Pacific Cable Companies moved to their new offices on the Bund. The building is erected by the Great Northern Telegraph Company to accommodate "its staff and those of the other companies. It was designed by Messrs. Atkinson & Dallas, and was began in January 1905. But for the fire that broke out in October 1906 the premises would have been ready for year ago. The new offices and three upper storeys, with spacious surmounted by" two copper The approximate dim of the building, wre:—frontaze 100 feet; depth 80 feet, height to top of cupolas, 86 fect; floor space, 25,000 feet: and number of 51. There are three entrances from the Bund, leading to the receiving offices of the three companies. ~All these offices are furnished with handsome teak counters, surmounted by brass rails, made by the Arts & (rafts Furnishing Ca. The compradores' offices are at the rear, and the upper floors are connected' by means of a pneumatic tube-system, installed by the Shanghai Electric & Asbestos ('o., Ld. On the ground floor also are dining rooms for the receiving office staffs and the native staff, and s storeroom and switch room. The main entrance is from the South side of the building, whence s short flight of stairs leads to the corridor and passenger lift. There are also entrances on the North and South sides for messengers and the staff.
The first floor is given up almost entirely to the offices of the Great Northern Company. The Commercial Pacific offices and instrument room are on the North side, and the manager, engineer and accountant of the Danish company are accommodated in a fine suite of rooms extending slong almost the entire front of the building. The offices and instrament room of the Eastern Extension Telegraph Ca. are of 0B the second floor.
On the third floor fare the workshops and instrument room of the Great Northern Company. The attics are used for storerooms and electric batteries; the latter will shortly bbe replaced by accumulators, Intercommunication telephones, also installed by the Shanghai Electric Asbestos Ca., have been fitted up throughout the premises. One of Messrs. Archibald Smith & Stevens' " Vee-wheel" electric lifts, for which Messrs. Scott, Harding & Ca. are agents, carries passengers from floor to floor. Electric fans and lights fare fitted throughout the building, and some of the principal offices are also supplied with gas, The power-plant of Messrs, Lamson Co.'s pneumatic tube system is electrically operated, and there are small manual lifts from floor to floor. Dining rooms for the native and foreign employees are provided on each floor, and there are commnodions Invatorios at the rear. A steel fire escape connects each floor with the back-yard, and the hydrants,. which are similar to those fitted in the Palace Hotel, have been put in by the Shanghai Waterworks Ca.
On Friday morning representatives of the Press were shown over the new Messrs. W. Schonan Engineer) and A. H. Erikeen (Chict Acconntant) of the Great Northern Company, Alter an spection of the offices, as described above, a visit was paid to the workshop of the Great Northern Company, where, under the supervision of a foreign engineer, Chinese workmen repair, and even make, the delicate instruments used for submarine telegraphy. At the time of the visit one workman was fashioning small brass cogwheels 5 another was grinding down the minute glass syphons used the recenting apparatus; while others were adjusting mechanism that was out of onder, The next visit was to the same company's instrament room, where one of the Nagasaki enables has already been installed. Here, for the benefit of the journalists, a practical demonstration of telegraphy was given. One of the superintendents explained the care taken to prevent the loss of any messages handed over the counter. Each cable is numbered in the receiving office, before being dispatched to the instrament room by the pneumatic tube. Here it is numbered again, and the numbers in both offices are checked every two hours to make sure that no message has been lost. Upstairs the telegram is numbered a third time, according to the route by which it will travel, so that the Nagasaki and other stations can check the number of cables crossing the wires, every six hours. The message finally reaches an operator, who sits opposite an instrament containing three keys, vinal from
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.