contents.

graph Company, had conspired together to deprive the company of their lawful gains. The broker, by bribes, induced the two clerks, in the establishment at Newcastle, to give him information which he never should have obtained; but which, if obtained at all, should not have been given without the payment of money. The Electric Telegraph Company now convey expresses from London to Edinburgh, transmitting the prices of shares and stocks in London, by means of certain cabalistic signs; and the clerks, at the different intermediate stations, forward them to their different destinations. Each clerk is enabled, by a code of instructions, to translate these expresses, but is strictly enjoined upon no account to divulge their On reaching Edinburgh, the intelligence thus transmitted is posted in a public room, to which, upon payment of money, bankers, merchants, tradesmen, and others, are allowed access. It is from these subscriptions that the company look for remuneration for their outlay. If, therefore, a person obtain this information surreptitiously, or without payment, he is looked upon as guilty of fraud. It is true, that in London, at twelve o'clock, when the information becomes known, it is public property; but when, by a rapidity unknown until now, it reaches Newcastle, it becomes, through the agency of the company, their private property, and to all intents and purposes a saleable article. It appears that these expresses were never intended to be translated at all in Newcastle, but simply to go on to Edinburgh. The broker, it was proved, had repeatedly pressed the clerks to divulge

this information, but was as often refused. At length, he invited the clerks to the Queen's Head Inn, and, during their conviviality, it was arranged that he should receive the price of consols, and that if he cleared any money by this information, the clerks should receive a portion of the profit; this knowledge of the price of consols being important, as it regulates the prices of other stocks in the market. The broker, as is common in such cases, did not practically exemplify the adage of "Honour among thieves:" he offered 5s. and 10s. at a time, adding that if he cleared 400l. or 500l., the clerk should have a share.

On one occasion, the sharebroker. had prices of "North Westerns" telegraphed ; and, doubtless, cleared considerably. His cupidity, however, led to a dispute with his confederates, and hence the exposure of the fraud.

66 THE BRIDGE IS GONE!"

THE following matter-of-fact romance is from the pen of Elihu Burrhitt, the learned blacksmith. We have seen it variously stated: in some instances, to the effect that human agency alone was instrumental in saving the train; and in others, that it was by the telegraph in the hands of human agents. Feeling naturally inclined to give the latter all the credit of the achievement, proceed we to notice its power of rescue and salvation:

"During a storm and violent gale, the long railway bridge across the Connecticut, between Hartfield and

Springfield, was lifted up by the wind, and thrown into the river beneath, two hundred yards in breadth, which a powerful current at the time swelled to a dreadful height by an unusual flood of rain. The line here is crossed by a bridge fifty feet above the river, after an abrupt curve has been passed. But the passengers within congratulated themselves on their comfortable situations, thinking of the blessed homes and the firesides which they soon expected to reach. On came the train, the engine blowing off its head of steam, breasting its way nobly against the gale, which almost threatened to check its progress, the hot iron hissing furiously in the falling rain. No one knew or even suspected that the bridge was gone. For two years, by day and by night, the trains had passed and repassed, until safety had obliterated the thought of even the possibility of danger; but no bridge was there to receive them, and the long train, with its precious freight, rushed on towards the precipice of destruction. It was not customary to stop at this place, excepting to check the speed for the landing of passengers; but the people there had learned, through the instrumentality of the telegraph, the loss of the bridge, and kept a sharp look-out for the approaching train. It came; the word is given, and they are safe. Every heart leapt from its place, and the head swam giddily with fear as the thought came of that fearful leap in the dark; and long will the passengers remember that dreadful road, and the friendly yet fearful cry of "THE BRIDGE IS GONE!'"

THE TELEGRAPH A PAYING SPECULATION IN AMERICA-FIRST DIVIDEND.

THE New York and Buffalo magnetic telegraph has established one fact-that when telegraphs are properly managed, they are safe and profitable investments. The managers of this telegraph have declared a dividend of three per cent. for five months, ending 7th February, 1846. This is the first telegraphic dividend ever declared. The earnings of the line had been 11,000 dollars since the preceding September, of which the expense had absorbed one-third. Of this sum, the patentees got 2700 dollars-the first practical, paying result of this great discovery.

SPECULATORS DECEIVED BY THE TREACHERY OF A TELEGRAPHIC AGENT.

By means of the telegraph, in America, a rise in produce, or the contrary, is chronicled, leagues off, on the instant of its occurrence; so that holders, who might otherwise have sold at reduced rates, often reap large remunerative profits. A case recently occurred, west of New York, illustrating the treachery of a telegraphic agent, who, having obtained exclusive information, stopped its progress westward, and transmitted it privately to another party. Again, on the arrival of one of the steam-ships from England, the speculators in flour and grain at Philadelphia were fallaciously informed that flour had "risen" in England. On the

faith of this information, the repudiating provinces bought largely. On the arrival of the real facts of the case, it was found, to their consternation and loss, that the article had not risen; and more than one speculator lost to the amount of some thousand dollars.

66 THE TELEGRAPH

TOO FAST."

LABOURING, as the victim of the following instance of supervision appears to have done, under an evident mistake, the case was one of those shabby-genteel applications of power, which goes to prove that even a telegraph may sometimes be a little "too fast." One day, at the Chelmsford station of the Eastern Counties railway, just as the train was about to start, a person applied for a third-class ticket for Witham. Having obtained it, in the hurry of the moment, he got into a first-class carriage: this was observed by the clerk standing near him, who telegraphed to Witham a description of the man's person, as well as the circumstance. The passenger, after a short period, discovered his mistake, and on arriving at the next station, removed into the proper carriage, thinking, it is supposed, to escape detection. When he reached the Witham station, for which he was booked, he was informed that he had to pay an extra 1s. 3d. At this, he naturally felt surprised and chagrined; but when informed by what magic means the information had been communicated, he cheerfully paid the sum; more, perhaps, as a tribute of his wonder at the telegraph than from a sense of the justice of the exaction, or of his own individual delinquency.