Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1896-06-05
THE POSTAL TELEGRAPH
BELIEF THAT THE GOVERNMENT
COULD DO WELL.
Era of Hand TelcRraphy Has Long
Out-stayed Its Time-The
Machine Trsnsmitter.

lish a postal telegraph system. There l.
no likelihood of its passing in this sessiod
OF congress, but the subject Is beinf
quietly agitated. nevertheless. as it has
been for some years. says a correspondent
OF the Chicago Journal. Senator Butler
who introduced the bill. is hopeful of Sc
curing its passage in the next session OF
this congress.
With the view of getting Some fresh in
formation on the subject of postal tele
graph. the senate committee on postoffices
and postroads invited a number of cele-
brated electricians to appear before 1t
and give their views. In pursuance of Thu
invitation, Patrick b. Delany of South
Orange, n. j., the celebrated electrician
and authority such subjects, made Il
very interesting speech before the COM
mittee. 1t is his professional opinion
that postal telegraph can be established
by the government, and contrary to some
very able arguments presented, he de-
clares the system can be maintained 10
the satisfaction of the public and at such
profit as to continue without annual APP
preparations by congress.
He cites the operation of the British
system as one of the arguments to show
that postal telegraph can be maintained
by the government al profit. He states the
earnings of the British system exceed the
operating expenses. There Is a deficit.
but it is due to the large interest on the
capital originally invested for the pur-
chase of the telegraph. Had these lines
been purchased by the government at a
fair price the balances in the books would
be on the right side.
How II Works in England.
Speaking of the report of the postmas-
ter-general of Great Britain for the year
which ended March. 1895, Mr.. Delaney
said 1t was most favorable. 1t showed
the government had transmitted SO, 1S9, 900
mi ~ ap oil flc arh
average cost of 10 cents, and in addition
transmitted 5,o0iO00 press dispatches aver
aging 100 words each, at a cost of nine
cents each or Ia words to a cent. Further
more, they transmitted 100000 railway
messages, averaging % words in length
and representing Is cents in value free.
He declared had every message been pad
for at regular rates. and press dispatches
paid for at a rate bearing the same pro-
portion to the regular rate that such dis
patches are charged for in this country,
the system would have shown a good
profit. He added:
mo better evidence of the efficiency of
the telegraph in England could be lad
than the fact that, In the face of telephone
competition. the number of messages
transmitted has increased at an extrao:
binary rate. In the city of London even
the telegraph business has grown in spite
of the telephone. while in this country
telegraphy in cities has almost dlsap-
peared."
Mr. Delaney then went on to give a histo-
ny of the British postal system He wound
up by citing the condition of employees
lie said, since 1891, their pay had been IN
creased twice, while the pay of American
teleSraphers had in the same time been
subjected to four reductions. Good ne.
haVior and diligence, he said. gave to the
British telegrapher life position from
which no caprice within could drive
MN. Moreover, he was finally pensioned.
New Methods Are Necessary.
Il doubt very much" Mr.. Delany con
tlnued whether teegraphy could be car
iled on any cheaper by the governmcn!
than 1t is now conducted by the companies
If the same methods of operat ton are to be,
Experiences of the operator has
reached its highest development The use
OF the typewriter for printing messages
read from the sounder has increased the
speed OF receiving considerably, but as The
speed of the sending operator remains the
same the principal advantages of the type
writer lie in greater legibility, and owing
TO the margin of time gained, greater re
taxation than by the use of the pen with
out an instant to spare
The era of hand telegraphy has long
outstayed Its time, and TO this fact may De
ascribed the limited use of the telegraph
by the public at large. Machine methods
are as old as hand manipulation. but in
THIS country they have not been used 10
any considerable extent or their develop
ment taken advantage Of A wrong start
has been adhered to persistently, owing in
4 great measure, to overconstruction OF
lines and MULTIPLICATION of
wires; and. so long ds one company gath
cred all the others in as fast as they came
Along, there We're wires to spare. and
therefore. as those in control argued, there
was no use for increasing speed
with plenty of wires no practical tel
esrapher viii deny that a single short
message can be sent by hand In the sam,
ime that 1t takes to perforate or prepare
I Tor transmission by the machine sys-
EN-. The average layman is by this fac,
frequently deceived into grave error by
lot pushing the comparison further. If
he message be a long one. or if there be
/ thousand messages to transmit ii might
axe two days to get these off by hand.
whereas, If there are a sufficient humber
II perforators, the whole lot could be |
in a few minutes
perforating operator will prepare
messages at the same rate of speed that a |
worse operator can transmit them by |
land' and transcribing operator will |
ypewrite them as rapidly as a sound |
eaulng operator can receive, while me
nachine transmitter will send the dis
'atches as fast as from 20 to 10 perfor |
TORS can prepare them. or afford on ar
Nerage, according to length of circui.
ne same carrying capacity as from 10 m
~ circuits worked by the present Morse
ystem.
AT least one-half of the entire tramc
1 the British telegraph is carried nv
lachine system. Has any American tray
ing in the United Kingdom ever found |
ne service slow? The average time of de
very Tor kilograms from the time of fl |
n.y. is about 70 minutes, and the blank in
q fnfA s,f.
lts ming at the place from which it
anne In this country the companies do
OF dare let the public know how long
lessage has been on the way Each mes |
age shows the time of its reception. but
mere is nothing to indicate that it may
estimation.
one Thousand Words n Minute.
Mr., chairman" Mr.. Delany continued |
without machine transmission govern |
lent biography, under the provisions of |
ms or any other bill, would not be prar |
cable, and the rates stipulated may be
!. iousi. questioned, on the basis of pres
~ mana methods of operation. In express
ing this opinion l have no fear of contra, |
ietioh from any disnterested Telegraph
7. 90 not think any government man
cement could possibly conduct a teIe
raph service on a cheaper basis than IL
now conducted without the use of \ |
,aenlhe system, currently with the in
rease OF population and the desire for
tucker facilities.
with machine transmission 1000 words |
sr minute can be plainly recorded over
Instance OF 1000 miles, or say, from New
ork to Chicago, and 300 words per min
'e can be plainly recorded from New |
ork 10 Washington. ana between Other
'lnts throughout the country in the same
NO. according to distance Last Octo-
~ over an actual line (Philadelpbia IN |
arriSburg and refnrnA oic .,.ii.-- ~. |