ANIMALS AND TELEGRAPH WIRES.

Lake County Press, Issue 2115, 26 April 1906, Page 2

ANIMALS AND TELEGRAPH WIRES.

(From "Thu (dene ’') I The world is mow s i uiuiii cm ered ! With I<• I • -tf; rj iph telephone ivttes I Uni( ct vili/ed human beings hardly | :>;j! iv>- I hum. Tiwv run alongside i i>i',-i m tin* highways in Hngi.mii, lain! tin- oft-announced ruimiit; ot an I uii'i- cgcound svslcni so-ms in have I mi inlhe-ncc in III" ii ir«t!i ihi ni reduc- | iii u. Ihf number. Th’Ti’ is good evii < J|-1 H . 11l ISM’S I’.” . Inr supposing thill j* ’ " l l in- animal si mi.l h;is by nn lui’iilis | grown :u ncrust iiliii’ij in llii‘ \\ ir. | which .‘•'.sin” above i lifir h-’iiils. i (i*ss s. I'nr example. has” I si-cn I I :■ i;1111j 111ai ihe roni.’i’ of 1 h<* Ihids jl l -:' 11 im; in :i ssi’ st riirk fashion in ill” ! Aeolian slr.iins which smile the ears as a 1 1itr 1 1 ss - illrl Mows iieross the iron arul copper strands. Minis like the iii('iiiusi wire i’nr a pereh. 11 offers them a (itier view than I he boughs of ll’ivs. svhh’h are understood genera I I.v as being Nature's des lest for Ihe pnrpose, | Curiously enough, a liird will not j smy from the wire : whether it is [silenced lis the Aeolian rivalry, or ssdiet her. mi Ihe other hand, it has come in see I he utilitarianism of the si niel are. and lo feel that son” is ini'imt;rinius. cannot lie explained with onr present knowledge. liees hate the ss’itvs. and I tier*’ are well authenticated cast’s of a thirl; of hees altering their flight to avoid contact wit hj Ihe lines. Hooks show- the greatest partiality which lino hold with the sparrows, iind in some of the older lines where the ss’ires are closer together than is miss- thought to In' ss’ise, nests are built, and the insulation of the lines damaged accordingly. It has been calculated by one of those sUttisiic.il persons ss ho had time for the enterprise, that there is a bird swinging on the lines ear.lt mile of the distance ss’hich when totalled up gives one a total ot some live hundred birds amusing themselves in this fashion bet '.seen London and Kdinburgh. In distant countries there are amusing instances of the use to sshich wild animals put the telegraph wires. \ report has just reached Ping Ia nd giving the details of the ideas of monkeys in respect to telegraphy. These animals are convinced apparently, I lint the wires are put up merely for the purpose of giving them a long trapeze for their performances. | Near Victoria Nyanza. there is a line of three svin-s, along which j t here may be seen hundreds of monikers enjoying themselves to their j hearts' content. The authorities have tried, by shooting them in considerable numbers, to remove this disposition, but the monkeys often run the risk, and travellers often report that they see them in dozens •■-winging Ip, the tails and chuckling in their own chattering fashion with delight. This does not serve to improve the telegraphic service, for in 'he depth oi the forest the monkeys’ tricks often twist the wires, and enrI rents pass from one lo the other, giving a somewhat confusing result j a I Ihe ends’. tiddly enough, il is stated by experts that the earlier ideas of the monkeys as to the pleasures of stealing the wire have passed away. Nowadays it rarely happens (hat wire is stolen. The idea has spread that some kind persons, recognising the needs o| the monkey tribe, have put the wires up in such a secure way merely that the monkeys may have perfect swinging, and the, monkey'- are perfectly loyal to the idea, and refuse to steal the wire, apparently for fids reason. The curiosity of the giraffe is tinother disturbing element. Cows, hero til home, stare up at the lines when music is being emitted ; horses nib themselves against the poles, but giraffe, however, has the advantage of being able to stretch his long neck and to reach (he wires themselves. He has a wonderful regard for the pottery insulators. He reaches up and seizes these not very succulent dainties, and pulls them down, drawing the st rands with them. The arms of wood on which the insulators are placed also allure the giraffe, and when he gets fairly settled at the base of the pole he finds rich amusement for a couple of days dragging down the arms, and pecking at the insulators. The influence this has upon the transmission of messages can be imagined. It is as injurious ns the influence of tiic hippopotamus, which creeps slyly up to the poles, looks cautiously round to see if anyone is watching his performance, and then by a long pull and a strong pull, drags over pole wires, insulators, and all. The comfort is, that usually the hippopotamus gets entangled in his own devices. He is no! a very destcrows animal, even at the best of times ; and when he is wrapped round with some twenty feet of wire—and in some cases with twenty feet of three wires—he finds progression somewhat retarded. In time, no doubt, he will learn that it is as well to leave the wires untouched, but it seems as if ii will lake some years yet before the lesson has gone home. What the denizens of the deep think of (he great sea cables is as much a myslerv as the others. In sonic places the deep cables swing from the ridge of one plateau to the ridge of another, and upon the bight all manner of sea animals disport themselves. One cable which was picked up recent 1 v was literally covered for a mile with all manner of barnacled creatures. They had encrusted one after another on the cable, until that which was onlv half a foot in diameter was to he incasin’- , ed in feel, tlx- cable itself being hidden by the inerustat ions. Of course. | this did but little harm to the traits- i mission of messngvs. except in a few cases where the cable shield was damaged, when, of course, (here was a severance, with all the inter- ( national trouble which this involved. Hats are a similar nuisance in respert to cables hidden under the earth. , \ rat si*ems to think that everything that is enclosed in lead is a . pipe conveying water, and with in- , tent to get at the water he gnaws ( away at Ihe outer covering. Sooner or later t hi' result is disaster to the •(beienev of the cable, and this must be written down a.s one of the di dimities in the wav of underground lelegraphy. (ht the whole, therefore. 1 we see (hat animals have a larger influence tJnui is generally supposed, v Hut what they think of it all is an- >' .ither matter. One would so like to v liae-uss the matter with the monkey, 1 he giraffe, and not least in itnpor- j r iauney with the rat. i v