724 



TENNESSEE. 



another wire with a coil, shown at A, C, E 

 (Fig. 6). This divides the current, one part 

 of which is again subdivided on reaching the 

 earth, and a moiety of it ascending the ground- 

 line at D' counteracts the first weak install- 

 ment of the other. Then, as each turn of the 

 coil, (7, acts the part of the earth on the turn 

 next it, the whole sets up another powerful 

 extra current, which at first forces the full 

 strength of the main current through the re- 

 cording instrument, and ultimately counteracts 

 the accumulated electricity and the second 

 extra current due to the earth. In practice 

 several such lines are used, and magnets, which 

 are preferable, instead of coils. This occa- 

 sions a great loss of electricity, but the sensi- 

 tiveness of the receiving apparatus is such that 

 less than one-fourth of the total strength of 

 the current is sufficient to give a good record. 



The chemical used by Bain in his sensitized 

 paper was ferrocyanide of potassium, which, 

 with the oxide from the iron pen and an extra 

 equivalent of oxygen, forms Prussian blue. 

 The oxygen of the air, it has been found, pro- 

 tracts this action, and thus arises another 

 source of confusion, which is not affected by 

 the device just described. A preferable com- 

 bination, requiring only the protoxide of iron, 

 which is formed immediately by the electricity, 

 is used in the American system. 



One of the most curious of the recent dis- 

 coveries respecting the chemical action of elec- 

 tricity is that of its usefulness, under certain 

 circumstances, as a lubricator. During Mr. 

 Edison's experiments on the automatic tele- 

 graph he perceived that, when using a paper 

 soaked in a certain solution, the pen was apt 

 to slip whenever a discharge occurred. This 

 effect was found to be so marked that a person 

 drawing a strip of metal along the paper 

 leaning rather heavily on it finds his hand 

 obliged to move in a succession of jerks when 

 signals are sent by a current powerful enough 

 to overcome the resistance of his body. On 

 this principle Mr. Edison has constructed a 

 little instrument in which a style is kept pressed 

 against the paper by springs, so as to make a 

 continuous indentation, except when the cur- 

 rent is passing. Its record is, therefore, the 

 reverse of that of a Morse register ; but the 

 " electromotograph," as it is called, differs also 

 from the " Morse " in being the most sensitive 

 recording instrument known. 



TENNESSEE. The Legislature adjourned 

 toward the close of March, after a session of 

 seventy-five days. During this time 143 laws 

 were passed and 77 resolutions adopted. 

 Among the most important results of the legis- 

 lation is the law imposing a tax of one and a 

 half per cent, on the gross earnings of rail- 

 roads, which, it is estimated, will yield an an- 

 nual revenue of from $110,000 to $135,000. 

 A number of amendments to the constitution 

 were proposed, which may be summarized as 

 follows : The Governor, Controller, and Treas- 

 urer, to hold office for four, and Judges of the 



Supreme Court for twelve years ; Judges of the 

 Supreme Court to be reduced to three in num- 

 ber, as under the old constitution, and all 

 judges to be elected by the Legislature, which 

 shall have power to create courts with both 

 common-law and chancery jurisdiction, and to 

 authorize misdemeanors in civil causes to be 

 tried by a jury of less than twelve men ; the 

 Legislature also to have power to pass fence, 

 road, and other local laws, and to make them 

 operative in such counties as choose to adopt 

 them ; the clauses exempting $1,000 worth of 

 property in the hands of each tax-payer, pro- 

 hibiting the State from owning a State bank, 

 prescribing a poll-tax qualification, and pro- 

 hibiting clergymen from serving in the Legis- 

 lature, are stricken out ; provision is made for 

 exempting manufacturing establishments from 

 taxation for a period not exceeding six years ; 

 future Legislatures are authorized to submit 

 constitutional amendments directly to the peo- 

 ple ; and, in reconsidering bills vetoed by the 

 Governor, so to amend them as to obviate his 

 objections. Before becoming a part of the 

 constitution, these amendments must be ap- 



E roved by a two-thirds vote of the next Legis- 

 iture, and then be ratified by the people. 

 A law was passed abolishing the office of 

 Eevenue Collector, which, it is estimated, will 

 save the State $300,000 annually. Provision 

 was made for the establishment of a Bureau 

 of Agriculture, Statistics, and Mines, and for 

 the appointment of a Commissioner of Immi- 

 gration. 



After a protracted contest in the Legisla- 

 ture, ex-President Andrew Johnson was chosen 

 to represent the State in the United States Sen- 

 ate. After the death of Mr. Johnson, Governor 

 Porter appointed David McKendree Key, of 

 Chattanooga, to fill the vacancy in the Senate. 

 Mr. Key was born in Tennessee, January 27, 

 1824, graduated at Hiawassee College in 1850, 

 and soon after began the practice of law in 

 Chattanooga. He was a presidential elector 

 on the Democratic ticket in 1856, and on that 

 headed by Breckenridge in 1860. He served 

 in the Confederate Army as a lieutenant- 

 colonel, was a member of the Tennessee Con- 

 stitutional Convention in 1870, and was Chan- 

 cellor of the Third District from 1870 until his 

 appointment as Senator. He is a Democrat. 



The present State government comprises 

 the following Democrats: Governor, James 

 D. Porter; Secretary of State, Charles K. 

 Gibbs ; Controller, John C. Burch ; Treasurer, 

 William Morrow. The Legislature is com- 

 posed as follows : 



The State is represented in the United States 

 Senate by Senators Henry Cooper (Dem.), 

 whose term will expire March 3, 1877, and 



