A fully selective telemetering system employing telegraph facilities

IN APRIL of 1953 the Mississippi Valley Gas Company, whose headquarters are located in Jackson, Miss., approached commercial representatives of the Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company concerning the provision of a telemetering system between their dispatcher´s office in Jackson and 17 points in the central and northwestern section of the state to which natural gas was being furnished through their distribution lines. Up until this time individual meters located at these outlying points were read by employees stationed in the general area and the readings were telephoned to the dispatcher in Jackson. While this procedure was originally acceptably satisfactory, a steady growth in the number of residential customers and industries using gas was making the distribution problem progressively more acute. The more frequent readings of the outlying meters required not only increased the cost of the meter reading but necessitated the adoption of a more speedy and efficient system. It was proposed that such a system be obtained by the use of telemetering equipment operating over telegraph facilities.