glitters the most, with them of course is the best machine ever made. Not long since a President of an important line asked, if we "designed to work the paper guide with one acid?" totally ignorant of the relations of the battery and the adjustible parts of the machine. This very same President would spend a day in hunting for a register a few cents less than may have been asked for a better. He who is so totally ignorant of the worth of a good article, and the worthlessness of a bad one, we know not how to convince him of the merits of anything. We place him in a niche by himself, like "Ephraim of old, joined to his idols," and we let him alone. Let him rejoice in his own folly, and if lured off, yielding to the charms of the tinsel, the evil lies with him who makes the choice. If good judgment prevails not, and a glittering, but worthless, register is chosen to save a few cents, and the line sustains heavy damages thereby, who suffers? Not the President, but the stockholders. MANUFACTURER. WE have omitted to say, elsewhere, that all the machines procured under the Secretary's arrangements are manufactured by J. W. Norton, of New-York, who is also agent for the Secretary, in procuring all materials for the different lines. Orders, when more convenient, can be sent direct to him. Mr. Norton has an extensive machine establishment, and having the most expert mechanics employed, he can and will faithfully comply with the interests of the lines, in all matters intrusted to his care. Art. VI.-ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS OF ENGLAND AND IRELAND. SUBMARINE LINES TO FRANCE, BELGIUM, AND HOLLAND-ENGLAND TO IRELAND IRELAND, CONNECTING WITH STEAMERS— WE now present the readers of the COMPANION with some information relative to the Electric Telegraphs in England, Ireland, and Scotland,-believing that every American telegrapher feels, as we do, an anxiety to know all about the enterprise, regardless of national boundaries. For many months we have sought for the information, and after writing several long letters, relative to the American lines, hoping to receive the like from abroad, we at last addressed a gentleman who gave us, in detail, all the desired information. In order to understand fully the extent of the lines on the islands of Great Britain, the reader must follow our descriptions with a map, and thus he can see to what extent the electric telegraphs have spread over that country. SUBMARINE TELEGRAPHS. There are three submarine cables connecting England with the Continent: 1st. The cable crossing the channel from Dover, England, to Calais, France. 2d. The cable crossing from Dover to Ostend, Belgium; and, 3d. The cable crossing from Harwick, England, to the Hague, in Holland. Lines run direct from London to Dover, and to Harwick, and with a good system, London can write direct to France, Belgium, or Holland, or across those kingdoms to others more distant. There is a submarine cable running from Port Patrick, Scotland, across the Irish channel to Donaghadee, Ireland. There was a cable laid across the Irish Channel from Holyhead to Dublin, but it failed in execution. The cable laid down from Dublin to Holyhead, in 1852, was thus constructed:A copper wire, No. 16, was covered with two coatings of gutta percha. In that part of the cable which was to lie in deep water, the gutta percha covering was merely surrounded by twelve No. 16 galvanized iron wires, forming a thin rope about the size of one's little finger. Near the shore the gutta percha was protected by a covering of six very thick galvanized iron wires. The weight of the rope was about 80 tons, and the length 80 miles. The cable from Dover to Calais was 24 miles, and weight 180 tons. The relative weights are quite different, as well as the strength of the cables, in favor of the Dover. Much of the Irish Channel cable was taken up, but never again put down. It proved a failure at the time. Various reasons were assigned for its non-success, but from what we can learn, it was the fault of construction; and ere it could be corrected it became a victim to the illiterate sailor, who considered it a great prize from the sea, on finding it brought to the surface by the vessel's anchor. We understand the prize, thus found, was carried to distant lands, and was the theme of many conversations. For aught we know, the poor sailors have at this day pieces of it laid away, hoping that sooner or later it may prove a pearl of great price. These reflections remind us of days gone by, when "amid storm and tempest," or in the burning sun, we struggled to span the dashing waters of the inland, and ere we had reached home, a monster boat, with towering chimneys, swept by, carrying away our slender wire, caring not for the toil we had. The sailors would get a piece, divide it among the crew, and now and then gaze with wonder at the tiny thread that was "filled with lightning news," hoping that they might see some of the "sparks" come forth. These fancied hopes were realized, as those of the man who "Writes his name in the sand, when the tide is low, There are at present in England and Ireland FOUR TELE• GRAPH COMPANIES, and we will proceed to give the extent of each one, respectively, that the reader may be fully informed in the premises. I. THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY. This is the earliest and oldest Company in England, and, we presume, the first in Europe. It was established in 1846. It is the largest Company in Great Britain, and possesses a greater extent of wires than all others. The Hon. Lewis Ricardo is the enterprising President, and has invested in the Company many thousands of dollars. Its income exceeds $150,000 per annum. The cheapness of management makes the stock profitable. This line is generally called the "Old Company," owing to its seniority. The principal Board is in London, but there are local boards in different towns to aid in its proper management. Mr. Ricardo is a member of Parliament, and stands as an eminent gentleman of enterprise. The Company has great influence with the public, and largely shares in the confidence of the people. The charges are on the uniform principle, that is, two shillings and sixpence for twenty words, including address and signature, which makes a message about equivalent to the American-of ten words. This is the price for any distance under one hundred miles. If beyond one hun. dred miles, the price is five shillings for the first twenty words, including address and signature, and then one shilling for the delivery of a message. The cost of delivery in America is at the expense of the Company, either by the payment of fixed wages to messengers per month, or a given amount for each message delivered. This Company has purchased many patents, and holds the privilege of using nearly every mode known to the English patent laws; the system used, however, is the Wheatstone Needle indicating instrument. The lines of this Company run along railroads, and by other good routes; some on poles, and some subterranean. The principal offices are kept open all night, and the latest news is vended to the newspapers, but upon what rule we are not informed. The lines of this Company pervade nearly entire England and Scotland, diverging from London to the Continent, to Plymouth, Gloucester, Liverpool, Manchester, Scarborough, Fleetwood, Sunderland, Carlisle, Berwick, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and to some one hundred and fifty towns. This is the most extensive line in the world, as to number of offices, and excels any in America in that respect, though not near as long in extent of wire as many of the lines in America. We will now notice, II. THE SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH COMPANY. This Company laid down the first subterranean and submarine wire, from Dover, England, to Calais, France, across the English Channel, in August, 1850. This cable consisted of one copper wire, simply covered with gutta percha. The covering of the gutta percha was one quarter of an inch thick. The wire remained perfect, however, only a few hours, as the action of the sea, rolling it about on the sharp rocks, at once destroyed the covering, and rendered the wire useless. In September, 1851, another cable was laid across the Channel. This consisted of four copper wires, each incased in gutta percha, and then inclosed in a rope of galvanized iron. The length of the cable was 24 miles. It weighed 180 tons. The electric wires were No. 16 copper, covered with two coatings of gutta percha, making the insulation perfect. These four electric wires, as thus insulated, were bound together with spun yarn and hemp, saturated with tar. This bundle of insulated wires, with its hempen covering, was then surrounded by ten galvanized iron wires, each wire being five-sixteenths of an inch in diameter, all of which made a rope 1 1-8th of an inch in diameter. On the 25th of September, 1851, the war steamer Blazer commenced paying out the cable. During the process of paying it out, many kinks or bends occurred, and the exterior covering every now and then torn off the insulated wires, as the cable passed through the opening made in the vessel. It was thought the elctric wires were left bare, but they proved otherwise. On the 18th of October communication was found to be perfect; and at this period we may date the origin of this Company. A grant was obtained from the French Government in 1849, which gave the Company the exclusive right for ten years of sending electro-telegraphic intelligence between England and certain defined points on the French coast. The same Company procured a charter from the Belgian Government, for a term of fifteen years, for the connection from England to Ostend on the Channel coast. This Company has on its directorate the most overwhelming array of royal personages, consisting of dukes, lords, chevaliers, ambassadors, admirals, and all the distinguishing characteristics of representation of kings, princes, and potentates. For what purpose these royal names are blended in the directorate we cannot divine. Mr. Jacob Brett is the principal engineer, who, with several bankers and merchants of London, mostly own these lines, as joint stockholders. Shares, $25 each. The Company owns no line on land, except from Dover to London, but is laying down wires from London to Liverpool, and has lately opened an office in Birmingham. In order to extend their line into the interior of England, the Company procured a charter, with extended power, under the name of the "European and American Telegraph Company," with the right to connect the principal cities of Great Britain. The name we should judge to be rather a matter of fancy, though the intention to forward news from the Continent to Liverpool is very plausible, and will be of great utility. Messages are now sent from different parts of Europe, by telegraph, to John Hunter, Esq., No. 2 Paradise street, Liverpool, and, being prepared by him, are dispatched by steamer to Halifax, Nova Scotia, or New-York, as per especial instruction. When this line is completed to Liverpool, they rejoice in the hope of writing direct from Liverpool to London, a distance of about 210 miles! and then from London to Paris at another writing, a distance of about 230 miles!! The lines of this Company will all be subterranean and submarine. The system of telegraph used is the "Needle Indicating," and "Brett's Printing Telegraph;" this latter, however, does not in the slightest degree resemble either the Morse or House system of marking or printing telegraphs, as used in America, but is greatly inferior to either of them. III. THE MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY. This Company is generally called the English and Irish Telegraph Company. The head-quarters of this line is in Liverpool, and we presume mostly owned in that city and Manchester. The Company has a line to London, and our correspondent says it "works through from London to Liverpool!" Nearly the entire line is subterranean, and it is rapidly extending the wires to the extreme southwest point of Ireland-the said Company, |