Constantza
Telegraph network
Author: ARDELEANU KONSTANTIN
During the Ottoman period there existed in Dobrudja a telegraphic line between Constanţa and Tulcea, and the British investors that built the railway across the province also established a line between Cernavodă and Constanţa, with offices at Cernavodă, Medgidia, Murfatlar and Constanţa [1].
After 1878 Romanian authorities developed the telegraphic network throughout the province, but the veritable boom of the Constanţa office was favoured by a telegraphic convention between Germany and Romania (1899) that stipulated the establishment of a new line between Berlin, Bucharest and Constanţa, followed by the submersion of an underwater cable from Constanţa to Constantinople. The new line, provided with a 3 mm bronze wire cable, was supposed to be the best connection between Northern Europe and the Near East. The cable between Constanţa and Constantinople (Kilios) was placed in May 1905 and the telegraphic line was functional since 7/20 July 1905 [2].
Its construction and operation were granted for 30 years to Osteuropäische Telegraphengesellschaft, based in Köln, to whom Romania was to pay an annual subvention of 50,000 francs, reduced when larger incomes were derived from the commercial use of the line. On Romanian territory, the telegraphic line was exploited by the Direction of the Romanian Post Office [3].
Wireless telegraphy was also introduced at Constanţa for keeping communication with the Romanian maritime ships. The Direction of Romanian Railways concluded a convention with engineer V. Popp, who provided the technical facilities necessary for securing telegraphic communication between Constanţa and vessels up to a distance of 500 kilometres. The authorities erected a proper building for housing the office for wireless telegraphy, as well as four 50 meter masts for antennas [4].
Constanţa was also linked by telephone to the rest of Romania, although by early 20th century the line to Bucharest was not a direct one, but done via Brăila. Thus, telephone communications were done with great delays, as that line was one of the busiest in Romania [5]. By 1910 the telephone network in the county of Constanţa measured 1,278.615 km, with 102 main phone posts and 14 secondary ones [6]. In 1913 the network was reduced to 1,050 km [7].
We only have data from the Constanţa office for the period 1903–1904, with more national statistical information in the Galaţi template.
Table 4.2.5.1_1
Domestic telegrams sent (1903–1904) [8]
|
Type |
No. |
|
Ordinary telegrams |
36,886 |
|
Telegraphic business cards |
1,628 |
|
Official telegrams |
2,306 |
|
Service telegrams |
1,660 |
|
Total |
42,480 |
Table 4.2.5.1_2
International telegrams (1903–1904) [9]
|
Type |
Sent |
Received |
|
Private telegrams |
11,804 |
11,220 |
|
Service telegrams |
232 |
249 |
|
Total |
12,036 |
11,469 |
Table 4.2.5.1_3 [10]
International telegrams by country (1903–1904)
|
County |
Sent |
Received |
|
Austria |
1,012 |
1,024 |
|
Bulgaria |
2,240 |
2,333 |
|
England |
1,120 |
1,340 |
|
Germany |
1,015 |
818 |
|
Turkey |
1,957 |
1,689 |
|
Hungary |
1,416 |
1,171 |
|
Italy |
827 |
813 |
|
France |
613 |
530 |
|
Holland |
582 |
585 |
|
Belgium |
464 |
500 |
|
Other states |
790 |
666 |
|
Total |
12,036 |
11,469 |
Table 4.2.5.1_4
The activity of the telephone office (1903–1904) [11]
|
Type |
No. |
|
Urban conversations from subscriber to subscriber |
21,840 |
|
Taxed urban conversations |
117 |
|
Telephoned telegrams sent |
857 |
|
Telephoned telegrams received |
1,200 |
|
Interurban conversations |
10,795 |
|
Official conversations |
290 |
|
Telephone conversations started by other offices |
9,834 |
|
Telephone notifications |
4,923 |
[1] M. D. Ionescu, Dobrogia în pragul veacului al XX-lea. Geografia matematică, fisică, politică, economică şi militară (Bucharest: Ateliere Grafice, I. V. Socec, 1904), 699.
[2] G. Christodorescu, Portul Constanţa. Mişcare comercială şi maritimă în anul 1903 (Constanţa: Tipografia Ovidiu, 1905), 269–273; Georgeta Lungu, “Dezvoltarea portului Constanţa de la 1860 la primul război mondial”, Comunicări de istorie a Dobrogei (Constanţa: Muzeul de Istorie Naţională şi Arheologie, 1983), vol. II, 229–230; Mariana Bălăbănescu, “Vizite ale regelui Carol I în orașul și portul Constanța (1879–1914)”, Analele Dobrogei, new series, 6:1 (2000), 245–246.
[3] Christodorescu, Portul, 269–273.
[4]Ibid., 273–276.
[5]Ibid., 279–280.
[6]Expunerea situaţiei județului Constanța pe anul 1910–1911, prezentată de I. T. Ghyka (Bucharest: Tipografia și Stabilimentul de Arte Grafice George Ionescu, 1910), 109–110.
[7]Expunerea situaţiunei judeţului Constanţa pe anul 1913–1914 prezentată Consiliului Judeţian în sesiunea ordinară de la 15 octombrie 1914 de către D-nul Luca Oancea (Constanţa: Institutul de Arte Grafice Vulcan, 1915), 38.
[8] Christodorescu, Portul, 284.
[9]Ibid., 285.
[10]Ibid.
[11]Ibid.
References
Archival sources:
Serviciul Judeţean Constanţa al Arhivelor Naţionale (The National Archives, Constanţa Branch), Primăria municipiului Constanţa (The Municipality of Constanţa), files starting with 1878.
Bibliography:
Bălăbănescu, Mariana, “Vizite ale regelui Carol I în orașul și portul Constanța (1879–1914)” [Visits of King Charles I in the City and Port of Constanţa (1879–1914)], Analele Dobrogei, new series, 6:1 (2000), 244–251.
Christodorescu, G., Portul Constanţa. Mişcare comercială şi maritimă în anul 1903 [The Port of Constanţa. Its Commercial and Maritime Movement in 1903] (Constanţa: Tipografia Ovidiu, 1905).
Expunerea situaţiei judeţului Constanţa pe anul 1910–1911, prezentată de I. T. Ghyka [The Exposition of the Situation of the Constanţa County in 1910–1911, Presented by I. T. Ghyka] (Bucharest: Tip. Şi Stabilimentul de Arte Grafice George Ionescu, 1910).
Ionescu, M. D., Dobrogia în pragul veacului al XX-lea. Geografia matematică, fisică, politică, economică şi militară [Dobrudja at the Beginning of the 20th Century. The Mathematical, Physical, Political, Economic and Military Geography] (Bucharest: Ateliere Grafice I. V. Socec, 1904).
Lungu, Georgeta, “Dezvoltarea portului Constanţa de la 1860 la primul război mondial” [The Development of the Port of Constanţa from 1860 to World War One], Comunicări de istorie a Dobrogei [Papers on the History of Dobrudja] (Constanţa: Muzeul de Istorie Naţională şi Arheologie, 1983), vol. II, 207–233.
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