and its application to Fire Alarms. 59 
The Telegraphic Alarm System, subsequent to 1845, became 
the subject of occasional publication and its adoption was at length 
recommended by Hon. Josiah Quincy, Jr., Mayor of the City of 
Boston, in his official address of January, 1848. At this time 
Mr. Moses G. Farmer, Telegraphic Engineer, of Boston, directed 
his attention to the subject, and contrived his very beautiful sec- 
ondary striking apparatus which will be hereafter described. 
wo models of this instrument were constructed for the City of 
Boston and were found to strike a large bell, with which they 
were connected, with certainty and precision. Sufficient confi- 
dence however, was not then felt in the Electric Telegraph, and 
the experiments were prosecuted no further by the City. In 
March of the present year ( 1851) I submitted to the City Gov- 
ernment of Boston a detailed plan of the Telegraphic System of 
ire Alarms, adapted to the conditions, geographical and other- 
wise, of the City, and accompanied with estimates of the expense 
of construction. In June, this plan was adopted, and an appro- 
ptiation of $10,000 was made to carry it into effect. Mr. M. 
armer Was appointed superintendent, and has contributed largely 
from his own resources to all subsequent adaptations and details 
of arrangement. The System now approaching completion in 
Boston, with the results of experience in its construction, will be 
described and illustrated in the course of the following pages. 
During the present year the towers or belfries, seven in num- 
» Containing the fire bells of the City of New York, have been 
Connected by a Telegraph wire, so that an alarm which had be- 
come known to the watchman in one, might be signalized to all 
the others. The indicating instruments used at these stations 
are of the most simple description, consisting of a small electro- 
Magnet, armature and bell, with a local battery operated by a re- 
relving magnet on the Telegraphic circuit. Accounts have also 
been received of the construction of a Fire Telegraph in Berlin 
by M. Siemens, Lieutenant of Engineers, but whether confined 
