Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Engineering, Invention, Technology, Patents

    Discusses an article on John de la Haye's 'funny invention' of a technique for moderating the speed at which electric telegraph cables are paid out from ships. Having compared the inventor's project 'with the devices of the Laptuan sage', presents an extract from The Times in which the inventor explains how he intends to coat the cables in a compound that would dissolve gradually and thus enable the telegraph to float on the sea for a short period before sinking slowly to the sea floor. Expresses scepticism about Haye's secrecy concerning the composition of his compound and suggests how his plan could be accomplished using 'Iced cream'.