CHAPTER XXVII TELEGRAPHING TO PLACES ABROAD Just as the introduction of steam power revolutionised the method of transporting goods from one place to another, so the introduction of telegraphy has revolutionised the method of transacting business between places distant from each other. Prior to the invention of the electric telegraph, all orders and execution of orders, market intelligence, and other commercial matters, were necessarily transmitted by letter; now, wherever a telegraph wire or cable extends, the telegraph is the means of conveying such intelligence. The method of telegraphing from one place to another in the United Kingdom has been already dealt with, and as we are now chiefly concerned with telegraphing to places abroad, we need not further refer to inland telegrams beyond remarking that telegraphic communication was first established throughout the United Kingdom in the year 1846. The great success of the inland telegraphs led to efforts being made to establish telegraphic communication with foreign countries, by means of wires laid under the ocean. The first submarine telegraph was laid from Dover to Calais in 1850, but it worked for one day only. Later efforts, however, were successful, and on the 13th November, 1851, telegraphic communication was established between Paris and London. Afterwards wires, or, as we now call them, cables, were laid between England and other points on the Continental coast, until eventually telegraphic communication was opened up with all parts of the Continent. In 1858 a cable was laid between Valentia (Ireland) and Newfoundland, with a view to establishing telegraphic communication with the United States, but this broke down after a month's working, and it was not until 1866 that the two countries were connected by telegraph. In the meantime a cable had been laid from Suez to Aden and from Aden to Bombay, thus establishing direct telegraphic communication with India. It may be interesting to mention that the first word transmitted through this cable was the word "peace"-probably part of a message signifying that peace had been concluded between North and South America. Afterwards the cable was extended to Australia; and eventually all parts of the civilised world were similarly connected telegraphically with this country. Principal Cable Companies. It will be convenient to mention here some of the principal cables laid from the United Kingdom. It may be mentioned in passing that nearly all the submarine cables are owned by English Companies. France has a cable to New York, Denmark has one across the North Sea from Copenhagen to Edinburgh, Germany has one from Bremen to England, and the United States has two cables across the Atlantic and others to Mexico and South America, but nearly all the other cables belong to English Companies, whose headquarters are in London. The most important Company, that is, the Company owning the greatest length of line, is the Eastern Telegraph Company, whose lines extend from London to Spain, Portugal, Malta, Alexandria, Suez, down the Red Sea to Aden, then across the Indian Ocean to Bombay and overland to Madras, where a fresh cable starts to Penang and Singapore. At Singapore the cable divides, one portion going to China, the other to Java and then on to Port Darwin in the extreme North of Australia, where it is connected with the overland telegraph lines to Adelaide, Melbourne, and other places in Australia, and then on by other cables to Tasmania and New Zealand. At Aden the Eastern Company unites with the South African Telegraph Company, thus connecting the United Kingdom with the East Coast of Africa, Zanzibar, Mozambique, Durban, and the Cape generally. The Company also owns the cable from Cape Town to Mossamedes and Loanda, where a junction is effected with the lines of the West African Company. The next longest telegraph line starting from London is, perhaps, the Indo-European Company's. This is mostly overland. The line runs across the continent to Odessa, then along the North East coast of the Black Sea to Batoum, on to Teheran and Bushire, whence a cable is laid down the Persian Gulf to Bunder Abbas, and on to Karachi, &c. The other principal cables are those starting from Valentia on the West Coast of Ireland to points on the North American coast. Rates for Cabling.-In the British Postal Guide is a list of the rates for telegrams from the United Kingdom to any foreign country. It is not necessary to go through this list, but a few of the rates may be mentioned in order to give a general idea of the cost of telegraphing to places abroad. It should be noted that, whatever be the rate per word, in no case is a lower sum than 10d.. accepted for a telegram (or cablegram) to any foreign country, or for a prepaid reply thereto : The principal rates for telegrams from the United Kingdom are: To France, Holland, Belgium, and Germany ,, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Algeria, and Tunis Per word. 2d. 3d. 31d. 4d. Difference in Time between Countries.-Before dealing with Code Telegraphy there is one other point which must be mentioned in connection with Foreign Telegrams, and that is the difference in time between Great Britain and other countries. If you knew nothing of this matter you would be considerably perplexed in getting to your office some morning at, say, 9 o'clock to find awaiting you a telegram dated say Bombay 12 noon the same day, that is to say, without allowing any time for transmission you would have apparently received the telegram three hours before it had been despatched. This is accounted for by the difference in time between this country and India. This requires a few words of explanation. The sun is popularly said to rise in the east and travel from east to west. As a matter of fact, however, the sun does not "travel" at all. It is a fixed body, as you know. The earth revolves on its axis and successively brings different lengths (or what we might term longitudinal lines) of the earth's surface directly opposite the sun. It is then said to be midday at all the places along that line. When the sun is shining full on Bombay it is 12 o'clock noon. The earth revolves at the rate of 1 degree in every four minutes, and as Bombay is about 73 degrees east of Greenwich it takes 4 hours 51 minutes before Greenwich is placed directly opposite the sun. The difference in time between London and Eastern places is therefore caused by the length of time it takes for the earth to partially revolve so as to place the meridian of Greenwich in the same position relatively to the sun as was the place of origin of the telegram when it was despatched. For the same reason the time at places to the West of Greenwich is later than London, e.g., when it is 12 o'clock noon at Greenwich it is 7.4 a.m. at New York. Places East of Greenwich are said to be so many hours and minutes fast of Greenwich; places west are said to be so much slow of Greenwich. On the following page is a table showing the differences in time between Greenwich and most of the Foreign Capitals and British Possessions, beginning with the places farthest East, and concluding with those farthest West : |