Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers Volume 14 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1898 Excerpt: ...The time required as well as the cost, far exceeded the original estimates. The $10,000 appropriated at the beginning was spent long before the work was completed, and a further appropriation amounting to nearly $6,000 were found to be necessary. This was caused partly by the extraordinary difficulties encountered, and partly by the extension and improvement of the system beyond the requirements of the original plan. Thus instead of 2o' signal stations, 39 were established. April 2Sth, 1852, was decided upon as the day on which the new method of giving alarms of fire should go into effect. That there was considerable misgiving concerning the reliability of the new system, and which, as the result showed, was not altogether groundless, the following extract from the printed directions issued before the telegraph went into use will abundantly show: "Before giving an alarm be sure that a tire has occurred within "your district; being reasonably certain of that, turn the crank "within the box, say ten times, not too fast, and wait. If the "signal is perfect, you now have registered at the central office "the number of your district, as well as the number of your box. "If the alarm is heard at the central office, the operator there "will indicate the fact to yon as soon as you have ceased, by "striking the number of your district with the small magnet in "your box, twice at least. Should you not hear this, turn the "crank again, more slowly. Should you not then hear the "response, go to another box, and if equally unsuccessful there, "carry the alarm yourself to the central office" That the latter injunction was not unnecessary is evinced by the entry in the Journal of the Central Office, on April ...