The Wichita daily eagle., 1895-02-20
IL WRITES 1t DOWN
4 NEW MARVEL OF THE USES Or
ELECTRICITY.

Advantages Of al Invention T:sas Prom.
isss 20 Supersedo the Morse Iustruneus
A Companion to the Telephone.
Typewriting by electricity has at last
been ACCOMPLISHED. and tine inventor says
the days oi she Morse instrument are mum
bered Inventions IN which the myste-
rious fluid is the force power have crowd
ed so fast into the patent office that the
list would, IL printed. require book of
tremendous dimensions to record it. The
many thousands of these products of the
mechanics brain must be scheduled I'm
der the head OF toys, however. Few haze
been found of every day practicability
and still fewer have revolutionized exist.
ing conditions. Among the latter thc tel
ephone and illuminating appliances stand
out most prominently.
Electrical inventors are unit in the
opinion that the Essex page printing tel-
egraph instrument, for that is the nam
CT the newcomer, is fit companion ia
usefulness 70 the telephone, and that the
invention is the most important one since
the people of the civilized world com
menced to transmit their voices over wires.
Instead OF printing On long tape, as
In the ticker" the machine causes q
line TO bc written across a page, and the
shifting and lining are done automatic
ally. By pressing on the desired letter on
the key board an arm similar TO though Ion
ger than the ones which carry the type 70
the ribbon in the typewriter is raised 70
the shaft, which revolves with great rapid
ty until a contact with the point of the
arm and the post corresponding with the
key is made. Then the little wheel stops,
bumps up against the white paper and
leaves the impression OF the letter.
The principle involved in this action Is
precisely that illustrated in a music box
The little posts which extend from the
cylinder all have duty 10 perform, and
their position ON the cylinder determines
the air they produce with their contact
with the forks. The spacing is done with
the same action as applies in the type
writer When the end of the line is reach
cd, the pressing OF one key causes the hold
er containing the white paper TO shift and
at the same time raises it the space of
line.
The practical uses of this wonderful in
vention arc illimitable. The machines
may be operated at the limit of distance
TO which electrical force may be carried,
and what that distance is no man can say.
Very trifiing is the loss of force observed
at the receiving end of the ocean cables.
So at least 5000 miles is no obstacle in
tie way Of transmission Of characters
which convey intelligent meaning.
To a single wire may be attached as
great number of receivers as TO the Or
dinary telegraph instrument. The ma
chine cannot lie, as the Morse instrument
frequently ooes. Climatic conditions fire.
quently cause the arbitrary alphabet of
dots and dashes to become jumbled in
transmission. For one letter another may
be clicked out Added to these dangers
to correct transmission are the frequent
errors made by the operators themselves.
These are among the reasons why the
great telegraph companies refuse to admit
responsibility unless the message is IRE
peated."
at the majority of railway stations
along any of the great trunk lines the
agent is the baggage man, ticket seller ana
telegraph operator. To the errors of rural
operators many OF the most distressful ac-
cidents have been duo in the past With
q hundred duties crowding upon him at
about the hour for the arrival of trains, it
Is little wonder that he becomes easily be-
fuddled, and the use or omission OF so lit
tie word as mot" in instructions from
the train dispatcher has more than once
hurled two rushing trains together in
disastrous collision. The station agent Is
frequently absent from his post, or, over
worked, he fails sleep.
The printing telegraph instrument COM
pletely abclishes all such dangers. Theop-
orator may go to sleep, but the message
may be dSliyered Just the same, and when
he aw5keJ there are his instructions plain
ly printed for him. He need neglect 10
switch or fail TO fill the station lamps.
His instructions will be waiting for him
when be returns TO his lair. In other
words, where i5 takes two persons TO op-
crate the Morse Instruments sender and
q receiYer-but one is necessary TO per-
form better work with the new machine.
There can be 10 mistake in the new
system at the receiving end. The sender
of the message presses the letter =" B, " and
1t is absolutely certain that the letter b.
will instantly be printed on the white pa
per at the other end OF the line. A gen
eral order intended for every Office on the
circuit can he transmitted with once send
ing il, or if the order is intended but for
one office and 10 is desirable that other
offices OF the circuit should not know its
contents ali may be switched aside save
the one wanted.
Another point OF vast significance Is
that any man, woman or child who can
read can operate the machine with few
hours practice and send a message as
rapidly as the fastest operator in the
world could take it from the wires under
the present system Besides that the nc
curacy attained is Of vital importance.
And it is also pointed out that while many
operators can pound out 40 TO $50 words
a minTte on the ordinary typewriter from
dictation the mechanism OF the page print
ing telegraph instrument VIII not PEI
nit of more than a third OF such speed.
Hence tie sending operator j forced 70
be careful. At all times when he Is send
ing a message the same appears before his
eyes In leSible type, this being another
safeguard against inaccuracy, besides
maintaining a correct copy OF the message
sent
Mr. Essick declares his invention IS
bound u revoiutionize pTcss tslegrsphing.
The instrument will transmit by single
sender the same news 70 any number 0f
newspapers in all The cities connected,
and but single wire would be required,
running TO the main distributing Office.
Instead Of having q receiving operator,
IS Is necessary under the Morse system,
press dispatches would come in plainly
printed on wide slips. and when tho tel
egraph editor wanted copy" the Office oOy
could tear Of a few yards The system