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

RATE OF SIGNALLING. 241
to which the needle telegraph has attained, and of the apt manipulation of the officers in charge. The mail, which leaves
Paris about mid-day, conveys to England dispatches containing the latest news, which are intended to appear in the whole
impression of the morning paper. To this end, it is necessary
that a copy be delivered to the editor in London about three
o'clock, A. M. The dispatches are given to the telegrapher
at Dover soon after the arrival of the boat, which, of course,
depends on the wind and the weather. The officer on duty at
Dover, having first hastily glanced through the manuscript, to
see that all is clear to him and legible, calls London, and commences the transmission. The nature of these dispatches may
be daily seen by reference to the Times. The miscellaneous
character of the intelligence therein contained, and the continual fresh names of persons and places, make them a fair
sample for illustrating the capabilities of the electric telegraph
as it now is. The clerk, who is all alone, placing the paper
before him in a good light, and seated at the instrument, delivers the dispatch, letter by letter, and word by word, to his
correspondent in London; and, although the eye is transferred
rapidly from the manuscript copy to the telegraph instrument,
and both hands are occupied at the latter, he very rarely has
cause to pause in his progress, and as rarely also does he commit an error. And, on account of the extremely limited time
within which the whole operation must be compressed, he is
not able, like the printer, to correct his copy.
At London, there are two clerks on duty, one to read the
signals as they come, and the other to write. They have previously arranged their books and papers; and, as soon as the
signal for preparation is given, the writer sits before his manifold book, and the reader gives him distinctly word for word as
it arrives: meanwhile, a messenger has been dispatched for a
cab, which now waits in readiness. When the dispatch is completed, the clerk who has received it, reads through the manuscript of the other, in order to see that he has not misunderstood him in any word. The hours and minutes of commencing and ending are noted, and the copy being signed, is sent
under official seal to its destination, the manifold facsimile being retained as the office copy, to authenticate verbatim what
has been delivered. This copy and the original meet together
at the chief telegraph office at Tunbridge, early in the day, and
are compared. When the work is over, and the dispatches
have reached their destination, the clerks count over the number of words and the number of minutes, and find the rate per
minute. From twelve to fifteen words per minute has become
16