ACROSS COOK STRAIT

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 10901, 16 May 1921, Page 5

ACROSS COOK STRAIT

TELEPHONIC CONNECTION INAUGURATION OF A RIC” STRICTED SERVICE. UTILISING TELEGRAPH WIRES. Business and commercial men have long felt the need for a means of direct telephonic communication between the North and the South Islands. Hitherto urgent business between firm/s on opposite sides of the Cook Strait has had to be transmitted by telegram, but tho Post and Telegraph Department has now provided facilities whereby the telegraphic system may be utilised for direct inter-island telephone conversation. The service, however, will v necessarily be restricted to the slack hours of the day, when the cross-channel cables are not being fully used by the telegraphic operations. Communication will be established bptween Blenheim and Nelson only, as the apparatus is incapable of carrying it further. The department admits that the service will not be an ideal one, but hopes that its installation may be of use and value to commercial houses in the south and north respectively of the North and South IslandsAn interesting test of the new system was made yesterday by a number of representative local gentlemen. The chief telegraphic engineer, Mr E. A. Shrimpton, had a special telephone installed at the Mayor’s room, Town Hall building, from which connection was established by. telephone to the local foxchange, by telegraph wire to Blenheim and thence by telephone again to Nelsori. There were present the Mayor (Mr R. A. Wright, M.P.), Mr J. P. Luke. M.P., Mr M. A. Carr (Wellington Chamber of Commerce), Mr A. L H'”it (Wellington Central Chamber of Commerce), Colonel G. .Mitchell, M.P., and Mr C. M. Luke (Central Progress League), Mr Shrimpand officers of his department, and representatives of tho local Press. MR SHRIMPTON EXPLAINS. “THE BRIDGE ACROSS THE STRAIT.” Mr Shrimpton briefly and simply explained how the "service was worked. The bridge across the strait, he explained, was established by the cable generally used for telegraphic purposes. The telegraphic line was not intended to be used in this manner ; a telephonic cable required to he of entirely different design. To make comparisons between the two a standard had to be fixed. Telegraphic cable, though possessing certain electrical characteristics, was not the standard cable for telephonic use, and when used for that purpose its efficiency was expressed in the number of miles over which communication waa effective. What was technically known as commercial smeech was effective over 35 miles of standard cable. In the particular combination he had set up for experimental purposes that day the transmission equivalent was about 28 or 30 miles. A telephonic cable across the strait would be equal in effectiveness to 10 or 15 miles of standard cable, and would cost about £15,000. STARTLING DEVELOPMENTS. Some startling developments had recently taken place in long-distance and submarine speech by the use of repeaters, olearing a lot of difficulties of the way. As a result, it would be necessary to expend money on a special cable. -The longest submarine telephonic service in the world to-day was between England and Ireland, a distance of about 60 miles. A cable giving telephone communication over 50 males would cost two or three times as much as a land line, which would give excellent rpeech for 500 miles. One frequently heard of long-distance speech in A.meriaa over a distance of 2000 or 3000 miles, and wondered why it was not passible to speak from Auckland to the Bluff. The trouble was the Cook Strait. He had great hopes it would shortly be possible to speak to the South Island without cables: wireless could he used, between Wellington and! Blenheim, and then hy means of repeaters the speech could be extended by land lines. *lt was quite within the bounds of possibility that in the next few years the whole of New Zealand would be in inter-oommu-nioation telephonically. He did not claim that the service they were about to test was a perfect one. As a matter of fact, it would be easier tp speak to Auckland on the ordinary land lino than to Blenheim by telegraph line There was a demand, however, for an inter-island service, as _the telegraph wires were id-'e at night-time, and tipring the week-ends the telegraphic cable was being put to the use he had described. A SudOESSFUL TEST. Connection was then quickly estah. lashed with Blenheim, and the line was later extended to Nelson. The Mayor held some minutes’ conversation with the Mayor of Blenheim (Mr Parker), and three others among those present were able to hear the replies* by means of special receivers which had been installed. The remarks from the other end of the wire were consistently audible, but some voices were pitched too low to be hearth, distinctly. Mo tual congratulations were exchanged between the two speakers upon their success at the recent elections, and the state of the weather was compared. Mr R. MoCallum, M.P., also conversed with Mr “Wright from Blenheim, and then Nelson was switched through, and the voice of Mr W. .Lock, the Mayor, was heard equally distinctly / Remarks were also exchanged by others, present with officials of similar bodies in Blenheim and Nelson. Mr Shrimpton stated that the .service would . probably be available between midnight and 8 a.m. daily, and all day on Sundays. The charges would be Is for three minutes’ conversation between Wellington and Blenheim, with 4d for each additional minute; and 2s 3d for three minutes’ conversation between Wellington and Nelson, with 9d for each additional minute. > '