Quick Telegraphy.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXI, Issue 6202, 24 February 1904, Page 4

Quick Telegraphy.

A NEW ZEALAND INVENTION".

Tlio Wellington correspondent of the "Otrtgo Daily Times" wirea that Mr -I. Gell, who in 1001 was granted loave oi: aV>. aenct< from the local Telegraph Dopartroent to proceed to London to perfect an invention for neoelorating the transmission of telfgruuie, is nguin in Wellington, but will !hhv*< For Ijoudon in a fo-.v days. lie seems t> hhvfl teeu very successful in the invention <f a machine that ia likely to have a world-wide use. Under the old Wheatstone Rystem of quick sen-iingl, boles representinw the dot and dash signals wero punched in a tape and then sent automatically over j thu wires at a high rat«sppoj. 'J'he ptmch iua 1, however, w»s always a slow process. 11 was done by a three-koy perforator, and for 33 yta;s mtiny leading electrical exports Imvh been e 'dfavouring 'o s-übstitute a perforator with tne ordinary type writer by liLnrtl. Mr (3eilhns solved this difficulty with a typo writer looking instrument I'-Jin square l»y Gin high. Instead of type bars, h wev»;r, there is a gaug of eight punchers and interlocking bars. By ingenious me chanic.il contrivances the instrument is so arranged that upon dopressing any key the holes representing that letter are sima! auecu ly cut in the tape, and the tape is niuomatioaDy fed forward the exact length occupied by that letter, so that when successive letters are struck a continuous ribbon of holes is made, and when this is: sent through the transmitter the sentence comes out in telegraphic symbols at the distant station. The saving in time thus effected is as 1 to 4 compared with the present perforator, and anyono who can work a typewriter can perforate the tape. The instruction has been tested at a speed of 72 words a minute, but 50 words a minute is a fair speed for on operator lo maintain, and compared with abouc 20 words a minute by hand, with far les3 expenditure of energy. Again, telegraphists have broken down in "sanding" through what is known as " telegraphic paralysis," and then they not only send very slowly, but not infrequently send faulty signals. With the present invention these operators are made far more efficient than they otherwise could possibly hope to be. Another advantage is that when the wires become interrupted, or when there is a congestion of traffic and only one wire is available, the Bame instrument and the same staff of operators can be need to perforate tape at a high speed of 50 worda a minute instead of the usual average of 15 words. The instrument can be worked either by electricity or compressed air. Mr Gell recommends that a compressed air insulator should be put on to the chief telegraph offices in the colony, to be utilised not only for the perforators, but also for the purpose of distributing messages throughout the building. These tubes could ultimately bo extended to the suburbs, so that messages put in at those stations wouU I reach the instrument room within half a minute of those presented at the counter. There is, says Mr Gell, a further possibility in connection with this invoution —uamely, its npplicatioa to the telephono, so that a merchant may be kept in much closer oonuectioa with a correspor-der-t tliin is at present possible. At protent, difficulties sometime; arise owirgto telephonic error3 and the absence of any record of the conversation. If the Goll oomptaie a])paratus, c. nesting of a perforator, transmitter, and receiver, which occupy le?8 sp.ice than two square fee^, w«i e let out to telephone subscribers at a small annual fee, the business man could iustruot his typowriter to perforate a mes 1 sag- 1 on the perforator, ring up his correspondent in a distant town, acd send tho message through at great speed. If nocossary, it wo-.ild be received afc the other end by the correspondent's typewriter, who would only neo<! a knowledge of the Morse code which is easily acquired, to read it os, and supply a copy to h:s employer. The reply could be seut in the same way, aud the tapes would always be available for evidence of accuracy.