Abstract

The Progress of the Telegraph

A considerable portion of the increased load which the telegraph has recently been called on to carry is no doubt the reflex of the general extraordinary stimulation of business during the last two years or so. But paralleling this abnormal increment attributable to the special conditions of the day, there has been proceeding at a constant ratio of increase a growth of traffic of a more permanent and substantial character. The social use of the telegraph has likewise become more general. Travelers have developed the habit of keeping in touch with their families by night letter, probably because a night letter received at the breakfast table on the morning after it was sent has a freshness lacking in a letter from one to five days old.