Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1853-01-26
CFrom the Bangor Courier.1
Great Telegraphic Project

Two OF the citizens of Maine, James Eddy, ESQ.,,
Of this city, the able and efficient Superintendent
of the Maine Telegraph, and Hiram o. Alden, Esq,
of Belfast, have proposed TO the United States
Congress to establish Telegraphlc intercourse in
eighteen months between the Atlantic and Pacific
States. Their proposal has been referred 10 a COM
mlttee of Congress. They ask jim aid of the enter
prise a grant of land, the title to which shall not
be vested i'll them, until they shall have completed
and put in successful operation their said Line of
Telegraph; i'll return for which grant, they will
give to the United States Government the right,
forever, 10 transmit, free of charge, over said Line,
all official dispatches and communications, giving
them preference over all othe rs, but properly limit
ing the number and length thereof; and they will
also stlpulate that, in the event that they, their
successors, or assigns, snail, at any time after said
Line is first opened for the transmission of des
patches. cease to operate, or keep the same in work
ing order, for the space of six successive months
unless SO prevented by the hostility or depredations
oil some Indian trlbe-SaId Line, with all its i'm
PIGMENTS, furniture, and fixtures, shall be forfeited
to, and become the property of the United States.
OF the plan of construction of the said Line of
Telegraph, il may be said that the first great OBJ
Iect TO be attained are, to secure permanency, that
exemption from the causes of interruption which
so often embarrass other Lines of Telegraph, and
a reade efficiency in working directly through, be-
tween Saint Louis and San Francisco. To effect
these objects 1t is proposed 10 make the line sub
terranean, shat the materials shall be imperishable
ana the insulation perfect. Hence, it will not, like
Air Lines, be subject to interruptions, by reason of
the accidental breaking Of wires, by imperfect in
%Sulation on posts, 10y the influence OF atmosphere
electricity, by injury from the fires of the prairie,
rom the terrific thunder storms of the mountains,
from the depreciation of the Indian, from the STAN.
lede O; the Buffalo, or from the necessity that
knows no law which often overtakes the weary
emlgrant on the plains suffering for want OF fuel.
The Line will be placed at a sufficient depth UNI
tier the surface OF the earth, rock, or water, to Sc
cure it from injury. 1t will be furnished with
Testing Tubes, every five miles, and with Working
Stations every one hundred miles. These stations
will be supplied with comfortable dwellings for
two Telegrapllists or Operators, competent to work
the Line, with such number of Assistants as may
he necessary at each station, 10 keep the Line in
working order, and for the protection of the same.
Each station will also be- supplied with all the ne
cessary telegraph instruments and batteries to in
sure the constant thurough-working of the Line.
III consequence of the differen". of longitude be-
tween the termini, and the consequent difference
OF time, it is proposed 10 work by night as well as
by day. 1t is, moreover, propoSed-when good
water and fertile land SO invite-to supply each of
these Working Stations with all the necessary
stocks, seeds, and agricultural implements, to ena-
Die the residents to cultivate q farm; thus coloni-
zlng the country on the Line of Telegraph, estab
fishing places of rest and refuge for the traveller
and the emisrant, and forming neucles for settle
'lIents, which may ultimately be of value in the
construction of that great Line of Railway so soon
TO span the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains.