The Argus (48)
The Argus continued with its report of the KellyGang
WALLAN WALLAN PLOUGHING MATCH
[BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH]
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT)
WALLAN, THURSDAY
The ploughing match held to day at Wallan on Mr J Lobb's farm, under the auspices of the Kilmore Agricultural Society, turned out very successful. There were 19 ploughs entered. The prizes were as follows -
CHAMPION CLASS -First M Poppel, second, C Crichton, third R Basset fourth, W M'Kumrie
CLASS A - First, W Maher, second, J Pardey, third, T Foley fourth W Lobb
CLASS B- First, F H Williams, second, J D Basset third, J Cashman, fourth J Laffy
BOYS CLASS - First, T M'Kendrick, second, H Andrew
Best crown and finish in the field, FH Williams
The weather was everything that could be desired. The ground was in good order, and the work was excellent.
Messrs Egan, Gill, M'Lean, and G Robertson were the judges
THE TELEGRAPH ELECTRICAL SOCIETY
At the last monthly meeting of the above society Mr Geo Smibert being in the chair, the business of the evening consisted of a highly interesting paper on "Visual Telegraphy, by Mr K L Murray, telegraph engineer, Victorian Railway department, who treated his subject in a comprehensive and masterly manner, showing that the employment of signal fires, semaphores, and sun flashes was well understood by the ancients so far back as the time of the siege of Troy, the capture of that fated city being telegraphed across the Aegean sea by large beacon fires from hill-top to hill top. The pages of Polybius also show that considerable attention was paid to the art of signalling for military purposes, and many ingenious methods of communicating by torches are described by that historian. In Macaulay's well known lines it is well told how "the red glare from Skiddaw roused the burghers of Carlisle to the approach of the Invincible Armada, showing that during the progress of many centuries there had not been a great deal of improvement in the means of imparting intelligence by visible signs.
However, as soon as modern military science began to demand more accurate, and therefore more complex, methods of telegraphing by sea and land, many valuable systems were introduced, amongst which may be named those of Lord George Murray, Admiral Popham, and the Universal telegraph of Paisley, which is that now adopted by the Admiralty. It consists of an upright post having two semaphore arms, which may be made to assume a position at any angle, and thus will indicate a prearranged alphabet. Leaving aside the electric telegraph, which is of course indispensable to the equipment of a modern army, the heliograph of Mr Henry Mance is certainly the most valuable agent for military signalling purposes. A pair of heliographs having been made to Mr Murrays order for the use of the electrician to the Victorian naval forces, one of these instruments was exhibited by him at the meeting, and its uses fully explained.
The instrument is mounted on a light tripod stand, and is extremely portable. A small round mirror, 4in. in diameter, is placed in position to reflect the sun's rays to the distant spot, and signals are then made by means of a Morse key attached to the mirror, which, of course, is easily adjustable in any direction. Signals can be sent in the ordinary Morse telegraph alphabet at a speed of 15 words per minute to a distance of 40 miles on a bright day. It was with this ingenious and beautiful instrument that signals were sent to the British troops encamped in Ekowe during the late Zulu war. A sighting rod is employed in connexion with the heliograph to show the sending operator that his flashes are going in the required direction, and should he find that, owing to the apparent movement of the sun, the line of the reflected ray is out of the true, he is provided with a means of adjustment by which he can shift the mirror so as to rectify any defect. The homographs exhibited by Mr Murray are the only ones yet manufactured in this colony, and on this account are more than usually interesting. The electricians of the naval forces under him have had a good deal of practice with them lately, and have quite mastered the manipulation of the instrument. Allusion was made by Mr Murray to the well known systems of signalling by flags and lamps, and at the conclusion of his paper he was accorded a special vote of thanks.
The hon secretary of the society then real a communication from Mr HE Cheshire, detailing his adventures at Glenrowan during the fight with the Kelly gang Mr Cheshire volunteered to accompany the police party from Beechworth in search of the gang, and with the assistance of Mr Osborne, the telegraph line repairer-who climbed the telegraph pole at Glenrowan amidst a storm of bullets-succeeded in opening a special office, and communicated direct to Melbourne full particulars of the affair, nearly 100,009 words of press news being telegraphed. Mr Cheshire's experience was justly looked on as a remarkable instance of what may happen to a telegraph operator in Victoria. The sixth annual general meeting of the society will be held on Wednesday, the 4th of August next.
TELEPHONIC EXCHANGES
We announced a few days ago that a telephonic exchange would very shortly be in operation in Melbourne. Space only permitted us to give the briefest possible explanation of the working of a telephone exchange when we made the above announcement, but an institution of this kind is so esrtain to prove not only a great convenience but of positive pecuniary benefit to so large a portion of a busy commercial community like that of Melbourne. that we take an early opportunity of explaining the practical working and commercial advantages of such an exchange.
Everybody, we may presume, knows by this time what a telephone is and how it is used. It is not therefore necessary to say anything about telephones. We will suppose that the head of a manufacturing firm, let us say at Sandridge, is desirous of asking a question of a shipping house in Flinders lane. In order to ask a question 'telephonically,' all he has to do is to turn a small handle attached to the telephonic apparatus in his office-all contained in a small box less than a foot square. This action sets a bell ringing in the central exchange as soon as this occurs the operator at the exchange room at once replies, and this being notified by his own bell ringing to our manufacturer-whom for convenience sake we will call No 23-he says through his telephone to the central operator 'Connect No 27with No 23.' It will of course be understood that 27 is the official number of the person No 23 desires to converse with.
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