are represented by so few strokes of the pen as are
the telegraph letters by beats of the needle. Take
one of our plainest alphabets as an example; the
Roman Capitals, for instance, and place a few of
them in juxtaposition with the corresponding
telegraph signals:—

A \ E    G ///

B \ F // H

"The simplicity of these symbols is obvious.
Two diagonal and one horizontal line are required
for the Roman A; two diagonal lines for the
telegraph A; one vertical and three horizontal lines
make the Roman E; one diagonal the telegraph
E, and so on; the difference being that all the
world have learned the Roman alphabet, but only
a chosen few have studied the telegraph symbols.
That the latter really are simple and distinctive;
that they are full of meaning and very legible;
that they are applicable to ordinary language, and
good, ay, very good! no one will for a moment
doubt, who has seen the rapidity and accuracy
with which a telegraph officer receives a despatch."

Mr. Walker becomes more graphic as he
warms with his subject:—

"To one who sees a telegraph in operation for
the first time, the effect borders on the marvellous;
setting out of the question the fact that the
needles are caused to move by an individual
perhaps a hundred miles off; the motion of the
needles hither and thither, quicker than the
untrained eye can follow; the want of all apparent
order and rule in their movement; the ringing of
the changes between one and the other, and both;
the quiet manner in which the clerk points his
needle to the letter E, in rapid intervals, implying
that he understands the word; while to the
uninitiated looker-on, all is wonder, and mystery, and
confusion; and the rare occurrence of the clerk
pointing to {image: maltese cross} implying he did not understand;
and, finally, the quiet manner with which the clerk
tells you, very coolly, as the result of his operations,
that 'The very pretty girl with bright blue
eyes and long curls has sailed for Boulogne in the
'Princess Clementine,' now leaving Folkstone
Harbour; and that she is accompanied by the
tall, handsome man, with the dark moustache and
military cloak:' as he tells you this, and says,
'Message and answer, forty words, two rates, at
10s. 6d., one guinea, porterage a shilling—one
pound two,'—if you happen to be the papa of the
pair of blue eyes, you are bewildered, and wish
you were an electric current, and could be sent
after them."

"But to return to the alphabet; and here, by-the-
bye, I should mention that the voltaic current is
put into circulation and the needles deflected by
a right or left motion given by the hand to the
handles on the lower part of the instrument.
Having described the general arrangement of the
code, I need not go through the letters seriatim
but shall describe the arbitrary signals, also
engraved on the face. The symbol like a Maltese cross
{image: maltese cross} which we term 'stop,' is used by the sender at
the end of every word, and by the reader when he
does not understand any particular word. In these
cases it is merely pointed to by a left-hand deflection
of the needle. The letter E is pointed to by
the reader the moment he understands a word.
Two beats to the letter E are used for 'yes.' For
instance, to spell the word HEN, we make the four
following beats:—

The first beat () is made with the right needle, and is H
   "  second    (/)             "             left         "                 E
   "  third        (/)              "            right       "                 N
   "  fourth      ()              "            left         "            {image: maltese cross}

the last beat being the end of the word. If the
correspondent understands, he makes with the left
needle the first of the following deflections; if he
does not, he makes the second:—

             /                        

Some of the letters are engraved smaller than
others, not for any other reason than to pack them
comfortably on the engraved plate; there would
be no room if all were made large.

"Wait and Go on are engraved on the instrument,
and are useful signals. If London calls
Dover at a time when Dover is otherwise occupied,
and unable for the moment to attend, Dover
exchanges signals with London and discovers who
wants him, and he then points the lower end of
his needles to the letter R, or word 'Wait.' When
he is disengaged and ready to take the message,
he calls London, exchanging signals in the usual
way, and points the needles to W, or 'Go on.'"

Before any message is commenced, the
attention of the clerk at the place it is to
be sent to is aroused by the ringing of an
alarum. This is done by sending a current
of the electric fluid along one of the wires,
the other end of which is near a piece of soft
iron. The fluid attracts the iron, the motion
of which releases a spring. This release sets
free some clock-work—an escapement, in fact
—which rings a bell. The wires seen, by an
upward-glancing traveller, along the side of a
railway line, ruling the sky like music-paper,
are not all necessary for messages between
the two termini. One wire would be enough
for communicating messages between Dover
and London, and the chief stations between,
but the more convenient plan is to have
two for the purpose; that is, one for the
messages, and one for the alarum-bell.
When more wires than two are seen, the
additional number are set up for the convenience
of intermediate smaller stations, grouped
together for the purpose, in order that their
electric conversations may not disturb, or be
disturbed by, more urgent communications
between the larger and more important
stations of the railway.

The South-Eastern Line has already its
telegraphic anecdotes and little romances.
Here is one of them—

"On Thursday, the 2nd of October, 1847,
a man named Hutchings was to have been
executed for murder at Maidstone; but just
before the appointed hour, the Government
sent a message by the South-Eastern
Telegraph to stay the execution for two hours.
This was virtually looked on as a reprieve;
and, regarding all the circumstances of the
case, everybody in Maidstone considered that
the man's sentence had been commuted. The
sheriff was busily engaged in examining the