Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 11.djvu/332

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A Hungarian traveller, Stephen Gorove, visited Strassburg in July, 1842, and was very much struck with the working of the semaphore telegraph fixed on "the central cone" of the cathedral roof. According to him, it took less than 6 minutes to send a message to Paris, 2 minutes to Lille, a little over 4 minutes to Calais, less than 7 minutes to Brest, 14 minutes to Bayonne, and from 13 to 50 minutes to Toulon. His book is in the British Museum. In bad weather telegraphic communication was stopped for days. Thus, e.g., Capt. Long of the U.S. steamer Mississippi reports on 1 Oct., 1851, from Marseilles:—

The Consul himself reports on the same occasion that

Near the site of the old semaphore telegraph on Putney Heath there is an inn called "The Telegraph" Inn.

To telegraph when it was one o'clock at Greenwich required only one movement of the arms of the semaphore, and of course only one turn of the winch; so there is no reason why the signal could not have gone from Whitehall to Portsmouth and back in 45 seconds, as the men on duty were waiting for the signal, and expert in working the machine. To send a message required much more time. Each word at Whitehall had to be spelt out for Chelsea, and Chelsea did not repeat till all the message had been received. Chelsea then spelt out the message word by word for Putney. If the message required 5 minutes to be spelt out, it could not reach Portsmouth in less than 1 hour and 10 minutes. So the statements of and  do not contradict each other.

There was a station originally on Honor Oak, or One Tree Hill, near London.

Can F. K. P. or others tell me when the semaphore signal at Farley Chamberlayne, near Winchester, was first established, and relate its history?

(10 S. xi. 169).—Dr. J. Charles Cox and Mr. Alfred Harvey, M.B., in their excellent volume entitled 'English Church Furniture' (1907) remark:—

These accomplished writers add:—

The so-called "Spring Pew" at Lavenham Church (Suffolk), which is really the chapel of "Sainte Kateryn," was erected in pursuance of the will of Thomas Spring, dated 1523. The oak parcloses surrounding it at the eastern end of the north aisle consist of continuous (exterior) canopies of most exquisite workmanship.

Mr. George H. Birch, F.S.A., in his fine book entitled 'London Churches' (1896), says there were four in London bearing the dedication of St. Margaret. One of them, distinguished by the affix of "Pattens," referred to by the, was in existence prior to the