Writing by Wire

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVI, Issue 17, 30 April 1908, Page 15

Writing by Wire

- Is tihe telegraph instrument, with its code of -dots and dashes, doomed' ? One may •well ask the question, after learning about the ' telewriter,' -the* latest scientific marvel, by -which it is possible to write a message which is produced! simultaneously raises away irt facsimile writing. This wonderful machine has already "been brought to) such a state of simplicity and perfection that it is in use in several London offices, and erelong will probably ba used as_largely as the telephone is to-day (says an exchange). As a matter of "fact, the machine consists of a sender v and receiver, with telephone attached-,' «an<T It is connected 1 to the ordinary telephone' line without - interfering in any way with its service. The sendtng portion of the telewriter is a little talsb with a roll of paper, on which the ; message is written' with a pencil connected to two arm-like levers, which control the resistances. As the pencil writes the message, -the receiver of the instrum-rnt at the other end traces the facsimile i n in\. The telephone can fee used - in the ordinary way when wanted, while the simple act of taking up the pencil switches the telewriter into action. ? , The instrument is. useful in a hundred ways where a telephone mdg'fot foe undesirable. For example, messages in- ths sender's .own writing can he senib instantaneously to someone without any third party overhearing, as is' possible in the case of a telephone. A message can be signed, and the signature is " just as - convincing fis if it were the original, while the tirme which should be taken in sending a messenger is saved, . and yet zk record of the message can be- kept. The chance of bogus messages is thus redaced to a minimum. '" : - A remarkable feature of this machine is tEat sketches and designs c(an' _also be sent by wire. As soon as the sender's pencil "is taken "up, the pen on tEe re^ tedder, miles and miles away, comes- out of the ink' atid, mowing' as if by ma^ic, traces exactly what? is written or drawn ,at the 'other end. Amongst o't&er things it is proposed' to use the telewriter for advertising purposes, and- ere long we may expect \o see writing without Hands being done in shop --windows in o: r d rto attract the passers-by.