The Developing of Communication 



announcing a military victory in 1794. The message was 

 sent from Lille to Paris, where the Chamber acknowledged 

 the services of the army to the country and this message was 

 sent to the commander and his acknowledgment of the mes- 

 sage returned and received on the same day. Thus mes- 

 sages conveying definite human thought had been communi- 

 cated over this signalling system for a distance of 450 miles 

 in a single day. The success of this achievement led to the 

 establishment of many other similar lines throughout the 

 country. 



The distance between the stations varied with the topog- 

 raphy of the country, but the usual distance was five to six 

 miles and the operators became so expert in the handling of 

 these signals that a message could be sent for a distance of 

 150 miles in three minutes. Other countries took up the 

 system of communication by signalling and established simi- 

 lar lines. At first these lines were used for military mes- 

 sage, but like the first passengers on the railroad, the people 

 began to request their use for commercial purposes. This 

 led to the placing of an additional movable arm on the pole 

 and one arm was used by the government for military and 

 other public messages, while the other was used, for hire, by 

 private individuals for commercial and other uses. The 

 cross-arms and the additional wires of the modern telegraph 

 pole Is an evoluted idea of the extra arm for commercial 

 purposes established on the poles of the signalling systems. 



This system was a great advancement over the earlier 

 systems of signalling, but It failed to meet the demands at 

 all times of the ever-Increasing desire for speedy communi- 

 cation. On a clear day it was a success, but at night and 



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