PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS, S.T.E. 1874. 207 



earned by the toil and trouble they have volun- 

 tarily bestowed upon it. In numbers, in popularity, 

 in usefulness, the Society of Telegraph Engineers 

 has indeed grown with telegraphic speed. 



When first addressed from the presidential chair, 

 not quite two years ago, the Society consisted of 

 no members. Since that time it has augmented 

 to 500 : including our Postmaster-General ; the 

 Directors-General of the great Telegraphic Ad- 

 ministrations of Great Britain and India ; many of 

 the officers and operators of those systems and of 

 the great Submarine Telegraph Companies ; many 

 scientific men interested in the subject, although 

 not holding official positions in connection with 

 practical telegraphy ; and a list of distinguished 

 names constituting our honorary and foreign 

 members. 



In his inaugural address our first president said, 

 " Let us hope that our joint efforts may lead us 

 in the direction of true scientific and practical 

 advancement ; " and we all know how strenuously 

 and effectively he has himself laboured to promote 

 the harmony of theory and practice, not only in 



