Traffic Increase 1938-1945

Eastern Telegraph Company in Scottish archive.

I came across this archive reference whilst searching for other material. If I remember correctly Eastern Telegraph and its activities in relation to China was the subject of on-going research  at PK ?
I hope that it might be useful to someone.

Allan

Repository Code	233
Repository	National Library of Scotland ( Edinburgh)
Reference	GB233/Acc.4138/35
Title	Black-covered loose-leaf note-book, containing entries in English and Chinese, commencing October 1913
Dates	1902-1913
Access Status	Open
Description	Note-book for 1909 bearing donor's name (P. O'Brien Twigg) on front cover. Indexed note-book issued by The Shanghai Union Brewery. Almanac for 1907 issued by The Standard Life Assurance Company. Red-covered memo-book for 1902 issued by The Eastern Telegraph Company. Red-covered memo-book for 1903 issued by The Eastern Telegraph Company. Red-covered memo-book for 1908 issued by The Eastern Telegraph Company. Black-covered notebook containing notes in pencil in English and Chinese. Blue-covered notebook containing notes in Chinese, and notes on the Chinese theatre. Blue-covered notebook containing notes on last three leaves only. Red-covered cash-book containing notes on first 14 leaves and last three leaves. (1 leaf also loosely enclosed). Blue-covered notebook containing notes commencing with references to the American Historical Review. Two indexed notebooks containing entries in Chinese (in pencil) and English (in ink) respectively. Four bundles of index cards. Bundle of four notebooks containing notes and references in English and Chinese. Two black-covered notebooks with clasps containing diary entries. Black-covered notebook containing notes on various subjects including Christianity in China. Black-covered notebook containing notes on various subjects including contacts between China and the West. Bundle of four black-covered note-books (one lacking the covers) containing notes on various subjects. Notebook containing notes and references in English and Chinese (and press-cuttings loosely enclosed). Green-covered indexed notebook entitled 'Where is it'? Black-covered notebook containing notes in English and Chinese. Bundle of: two black-covered notebooks containing notes in Chinese and titles of (English) books respectively, and three worm-eaten red-covered notebooks containing notes on Law (Roman and other).

Our Photograph Shows...

Agatha, the Officers' "nautical" method of summoning stewards to the dining saloon. C.S. Mirror.

Blue Train 1943-1966?

PK Defence Precautions

Another PRO: Just one of the defence precautions established at Porthcurno in the event of a German invasion.

Ascension Island

These pictures come from an aerial survey undertaken by the United States of Ascension Island, completed in 1945/6. It details the changes that took place on the Island during the War - notably the defence positions and the airstrip at Wideawake Field, which was a vital link in the supply of aircraft from America during the War. Ascension was the central point in the South Atlantic Ferry Route.

(CO 968/105/1)

Tunnels for Cable and Wireless... and for Western Union?

(FO 371/28654)

Another snippet from the PRO. Where Cable and Wireless had the tunnels at Porthcurno, Western Union - who also landed cables in Cornwall - had a largely unprotected office at the top of Alexandra Road in Penzance (now flats - boo, hiss). Whether or not this protected underground 'reserve' cable station was built is something I'll follow up...

Strategic Cables

(HW 14/07)

I found this diagram of the strategic cable network from the Second World War in the PRO; it was prepared in 1943/44 by Bletchley Park (MI5, MI6, Inter-Services Research Bureau... who knows?), but it does highlight just how many important cables were 'C+W'.

FURTHER EVIDENCE IN THE DEFENCE OF WILDMAN WHITEHOUSE ?

Archive material relating to William Thomson ( Lord Kelvin) is located in several places in the UK as mentioned in an earlier blog. The significance of one document held in the Porthcurno  Alcatel Archive ( Document Reference 74/1) only became clear to me as I was working on a paper about the relationship between Thomson and Wildman Whitehouse during their time together working on the Atlantic telegraph cable 1857/8. 

 I believe this document to be the ‘long report’ referred to by S P Thompson 1876, 2nd Edition Vol 1. p369: ‘The Life of Lord Kelvin’ where he mentions that Thomson was ‘disposed to defend Whitehouse telegraphing twice and dispatching a long report’. I have been unable to find any references to this report being cited previously and it may well have been suppressed by the Board of the ATC.

How it came to be among the Alcatel ( Enderbys wharf ) papers I cannot say but it does set out very clearly that in many respects Thomson remained a strong supporter of Whitehouse and sought to defend him against the rest of the Board.

Transcript of the manuscript letter from William Thomson in Valencia addressed to the Board of the Atlantic Telegraph Company and dated August 21st 1858

Gentlemen, Immediately on my arrival here at 9 o’clock this morning I proceeded to the Telegraph Station and took all the means afforded by the signal book and the evidence of the operators on duty, to learn the true state of affairs. This I found as you were appraised by my telegram much more satisfactory than we expected. What surprised me, and entirely altered the conclusion I had formed in London from seeing the recorded messages was that no relay was used, but that the records had been made by the hands of an observer watching the indications of my own galvanometer. You may remember that on each occasion, when I expressed my conviction that a fault at, or near the home end of the Cable could not account for the failure of the currents to Newfoundland without also preventing any sensible effects from Newfoundland, I stated as the sole ground for this opinion, that the signals were received here by the recording relay through its highly resisting coil. It was natural for me to suppose that the records were made by the recording instrument which I saw in use, for the purpose immediately before I left Valencia, when readable signals had just begun to come, and on that supposition I could come to no other conclusion than I stated. As soon as I found that on the contrary that, they were receiving here on an instrument with only 50 yards instead of two miles or upward of resistive wire I saw that my reasoning must be inverted (?) and that it might well be that strong currents from the other side would enter and pass through the Valencia receiving instrument, with a sufficiently bad fault in the cable close to the end to exhaust the outward current to a very low degree. Thus if the resistance in the induction coils or battery is equal to 90 miles of line, and that of the receiving galvanometer only 6 miles, a fault close to the home end equivalent to an “earth” through a resistance of 15 miles would only reduce the received current to 5/7 of what it would be with perfect insulation; but the same fault would reduce the currents transmitted from the Valencia battery to 1/8 part of what they would be, and would enfeeble the effects received in Newfoundland in exactly the same proportion. With the actual arrangements here, of which we in London were not cognizant, it was therefore right to look for the cause of the weakness of currents complained of on the other side in the manner in which Mr Whitehouse did look for it. I think in the vexation of hearing of the cable being under-run, we were all too hasty in coming to the conclusion that a mistake had been committed. When I telegraphed to you that I should send you good reasons by post for re-considering Tuesday’s decision I had seen enough to convince me that it was the want of the peculiar arrangements for receiving which Mr Whitehouse had carried into practice during my absence, that made the reading of the signals so uncertain in Newfoundland, while on this side, all that came were read with ease. I accordingly sent a message to Mr de Sauty, ordering that my land galvanometer should be immediately prepared and put into circuit. During the whole day I tried by repetitions of this message, to have its meaning made known. It was sent time after time with no other reply than “repeat”, or “your signals are unreadable” until at last by working very slowly and giving various clauses over and over again, the operators succeeded in conveying my order to the other side. Immediately after that we got the message “land galvanometer in circuit, signals beautiful” We next had “send faster”, “send faster” several times, and until we tried them with about as high a speed as we can read at here, we had “understand” in reply to what we sent. I have thus ascertained that all they had to do to remove the difficulty they felt in reading our messages was, to receive in the same way as Mr Whitehouse and I had arranged at this end for receiving theirs. I mention this at present, not because of the gratification I feel that my own instrument should have been the first on each side by which Transatlantic messages have been read with continuous accuracy; but because I think it only an act of justice to Mr Whitehouse, to remove the erroneous impression that it was to superior skill on the other side that the successful conveyance of messages in one direction were due. I said to some of your number that it might turn out to be on the contrary a want of skill there that prevented the reading of our messages, but with no facts adduced, my conjecture had but little weight. Now I believe, if the truth as to facts in each of the cases to which I have alluded had been known to members of the Board on Tuesday, they would have taken quite a different view of the whole subject, and would have come to no such conclusion as that which I now think unfortunately was allowed to pass. I still think the manner in which Mr Whitehouse acted with reference to Mr France’s visit was not at all right. But that it constituted such a positive breach of orders as to justify his summary dismission (sic) from office, cannot I think be maintained in so far as I know it was no by a Resolution of the Board that Mr France was requested to come here. I hope in the whole management of our affairs that an improved system may be adopted by which much smoother and more efficient action may be secured. In the meantime when a great result has been achieved, and when one of our most devoted officers, conducting his own proper business in a thoroughly sufficient and successful manner under the most harassing circumstances that can be conceived, falls into some errors of judgement, as regards the responsibility of his office, and the authority he is bound to obey, it would be a very ungracious act on our part to carry into execution so severe a judgement as that which was adopted last Tuesday under circumstances of considerable irritation. For my own part I must now altogether withdraw the consent I most reluctantly gave, and I do so as an act to which I am compelled by a sense of justice. Two out of the three points of the case then before us are now disproved and a reconsideration of the case is in my opinion necessary. I may suggest that a Committee should be appointed to enquire into the circumstances which have been before us, and that their report should be submitted either to the next General Board Meeting or to a Special Meeting summoned for the purpose of receiving it, and that in the meantime Mr Whitehouse be requested to cooperate with me in carrying out the business of the electrical department. I remain Gentlemen,

 Yours faithfully, (Sgd) William Thomson .

ALLAN GREEN 

19th January 2012

'These are German Bombs... Ours are Better'

Its funny what you find in the archive at Porthcurno...

The missing photograph

Sorry for the confusion ! Allan

William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) archive material

A great wealth of archive material relating to William Thomson is to be found in both the Cambridge University Library and Glasgow University Library. Much of it ( and there really is a lot) is hard going due to Thomson's very scratchy/scrawly handwriting.

Quite by accident I recently came across some additional material held in the National Archives at Kew.
1. Records referenced BJ refer to Records of the Meteorological Office and BJ1/33 cover a large selection of letters written by William Thomson between around 1860 and 1867

2. Records prefixed PRO/30 refer to a whole bag of domestic records of the Public Records Office and within PRO/30/69 we can find the 1835 files covering James Ramsey McDonald ( a period covering 1793 to 1937) and eventually at PRO/30/69/949 is a file "Lord Kelvin. Various letters . Cable Impulse tape - HMS Agamemnon"
Within that file was the bundled-up length of tape shown in the picture above with the note attached by a somewhat rusty paper clip. It was clearly in a delicate state and I pointed this out to an archivist who was not too concerned and only commented on what an awful lot of conservation work they had to do !!

Much more research is required on both items above and also the tape.

Where was HMS Agamemnon on the date shown ?

There we go .............research is fun and invariably leads on to just having to take a peep at totally unconnected material. If you go to PRO/30/69/1766 for example you will find a file entitled " Poem for H G Wells' Birthday "

Happy Christmas to anyone who reads this before Dec 25th 2011

Allan

The Airgraph

As the Second World War progressed, Allied commitments in Africa, India and Burma grew heavier, and the distance of the fighting forces from home necessitated the invention of a new mail delivery system for the Middle and Far East, that would not involve a voyage by ship around the Cape of Good Hope that could take anywhere from four to six months. By way of a response to this intolerable situation, the GPO and the RAF devised a new system of air mail communication with troops stationed overseas - the Airgraph.

The problem, as the GPO saw it, was how to send hundreds (if not thousands) of letters in the space that would ordinarily be required for one. The solution was 'micro-photography':

The sender begins by asking his local post office for an airgraph form. This is handed to him with a 'stern injunction not to fold or crease it, and to write distinctly'. Once filled in, it was retured to the Post Office where it would be sent to London, 'where the real work begins...'

'A girl is seated before what looks like a flat-topped metal desk, with a slit in its surface just wide enough to admit a single form. Below the surface is a 16-millimeter movie camera, and each form, upon being dropped down the slit, automatically switches on an electric light which illuminates it just long enough - a fraction of a second - to be photographed by the camera.'

The final result is a strip of film 100 feet long and 16 millimeters wide, displaying a continuous succession of 1,700 airgraph photographs. The whole affair, with the little metal container in which it is coiled, weights 5 1/2 ounces. If the letters had been sent by ordinary letter-post and in their original form they would have weighed 50lbs.

'Reduced to this minimum of size and weight, the airgraphs travel by aeroplane to their destination. Here the process is reversed: the film negative is thrown by a projecting machine on to a moving strip of sensitised paper, the result this time being a series of positive photographs of the original forms, of the size familiar to all to-day.'

The strip was then cut up, each airgraph 'enveloped' and delivered. It was also possible to order duplicates of lost or damaged airgraphs - as the GPO still held the negatives.

The service was discontinued in 1945, after being deemed no longer necessary. While it was in operation, however, approximately 330,000,000 airgraphs had been sent and received.

DOC/GPO/12/2 - 'The Post Office Went to War'; 1946.

W. H. Ash and his descendant.

Just heard from Ann Lewis, an Emeritus Professor of Education at Birmingham University, who's descendant of PK's second superintendent. She asked me to provide a link to the Nerve Centre of Empire website and details about Ash materials in the C&W archive, and naturally I asked her about family papers handed down. I'm sure some of you know the chap called Roger whom she mentions.

"Many thanks for the speedy and full reply- I was thrilled to hear back from you so quickly and with so much info.

Sorry I don’t have any photos or letters, I have a silver plate (I think given to WH when he left London for Porthcurno in 1877, a slightly smaller version of the one in your exhibition at Porthcurno) and my brother has some other artefacts including a silver inkwell inscribed to WH from St Leven. We have been strangely very short indeed on family info. I knew only that a relative had had some involvement at Porthcurno. So you can imagine how very surprised I have been to discover more about WH’s story and his significant role there.

My grandfather was Arthur Stanley Ash (WH’s son), AS had one son – my father Gerald, and I have a younger brother (Roger Ash) and older sister. Arthur retired early to the Lizard from Essex/London so my brother and I spent all our childhood holidays in Cornwall. The only reference to local family history that I can recall were dire warnings about the dangers of the sea (Arthur had at least one brother who drowned [age 27] although I only discovered that recently). Roger [who has a smallholding near Helston and has talked a while back with some people at the Telegraph museum] is a hydrographic surveyor involved in the laying of deep sea cables for gas /oil. As an educationalist / psychologist I have always argued for nurture over nature so it is disconcerting to discover the close family involvement in the laying of deep sea oil pipes / telegraph cables over a century apart!

Yes please- re sending a copy of your exhibition booklet – that would be fantastic [am happy to pay any costs re copying/postage. If it is eformat pl send to this address; if hard copy pl send to my home address below].

I visited the museum a couple of weeks ago and thought it was excellent- indeed it has triggered my rooting around the web and contacting you. Roger is currently working offshore and has not seen the new exhibition- I know he’ll be similarly impressed and will visit again asap.

Thanks again."

If you are in London on 12th October...........

See the following link for information about the forthcoming meeting of the Newcomen Society at the Science Museum in London on Wednesday 12th October.

http://newcomen.com/news_events/26

I hope that we might see you there.

Allan

Ebay items

If, like me, you have a naughty habit of collecting bits of old telegraph kit, check out the following ebay items, all rather too expensive for me:

Section of submarine cable made by Silvertown Telegraph Works:



It's amazing what you find on ebay. There was a sample of mumetal on there a while back, with the original Telcon label!

Enjoy, and happy bidding!

Richard

PK on the BBC next month

The BBC have now advised us of the details of the screening of their new series " The Story of Electricity" which brought their production team to Porthcurno in February this year.

In three parts starting with "Shock & Awe" on Thursday 6th October it is on BBC4 at 9.00pm.

The second episode which we believe will contain some footage at PK is called " The Age of Invention" and this will run at the same time, same channel on Thursday 13th October.

The star of the series is Professor Jim Al Khalili ( above) and we can already get a flavour of the series by going to the BBC "Sneak Preview" on You Tube at :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYQVVwFj5c8

Tell your friends ! ...........and look out for the credits !!

Dr WHITEHOUSE'S CURVES

Whilst researching the work carried out by Dr Wildman Whitehouse prior to the laying of the 1858 Atlantic telegraph cable I came across an interesting set of curves plotted by him in June 1857. They relate to measurements he made on a length of cable using his magneto-electrometer ( more on this item to follow) and utilising both voltaic cells and induction coils as an energising source.

The curves were uncovered in the Library & Archives of the Science Museum at Wroughton . Interested to discover whether the shape of the curves were electrically meaningful my colleague Donard de Cogan did some work on them using a tool known as TLM ( Transmission Line Matrix) ...............the results of this work were written up and have been published by the IET in ‘Science Measurement and Technology’ Vol. 5, Issue 4, pp.117-124.

A PDF copy of the paper can be found on the PK website at http://www.porthcurno.org.uk/userfiles/misc_pdfs/wroughton_curves_paper.pdf

So what might one conclude from all that ?

Whitehouse, his instruments and his (alleged) 'non-scientific' approach to his work have all been heavily criticised by historians over the past 150 years. The main reason for this is that he was made the scapegoat for the failure of the 1858 cable and anything and everything he did before or after that event has been largely ignored by by historians. Even present day writers invariably refer to Whitehouse as setting the benchmark for scientific inadequacy. The fact that with his magneto-electrometer he was able to make such sensitive measurements as required to plot the curves goes some way to support an argument that he deserved a rather better 'press' .

As Shakespeare had it in Julius Caesar: ' The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones'.

Allan Green

The Sir John Pender Trophy ?

About 4 years ago I was sent this photograph by an ex-colleague who claims that it was the Sir John Pender Trophy. He believed that it was awarded for some aspect of cable laying, that it was solid silver and had cable routes marked in inlaid gold.

It seems that it had been brought to his attention by a dealer in antiques who knowing of his interests in submarine telegraphy went on to tell him that it had just been sold in Tehran for £1million !

I had forgotten all about it until I came across the photo the other day...............I am not particularly interested but thought that it might be of interest to those researching history of the ETCo........................

Don't tell me it's sitting in the PK archive ! Perhaps, however, there are better photos and something about its history ?

Allan

Traffic on the 1858 transatlantic telegraph cable

I have plotted above the number of words received ( i.e. read and understood) at each end of the cable from August 5th, the day it was landed in each country, through to the 1st of September 1858.The traffic west to east clearly got off to a better start and was of higher volume than in the other direction.

There is a lot more to this story which I hope to publish shortly but one thing is worth thinking about...................Note the traffic levels before and after 'the gap' at the 18th August which was the date that Whitehouse was recalled to London, dismissed and replaced by William Thomson on 19th August.

When was it might we suppose that Whitehouse blew-up the cable with his "giant induction coils"........?