A CENTURY OF THE TELEGRAPH IN FRANCE. 799 



kilometres of line, 264,980 of wire ; ordinary subterranean lines, 

 1,719 line, 15,168 of wire; long-distance subterranean, 4,524 line, 

 30,237 wire ; submarine, 6,004 line ; private lines, 3,293 line, 6,512 

 wire; railroad telegraphs, 12,588 line, 106,653 wire. At end of 

 1890 the overhead lines alone had in all France covered some 

 115,000 kilometres. 



Telegraphic bureaus in France, about 9,000. They use 12,750 

 Morse instruments, 993 Hughes, 25 Wheatstone, 58 Baudot, 1,155 

 Cadran, 1 Meyer, 951 diverse ; total, 15,932. 



The poste central (as it is locally termed) and the telegraphic 

 service of Paris has an exceptional importance, which is easily 

 explained. Paris, head and heart of France, is, in effect, the cen- 

 ter from whence all radiates and where all converges. It is at the 

 central post of telegraphs of Paris (rue de Grenelle 103) where 

 are managed all the telegraphic dispatches exchanged between 

 Paris and the departments or abroad, as well as a great number 

 of those which the different towns exchange between themselves. 

 The poste central is exclusively a bureau of transmissions; no 

 dispatch is disposed there directly, and it does not distribute any 

 directly. The service is performed by about five hundred men 

 and four hundred women. The approximate daily average of 

 the number of telegrams expedited by the poste central is 36,250, 

 and by all the bureaus of France 67,187. 



One can conceive that a personal staff so numerous must be 

 installed in some vast and specially furnished rooms. Two new 

 halls have been constructed quite recently and opened for busi- 

 ness. Their installation leaves something to be desired ; the light 

 penetrates there badly at night ; they are illuminated by electrici- 

 ty. One of these halls is occupied by the men telegraphists, the 

 other by the lady operators. The 362 apparati of diverse nature in 

 service at the poste central are grouped in each one of these halls, 

 following a methodical order based on the regional classification. 



It is known that the apparati of the system Baudot are the 

 most frequently used in telegraphy. They serve the cities of 

 Marseilles, Havre, Lille, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Lyon, Brest, Caen, 

 Clermont-Ferrand, and Nantes. They permit several employe's to 

 work at two, four, and even at six on the same wire, thanks to 

 the ingenious application of the division of time realized by M. 

 Baudot, engineer of the administration. 



Two brigades share the service with the men, same as with the 

 females, an alternating service which leaves them a little liberty. 

 The employees (mark, the word with two final e's is feminine) 

 while at work are all dressed in black blouses to preserve their 

 dresses from the oil stains liable to result from close contact 

 with the apparatus. They are allowed to do, when their post is 

 free, a little work in crocheting or in tapestry. 



