The Telegraph.

Lake County Press, Issue 49, 10 May 1872, Page 2

The Telegraph.

Sin.—The establishment of a telegraph office in our midst is an advantage of no valuable a nature that any suggestion oai. culated to increase its efficiency and enable if to accomplish its mission with that certain t j-of absolute secresy which is so allimportant will, I am sure, meet with at. tention.

During the late election, Mr Ma-.-assej asserted,—according to the report of the nomination -that "uot only this telegram (one to which he had been referring)" but others, had also l>een disclosed, and become public property." Ido not, however, thiuk that any infringement of the rules ot the Telegraph Department had bean aiud:r by the telegraphists; but I now submit a theory by which it is pos-sibla that any amount of telegraphic correspondetice might become public property. You are well aware that the telegraph offices both here and at. Queenstown are con. structpd of wood (so is a bandbox). As I am not so well acquainted with the arrangement of the Queenstown office, I confine myself in the following remarks to that at the Arrow. The post-office business is carried on in the ssme building and in cl >se proximity to the iele»rapi indicator. The system i f signals is by I certain rapping or clicking, not unlike I hat used by Mr Home's spirits when thej condescend to reply to earthly querists, Although these sounds an- unintelligibleli ordinary mortals, they are trumpet tongued to tho>«- who have had experieiiCt with similar machines. A little attentitf to the sounds (which can be heard ver di-tinctly outside the building, and whict force themselves uj an the ear when attb window applying f< r letters) will, lai assured by an ixpcrienced authority enable such a person to find out the lettM to which the rignais refer ; or even if an; difficulty was expeiienced in proseculiq this study, l.ow easy it would be for hi« if bethought it worth his while, to gi' in a tnes»age prepared for the purpose sd then tiy listening obtain a knowledge i the signals which correspond totheletta used in his message. If this theory I correct—and I am assured by an eipi that it is so—is disclos, s a weak po'M i our telegraph system which would sen to call for immediate attention to the pi sent offices or tluir interior arrangement and thus obviate ihe dangers which Is endeavoring to paint out. Otherw similar charges to those to which I h* already referred m.tj be hurled at ( heads of some of our woitny operate much to their annoyance >nd indignafi Should my theory be incorrect, 1 should giad if some good authority would com me.—l am, &c,

Inmjlati*