osing Of the circuit with all the other ch
atoms still remains. "t
The transmitter is composed Of a rub "a
T tube about the size of an ordinary FOL
I'd pencil, which serves as an axis for du
or 30 small metallic wheels which are cal
stened TO it. A metal finger projects Gle
er each wheel. Each wheel is provided
tn teeth, but no two wheels have the phi
me number of teeth. When it is de SCI
ed to call a certain station, the key is us'
iced at the proper point, which causes Is,
, axis 70 turn and the metal finger to an'
/ upon the wheel which has the num- SD
: Of teeth corresponding with the num- me
of dots in the combination Of the sta hk'
D., goc
Is the>wheel revolves its teeth strike
given times the metal finger. This
ises the making of the combination, A
| the two stations are in communica- wa'
4. The station can be called and the Do
urn signal received in 10 seconds. Ho'
is system can be used to great advaa- sra
@ in the railroad signal service, in the tim
sphone service ard in the lighting and no
ting out Of electric lights.-Balti- nat
70 American. ger
a.