Now it happens, fortunately for the Cable Company, that the present volume of business is considerably less than the capacity of their cables; so that the increase of that business has been attended with but a very slight additional expense, the cost to operate being the same at offices open day and night, whether operators are occupied all or only a part of the time. But suppose, for illustration, that the limit of the capacities of the cables will be reached when the average number of messages per day is 250. To undertake to transmit any number beyond this without further facilities would result in crowding and confusing the business to an extent which would inevitably produce dissatisfaction. On the other hand, to provide an additional cable would cost a sum of money which it might be exceedingly difficult to raise. It seems proper, therefore, that the profits from this business should always be considerably more than enough to yield a proper return for the capital invested, so that greater facilities may be provided out of surplus profits; and, as facilities are increased, rates may be gradually reduced, until, by judiciously pursuing this course, the charges for telegraphing may be materially diminished, without endangering the revenues to which owners of telegraph property are justly entitled.
| Statistics of Traffic through the Atlantic Cables from July 28, 1866, to November 1, 1868. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Messages per Month. | Daily Average No. of Messages. | Gross Amount of Receipts accruing to the Two Atlantic Cables, between Valentia and Heart’s Content. | Average Amount per Day. | ||
| 1,104 } | 29 | From July 28th to 31st Aug., | 1866, under £20 Tariff | [[25]]£500 } | £505 |
| 837 } | From Sept. 1st to 30th | 1866, under £20 Tariff | 456 } | ||
| 831 } | From Oct. 1st to 31st | 1866, under £20 Tariff | 491 } | ||
| 1,530 } | 64 | From Nov. 1st to 30th | 1866, under £10 Tariff | [[26]]502 } | £579 |
| 1,582 } | From Dec. 1st to 31st | 1866, under £10 Tariff | 493 } | ||
| 1,686 } | From Jan. 1st to 31st | 1867, under £10 Tariff | 466 } | ||
| 1,764 } | From Feb. 1st to 28th | 1867, under £10 Tariff | 549 } | ||
| 2,147 } | From March 1st to 31st | 1867, under £10 Tariff | 666 } | ||
| 2,624 } | From April 1st to 30th | 1867, under £10 Tariff | 722 } | ||
| 2,262 } | From May 1st to 31st | 1867, under £10 Tariff | 705 } | ||
| 1,843 } | From June 1st to 30th | 1867, under £10 Tariff | 597 } | ||
| 1,432 } | From July 1st to 27th | 1867, under £10 Tariff | 542 } | ||
| 1,693 } | From July 18th to 31st Aug., | 1867, under £10 Tariff | 401 } | ||
| 1,860 } | From Sept. 1st to 30th | 1867, under £10 Tariff | 515 } | ||
| 2,505 } | From Oct. 1st to 31st | 1867, under £10 Tariff | [[27]]715 } | ||
| 2,292 } | From Nov. 1st to 30th | 1867, under £10 Tariff | [[27]]661 } | ||
| 3,901 } | 131 | From Dec. 1st to 31st | 1867, under £5.5 Tariff | [[27]]732 } | £635 |
| 4,739 } | From Jan. 1st to 31st | 1868, under £5.5 Tariff | [[27]]756 } | ||
| 5,128 } | From Feb. 1st to 29th | 1868, under £5.5 Tariff | [[27]]860 } | ||
| 4,507 } | From March 1st to 31st | 1868, under £5.5 Tariff | [[27]]707 } | ||
| 4,320 } | From April 1st to 30th | 1868, under £5.5 Tariff | [[27]]718 } | ||
| 3,538 } | From May 1st to 31st | 1868, under £5.5 Tariff | 550 } | ||
| 2,884 } | From June 1st to 30th | 1868, under £5.5 Tariff | 447 } | ||
| 3,217 } | From July 1st to 31st | 1868, under £5.5 Tariff | 490 } | ||
| 3,740 } | From Aug. 1st to 31st | 1868, under £5.5 Tariff | 558 } | ||
| 5,053 } | 201 | From Sept. 1st to 30th | 1868, under £3.7.6. Tariff | 501 } | £596 |
| 6,341 } | From Oct. 1st to 31st | 1868, under £3.7.6. Tariff | 615 } | ||
| 6,877 } | From Nov. 1st to 30th | 1868, under £3.7.6. Tariff | 670 } | ||
[25]. During this month over £100 per day were paid by the New York Herald for news reports, and many persons sent messages as a novelty.
[26]. During this month the despatches sent by the United States government averaged over £100 per day.
[27]. During these months there was extraordinary excitement in cotton.
A single wire between New York and Plaister Cove, Cape Breton, the eastern terminus of the Western Union Telegraph Company’s lines, not only promptly transmits all the telegraphic business that is done between Europe and America, but every message is telegraphed back for comparison with the original, to insure correctness.
PROGRESS
OF THE
ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH IN AMERICA AND EUROPE.
THE UNITED STATES.
The United States not only has the distinguished honor of being the birthplace of the inventor of the universally-used electric telegraph, but of having constructed the first line of practical telegraph, and of being the foremost nation in the world, at the present time, in the number of her telegraph stations, extent of her lines and wires, cheapness of her rates, and amount of business done.
The United States contains 4,126 telegraph offices; 62,782 miles of line; 125,564 miles of wire; and transmits annually 12,904,777 telegrams.