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Article THE TELEGRAPHE. ← Page 2 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Telegraphe.
and proportionally broad and thick , with white chalk , or some proper whitening stuff , laid on with a house-painter ' s brush . A garret should also have been obtained near the end of Oxford-road , and iri this garret a telescope should have been placed , ready fixed , and directed towards the above-mentioned board ; by means of which telescope the persons stationed in the garret would have instantly read the numbers upon the board . It-is a well-known factthatwith
, , a reflecting telescope , about one foot or fifteen inches long , it is easy to see the hour exhibited by a church dial situated-at the distance of two or three miles . Having expressed the above idea to the reader , I shall now observe that it is possible to distinguish and clearly read letters and words from a distance of fifteen miles , or more . For that purpose a powerful
telescope should be used , and the white letters on the black board should be very large ; that is to say , those letters which have no tails should be three feet long , and those with tails should-be five or six feet long , being at the same time proportionally broad and thick . The black board mig ht be of a sufficient size to . contain , forty letters in four lines . Now , supposing that seven stations , w'ith such a black ; board ' and
a proper apparatus belonging to each , were placed m the intermediate space between the two extreme stations of Lisle and Paris , thus forming that space into eig ht divisions of fifteen miles , each , it would be possible in half an hour ' s time to communicate from Lisle to Paris , the words , " Conde has surrendered this morning at 6 o ' clock . " I am taking- it here for granted , that the persons placed at the ei ght different stations arevery attentive in-watching-the respective signals ;
as well as expeditious in writing upon the black boards ; and also that the telescopes are kept constantly fixed and properly directed . I mean presently to describe a very expeditious method of placing large white letters on the . black board . ¦ By means of forty letters very concisely used , it is possible to convey a deal of important intelligence in a clear , satisfactory manner ;
but as forty-letters in some few particular instances might not , perhaps , be sufficient , a second successive board might be used , which mig ht be slided over the first , like the scenes at the playhouse , upon which second board the discourse might be farther continued . Care should at the same time be had , not to slide the second board till it appears , by a proper signal exhibited by the people at the opposite station , that they have fully read the letters on the first board .
The following expedient should be used-for preventing the danger of the persons at the different stations being either inaccurate or too slow in forming , the large letters with chalk , ' -or--a-house-painter ' s brush , on the black board : the large letters should be kept ready made beforehand with bright white tin > and the black board should be fitted with small hooks , by means of" which' the large tin letters mig ht be easily and instantly affixed to it . . A" considerable number of-such large tin " . letters might be allowed ^ to -each- station-,- and the-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Telegraphe.
and proportionally broad and thick , with white chalk , or some proper whitening stuff , laid on with a house-painter ' s brush . A garret should also have been obtained near the end of Oxford-road , and iri this garret a telescope should have been placed , ready fixed , and directed towards the above-mentioned board ; by means of which telescope the persons stationed in the garret would have instantly read the numbers upon the board . It-is a well-known factthatwith
, , a reflecting telescope , about one foot or fifteen inches long , it is easy to see the hour exhibited by a church dial situated-at the distance of two or three miles . Having expressed the above idea to the reader , I shall now observe that it is possible to distinguish and clearly read letters and words from a distance of fifteen miles , or more . For that purpose a powerful
telescope should be used , and the white letters on the black board should be very large ; that is to say , those letters which have no tails should be three feet long , and those with tails should-be five or six feet long , being at the same time proportionally broad and thick . The black board mig ht be of a sufficient size to . contain , forty letters in four lines . Now , supposing that seven stations , w'ith such a black ; board ' and
a proper apparatus belonging to each , were placed m the intermediate space between the two extreme stations of Lisle and Paris , thus forming that space into eig ht divisions of fifteen miles , each , it would be possible in half an hour ' s time to communicate from Lisle to Paris , the words , " Conde has surrendered this morning at 6 o ' clock . " I am taking- it here for granted , that the persons placed at the ei ght different stations arevery attentive in-watching-the respective signals ;
as well as expeditious in writing upon the black boards ; and also that the telescopes are kept constantly fixed and properly directed . I mean presently to describe a very expeditious method of placing large white letters on the . black board . ¦ By means of forty letters very concisely used , it is possible to convey a deal of important intelligence in a clear , satisfactory manner ;
but as forty-letters in some few particular instances might not , perhaps , be sufficient , a second successive board might be used , which mig ht be slided over the first , like the scenes at the playhouse , upon which second board the discourse might be farther continued . Care should at the same time be had , not to slide the second board till it appears , by a proper signal exhibited by the people at the opposite station , that they have fully read the letters on the first board .
The following expedient should be used-for preventing the danger of the persons at the different stations being either inaccurate or too slow in forming , the large letters with chalk , ' -or--a-house-painter ' s brush , on the black board : the large letters should be kept ready made beforehand with bright white tin > and the black board should be fitted with small hooks , by means of" which' the large tin letters mig ht be easily and instantly affixed to it . . A" considerable number of-such large tin " . letters might be allowed ^ to -each- station-,- and the-