The following description of a new system is from _Scribner’s Magazine_ for 1880:—
“A new system of sending and receiving electrical impulses over an insulated wire has recently been brought into successful operation, that seems to promise not only a radical change in the present methods of telegraphing, but a material gain in the speed and cost of sending messages by wire. It is founded on a union of the so-called “automatic” and “chemical” systems of telegraphy. The first of these employs a strip of paper having, by some mechanical means, a series of small holes punched in it, the design being to pass the perforated strip under a needle, or stylus, in electrical connection with the line. This stylus, on passing over the paper, opens the circuit, but in passing one of the holes, drops through and closes it,—this alternate making and breaking of the circuit transmitting the message. The chemical telegraph records any electrical impulses sent over a line by staining a strip of prepared paper passing under it. This is founded on the fact that electricity has the power of decomposing certain chemicals, and if paper is soaked in these chemicals and submitted to the action of electricity, it will be discoloured wherever the current passes. While both of these systems have been used, neither has been able to compete with the more simple Morse key and sounder, and it has remained for the new system to bring them to a position where they may come into general use. The new system is a modification and combination of the automatic and chemical systems, the transmitting being performed by means of a perforated strip of paper, and the receiving of the message being recorded by the discolouration of chemically prepared paper. The process is entirely mechanical and chemical, the telegraph operator having no direct control over the message, either by sight, sound, or touch. The written message is sent to the operating-room, and given to the person using the perforating machine. This consists of a small key-board, with black and white keys, each marked with a letter or sign, and an ingenious system of levers, operated by the keys, for punching small holes in a ribbon of paper moving past the side of the machine. The machine stands upon a small table, and under it is a treadle for giving motion to the feeding apparatus for supplying the paper to the machine. The operator moves the treadle with his feet, and at the same time touches each key to spell out the message. In a very few seconds the message is imprinted on the ribbon in the form of a double row of small perforations, each group of two holes representing a dash, and each single hole a dot, as in the Morse alphabet. Each letter is separated from the next by a longer dash, and each word by a still longer dash, and each sentence by a dash of indefinite length. This spacing of the letters is performed automatically, the spacing of words and sentences is performed by the operator. The perforated slip containing the message is then sent to the transmitting machine. This consists essentially of a metallic wheel, divided into two sections by means of a thin insulation of hard rubber. One section of the wheel is connected with the positive pole of the battery, and the other section with the negative pole. A pair of fine metallic brushes, both of which are connected directly with the line, are suspended above the wheel, and are arranged so as to press lightly upon the latter, when desired. When resting on the wheel the circuit is closed, and when raised above it the circuit is broken. The perforated strip is, by a simple piece of mechanism, made to pass over the face of this wheel and under the brushes. While the paper is passing, both brushes are raised from the wheel, and slide over the paper, and the circuit is broken. On passing a hole, one of the brushes drops through and closes the circuit for an instant. On passing two or more holes, arranged in a series close together, the brush closes the circuit for a shorter or longer time, according to the number of holes, and as the perforations on the paper are arranged in two rows, alternating from one to the other, the brushes are used alternately, and the polarity of the current is continually changed with every impulse sent over the line. No special skill is required in sending a message, as the operator has only to put the perforated strip in the machine and turn a hand-crank, to cause it to pass rapidly under the brushes, and with a little practice, a young girl can send messages at the rate of one thousand words a minute, with absolute precision.