The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1901-02-07
A pAcE.9RlNrlNc rrLscRAp4.
A Wonderful Device For the Mechanical
Transmission OF Messages.


Transmission OF Messages.
Mr.. Donald Murray, an Australian
inventor. has recently sold to the Post.
al Telegraph Company his patents
for the United States for n new de.
vice FOR the mechanical transmission
of telegraphic messages. 1t is expected
that the system will come into genceal
use within the next few years.
Mr.. Murray's invention consists in
combining recording instrument haY.
ing series of movable character lev.
ers, an electromagnetic perforating in.
strument. and a tape or strip of suit
able material. like paper, which passes
through the paper and recording in
struments In succession. With the
Morse telegraph key, about fifty words
can be transmitted II minute, and us.
ing the Phillips code as many as six
ty-five or seventy words can be sent
n minute. of course. the trouble has
been the physical limitations of the
human operator, and Mr.. Murray does
away with this difficulty by automatic
transmission. by his system mess.
age is produced on narrow paper
ribbon by means of perforations
which correspond with the Morse al.
phabet. A line of circular feeding
holes keep the tape in alignment and
also serve to feed it, The tape is run
through perforating machine man.
ipulated by keys like typewriter
making the necessary transmitting
holes. The tape containing the mess.
age thls indicated is then put into
II Wheatstone transmitter, which Is
driven by n small electric motor,
which is kept running at uniform
rate by an electric vibrator. A re-
ceiving instrument at u second station
records the electrical impulses de.
termined by the perforated tape in the
sending instrument, and on tape sim.
liar to that used at the sending sta
tion. This reproduces the perfora-
tions representing the letters of the
message. The receiving tape is then
put into a most ingenious instrument.
which is connected with an ordinary
typewriter. The tape runs over u
small wheel provided with metal
points, which serve 10 feed the taDc
by the line of feeding perforatioGs.
Five rods press against the tape and
serve to control the type keys. As the
tape passes these points. some of them
slip into the perforations representing
each letter. The points which do not
enter the tape perforations release the
particular key in the typewriter, which
will print the proper letter. The type
writer can be operated by a crank o.
by motor, and the message is clearly
printed on a telegraph blank. the type
bars working at a rate exceeding that
of manual operation. by the new
system a message can be divided be-
tween several operators at the per-
forating machine, and the several
strips of perforated tape are then run
into the WheatstOne transmtter in
their proper order, so that messag,.
of nine hundred words can be trans
mitted over the wire in eight minutes
as against half an hour.
A speed of a hundred and fourteen
3SS miles, has been attained with this
instrument. With Mr.. Murray's sys.
TEN, the tape which has been perfor-
ated at the receiving station can be
put directly on to an attachment ap.
piled to linotype machine. Tho
message contained in the perforated
tape, instead Of being typewriter, can
then be actually converted into type
by means of the linotype mechanism.
News copy transmitted may be type.
written in the newspaper Office by the
automatic machine and this may Lr
then used as guide by the linotype
operator and excislons, corrections, or
additions may be made without inter-
rupting the automatic operation of tl,e
linotype machine, except when the
matter is changed. d.-Scientiic AmcYi.
can.