The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-01-20

sttute telegraph similar to that Of Vhesetone nov
operation, with less number Of circuits IN England
From this time the subject one Of frequent sug
gestion among philosophers The defective telegraph
ling in Russia at The end Of 1882; by Gauss and Weber
at Gottingen in 1885, and finally, on large scale By
Wheatstone 10 England and ete,uneii, g. aun,en, 10
Of the galvs mic telegraph belongs thus to ec billing
stenhe and wheatstone, by the latter Of whom with
some Of his Epglish conductors many OF the practca
difficulties In the modes Of transmitting the currents
The telegraph Of Etenhe which In operation be.
tween Munich and Sogenhausen In the summer or 1887
to be the first netic telegraph
cord which employed registering apparaus The DC.
Election of his needles little levers carrying pen
points which marked dots short lines allst OF
paper moved by ciock-work, had been done with
mon electricity previously by Dyar and was sobse-
quenty Brought into in this country by Professor
Morse.
The defective telegraph was sti imperfect, each de-
Election Of the needle requiring very appecsbe time
to be accomplished. The of the electro magnet ives
the next step taken 10 advance IL was not ni the
experiments, in 1880, Of Professor joseph Henry, now
secretary OF the emhsoniGn Institution powerful
electro magnets and the effect OF long conductors, that
this form Of telegraph became possible and in h st
paper the result these experiment. he at ap
pied the facts to the idea Of the construction of
telegraph.
Morse, employing the electro magnet was introduced
upon hne between Baltimore and Washington, tbs
caveat to his patent bearing the date OF Octobsr 1887
to have been made by Professor Morse 10 1882 and also
in its general character, by DR. O. I. Jackson. This
telegraph toge Their with the House telegraph and the
Balm decomposrg telegraph constitute tn three sys-
TENS now, for the most part, in operation in this
country.
From this sketch, given by Mr. Davis, it will
appear that the idea, or early suggestion, of an
electric telegraph, is quite ancient, dating back
early in the eighteenth century.
In the trial referred to ADORE we Gnd in the evil
dence OF Oliver Byrne, page i99, the following
question and answer 0ccar =" State some person )
who proposed to use electricity, or galvanism, fos
telegraphing, prior to 1898 % Answer-'' Publica
tioDs show that, among others, is Lesage, in IVA;
Reiser. in 1884; Soemmering, in l79o; Ampere, IN
1920; Baron de Schilling, in 1892 and 1888 Stein
he'll, in 1887; Cook, in IS37-some of whom acts
ally did apply it. And in the year $780, attended
the public lectures ofAbraham Booth, (afteIward
scientific reporter for the Times newspaper, and who
became DR.. Booth,) delivered ia Dublin, among
other subjects, electricity and electro magnetism
In said lectures, tho said Booth, ia my presence,
used in combination ioug circuit Of insulated wire
conductors, or galysnic battery, an elcctromagnet
with an armature and mercury cups to Join and
disjon the circuit. with which he msgnetized and
demagne.izsd the iron Of the electro caus-
ing it to attract the armature when the circuit
joined, aud TO recede from it when disjoined. MIR.
BOOTH at that time, stated to his audiences that
that power could be produced and used at distant
places. ns sigma of information and he repeatedly
illustrated what he meant, by causing the arma-
tnre to approach the magnet, and then to fall from
it on the floor, stating at the same time that i
ma de marks by SO falling"
In tho evidence of Dr. VIM f. Charming, sci
entifc gentleman Of Boston, in The trial of Smith
Us Downing It ats, page Al, he says: The history
OF the telegraph naturally divides itself into three
portions-th the first from about l7ij to 1900, when
free electricity, but that alone, could be employed
in an ffcent form the second from 1900 to 1920,
when galvanism was added to fric!icna electricity
and tie third, from 1870 to the present time, when
electro magnetism had been added to the two pre-.
oedipg az enoies.'' (And also Groves permanent
battery, as well as Professor Henrys discovery in
1881, of vastly increasing the power OF electro
magnets by an increase Of the length of copper
coils, Ind by which electro magnetic action could
be produced and reproduced by intervening mag
nets at great distances -AU rnoR.)
Before the year 100, continues DR.. Charming,
the apparently instantaneous passage of electricity
through several miles of wire, and the use of
the for the return circuit had been observed
Various tclegraphs had BEEN invented and dos
cribed during the first period; and in l19o Betan-
court is stated to have operated successfully in
transmitting signals on line of 70 miles, between
of Electricity, vol. 3 During the second period,
telegraphs by free electricity were described and
used, and also the galvanic telegraph of SGmmer-
ing and Dr. Coke, in which the indications were
made for the most part by the decomposition OF
water.
Soon after Professor Oersted's discovery of
electro magnetism, Ampere described the first
electro magnetic telegraph in his memoir, in the
Annales de Cheme of 1920; he describes the use OF
the detection of the needle fer signalzpg letters
at any distance, by means Of depressing signal keys
to close and break the circuit. (See Annales de
Chemie and Physique, vol ~ 7s--is2oo The
graph was thus early invented and described
Professor 5. + b. Morse claims that the first
time the idea Of an electro magnetic telegraph en-
tered his head, was as he came home from France
in the ship Sully in 1882. Or. Chas T. Jackson,
of Boston, being a passenger in the same vessel,
claims to have Impaired the first ideas of such IN
enterprise to Professor Morse, which the latter
denies, and both have introduced elaborate state
me IN m
declarations, which, however, seeing that so much
had been already done to establish the practicable
ty OF an electric and electro-m lgnetic telegraph
prior to their crossing the Atlantic together, in
1882, we cannot perceive that the claims of either
for suggestions at that time, possessed any origl
naIty, or had anything to do with the history o
the telegraph.
Tho cayeat of Morse for a patent, bears6ate DC
tober, 1887; his French patent, 1888; and his frs
American patent, 1910.
DR.. Canning (page 40 A., 5. Y. s. d., ct al,
states 81 believe the connection OF the graphic
gister with the electric telegraph, to have beer
made and published by Stienhcil, in Germany, be-
fore the da tie of the caveat of s. B. Morse, October
1887. In the paper of Stienheil included in the
transactions Of the French Academy of Sciences o
the 10th September, 1888, and published in the
Complies Rendus, of 1888, he described the result:
Of the practical operation OF his graphic telegraph
for more than year previously, between Munich
and Bogenhausen, and | understand the 18th o
July, 1885, to be referred to by him as an histori
cal date, on or before which hs electro magnetic
telegraph was in actual operation and public use
In an article by Stienhei translated in Stur
geon's Annales of Electricity, of March and April
ls39, the use Of posts for insulation, of what !
technically Called the ground circuit and Of iroI
instead OF copper wires for conductors, facts or in
ventions Of great Importance to the practicable
operation Of the telegraph are fully described.
consider ,Stienhiel, together with Gauss anC
Weber, who erected their telegraph at Gottinger
in 1883 and 81, as the explorers of the electric
telegraph, to whom the most important part Of II
practical application is undoubtedly due
The telegraph Of Steinhci, as described, regis
tiers serial dots, or strictly, short lines, by
point brought into ;ontast with a moving fllet 0
paper by the action Of lever, operated by the de
hecton of magnetic bar, bars, in coil Of wire
Without forming electro magnets on the plan o
Professor Henry, il would have been difficult, if no
impossible, to have produced signals al great dis
| lance, on the plan of Professor Morse.
! Notwithstanding this was given in evidence be
fore Judge Kane, in the late trial between the com
plaiuants under Morses patent against those repre-
senting Bans patent, the Judge decided that stein
bells registering telegraph was visual or sena
\ IAOric, al Il net n registering. teIeyraun.