UNDER-GROUND WIRES. 503 



UNDER-GROUND WIRES. 



By Dr. WILLIAM W. JACQUES, 



ELECTRICIAN OF THE AMERICAN BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY. 



THE first telegraph line constructed in this country, from Balti- 

 more to Washington, in 1843, was intended to be laid under- 

 ground, and the first nine miles was so laid. Four copper wires were 

 each wound with cotton, soaked in shellac, and the whole drawn into 

 a lead tube. This tube was laid in a trench by the side of the rail- 

 road. Hardly was the section completed, however, when water found 

 its way into the joints, destroying the insulation, and the conductors 

 failed. They were accordingly replaced by wires strung on poles, and 

 the rest of the line was constructed in this way. 



In England a very similar line was built, along the line of the 

 Great Western Railway, for a distance of thirteen miles out from the 

 city of London. This line failed in exactly the same way as the 

 American lines, and the pipes were dug up and placed on short posts 

 six inches above the ground. They were, however, soon replaced by 

 pole lines. 



At various places on the Continent similar experiments were tried, 

 and everywhere with the same results. Thus it happened that, though 

 the first idea of telegraph engineers the world over was to run electric 

 wires under-ground, they were everywhere obliged to string the wires 

 on poles. In England and on the Continent there has always been a 

 strong desire to have a part, at least, of the electric wires under-ground. 

 In the cities, pole lines have been considered objectionable, because 

 they disfigure the streets. Between cities, under-ground lines have 

 been desired, because of their great safety in case of invasion, great 

 secrecy, and reliability in case of storms. 



The introduction of gutta-percha, in 1846, accordingly gave a new 

 impetus to under-ground construction, and, though it took years of 

 experimenting and millions of dollars, and though system after system 

 failed in England, Germany, and the rest of Europe, there exists to- 

 day a successful and durable system of under-ground telegraph wires 

 connecting together the principal cities of the German Empire, besides 

 many other under-ground lines in various parts of Europe. Many of 

 the European cities have the telegraph lines carried from the center of 

 the city to the outskirts, under-ground ; and, in Paris, not only all of 

 the telegraph lines, but those for electric lights, telephones, and the 

 various other private and municipal lines, are carried in the sewers 

 under the streets of the city. 



It must be remembered, however, that these various systems have 

 cost from ten to twenty times as much as similar overhead lines ; that, 

 for every mile of under-ground wire, there are many miles on poles ; 



