A. Tobler
Journal Telegraphique,
Vol. 27, No. 6, June 25, 1903
English translation by Eric Fischer, enf@pobox.com
In the month of September, 1876, while making a visit to the workshop of Messrs. Dumoulin-Froment, in Paris, we remarked upon a long and massive table covered with a complex apparatus which, at first glance, resembled the Meyer multiple telegraph, about which a loud noise was being made at that time. Seeing our astonishment, Mr. Dumoulin told us, "It's a new printing telegraph with multiple transmission that the Administration is going to test; it was invented by Mr. Emile Baudot, a telegrapher at the central post." The following year, Mr. Du Moncel gave the first description of it, more or less exact, in Volume III of the Telegraphic Journal.
It was at the Universal Exhibition of 1878 that the public could first see the Baudot telegraph working; two likeable functionaries of the Administration, Messrs. Kranner and Guillaume, making the honors and liberally distributing to the interested a well-executed, strong communications sketch, conceived overall to make them understand the role of the important component that permitted five employees to work simultaneously. Despite the large number of contacts on the "combiner," which made maintenance difficult and regulation delicate, the 1877 Baudot apparatus could serve the line from Paris to Bordeaux for several months. Some years later, one no longer heard any talk about the new telegraph; happily the first exposition of electricity, which left a most agreeable memory with its visitors, made a powerful propaganda for it. The aspect of the telegraph had completely changed; the heavy encumbered table had disappeared; the electric combiner had taken the place of the mechanical combiner, always surrounded by a circle of admirers, to whom Mr. Baudot, who we saw then for the first time, attempted, with his perfect amicability, to explain the mysteries of his invention. It was at this time that a friendship between Mr. Baudot and us developed which did not cease until the death of the inventor! In his leisure hours, he willingly told us about his life, as the readers of this journal know, thanks to the clever pen of Mr. Andre Frouin (no. 4, 1903). As a piece of additional information, about 1880 Mr. Baudot had the good fortune to see his apparatus built in the Carpentier workshop, of which the chief himself and his collaborators, Messrs. Violet and Cartier, set themselves with an indefatigable ardor to realizing all the perfections proposed by Mr. Baudot. The serious inconvenience of the telegraph of 1881 was a double receiver that embarassed the service considerably in certain special cases; this apparatus was soon replaced by the simple translator-printer, of which the form has not varied for 18 years; one finds the first description of it in a remarkable little work, well illustrated, published by the "General society for telegraph apparatus exploitation" in 1885, an association that occupied itself with Mr. Baudot's foreign patents. The two principal types were the quadruple Baudot (working in triplex between Paris and Berlin at the time of the International Telegraph Conference of 1885) and the simple Baudot, working in duplex with the well-known differential method. In 1886, Mr. de la Poussardiere, one of Mr. Baudot's most distinguished students, showed us the two systems, of which the operation (at least as far as the quadruple) had been perfected, at the central post in Marseille. The following two years were overall a period of new perfections, less important in appearance, but in reality very useful, which had as their purpose to improve the construction and the setup of the equipment in order to permit their rapid replacement.
At the beginning of the year 1888, a tragic event caused a great sadness in our friend: the assassination of Mr. Jules Raynaud by the "furious fool" Mimault; may we be permitted to pass silently by this painful affair; those of our readers who are interested in this will find all the details in a brochure published in 1888. ("The truth about the invention of the Baudot system of printing telegraph apparatus with multiple transmission and the claims of Mr. Mimault." Paris, typographie P. Schmidt, 5, rue Perronet, 1888.)
The "double Baudot," already created in 1886, was perfected in 1887 and 1888. It is certainly the apparatus lending itself the best to all the needs of a line with average traffic; it is composed of a double distributor, two translator-printers, and two keyboards; a single relay suffices for reception and the control of transmission. Thanks to the munificence of Mr. J. Carpentier, the Federal Polytechnic School has since 1892 been in possession of one of these devices, and it is with the same sentiments of admiration that we explain to our students the marvellous organism of this installation, in which one recognizes without reserve the elegant simplicity.
Around the end of 1887, the double Baudot was applied to the telegraphic service from Paris to Rome, with a translator arrangement at Turin. Our friend gave us all the details in the spring of 1888, and we used them for an equally long work on the double and quadruple Baudot and the new translator, published in the Electric Light (volume 28, no. 22) and in the Elektrotechnische Zeitschrift of Berlin (1888, p. 330). In addition, the equipment on the Paris-Rome line was provided with a new isochronic regulator, of an extreme simplicity and an easier regulation, that Mr. Baudot substituted for Mr. Hughes's vibrating blade that had served again in the telegraph of 1885.
As must have been expected, the Universal Exposition of 1889 began a new era of perfections applied principally to the quadruple. The 1885 system needed the use of 21 relays; the 1889 model of the distributor attained the same end with only three relays. Following the excellent diagrams made by Inspector Constant, a distinguished collaborator of the inventor, we published the first description of the new apparatus in the volume, Die Schaltungen und der Betrieb der elektrischen Telegraphen, Halle, that we and Mr. Zetzsche made appear between 1890 and 1891. Mr. Baudot never ceased to aid us in our efforts to penetrate all the mysteries of his admirable apparatus; for entire hours we handled the plans and diagrams in the small rooms on the fourth floor of the vast hotel on the Rue de Grenelle, where the "Baudot Course" could always be found.
Like every "set" inventor, our friend was frequently overworked; his health was not always very strong, and he was often indisposed, without wanting to give up his work because of this. It was therefore with a veritable joy that we received, near the end of 1889, the news of his marriage to Miss Langrognet. In the spring of 1890, we made the acquaintance of his amiable young wife, and we believed our friend would have the happiest future, but alas, before the month of April of this same year, Mrs. Baudot was taken from us by a short and cruel illness. Mr. Baudot never completely recovered from this terrible shock.
Putting the Baudot apparatus in service on long underground lines necessitated the construction of a translator that was simple and easy to regulate, the mutual induction of the different wires of the cable and the considerable capacitance making the solution of this problem particularly difficult. To exploit the Paris-Bordeaux line, no fewer than four translators had to be established, at Orleans, Tours, Poitiers, and Angouleme, furnished with special apparatus to remedy the disturbances without loss of time; our readers will find the description of this ingenious installation in the volume cited above (Tobler and Zetzsche, p. 378).
A problem that interested Mr. Baudot considerably was communication between spread out posts; a solution was given by Mr. B. Meyer (Telegraphic Journal, 1879, p. 412); he discussed adapting the "double Baudot" to much more delicate service. We gave an account of the Paris-Vannes-Lorient installation in the Elektrotechn. Zeitschrift of Berlin (1891, p. 345), following the diagrams prepared at this time by Inspector Beraud, under the direction of Mr. Baudot; since then the analogous devices have found their place in different treatises on modern telegraphy (Montillot, Telegraphy, p. 381; Thomas, Telegraphy, p. 675) and in Switzerland, Mr. Luginbuhl, of Berne, has stretched the application of them. In 1891, just the same, Mr. Baudot invented a "retransmitter," consisting of contact springs adapted to the brushes of the electro-needles of the translator; we saw this function at the central post in the presence of the inventor and of Mr. Musard, but after that time we never heard anything said about it.
In 1896 portable quadruple Baudot installations were created that, thanks to the intelligent care of Mr. Robichon, had a complete success. Besides the arrangement of the numerous electrical communications adhering to the Baudot system, it is the choice of the battery that makes the solution to the last problem so difficult, given the electromotive force that is needed and the considerable number of separate batteries (six for the quadruple). In the large towns, there are accumulators that furnish the power; here these are out of the question. Messrs. Baudot and Robichon constructed a small element of copper sulfate that first of all provoked our hilarity the first time we saw it, because of its extreme resemblance to the first expriment by the famous Daniell, invented in 1837. The porous "cow's throat" vase of the English physician had however been replaced by a diaphragm of specially composed parchment paper. This rustic battery has given full satisfaction, as one can read in the interesting communication by Mr. Robichon (Telegraphic Journal, 1901, p. 317).
The translator installed in Turin in 1887, of which we spoke above, presented the inconvenience that it did not permit changing of the mode of operation, which is to say that the alternation of transmissions had to remain unchanging. A new device installed in the spring of 1897 in Bregenz for service on the Paris-Vienna international line, remedied this problem, introducing entirely new principles: a receiving relay and a translating relay for each direction. A set of commutators of the model introduced by Mr. Baudot in 1885 permits posts to put one part of the transmissions in one direction and the other part in the other, depending on the needs of the traffic. Mr. Baudot authorized us to publicize this very remarkable installation in 1899 (Telegraphic Journal, 1899, p. 49) and, with his habitual kindness, traced for us himself the diagrams that served for the execution of the engraving accompanying our article.
The congress of telegraphers arranged at the time of the Come exposition, in the month of June, 1899, filled Mr. Baudot with honors; he was made honorary president of the French delegation. His brillant discourse on the illustrious physicist Volta provoked an unlimited enthusiasm in all the audience. Mr. Baudot was celebrated with unanimity and placed justly aside the old pioneers of electrical science, Morse, Hughes, and Wheatstone. Sadly, this congress was for our friend what might be called "the beginning of the end;" a short time afterwards, he suffered from a stroke from which he never recovered. Surrounded by the tender care of his mother-in-law, Mrs. Langrognet, he spent the rest of his days at Sceaux, a poor sick old man, and death took him away March 28, 1903.
The memory of Mr. Emile Baudot will live in our midst, not only because of his brilliant inventions, but also from the memory of his rare qualities of heart, of the integrity of his character, and of the charm of his personal connections.
| Zurich, June, 1903 | A. Tobler |