The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-08-25
Interesting Figures Given in Bulle-
tin Issued by the Treasury
Department.
THERE ARE 1,750 CABLE LINES.
Four Hundred Million Messages
Are Transmitted Over Land
and Under Water Ev-
erv Year.

18TH 81. ana pennsylvania ave
Washinsto n, Aug. 24.-The submarine and
land ~telesraphs Of the world are discussed
in a bulletin just issued by the Treasury
Department. Some interesting information
is given regarding these te~legraphs, in view
OF the prospective construction Of an
American cable across the Pacific. The re-
port shows that the submarine .elegraphs
of the world number 1,75O. Their aggregate
length is nearly 10000 miles. and their total
cost is estimated at S275, 10000 The num-
Der of messages transmitted over them ex-
ceeds 100000.
All the grand divisions of the earth are
now connected by wires, and from country
to country and island to island the thoughts
of mankind are flashed in an instant. Be
meath all oceans. save the Pacific, the uni
versal language which this system has Gre
ated flows untinterruptedly, and man talks
as face to face with his fellow-man. Dark
est Africa now converses with enlightened
Europe or America and the great events
each morning are known in the evening
throughout the inhabited world. Adding TO
the submarine lines the land Telegraph, by
which these are connected and through
which they bring interior points Ct the
various continents into instantaneous Gem
munication. the total length Of telegraph
lines of the world is 1.1S0,0 boz miles. the
lenBIn OIL their single wires or ~CCQQ1c-0rS
S,soo.oD miles, and the total number OF
messages annually sent over them about
4o.OVo.Vn or an average of more than loo .
00 a day.
No Cable Under Pacific.
In the short half century since the prac-
ticability Of submarine telegraphy was dem
onstrated the electric wires lave invaded
every ocean except the Pacific. Nearly a
score of wires have been laid across the
Atlantic.o of which no less than thirteen now
successfully operate between the United
States and Europe, while three only span
the comparatively short distance between
South America and the African and South
ern European coast lines. Throughout the
Indian Ocean, lines connect the Far East
the Mediterranean. the western coast of
Europe and the great transatlantic lines.
The Mediterranean Is crossed and re-
crossed In its entire length and breadth by
cables and the Gulf of Mexico and the
Caribbean Sea, are traversed by lines.
speaking relations with each other and
with South America, Central America, the
United States and thence with Europe,
Africa, Asia and in fact the whole world.
along the eastern coast Of Asia cable
lines loop from port to port and island to
Eastern Europe via the Russia-Siberian
land lines and forwarding them to Japan,
China Australia, New Zealand, the Straits
Settlements. Hong-Kong and the Philip
pines, and receiving others in return,
South America is skirted with cable lines
along its entire border, ave the extreme
south, where they are brought into con-
munication by land lines. Along the en-
tire coast Of Africa cables loop from place
to place and from colony to colony. stretch
penetrating the interior by and at various
points.