A NEW TELEGRAPH. 245 



is a modification and combination of the automatic and chemical systems, the 

 transmitting being performed by means of a perforated strip of paper, and 

 the receiving of the message being recorded by the discolouration of chemically 

 prepared paper. The process is entirely mechanical and chemical, the 

 telegraph operator having no direct control over the message, either by 

 sight, sound, or touch. The written message is sent to the operating-room, 

 and given to the person using the perforating machine. This consists of a 

 small key-board, with black and white keys, each marked with a letter or 

 sign, and an ingenious system of levers, operated by the keys, for punching 

 small holes in a ribbon of paper moving past the side of the machine. The 

 machine stands upon a small table, and under it is a treadle for giving 

 motion to the feeding apparatus for supplying the paper to the machine. 

 The operator moves the treadle with his feet, and at the same time touches 

 each key to spell out the message. In a very few seconds the message is 

 imprinted on the ribbon in the form of a double row of small perforations, 

 each group of two holes representing a dash, and each single hole a dot, 

 as in the Morse alphabet. Each letter is separated from the next by a 

 longer dash, and each word by a still longer dash, and each sentence 

 by a dash of indefinite length. This spacing of the letters is performed 

 automatically, the spacing of words and sentences is performed by the 

 operator. The perforated slip containing the message is then sent to 

 the transmitting machine. This consists essentially of a metallic wheel, 

 divided into two sections by means of a thin insulation of hard rubber. 

 One section of the wheel is connected with the positive pole of the 

 battery, and the other section with the negative pole. A pair of fine 

 metallic brushes, both of which are connected directly with the line, are 

 suspended above the wheel, and are arranged so as to press lightly upon the 

 latter, when desired. When resting on the wheel the circuit is closed, and 

 when raised above it the circuit is broken. The perforated strip is, by a 

 simple piece of mechanism, made to pass over the face of this wheel and 

 under the brushes. While the paper is passing, both brushes are raised from 

 the wheel, and slide over the paper, and the circuit is broken. On passing a 

 hole, one of the brushes drops through and closes the circuit for an instant. 

 On passing two or more holes, arranged in a series close together, the brush 

 closes the circuit for a shorter or longer time, according to the number of 

 holes, and as the perforations on the paper are arranged in two rows, 

 alternating from one to the other, the brushes are used alternately, and the 

 polarity of the current is continually changed with every impulse sent over 

 the line. No special skill is required in sending a message, as the operator 

 has only to put the perforated strip in the machine and turn a hand-crank, 

 to cause it to pass rapidly under the brushes, and with a little practice, a 

 young girl can send messages at the rate of one thousand words a minute, 

 with absolute precision. The receiving apparatus consists essentially of a 

 simple piece of mechanism for causing a strip of chemically prepared paper 

 to pass capidly under two small needles that are connected with the line 



