Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1895-02-28

The present day aspect of that
great focus Of ceaseless energy, the
central telegraph Office, is the most
impressive testimony to the wonder
full development of the government
telegraphs, One half of the whole
telegraph messages of the whole
country are transmitted from OF
through the central telegraph Office
for most of the southern towns send
their messages through London. The
cable room in which alone 10000
messages are dealt with every day, is
in direct communication with Paris,
Rome, Vienna, Berlin, Frankfort and
other chief continental cities, The
great sight, however, is "The Gallery
which is really an entire floor of the
building. Here all the instruments
connecting with Great Britain and
Ireland are grouped in blocks and
sections of little tables crowded with
instruments, each with it's attendant
clerk, The Midlands and the North
occupy the center of the great room,
Scotland another section, Ireland an
other, while the press kilograms are
dealt with in a separate section.
All are disposed in geographical
order, and on a careful plan. Nearly
100000 messages day pass through
the gallary, and wonderful are the
contrivances for saving time. The
Wheatstone automatic transmitter,
which twenty-five years ago could
only be got to send with accuracy
eighty words minute over a COM
paratively short lenght wire, can now
be made to reel to the most distant
parts of the north of Scotland at a
speed of between 500 and 600 words
a minute! Not only is this his high
speed possible in regular practice, but
the same message can be transmitted
to a number of places at the same
time. A speech Of Lord Salisbury's,
for instances. can be transmitted by
the same operation to Liverpool,
Sheffield and Leeds, at each Of which
places the receiving instrument regis
ters the signals simultaneously from
the one instrument at the sending Of
fee. As if this were not sufficiently
wonderful, there is in use on the
Brighton table in the Gallery an in
strument that sends from six differ
ent transmitters in London to six diff
ferent receiving instruments at Brigh-
ton, and vice versa, at one and the
same time over one wire. There IS
another floor above the Gallary, where
all the London branch Office wires
are, and these alone deal with 10000
messages a day. Most of the city
and Western offices send up their
messages to the central Office by pneu-
matte tube, and the tube room is
itself a remarkable sight, as each
carrier" with its batch Of messages,
is sucked in or driven out by the
powerful beam engines down in the
basement. The battery room, where
all the current required is constantly
being generated, contains three and
a half miles of shelves, packed with
nests of Fuller's bichromate, Daniels
and Leclanche batteries. working al
ways and consuming tons of blue
vitriol," blchromate and sal ammoniac
in the silent creation of current
Mr.. Arnold Morley, the postmaster
general, presided alta banquet given
at the Hotel Metropole, to celebrate
the silver wedding of the telegrsphs
aud the state. He was supported by
a large number of distinguished
guests, including representatives of
home, colonial and foreign telegra-
ply, members of the government and
many we'll known men in the politi-
cal and scientific world.