Show COST AND PROFITS OF TELEGRAPHY TEL-EGRAPHY The figures from the official reports re-ports of the Western Union Telegraph Company may help us in our search tor cheap telegraphy The volum of business transacted by the company com-pany has increased from 1867 to 1881 from eix million messages to twenty nine million or almost fivefold If all these messages were sent by the single Morse system the length of wire ought to have increased in something some-thing like the same proportion for it i can not ba imagined that the operators opera-tors have gained very much in skil in that time In 1867 there were 85291 miles of wire In 1880 then were 233584 miles of wife The messages increased nearly fivafold the wires over which they were serf did not increase quite threefold Olearly the Duplex and the Quadru plea have proved cf benefit to eome one In thirteen years the capacity ot all the wires of this company bai doubled What of the price of tele gram In 1867 it is reported at ar average toll of 1047 cents per message In 1868 it i had fallen to 393 cents In 1875 it had comedown come-down to 54 cents or nearly one half Before the creation of the preaenl Western Union the average rate its it-s said was 1 20 per message Al he time of the two tariff cited ic 1848 and 1852 there were a preai number of competing companies and to send a message any great distance dis-tance required the payment of slumber s-lumber of tolls By the cocaohiia ion into one great company one toll i was established to the greet gin of I he company and also to the public Cn 1875 the average price is reported it 54 centia gain of nearly one halt since 1867 The Quadruples was introduced the year belore and in 1878 was in general l use on all the nam lines and the companys plan was doing nearly a fourfold duly Did the price fall in like proportion It does not so appear In 1867 the price of the raw material erial from which sulphuric acid was made was 61 a ton and the selling > rice of the acid was 2 cents per sound Ia 1879 the raw materia vas 23 a ton and the acid li cents per pound The difference in the price of aoid and the coat of material also af It must be remarked was acted by improvements in the process pro-cess of manufacture the gain being laumated at about fifteen per cent Sulphuric acid and the metals zinc > > od copper are the chief costs of a Battery and yet the acid baa fallen t iaau 1867 Irom 2t li cents a pound i aver we need seek no further inn in-n 3 direction for within two years a It1 wonderful step has been taken u finis fittd of boienca The dynamo trio machine driven by steam t > Tf BB replaced the battery and vairdug ta gixd authority reduced > e ixpsasa ot obtaining the required urrsat of electricity at least one iu Is addition to this it ia said rut gm other directions the cost of has been r < ujum ug telegrams r4utlg ivduaed vatain a few years or instance more perfect insulation 03 been secured and better methods CJnatraetion are employed The iaadruplex system acts as a police by to their tr vng the operators up work No man can loiter over his key fUll seven others are watching him The price of wire has also Allen materially and with perhape be exception of poles everything ieed in telegraphy ia much cheaper I now than in 1667 Between 1867 and 1875 the report shows a gain 01 nearly oaehalf Between 1875 and 1880 the average toll is reported to have fallen from 54 cents ta 4S 6 cents or only 104 cents In this time the Quadruples was generally introduced the price of materials continually fell and the battery was replaced by the dynamo machine Suppose that by some mechanical marvel the capacity of the Croton aqueduct had been suddenly quadrupled quad-rupled and without in any wy in cr Ming the size of the pipe Clearly if there were sufficient water in the Croton River the people would gel bur times as much water and the Water Commissioners would be fully unified in reducing the waferrates to onehalf This ia precisely wha the Quadruple bag done for the elegrapb Harpers Magazine |