"
reply--
"I'll put a girdle round the earth
In forty minutes"--
how little did our immortal Bard think that this light fanciful offer of
a "fairy" to "the King of the Fairies" would, in the nineteenth century,
not only be substantially realised, but surpassed as follows:--
The electric telegraph would convey intelligence more than twenty-eight
thousand times round the earth, while Puck, at his vaunted speed, was
crawling round it only ONCE!
On every instrument there is a dial, on which are inscribed the names of
the six or eight stations with which it usually communicates. When much
business is to be transacted, a boy is necessary for each of these
instruments; generally, however, one lad can, without practical
difficulty, manage about three; but, as the whole of them are ready for
work by night as well as by day, they are incessantly attended, in
watches of eight hours each, by these satellite boys by day and by men
at night.
As fast as the various messages for delivery, flying one after another
from the ground-floor up the chimney, reach the level of the
instruments, they are brought by the superintendent to the particular
one by which they are to be communicated; and its boy, with the
quickness characteristic of his age, then instantly sets to work.
Pages:
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302