NEW TELEGRAGH SYSTEM.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17321, 6 December 1921, Page 6

NEW TELEGRAGH SYSTEM.

FIRST MESSAGE DELIVERED. A number of people who received telegrams yesterday were surprised to find that, instead of the messages being hand-written, they were typed on paper ribbons, which were affixed to the usual forms. In quite a number of cases confusion was caused to the receivers through their not having seen such a form before, and some people appeared to be dubious of accepting the messages as genuine. The new system, which was used in Christchurch yesterday for the first time with the public, is w,hat is known throughout the world as the multiplex tjpewriter printing telegraph system, hut, as certain improvements have recently been effected to it before its installation in the Dominion, it is known here as tho Baudot system, and it incorporates improvement* which were the invention of Mr Donald Murray, a native of New Zealand. The method of operating was explained to a "Press*' reporter yesterday by Mr J. McDerraott, District Telegraph Engineer. At each end of the wire, ho said, were four machines similar to typewriters, the keyboard of which being touched by the operator, caused the message to be automatically printed on paper tape or ribbons at the receiving end of the wire. The tape was then cut into convenient lengths and gummed on to the forms before being handed over for delivery. No record of the message was kept at the telegraph office at which it was received ; this was kept at the office from which the message was sent out, and was made by the operator when he Eressed down the keyboard, a series of oles being thus cut crosswise in the tape, which was then fed into what is called a transmitter. It therefore followed that if a duplicate of a wire was required it must come from the office which sent the wire out. On one wire there were four senders and four receivers operating at the same time, the first four operating the keyboards, and the others the printers. The difference between the ordinary Baudot system and that with the improvements was that with the first each" sender had to despatch a message on an instrument similar to five piano keyß, pressing down the combination of those keys to form each letter whereus the Murray invention provided a keyboard and transmitter which set up the same combinations as were made by the first instrument simply by pressing one key on the typeywriter. This enabled the operator to attain a similar speed to that of a good typist on a typewriter. The Department had ordered what is known as page printers, and when these were brought into use messages would be printed on telegraoh forms in the same way as ordinary typewritten messages. Difficulties of manufacture, chiefly due to the war, had prevented tho delivery of page printers being obtained; so, in order to bring the system into operation and get the advantages and resultant economies, _ Mr Shrimpton, while on his recent visit to Europe, purchased the Boudot printers, which printed the messages on tape in the form in which they wero delivered to the Christchurch public yesterday.