He experimented until he had devised a machine that crumpled the paper around the wire, instead of winding it tightly.

This was the finishing touch.

For a time these paper-wound cables were soaked in oil, but in 1890 Engineer F.A.Pickernell dared to trust to the tightness of the lead sheathing, and laid a "dry core" cable, the first of the modern type, in one of the streets of Philadelphia.

This cable was the event of the year.

It was not only cheaper.