Part 2

M. Alexander, however, effected one great improvement in substituting a single wire to which one end of all the coils was joined for the several return wires existing in the previous invention of M. Schilling.

At a later period this gentleman undertook a series of experiments with a view to the establishment of a communication by means of a single wire, but some mechanical difficulties appear to have arrested his progress.

In both of these telegraphs, all that was required in addition to the indicating apparatus and conducting wires, was a contrivance by which the connection of the Voltaic batteries could be made with any pair of wires, in the former, and with any single wire and the return conductor in the latter of the two inventions. One pole of the battery being connected to the return or common wire, the other pole of the battery was joined to a plate of metal, or to a trough of mercury, extending beneath all the keys. On depressing any key the wire belonging to it, which was continued to the end over the battery connection, was brought into contact with this bar or trough. The current would then flow along the conducting wire, around the multiplier coil in the distant instrument, and return by the common wire to the Voltaic battery. The keys bore the same letters as the needles to which they were connected, so that the operator communicated any letter by pressing down the corresponding key.

In these two instruments, no use was made of the power which exists of determining the deflection of the needle to either side by merely reversing the connections of the battery.

We have thus traced the history of the telegraph up to the point at which it first assumed the practical form of Cooke and Wheatstone’s inventions, but what had been accomplished remained either unknown, or was known only to a few leading men of science, until the unexpected development of the electric telegraph in the hands of these gentlemen led each one who was in possession of any title to the merit of having believed in and experimented upon the possibility to produce his title, or to have it eagerly put forward by his friends and fellow countrymen.

Although the principal facts necessary to the construction of an electric telegraph had been known ever since 1821, yet it was not until the general establishment of railways that telegraph wires could be safely carried to any great distance.

Moreover, the importance of the invention was by no means understood.

In 1837 the experiments of Cooke and Wheatstone, which had been progressing for more than a twelvemonth, appeared so far successful as to induce them to apply for a patent for their inventions.

The instrument which was brought into use on the Great Western Railway shortly after the date of the patent, contained five needles, arranged with their axis in a horizontal line. The needles when at rest hung vertically, by reason of a slight preponderence given to the lower ends, each coil was connected with one of the long conducting wires at one end, and was united at the other, with a rod of metal, which joined together the similar ends of all the coils.

The current was transmitted from the opposite end of the wires where a set of five pair of finger keys for making the connections with the battery was placed through two of the wires at once, that is to say, of the wire of which one key was pressed down, served to convey the current from one pole of the battery to the distant instrument, while the key of a second wire being brought into contact with the other pole, the current returned by the rod of metal connecting the coils, and the second wire to the battery again.

Two needles were in this manner deflected at once, and it will be obvious, that the current would pass in opposite directions around their coils, and, consequently, that the deflection must be in contrary directions. The needles would, therefore, converge either above or below their line of centre as one or other of the pair of keys belonging to each wire was depressed, fixed stops were so placed on each side of the needles, as to limit their motion and when resting against them the needles were parallel to two converging lines, at the point of intersection of movement of the needles.

In a similar manner as lines were drawn diverging from the centre of each axis mutually crossing one another, a number of points of intersection were formed at each of which was a letter or signal. Any of these letters could be indicated by the simultaneous movement of two needles, so that a communication could be carried on with certainty and tolerable rapidity, at the same time a plan was recognized by which the number of wires requisite for maintaining a communication might be reduced by using one of them at times as a return wire only, there being no needle in connection with this one.

One needle could, by the use of this wire, be deflected by itself, either to the right, or to the left, and thus, of course, each would furnish two signals in addition to those formed by its simultaneous deflection by any other. The instruments at the two stations were always rendered reciprocating; that is, at each end of the line were placed at each instrument a set of finger keys and a Voltaic battery, so that either station could transmit, or receive a signal by an ingenious arrangement. The keys on being released after depression, were made to resume by themselves the position necessary to enable that which had been the signalling station to become the recipient; by this means messages and answers or words and their acknowledgment could follow one another without the necessity for any intervening adjustment of the instruments.

The bell or alarum which was to be rung, when the attention of the clerk at the distant end was required, was either direct or indirect in its action.

In the first case, the attraction exercised by a horseshoe-shaped piece of soft iron, rendered temporarily magnetic by the galvanic current, was made to draw an armature likewise of soft iron towards it, and by this action impel a small hammer against a bell.

In the second form of alarum the movement of the armature merely released a detent or catch from a train of clock work driven by a spring or weight. This clock work by the intervention of a scape wheel and pallets rang the bell as in a common alarum.

In April, 1838, Mr. Cooke obtained a patent for some further improvements in this apparatus.

The electric telegraph invented by Prof. Morse, of the United States, has led to a large amount of controversy, a claim having been put in for him as the first actual invention of a practical electric telegraph in 1832, while on board the packetship “Sully.”

The Abbe Moigne states that a Mr. Jackson wrote to the Academie Française, affirming that he had in 1832 communicated the plan to Mr. Morse while returning together from Europe to America on board the “Sully.”

Even admitting, however, the claim of either party, it would only show that they did not think sufficiently well of their scheme to enter upon it until nearly three months after the first English patent for an electric telegraph had been sealed and the practicability of such an apparatus had been demonstrated in England.

The first really official letter on the subject from Prof. Morse is dated September 27, 1837.

Cooke and Wheatstone’s first patent for an electric telegraph was sealed three months before this, namely, on June 12, 1837.

The difference between this telegraph and the preceding, in suggestions and contrivances, was very great. The experiments of these gentlemen had been proceeding for a long time previously, so that when in June, 1837, their patent was obtained, it was not for an arrangement of doubtful practicability, or of a form to be perfected only after repeated trial; on the contrary, it was within a few months after the date of the patent put up and brought into actual and daily use.

Some of its details have since been simplified, and the modes in which the electric needles are made to give the required indications have been greatly varied, but the great features and principles of their first invention remain unchanged, and not only so, but they form an essential part of nearly, if not quite all, the later telegraphs of other inventors.

The invention of an electric telegraph should have attracted the immediate attention of railway managers, one would naturally suppose; on the contrary, railway directors looked upon it as a new-fangled invention, and the public was not yet alive to its innumerable advantages. One fact, however, must be insisted on and is now a matter of history--that to England belongs the honor of this great invention; that in the year 1837, a needle telegraph had been invented so complete, and at the same time so simple in its operations, that it could be worked by any one who knew how to read; that in June of that year the patent for this telegraph had been sealed, and a month later the wires were laid down between Euston Square and Camdentown Stations of the North Western Railway, a distance of a mile and a quarter, and that on the 25th of July messages were actually sent between these two stations, Prof. Wheatstone being in the Euston Square Station, and Mr. Cooke being in that at Camdentown, the witnesses being the engineers, Messrs. Fox and Stephenson.

Now, it is quite true that Arago claimed before the French Academy of Sciences for Mr. Steinheil the precedence in this matter, inasmuch as he had his telegraph in operation on the 19th of July, 1837; but it must be remembered that Wheatstone’s patent was taken out in June of that year, and was publicly shown on numerous previous experiments, all of which were successful, whereas Mr. Steinheil published no description of his instrument until August, 1838, and it is admitted that in the interval he had altered and amended his instrument and soon after abandoned it for a modification of one by Morse.

In September, 1837, he exhibited an imperfect instrument, although he afterwards succeeded in producing one of first rate excellence, which is still largely used in the United States.

Cooke and Wheatstone received notice to quit the London and Birmingham line, but Mr. Brunel gave them permission, in 1839, to lay it down on the Great Western Railway. This was first done as far as West Drayton, 13 miles, and afterwards extended to Slough, 18 miles, the wires in both of these preliminary trials being enclosed in iron tubes laid on the ground.

On proposing to extend this line to Bristol much opposition was offered by the directors, and the telegraph again had notice to quit, but on the proposal of Mr. Cooke to retain the wires at his own expense, he was permitted to do so on condition of transmitting the Railway signals free of charge, and of extending the line to Slough. In return for this favor, he was allowed to transmit messages for the public, which was accordingly done, one shilling being charged for a message, but the public did not avail themselves of the new instrument, and its value was scarcely appreciated until the 3rd of January, 1845, when it was used to convey a message to London police, directing them to arrest one Towell, on a charge of murder. The message flashed past the criminal while he was travelling express to escape the consequence of his crime.

By the end of 1845 upwards of 500 miles of line were in operation in England.

In 1846 the Electric Telegraph Company commenced its operations with a considerable capital, a large portion of which was expended in the purchase of Wheatstone and Cooke’s patents, and the system which they had introduced became rapidly extended.

In due time other telegraph companies were competing with the original company, namely, the Electric & International Telegraph Company, and the London & Provincial Telegraph Co. The system spread over Europe and soon no railway was deemed complete without its telegraph wires.

On the 5th of February, 1870, the Monopoly conferred upon the postmaster general, by the telegraph act of the previous year, took effect when the Post-Office assumed control of telegraph communication within the United Kingdom, and it then became possible to send telegrams throughout the country at a uniform charge irrespective of locality or distance.

The purchase money paid to the telegraph companies, compensation to railway companies for their interest in the telegraph business and the expense of new lines amounted to upwards of ten millions sterling.

On the day of the transfer a thousand post-offices and nineteen hundred railway stations were opened as telegraph offices. The public at once showed their appreciation of the change.

In the year 1869 but seven millions of telegrams passed on the companies wires; in 1870 the postmaster general transmitted ten millions.

In 1885 the sixpenny telegrams were introduced. The charge for a written telegram, which came into force in 1870, was one shilling for the first twenty words, and threepence for every additional five words, the addresses of sender and receiver being sent free.

In 1885 the charge was reduced to a half-penny a word throughout including addresses (a system of abbreviated addresses, which could be registered on payment of a guinea a year, was introduced), with a minimum charge of sixpence; the effect of this reduction was to run the number of telegrams in two years from thirty-three to fifty millions.

During the first six months the number of telegrams increased by 48 per cent., while the gross telegraph revenue fell off to the extent of £40,233 though £18,124 had been received in respect to abbreviated addresses.

In April, 1886, the telegrams in excess of 1885 amounted to 40 per cent., but the revenue was £11,800 less. In May the increase in telegrams was 51 per cent. and the revenue £4,100 less than the previous May.

In June the increase was 61 per cent. and the revenue £2,800 less. The working expenses were thus increased, while the receipts were diminished. In London alone the receipts fell off by as much as 74 per cent. The principal reasons for the unfavorable financial results of the working of the telegraph are: the large price £10,130,000 expended as purchase money, an argument of little weight so long as working expenses are not paid; the right accorded to railway companies at the time of the transfer of sending postal telegrams free of all charge. The number of these telegrams, at first insignificant, reached a total of 1,600,000 in 1891, with an average length of 25 words, representing a value of £80,000 a year. Arrangements were afterwards made under which the companies would surrender this privilege in return for permission to send a fixed number of free telegrams in the course of the year.

The loss on press telegrams, to quote the forty-first report of the postmaster general: “A still more serious burden is caused by the loss on press telegrams.”

The charge specified in the Telegraph Act of 1868 for press telegrams is one shilling for 75 words during the day, or one hundred words at night, but a proviso was added that for copies only 2_d_ per 75 words in the day or 100 at night, and no condition was laid down as to the copy being for the same town as the original; the newspaper, accordingly, combined to receive from the news associations messages in identical terms, and by dividing the cost they are enabled to get the benefit of a rate which comes nearer 2_d_ than a shilling, the average charge being in fact about four pence half-penny per 100 words.

Notwithstanding the economical arrangements which have been made for the transmission of press telegrams, 5,400,000 in number containing 650,000,000 words, the loss incurred by the Post-Office in dealing with them is estimated to amount to £300,000 per annum.

The reductions in the tariff, especially in 1885 and 1897, and the competition of the telephone (upwards of 450,000,000 messages a year, transmitted by the National Telephone Company alone), though it must be remembered that the Royalties of the companies exceeded £100,000 per annum, which figure among the receipts of the Post-Office telegraph service. The increased wages paid to telegraphists in 1880 and 1881, the wages and salaries represented 44 per cent. of the total revenue; they now exceed 66 per cent. The real success of the state administration of the telegraph lies not in any contribution to the revenue, but in cheap telegrams and a large use of the service.

The average price of the ordinary inland telegram is sevenpence, three farthings, and there are more telegrams sent in the United Kingdom, both positively and relatively than in any other country, with the possible exception of the United States.

For every 100 persons there are sent in the United Kingdom 184 telegrams, while in France there are but 108 and in Germany 66.

In 1901 the gross revenue was £3,380,589. The pay of a telegraphist in London rises to £160 a year, with the prospect of promotion to higher positions.

The number of telegrams transmitted in 1900-1 was 89,576,000.

In small towns and villages where the traffic is light, and a skilled telegraphist is unnecessary, the Wheatstone A. B. C. instrument is used; in this apparatus electric currents are generated by turning a handle (placed in front of the instrument) which is geared to a Siemens shuttle armature placed between the two arms of a powerful horseshoe magnet; when one of a series of keys (each corresponding to a letter), arranged around a pointer, is depressed, motion of the pointer which is geared to the shuttle armature is arrested on coming opposite that particular key and the transmission of the currents to line is stopped, though the armature itself can continue to rotate. The depression of a second key causes the first key to be raised, the currents actuate a ratchet wheel mechanism at the receiving station, whereby the hand on a small dial is moved on letter by letter.

At offices where the work is heavier than can be dealt with by the A.B.C. apparatus, the single needle instrument is very largely used.

It has the advantage of slight liability to derangement and of requiring very little adjustment. A fairly skilled operator can signal with it at the rate of twenty words a minute.

The needle (in the modern pattern) is of soft iron and is kept magnetized inductively by the action of two permanent steel magnets. The coils are wound with copper wire (covered with silk) to a total resistance of 200 ohms. The actual current required to work the instrument is 3-3 milliampères equivalent approximately to the current given by one Daniel cell through 3,300 ohms, but in practice a current of 10 milliampères is allowed.

A single but important addition to enable the reading from the instrument to be effected by sound, in this arrangement the needle strikes against small tubes formed of tin plate and by this means the movement of the needle to the right or left is quite audible.

The Wheatstone automatic apparatus is largely used, especially for press matter; through it a speed of 600 letters per minute can be obtained.

In the Rowland multiple method, the transmitter consists of a mechanical key board, provided with a series of levers which effect certain combinations of positive and negative currents for each letter: these currents are furnished by an alternator, which transmits sine currents over the line, both machines running in synchronism.

At the receiving end of the circuit a shaft is coupled to the motor; this is provided with gearing which rotates four combining commutators and four type wheels, which print the letters on the band of paper. There are four transmitters and four receivers, which are operated independently by means of an adaptation of the multiplex system of working, and each circuit is provided with a number of segments set apart for its own use. Each transmitter is, therefore, able to transmit a separate series of positive and negative currents in different combinations; these are distributed by suitably arranged distributors and relays at the receiving end of the line into their respective receivers. The function of the “combiner” in each receiving instrument is to group the received combinations of positive and negative currents that they operate polarized relays in such a manner that the position of the tongues corresponds with the operation of the levers in the transmitter, since each letter is represented by a specific combination of positive and negative currents.

It is possible by means of the combinations to close a local circuit at any given interval and so cause the paper to be pressed against the periphery of the type wheel at the time when the letter required is opposite.

The paper is also caused to advance automatically for each letter, start a first line, and also to commence a fresh form at the completion of each message.

The Delaney Multiples System, which has been adopted to a limited extent in Great Britain, enables a large amount of work to be done on one wire.

Between London and Manchester four sets of the apparatus can be worked, but between London and Birmingham, a shorter distance, six sets (the maximum for which the system is adopted) may be used.

_Sir William Fothergill Cooke_,

1806-1879.

Son of William Cooke, M.D., Durham, was born at Ealing, Middlesex, and having received his education at Durham, was appointed in 1826 to the East Indian army, in which he held various staff appointments till 1831.

On his return home he devoted his time to the study of anatomy and physiology at Paris and Heidleberg and to modelling anatomical dissections for the illustration of his father’s lectures at Durham University.

In March, 1836, he began to direct his attention to the electric telegraph, with which he occupied himself exclusively for many years.

He entered into partnership with Prof. Wheatstone, and formed in conjunction with Mr. Ricardo, M.P., the first telegraph company of which he became a director.

The first telegraph line in England was constructed by Mr. Cooke, from Paddington to West Drayton, on the Great Western Railway in 1837.

In 1840 he established the telegraph on the Blackwall Railway, and in 1841 a short line from the Queen Street station, at Glasgow, through the tunnel to the engine house at Cowlairs on the railway to Edinburgh.

In 1842 the line from West Drayton was continued to Slough, and in 1843 two short lines were made in Ireland and in England, one of considerable length from London to Portsmouth for Government.

In 1867 he received the fourth Royal Albert medal, his name being preceded by Faraday’s, for the first introduction of a practical electric telegraph.

Her Majesty conferred on him the honor of Knighthood, November 11, 1869, as a recognition of his great and special services in connection with the electric telegraph, and on July 25, 1871, conferred on him a civil pension of £100.

_Sir Charles Wheatstone, F.R.S., D.C.L., LL.D._

1802-1875

Who, together with Sir W. F. Cooke, introduced and carried out practical electric telegraphy, was the son of Mr. Wheatstone, of Gloucester, at which place he was born.

He was educated at a private school and brought up to the business of making musical instruments, which turned his attention to acoustics.

He published his first work in 1823, “New Experiments in Sound,” and having studied Young’s theory of light, the results of his investigations were communicated to the Royal Society through Faraday, in 1833.

In the following year he was appointed Professor of Experimental Philosophy, at King’s College, London.

He was made F. R. S. in 1836, and two years later described the stereoscope, which he had invented, in a paper which he read before the Society.

Mr. Cooke (later Sir W. F. Cooke), was introduced to Professor Wheatstone, and they decided to unite their efforts to introduce the use of the telegraph on a large scale in England.