vi AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
July, 1912 
The Right of All 
Railroad service and telephone service have 
no common factors— they cannot be compared, 
but present some striking contrasts. 
Each telephone message requires the right of 
all the way over which it is carried. A circuit 
composed of a pair of wires must be clear 
from end to end, for a single conversation. 
A bird’s-eye view of any railroad track would 
show a procession cf trains, one following the 
other, with intervals cf safety between them. 
The railroad carries passengers in train loads 
by wholesale, in a public conveyance, and the 
service given to each passenger is limited by 
the necessities of the others; while the telephone 
carries messages over wires devoted exclusive- 
ly for the time being to the individual use of 
the subscriber or patron. Even a multi-million- 
aire could not afford the exclusive use of the 
railroad track between New York and Chicago. 
the Way 
But the telephone user has the whole track 
and the right of all the way, so long as he 
desires it. 
It is an easy matter to transport 15,000 
people over a single track between two points 
in twenty-four hours. To transport the voices 
of 15,000 people over a single two- wire 
circuit, allowing three minutes for each talk, 
would take more than thirty days. 
The telephone system cannot put on more 
cars or run extra trains in order to carry more 
people. It must build more telephone tracks— 
string more wires. 
The wonder of telephone development lies 
in the fact that the Bell System is so con- 
structed and equipped that an exciusive right 
of all the way, between near-by or distant 
points, is economically used by over 24,000,000 
people every day. 
AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY 
AND ASSOCIATED COMPANIES 
One Policy 
Sample and 
Circular 
Free 
One System 
Universal Service 
A House Lined with 
Mineral Wool 
as shown in these sections, is Warm in Winter, 
Cool in Summer, and is thoroughly DEAFENED. 
The lining is vermin proof; neither rats, mice, 
nor insects can make their way through or live init. 
MINERAL WOOL checks the spread of fire and 
keeps out dampness. 
VERTICAL SECTION, 
fy CROSS-SECTION THROUGH FLOOR. 
CORRESPONDENCE SOLICITED 
U. S. Mineral Wool Co. 
140 Cedar St.. NEW YORK CITY 
OLD SHEFFIELD PLATE 
RECENT decision of the courts in a 
yX case tried at Belfast should be of in- 
terest to American purchasers of antiques, 
particularly “old Sheffield plate” or “Shef- 
field plate.” 
The prosecutor, acting with the support 
and co-operation of the Cutlers Co., and 
the Sheffield Master Silversmiths’ Asso- 
ciation, brought a series of six summonses 
against a dealer in Belfast, complaining 
that “he did apply to certain articles a 
false trade description, namely, ‘Old Shef- 
field plate’ or ‘Sheffield plated,’ contrary to 
the merchandise act of 1887.” 
The case establishes the point that the 
term ‘old Sheffield plate’ or “Sheffield 
plate” implies vessels made of copper and 
coated with silver by means of fusion. 
This process was the precursor. of electro- 
plating, and died about seventy years ago. 
Very little ware is produced in Sheffield by 
this method to-day. Fine specimens of 
genuine Sheffield plate bring fancy prices, 
and at the trial it was stated that large 
quantities of both the real and counterfeit 
are bought by Americans. 
The articles in question were shown to 
be electroplate on copper by a process pat- 
ented about the year 1853. None of the 
articles were Sheffield plate, Sheffield 
plated, nor old Sheffield plate, and did not 
come from Sheffield. The magistrates 
considered the offenses clearly proven. 
In view of the great interest which col- 
lectors take in old Sheffield plate, it is in- 
teresting to note that so-called reproduc- 
tions of this plate are manufactured in 
Birmingham. These are said to be pro- 
duced in the same manner as the original 
Sheffield plate; and if after manufacture 
the pieces are rubbed down and brought to 
the same apparent age as the old plate, 
even experts, so one has informed me, 
would find it difficult to distinguish them 
from the genuine, although they could al- 
ways distinguish electroplate on copper 
from the ware manufactured by hammer- 
ing or fusing silver upon copper. 
Since the passage of the American tariff 
act of 1909 reproductions that have been 
exported can be recognized by having the 
word “England” on them—U. S. Daily 
Consular and Trade Reports. 
THE AMBER INDUSTRY 
CCORDING to the American Con- 
sul-General in Berlin most of the 
German amber is found in the waters of 
East and West Prussia, and the industry 
is a monopoly of the Prussian State. The 
raw material may be gathered only by 
authorized persons and in accordance 
with regulations prescribed by the Royal 
Amber Works at Konigsberg in Prussia. 
Raw amber in pieces of two inches and 
more is very scarce in Germany and the 
most of it is reserved for the home mar- 
ket. Only occasionally are a few pieces 
of the raw amber sold to foreign concerns. 
Pressed amber, which is also produced 
at the Royal Amber Works, is made by a 
secret process. Small but good pieces of 
amber are melted to about 150 deg. 
Celsius and then molded under very high 
pressure into various forms and plates. 
The plates can be sawed and turned 
and manufactured into different objects. 
Forms in the shape of cigar tubes and 
mouthpieces for pipes, etc., are exported 
in large quantities to the United States. 
The artificial amber, often called ambroid, 
has the appearance of amber, and the un- 
trained can scarcely differentiate between 
them. 
