354 BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOURNAL 



open-wire circuits, but that this would be the geographical limit for loaded 

 165 mil circuits without also using repeaters which were not yet practicable 

 on the loaded lines. 



In building up the justification for the development of a "more powerful" 

 telephone repeater, Carty wrote in part: "There is nothing in the nature of 

 the case to discourage us in this line of work, and the art seems to have so 

 many possibilities and the results to be obtained . . . are so far-reaching 

 that the work . . . should be pushed vigorously. If we successfully load 

 the Denver line and thereby accomplish speech between New York and 

 Denver, the development of a successful repeater would enable us to ac- 

 complish speech between San Francisco and New York.'* The achievement 

 of this result would mean universal telephony throughout the United States 

 and its importance is so apparent that no argument is needed to demon- 

 strate it." At this point it is appropriate and permissible to note that New 

 York-Denver transmission was commercially accomplished in 1911, and that 

 just prior to this achievement a vigorous and successful attack was launched 

 on the new repeater problems. Meanwhile, the experimental work con- 

 tinued on the general problem of applying the Shreeve mechanical repeater 

 to loaded lines. 



The "more powerful" telephone repeater which Carty had in mind was a 

 hypothetical inertialess repeater of an entirely new type. In the previous!}^ 

 mentioned Pacific Coast analyses of the problems that must be solved to 

 achieve transcontinental telephony, Jewett had convinced Carty that there 

 was a good chance of obtaining a new and satisfactory type of repeater if 

 research workers trained in the modern electronic physics could be hired 

 and put to work on the problem. In Chapter III of this story, Jewett's 

 personal contribution to the planning of this research program is considered 

 at greater length. 



Other 1909 Happenings 



In general, the year 1909 was marked by accelerating, favorable, progress 

 in the major transmission development and engineering projects previously 

 mentioned. The principal discordant notes in the otherwise harmonious and 

 tuneful concerto were caused by expanding difficulties in learning how to 

 use telephone repeaters effectively on loaded lines. 



A 1909 event that was responsible for starting one of the most unportant 

 engineering projects in the 1910-1915 period occurred on March 4, at the 

 time of the inauguration of President Taft. By wrecking all of the open- 

 wire lines out of Washington, an unusually severe blizzard telephonically 

 and telegraphically isolated the capital from the rest of the country for a 



* By reference to the quotations in Appendix III the reader will see that Carty's en- 

 gineering group also clearly visuaHzed that the repeater would be the open sesame to 

 successful radio telephony. 



