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Most collectors prefer the marks of age in a hundred year old key to a shiny like-new appearance.
The restoration of old telegraph apparatus then, may involve simply the stabilization of the deterioration process or, it may involve the complete cleaning and polishing and relaquering of the instrument. Restoration is a time-consuming activity which can not be rushed. Quick, short-cut methods usually damage the instrument permanently and are to be avoided at all costs. If the unit is to be kept in its present condition, a strategy that I pesonally recommend, you may want to simply remove superficial dust and stop further rusting of ferrous parts. The safest cleaning tools are soft toothbrushes and cotton-tipped applicators.