REGENT ADVANCES IN TELEGRAPHY. 71 



where similar products from all regions are gathered, and the practical judgment 

 of the using and consuming public is pronounced, from which there is no appeal. 



The principle in this applies not only to raw products, but in a general sense 

 to manufactures and to industrial products of all kinds in general use. 



In this view of the subject, the method of awards adopted by the Centennial 

 Commission presents the great advantage that it is judicial rather than repre- 

 sentative, and the Commission is perfectly free to select judges from the best 

 sources, regardless of localities. 



The men to seek for are those who, by their ability, education, character, 

 and experience, are fittest for the work, and they will be less difficult to find 

 than to obtain, being generally employed, and frequently connected with large 

 industries, important works, and the higher institutions to which their superior 

 qualifications have led them. 



Freedom to choose our judges from the best sources cannot fail to produce 

 good results if the selection be made upon proper investigation, with suitable 

 care and without favor. 



The announcement of this method of awards has been received in foreign 

 countries, as far as heard from, with expressions of distinct approbation, and 

 there can be no doubt that they will select and bring to us their hundred 

 judges, who will be distinguished by their reliable and solid qualifications, and 

 it is incumbent on us to select a body of men of character, able and expert in 

 their respective callings, and equal in attainments and experience to our foreign 

 cooperatives, with whom our own will be intimately associated. 



I need hardly add that the useful results and success of our Exhibition and 

 the public satisfaction which it should produce, as well as the reputation of this 

 Commission, as practical and sensible men, depend largely on the selection of 

 our judges, and finally upon their organization and work. . . . 



Respectfully submitted, N. M. Beokwith. 



New Toek, October 9. 1S75. 



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RECENT ADVANCES IN TELEGRAPHY. 



By R. EIOKDAN. 







THE improvements in telegraphy, about which the public has lately 

 been learning a good deal through the newspapers, really con- 

 stitute a remarkable element of progress, and are deserving of sepa- 

 rate consideration. With the fire-alarm, domestic, and district tele- 

 graphs in our cities, the reduced rates and increased efficiency of the 

 great lines and the further improvements promised us, it does not 

 seem too much to expect that the telegraph will soon rival the post- 

 office and the press as a bearer and diffuser of intelligence. 



The failure of the English postal telegraph to fulfill the sanguine 

 prophecies of its advocates will hardly be held to militate against 

 this view, when it shall be shown what the nature of these improve- 

 ments is. Prof. Jevons, in a late number of the Fortnightly Review, 

 has indicated the causes of this failure. It was taken for granted by 

 the promoters of the scheme, he asserts, that, as in the case of the 



