TELEGRAPHIC PROGRESS.
(From the Mechanics' Magazine.) In the year 185 1 it is probable that the gross length of all the telegraphic lines in existence did not°exceed 7000 miles. The system, then in its infancy, was not maintamed without extreme cli lleulty and considerable expense. Except on the shortest and most direct routes, failures and interruptions constantly occurred. Both receiving an 1 tra.is.nittin ,£ imt.ru luiils wora impjrfejt •, as a rule, they were deficient in minute matters of detail, and yet the perfection of detail is the essence of success in telegraphic operations. Of the best modes of securing insulation a very general ignorance existed. G-utta percha could be had, but scarcely in the quantities ortlic quality most desirable. Even that which we had, we hardly knew what to do with or how to manage. Obstacles were encountered even m such trilling matters as the formation of post lines, the procuring of insulators, aud the quality of wire. The only matter of wonder is, that those 7000 miles or so wore woriiolas well an las successfully as tlwy were. But a round dozen of years has elapsed since 1851, and ea;;h and all of these years have been marked by progress. In this matter of telegraphic communication by tho aid of electricity t lie world has never retrograded a signal step. There may have been delay, failure, mischance, but nevertheless, we have gone onwards. The importance of the ends to be gained, the advantages to be derived, were too great to permit a moment's hesitation. Electrician has succeeded electrician, each taking iip discovery where his fellow leftoit'. And we thus find that that thing, which flrst had existence in the minds of a few obscure laborers in tha Sell of science, now en^i'OiisiS blii attention, not alone of men or of c mpanies, but of entire nations. Over 160,000 miles of telegraph lines now have existence, and it is not easy to find a corner of the earth from which we may not flash back intelligence to countries divided from us by thousands of miles. But great as this distance is, there is every probability that in a few years it will come to be regarded as comparatively insignificant. In spite of piteous wars and rumors of wars, nations in this matter have acted the batter. part ; and so we fin 1 that tho endeavor to •■■facilitate communication by the establishment of new lines is heartily entered into by every civilized people without exception ; while those which are not civilized either stand by and watch without opposing the operations of thofe who are, or, in tlieiv very ignorance, are content to submit to their dictation, and perhaps aid, and certainly do not hinder, the gradiv-u extension of ..the all-pvevaiin wire. A more glance at the pro ccts for intoi.continental- telegraph" linos entertained at the proaout ;iuomont by tho principal governments is c i6u^h to prova how universal i 3 the interest !eU, how vftet aV%thpnSoh<:mvi! proposed. ■■ Tho eon-
-Straits,-will complete the circuit of the world, has lately been made the subject of earnest discussion in the New York Chamber of, Cotnineroe, and, an the statements then pub forward were elaborately exact, and authentic as anything well can be, we cannot do better p rhaps than select fro.n them the mo3t remarkable fa cts.
It appears that Russia: ha 3 undertaken the con-; struction'of a Una of 60J0 miles from Moscow, to the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Amoor. Of this distance '4ooo miles 'of line from Moscow to Irkutsh, ara in operation. Mr. P. M. Cplliii3. of New York, has obtained a concession from the Emperor of thirty-three years to extend this line to arid a ;r033 Bearing's Straits, and from thence to the frontier of the British possessions, a distance in all, of about 4500 miles. The British Government have granted a similar privilege' for the extension of the line down to the northern frontier of the United States, and a like concession from the American Government- has been laid^ b&fore the Washington Congress. Thus will tha telegraph systems of Europe and Asiiv be ; made one with that of -America. •■•.'■• The Chamber of Commerce unanimously resolved to memorialise^: the President and both the Houses o£ Congress' in favor of the undertaking. .. It ;is stated on- good 'authority that the entire': construction caii be completed in three years. Behring'B Straits are about 39 miles wide, and not more than 150 feet; deep. The entire length of the complete line will be about 16,000 .mi1e5,, and American telegraphists repor.t that during: the : present year, messages have been sent from Boston to San Francisco, a distance of . 3000 miles, in two., minutes. .VW.hetherthis. has', been a strictly exceptional effort or not does not; appear.- The fact of its being so would in no., way. detract "from the value, of the lesson taught. The, American Secretary, -Mr.' Sevvard, in the cdui*se of a report on Mr. "Collins scheme, recently:, laid before a- Committee, of ', the Senate, states that throughout that, gentlemen's' negotiations' , with ■ the Russian' anl, British Governments for leav,e to pass through their. American possessions,. he has b3en ■acting, under the instructions of the American Government, 7 and that : his application to the Congress for a : right of way ajros3 the public lands and tha use of a national vessel is reasonable.; Mr. Steward', proceeds to say that the line which the Russian Government is constructing, or has undertaken to construct, from St. Petersburg to the mouth of the Ainoor, is' but a small part of the stupen I oil's work " which tha Emperor has begun. His Imperial Majesty's design embraces also a telegraphic wire from the : mouth of the Amoor, over the Islands of Sakhalin and Jerro to Jeddo ; also, from the. Amoor,. .along. the banks ol' the Usuri, to Viali Vostok, on the coast of.Tarfcary 1 Viadi Vostok being selected by the .Emperor for'Ilia naval station on the Pacific coa^fc ; also a.wire from the Irkutsk telegraph line, through the vast territory of the Mongols to Pekih ; anl Amai ican citizens in China are soliciting with good prospect of success, permission from the Chinese Government to extend this line to. Nankin, Shanghai,. Amoy, and Canton. The Russian scheme com-' prises a wire from the Main Continental-Russian line at Omsk, near the southern boundary of Asiatic Russia, through Mongolia, China, Turkistm, Bokhara, and Cabool, to meet the telegraphic system of India in the Punjaub, and connect it with Europe ; and also a wire fronvKazan on the main central .Russian line, passing along the shore of the Caspian:" Sea to Ofeht-r-in-, >nJ^ a\ong the banks of the Euphrates to the Persian G-ulf, there to be connected with the telegraphic system of India. It will be see.i from this. that nearly every nation on the surface of the earth will bs pkiced in direct communication, with every .other if the Russian scheme is carried out, save' Australia. Here, however, English enterprise takes the matter up. Already we are in direct communication with Bagdad, and, ere long, it is probable that a line will be fully established between this town and Kurrachee, a distance of 1410 miles._ The Indian Government has consented to subsidise a line from Rangoon to Singapore, a distance of 1090 nautical miles. . In less than two years the Dutch Government will have fully established communication between Singapore . and Bativia, and so, in connection with existing land lines, to ths cast cnl of Java. A glance ad Che map will show that tlio distance to be traversed between Australia and Asia presents no very alarming obstacles ; and we may safely say that the day is not very distant when Melbourne will be in telegraphic communication with London, New York, or St. Petersburg. The establishment of an Atlantic cable between Cape Clear an. l Cape Race is only wanting to complete, at this moment, a telegraphic circuit round the world between 42 degrees and 65 degrees north latitude, and no man living can say how soon this line may be duplicated or tripled.
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Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 70, 9 November 1864, Page 3
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1,341TELEGRAPHIC PROGRESS. Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 70, 9 November 1864, Page 3
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