CELERITY OF MORSELS TELEGRAPH. 



be repeated, and at the same time tears off the erroneous part of 

 the ribbon. This, however, is a circumstance of rare occurrence. 



When a very long dispatch is transmitted, and arrives with 

 greater celerity than that with which an agent can transcribe it, 

 the ribbon may be divided, and two agents put to work at once at 

 its transcription. The reports of congress and public meetings 

 transmitted to the journals, afford examples of this. 



These reports may be, by one operation, transmitted to all the 

 towns upon the same telegraphic line. 



In some cases long dispatches, such as those addressed to the 

 journals, are expedited by two or more instruments on different 

 wires. The dispatch is, in this case, divided into two or more 

 parts, marked 1, 2, 3, or A, B, c, &c., and these parts are simul- 

 taneously transmitted to theif destination, being reunited there 

 after their arrival. This expedient, however, can only be resorted 

 to where there are two or more line wires, which is a rare case in 

 the United States. 



234. If the celerity of transmission of the Morse instrument be 

 compared with that of the English and French telegraphs, it must 

 not be forgotten that the latter require two wires, while the former 

 requires but one. In the transmission and reception of a dispatch 

 both, however, employ the same number of agents. 



There is great discrepancy in the reported estimates of the 

 celerity of transmission of the Morse telegraphs, owing probably 

 to the varying skill of the telegraphists on whose performance 

 such estimates have been based. 



According to Mr. Turnbull, the average celerity of transmission 

 of this telegraph is from 135 to 150 letters per minute. 



In a report made by Mr. O'Reilly, the director of one of the 

 most extensive of the New York Companies, it is stated that the 

 average rate of transmission is from 20 to 23 words per minute. 

 Since it is generally estimated that the average length of tele- 

 graphic words is five letters and a half, this would amount to 110 

 to 127 letters per minute. 



Mr. O'Reilly adds, however, that a " higher rate of transmission 

 could be obtained, but as nearly all operators copy from their 

 instruments, and reduce the messages to ordinary writing as they 

 arrive, the rate of 20 to 23 words is considered rapid enough, as an 

 expert operator can indent his Morse characters faster than most 

 men can write the words they express with a pen or pencil." 



We may perhaps take 150 letters as a fair estimate of the rate 

 of transmission, and it follows therefore that this telegraph is more 

 rapid than the double needle-telegraph in the ratio of about 3 

 to 2, and since the latter employs two wires with their accessories, 

 while the former employs only one, it follows that the transmitting 



