The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-02-24
GROWTH or THE THE TELEPHONES
BY FREDERIC J. HAsKIN.

i United States are lending their aid
toward the prevention of fires and
the repression of crime. In all cities
they transmit messages free to fire
alarm and police stations. In Chicago
the call for police Is Main Is. and Ii
was used 2,oo6 times in 1903. The
I fire alarm call Main was used 1895
times, American telephone companies
could well initiate a Copenhagen
company which installed phono-
graphs in its central office. Whenever
an irate subscriber abused an operator
over the wire. she simply switched his
voice into the phenegraph. IL he
/ were at fault, he was summoned 10
the Office and asked to listen to him
self talk. As an abuse-repressor II
has proved great success.
Selling time service as a by-pro-
| duct of the business is one OF the
| latest wrinkles in telephones. For
many years the Western Union has
sold standard time service. though III
never has pushed the idea. Now
comes Missouri man with a master
clock in the telephone Office with
which clocks In the homes and offices
of subscribers are connected. Where
| the experiment has been tried 1t has
proved satisfactory. and 1t Is not Inn
/ probable that hustling telephone
4 OupaDbtS tNGts 8hNfD Wall A1SPN Na~
| Idea.
| Telephones are now sometimes at
tached to BARRIERS chairs. A New
Jersey barber installed several In his
shop and his patronage has increased
because of 1t. In this way the busy
man can Keep IN touch with his ONCE
white being shaved or having a hair
eat,-======a
The Germans have a telephone
4 A. - - -
venience. The transmitter and re-
ceiver are made into one piece IN
such a way that when the subscriber
holds the receiver to his ear, the
| transmitter liz in the correct position
/ before his mouth Thus one hand is
always left free and both transmitter
and receiver can be moved as far as
the cord will permit
A Philadelphia inventor has
| brought out fire-hose telephone. 1t
4 consists of a wire connection woven
through the lengths of the hose and
q small portable telephone attached
| to each end of the line of hose. In
this way the firemen may talk with
the chief and get orders even when
the latter is block or more away
from the fire. Whenever the hose
I sections are put together the wire con-
nection is made automatically
Thomas Thorne Baker. In charge of
the photo-telegraphi department of
the London Daily Mail HAS perfected
a new Photographic transmitting de-
| vice. which he calls the telecfrograph
| 1t Is being used between the London
! and Manchester offices of the Mail
especially for the transmission of pic
/ lures from the London Office to the
! Manchester office. where they appear
simultaneously with their publication
/ in London From feur to Ave hours
are saved over the transmission by
mail. 1T takes one hour to transmit
| a picture.
The illustration liz first photograph
ed through a screen ruled like
! checker board, with seventy-five lines
\ each way to the Inch. BY chemical
i treatment the developed plate Is made
to contain little fish-glue dots, one
I dot for each mesh In the screen. As
the needle corresponding to the needle
/ of photograph passes over the plate
| these glue dots alternately make and
t break the circuit, and corresponding
/ impulses are sent out over the wire.
| Al the other end of the line needle
/ acts in the same manner on paper SO
/ gensttized that the little impulses OF
/ electricity make black mark at each
mesh. corresponding in intensity with
1 the degree of the impulses. Conse-
| quentfy. when the reproducing needle
has followed the sending needle
| through all of the little meshes on
| the sending plate. an exact reproduc-
ton of the original, with all its gra-
4 dations of light and shade Is the
/ result. line between London and
Paris is being planned, and will soon
be in operation.
4 The very newest thing in electrical
circles Is Farming by Wireless" At
the recent hobby night of the National
Press Club In Washington, Professor
4 Willis Moore stated that the highly
electrified northwest wind is the
source of Americas remarkable en-
ergy. and In keeping with this Idea,
some English scientists are making
experimental efforts to transfer the
energy OF the atmosphere to products
of the soil. They rugged up an oil
engine and dynamo and covered
some twelve acres of land with Sc
ries OF parallel wire lines rot so high
as telegraph lines. but still high
enough TO be out OF the way of farm
operations Through these wires cleo
tricai currents are sent over the grow
ing crops with remarkable results
s Any one walking below the wires can
feel the effect on the hair OF the
head as of a cobweh on the face. At
dusk just before the power Is cut
!. Off. there liz glow visible wherever
a Leakage of current occurs. The cur
rent Is turned on several hours each
. grown under such stimulation show
that by this means production may be
! Increased by one-half.
TOMORROW:
preventing Mine Disasters"