FREE-TRADE HALL, MANCHESTER. 83 



Laplace and others, — he said that it was in 1836 that the practical application 

 of these various discoveries broke on the world. In the patent of Messrs 

 Cook and Wheatstone, which was brought out about that time, they 

 proposed, instead of having the unmanageable number of twenty-four 

 magnets and wires, to have ten magnets and five wires, and one of the 

 original dials connected with that patent was then standing close to him. 

 This arrangement simplified the matter very much, and instruments of 

 that kind were worked along the London and North-Western line, and 

 they were found to work efficiently. 



The number of wires used by Messrs Cook and Wheatstone was soon 

 reduced to one or two, and he believed that there was a difference of opinion 

 at present as to whether one or two wires were the best to use. At present, 

 so far as regarded the needle telegraphs, instead of working with letters they 

 used signals, and by ringing the changes on three or four deflections of the 

 needle they got a sufficient power to communicate any message. The next 

 invention was the dial telegraph. In order to be able to communicate 

 within a reasonable time by the needle telegraph, it was necessary that the 

 person working it should learn the language, and this was a work of time. 

 It was therefore found desirable that unskilled persons should be able to 

 communicate by telegraph, and the invention of the dial instrument 

 enabled them to do this. The letters of the alphabet were placed round 

 the dial; the person working had merely to point the finger to a certain 

 letter, and on the dial at the place to which he was working to, the same 

 letter would be indicated with certainty. By means of the dial telegraph, 

 any merchant who wished could communicate from his counting-house to 

 his country-house, or vice versa, as easily as the most experienced telegraph 

 clerk. Here Mr Grove had a message put into his hands, and he said 

 the following had just been received from the Prince Consort at Balmoral : 



" Has the meeting of the British Association in Manchester been suc- 

 cessful ?" 



The following answer was immediately telegraphed back : 



" His Royal Highness will be pleased to hear that the meeting is a great 

 success. Upwards of 3,000 members ; and everything going off well." 



Both the message and the answer were hailed by the vast audience 

 with cheers. Mr Grove then described the printing telegraph, which trans- 

 mitted communications by dots and lines embossed or printed in ink on 

 paper tape. The telegraph already communicated with the Caucasus and 

 the Sea of Azoff, and by the system of automic relays they could signal to 

 an indefinite distance. With reference to the rate at which electricity 

 travelled, Professor Wheatstone had made some calculations to show that 

 it travelled at upwards of 200,000 miles per second, which was quicker 

 than the velocity of light. It would go round the earth eight times in a 

 second, which was quite quick enough for all practical purposes. (Laughter.) 

 That evening they were in communication with Liverpool, Bristol, Dublin, 

 Glasgow, Aberdeen, Balmoral. Paris, Brussels, St Petersburg, &c. ; and he 

 hoped, before he sat down, to ascertain for the meeting the time of day 



G2 



