TELEGRAPHY AND TELEPHONES

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2222, 28 October 1907, Page 1

TELEGRAPHY AND TELEPHONES

AN IMPORTANT' REPORT. A NEW TYPE WRITING MACHINE. (Special to Times). WELLINGTON, October 20. A lengthy report from Mr J. IC. Logan, superintendent of electric lines, on liis tour in Great Britain, and other countries has boon presented to Parliament. In Britain lie found that the telegraph authorities employed two types of printing instruments, the Hugos and the Baudot with fair success on certain circuits to the Continent. The possibility of the uso in Now Zealand of the Baudot instrument is a question that may bo worthy of consideration later on. Tho Murray printing instrument is in usio between London and Edinburgh but is still in the experimental stago. Tho Departmental adminstration is rapidily placing ail its important telegraph wires under ground, 60 or more wires being made up into one cablo. Where there aro such numbers of wires required as in Britain the cost of placing tho telegraph wires in cables underground will, it is expected, eventually probably not bo any greater than that of overhead wires, cspeciiallly as the routes for polo lines become congested. Pole iincs that aro abandoned for telegraph purposes will still bo used for long telephone trunk circuits. Tho rates for renting telephone wires aro £4 per mile per annum. Some customers pay as much as £4OOO a year for private wires. lir regard to telephone exchanges the head’s appliciances aro used by the Army for comparatively short distances. Tho subject of wireless telegraphy is still a matter for inquiry. In reagrd to telephone exchanges the British switch boards and general equipment represent tho highest development of telephone work known to the best telephone engineers. American practiso has been followed. The central battery station system and metallic circuits are used. There is an enormous telephone business between the largo towns; as an instance Manchester has between 300 and 400 trunk telephone circuits; 35 of these aro to Liverpool, and 10 more circuits were being authorised to meet the demand from increased tratlie. Tho speech over the long trunk circuits, London to Edinburgh, and between Glasgow and Belfast, was found to bo fairly good in its volume, but diminishing ' sensibly with tho length of the lines and affected very considerably where cables were in the circuit. There is excessive delay in getting trunk line connections; the call box system is in vogue, and is very useful. The cheapest call in London is 2d; the system might be used in places in New Zealand with advantage.. There is an experimental department in London, and one practical outcomo of the experiments led to tlio saving in one year to the National Telephone Company of £30,000 by tho adoption of a 91b copper conductor inside of a 161 b copper conductor. It was also determined that in the case of overhead telephone wires very little increased efficiency was experienced by using a wire 6001 b instead of one of 4001 bto the mile. These experiments will of advantage to New Zoalnad. Notwithstanding the efforts to obtain high efficiency complaints continue to be made about the telephone service and the delays in getting the use of trunk wires. On tho Continent Mr. Logan found telephono exchanges in a transition stage. A new and uji-to-datc equipment at Brussels is for tho accommodation of up to 14,000 subscribers. At Berlin there was an automatic exchange arranged for 1000 subscribers, but there aro only 60 actually connected with it. Its working did not create a favorable impression; it would not bo suitable for our New Zealand offices. In Switzerland, subject to inductive disturbances from the high voltage, pole lines which are numerous in New Zealand would bo necessary to keep the telephone lines for long distance working, and tho pole lines remote froni one another. In America there has been immense development since tho Bell Telephone monopoly expired in 1892. Ilio number of telephones in the Bell systom was about 230,000; now there aro between 2 and 3 millions and tho cajiital invested is, about £70,000,000 sterling. The mileage of wire in January 1905 was overhead, 4,671,030 miles.; underground, 1,888, doO miles. Besides the Bell system there were 417 other systems, commercial and mutual, with a capital investment of about £40,000,000 and using 200,000 telephones in connection with 6,608 exchanges. . There is a great demand for telephones in America, indeed one building will now have as many telephones as. ten years ago would bo in use in a considerable town. In telegraphs in America there is one important departure by the Western Union Company, tho largest telegraph organisation in the world—-the adoption of the Barclay printing systom. The results were found to be excellent, and the pompany was introducing Barclay’s . instruments as fast as they could be produced. Tho most sanguine expectations aro entertained of this invention, almost to the extent that it will revolutionise telegraphy. Ail ordinary typewriting girl, not a telegraphist, can prepare the tape for transmission, and the receiving apparatus turn out each message at the rate of 100 words a minute. Mr. Logan recommended (1) an endeavor to get Mr. Barclay's apparatus, and if found up to expectations to extend the use of it to our long lines, more especially our cables; (2) the use of typewriters for receiving messages. In- regard to telephones he makes the following recommendations :—(l) That wherever outnumber of lines exceeds 300 pairs, the cables should be placed under ground; (2) that as the present multiple switch-boards at the principal cities become full they bo replaced by common battery equipment, steps being taken to have the new switch-hoards erected by.the time the old ones have no more room for further subscribers; (3) that metallic circuits be gradually provided at all exchanges, the largest ones -first. . .