The telegraph manual: a complete history and description of the semaphoric, electric and magnetic telegraphs of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, ancient and modern.

30 GERMAN AND RUSSIAN SEMAPHORE TELEGRAPHS.
THE GERMAN TELEGRAPH STATION.
While at Frankfort on the Main, Germany, in 1854, I found
a drawing of the ancient semaphore telegraph, used in that
country more than a half century ago. The house or station
was a plain hut, and the mechanism for manipulation very
simple, as will be seen in figure 1. The ropes were drawn by
the hand, moving the regulator B B, and the indicators B c, as
desired. The position of the regulator and the indicators, in
the figure above, forms the letter A. Suppose the indicators
A c were let down so as to hang below B B, the position then
would form the letter E. The different angles assumed by the
regulator and the indicators form letters, as illustrated by the
alphabet given in figure 1. A A is an upright post made permanent in the earth or to the house. The descending cords
move B B and B c separately. The organization of the mechanism, and the mode of manipulation, will be more particularly described in the next chapter, in reference to the Chappe
telegraph.
THE SEMAPHORE TELEGRAPH IN RUSSIA.
It was not until the reign of the great Emperor Nicholas I.,
that Russia organized a complete telegraphic system, which
was executed in the most gigantic style in the principal directions required by the government. From Warsaw to St. Petersburg, to Moscow, and on other routes, the towers and houses
were constructed for permanency and beauty. They were
neatly painted, and the grounds were beautifully ornamented
with trees and flowers. I have seen these stations, situated on
eminences along the routes mentioned, every five or six miles,
and the towers were in height according to the face of the
country, and sufficiently high to overlook the tall pine so common in Russia. The system employed was, like those of all
the other governments of Europe, the Chappe telegraph.
The erection of these towers cost several millions of dollars,
and the expense of maintaining them was very great. The
line from the Austrian or Prussian frontier, through Warsaw to
St. Petersburg, required about 220 stations, and at each of
these stations were some six employes, making an aggregate
of 1,320 men. Besides these, there were managing men at
different localities having charge of the general administration.
That great Emperor Nicholas I.-ever watchful and progressive-at an early day inaugurated the semaphore telegraph
in a manner commensurate with the vastness of his government
and its wants; and, notwithstanding the immense cost that it
had been to the government, as soon as he saw a superior tele