The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-04-23
Three thousand Words a
Minute by Telegraph.
Syncronograph System and
What is Claimed for 1t.
The Story of a Stricken City-Gun-
powder Killed Chivalry.

Before the American Institute OF E'cc-
tr.cal Engineers on Wednesday evening
last mt New York, Professor Aioert
Cushing Crehore explained the sypcron-
ocraph systeu invented by himself and
Iieutcnant George Owen Squier, OF the
United States Navy, by which he claimou
r,cssages could be teicgraphed at thc rato
oi three thousand words minute Ahls
sec,ns not only marvellous, but almost
i,nossible. but the professor proved 20
tho satisfaction of the large gathering OF
sxnert electricians who heard him that ms
invention Is entirely practical Az thc
,,resout time the Wbeatstone system is
i,crhaps. the most rapid Tor TIE transihls-
sion Of messages by Telegraph, but ~ u
not i'm general use and is employed almost
cxclusiyely in England. In this country
lilo most rapid transmission oI inessnges
is I,y the Associated Press, which often
reaches speed of go words minute,
Nil plaiply transcribed on "a typewriter
by the receiving operator. That Is the
daily. Such press wire as that running
into The News Office is what tcleglaphers
caN.o s.hotn one. That is tho news comes
cuick and fast, and only the most expert
can hold position on it to either trans
init or receive.
Nor would it he possible TO send from
1 600 To Ii. coo words over single wire in
tho six or six and n half hours actual
time the wire is in operation daily, II
eslSsI, word were spelled out in full accord
iuu To the Morse alphabet as is done In
the case of ordinary messages Tor private
individuals In order To save time anG
increase the capacity OF the press wire n
cods is emplovcd, sort of telegraphlc
shorthnnd, made from the regular Morse
alphabet To illustrate: IL the item to
be transmitted reads, John smith COM
mitted suicide today, the sending opera
tor srells out the name but when bc
comes To the remaining three words he
simply sends in the Morse alphabet the
letters cxd.. Those three letters constitute
tho code sign for committed suicide to-
day. apd the receiving operator SO tran
scribes them. This code covers every pos
sible combination of words in ordinary
use and before a man can hope TO "hold
down" n situation Mt either end of press
wire he must have mastered Ii thoroughly.
But with the new invention, II IL proves
practical and comes into general Use, there
will be no code and practically no opera
tor except to perforate strips OF paper with
tho syncronograph characters embodying
the message TO be sent at one end and
TO translate those characters at the other
and. The new system, so far as trans
uniting and receiving are concerned. Is TO
IA automatic and IL seems 10 be pretty
much on the same principle as the organ
..tte Is operated by the employment OF per-
forated sheets embodying the notes TO be
.,layed Perhaps the syncronograph will
e. 4 success. certainly it has high endorse
mont but IL Is To be remembered that the
,nultiplex telegraph Of "a dozen years : 81,
which was to revolutionizc tclegraphy, is
now only a memory, while the printing
telegraph OF later date appears to have
gone into innocuous desuetude.
In the reports of the flood caused by tho
overflow sf the Mississippi river, the
town Of Greenville, Miss, has figured
somewhat conspicuously. Seven years
ngo this same town, or to DO absolutely
correct. this City of Greenville had n pop.
ulution Of more than 1900, and was in
dulging hopes of becoming one ct tho
principal cities of the south. 1t is the
chief town in the district known as the
Yazoo DELTA, which produces n superior
quality Of cotton that formerly sold four
cents pound higher than the ordinary
upland crop. Greenville was oniy n
steamboat landing until ls years ngo
when there was great boom in the Mis-
sissippi valley, and for three or four years
unimproved plantation property sold fer
500 an acre. Greenville then promised
20 become more important place than
Birmingham, Ala, which cano intu
prominence about the same time 1t had
daily newspapers and opera houses, and
many Of the Vicksburg merchants estab-
lished branch houses there. Tho flood
uf 1889 destroyed part of the place and
caused the town to move back several
hundred yards from the river, new and
handsome buildings taking the places
cf those that had been washed away.
l,at In 1892 came another food OF q
very destructive nature, and then fol
lowed the financial stringcncy and the
fall in the price of cotton. The GreenvillC
hank, which was supposed to be the
strongest I'm the state, failed and th,
people moved away TO the uplands. The
Richardson's, the largest cotton planters
IN the world, abandoned the larger part
II their plantations In the Yazoo Delta
and Greenvillc became once moro an ordi
aary river town. Some of the abandoned
plantations had been reoccupicd hefop
the present flood, and larger crop than
ever was TO be planted this year, which
MAKES the disaster more serious than Il
vv..ld he under ordinary circumstances.
Az inquirer wishes to know what cause,
TITO decline OF chivalry. Fcudalism an,
ch.yairy were the outgrowth Of the con
frsioa which resulted in Europe from tn,
.nfonds Of savage Germnnic and Scanda
nuyinn tribes ON the territory OF th'
Roman empire Tho northern tribes ha'
been accustomed To their own form o
semi-patriarchal government ant
naturally continued It after their settle
Snent In central and southern Europe
This was In many respects better adapte'
10 the troubled condition of the time
than the more stable government whicl
Lad preceded II, and the institution q
chivalry or knighthood. furnished abou
the only protection To innocence an,
weakness that then existed. The declin
of chivalry began with the invention q
gunpowdcr. Before the employment q
frcarms mailed knight ON horscbacl
was practically imprcgnablc ~ attack