Note 100 — Chapter IX

Colonel Glover, late Director-General of Indian Telegraphs, in his recent memorandum, pointing out the difficulty of maintaining telegraphic communication in India, says—“In many parts of the country the wires are laid through forests, jungle, and desert, where means of transit do not exist; where there are literally no roads; where unbridged rivers of first magnitude cross the route, rendering inspection difficult, and at times impracticable; where the population, whether dense or sparse, only affords labourers unskilled, and as such, of use only for the amount of brute force they are capable of exerting, adding considerably to the cost and difficulty of construction and repairs. In many parts the climate at certain seasons of the year is of a character so deadly that inspection is carried on by European officers at the risk of life; while native subordinates simply refuse to face it. In some places the rainfall and natural humidity are of a magnitude almost unknown elsewhere, and the case of Arracan may be instanced, where 240 inches of rain fall annually, of which 224 inches fall during the months of June, July, and August. On the western coast the climate is very similar, and Assam can scarcely be considered more favourable. Storms and hurricanes are of regular and not exceptional occurrence, and during the last monsoon they occurred with unusual violence, destroying the telegraphic wires for miles, as well as the embankments of the railways in Scinde, Goozerat, and Bengal. These and other influences peculiar to the country involve an unexceptionally heavy expenditure in repairs and renewals, and necessitate the retention of a large conservancy establishment.”