Telephone No 9

Another Western Electric "bridging" telephone, this time with a later Delville carbon granule transmitter and a larger battery box for use on longer phone lines. It appears to have been used across Australia, although fitted with a wide range of receivers. This style of phone was called by Western Electric a "Long Distance Phone" because the larger battery box could hold extra cells and it was often fitted with a larger generator. This made it ideal for the long Australian country phone lines. It was also used by railways administrations.

The phone dates from the early 1890s and stayed in service for many years, although purchases probably ceased around 1914. It was supplied by British Western Electric after about 1900, and probably by the Western Electric factory in the U.S.A. before this.

The Delville transmitter was an improved Hunnings model. The Hunnings transmitter, as patented, was filled with coal grains to provide the variable resistance needed. It still suffered from packing. Bell, Edison and others working on this problem found that carbon granules, rather than dust, reduced the packing problem. The Delville used coal granules, carefully graded for size.

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