The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1858-10-28

: pa, ATaQla, AND neUher would have
been mistaken, as one unfortunately was.
. for a lighthouse.
( The long and short Of i. is, that who
/ ever can mark distinctions Of time can US.
this alphabet Of ioDg-an3-short, however
he may mark them. It's, therefore, with
in the compass Of all intelligent beings,
except those who are no longer conscious
Of the passage Of time, having exchanged
It's limitations for the wider sweep Of etcr-
nifty The illimitabIe range of this alpha
bet, however, is not half disclosed when
/ this has been said Nest articulate Ian
guaCc addresses itself to one sense, or ct
+ most to two, sight aud sound I see, as
| write, that the particular illustrations |
have given are all Of them confined to sig
mails seen or signals heard But the dot
and-IiUe alphabet, in the few wears Of It's
history, has already shown that it i not
restricted to these two senses, but makes
( Itself Ineligible to all. is message, O.
course, Is heard as well - read ANY
good operator understands the sounds Of
It's ticks upon the flowing strip Of paper.
rs we'll as when he secs It. As lie lies in
his cot at midnight, be will expouaj the
passing message without striking 2 liAlt
. 70 see it. Bat this IS oul7 wha. may be
said Of any written language You can
read this article to your wife, or she can
read it, a. she prefers; that Is, she cAoos-
6 whether it shall address her eve Or her
ear But the long-and-short alphabet u
Morse and his imitators despises such mar
row range. itaddresscs whichever Of the
five senses the listener chooses. This fac.
IS illustrated by a curious set oianeci3tes
l-uever yet put III print, I tnink-ot that
critical dispatch which in one night an
uUunced General Tavlor's death 10 this
whole land Nost Of the readers Of these
lines probably read that dispatch IN the
mornings paper. The compositors and
editors had read i. To them It was ( dis-
patch 20 the eye. But half the operators
Al the stations heara il ticked out, by the
register stroke, and knew it before they
wrote il down for the press. To them :,
was dispatch to the ear. Ny good friend
Langenzunge had not that resource. IL
had just been promised, by the Genera,
himself, (uujer whom he served al Ps!o
Alto the office of Superintendent oi th-
Rocky-M ountain Lines. he was return
ing from Washington over the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad, on frcight-:rain,
ahuu IL head ~ .ha Presidents aaugur
LaDgeDzunceloved Old Rough aud Ready,
and he felt badly about his own office,
too. 81. his ext-mPore train chose 10
stop at tcTsake0 s4antv-vIllage or the
Potomac, for four mortal hours, at mid
night. What does Lo 10, but walk dowl
The line into the darkness, cline tele-
ggaph-p9st, cut q wire and apply the w
ends 10 his tongue, 10 tgste, at the fatal
moment, the words, Died at half past
ten Poor La4gcuZunge he hardly had
nerve to solder the BiEe again. Cogs told
me that they had just fitted up the Na2,
uadavic stations with Bain's chemical re-
Yolying disc. This disc is charged with
4 salt Of potash, which, when the electric
spark passes through it, is changed to
Prussian blue. Your dispatch Is noise
les~lY written in dark blue dots and lines
Just as the o!sc started on that 1ataI
dispatch. end Cozs hept over = TO read, h.
SN.rit-lamp blew up, --ag the dear things a.N
They were beside themselves in tic louelr
dark Office; bnt, while the men were funolug
for matches, which would not 20 C0E's sister.
NvGIa, sweet blind girl, who had learned
Bain5 alphlbet from d Howe at S1u.l 3os-
ton, bent over the chemical .ape-, and sma.
ou: The prIss.ate Of potash, as i, formed Itself
in lines ami dots 20 tell the sad story. Al
most anybody used TO reading the blind books
can read lie embossed Morse messages with
the GnEer,-end so this message WAS read at
all the midnight Tay-statIons where 10 night
work IS expected, and where the companies
10 not supply fluid or oil. Within my mar
row circle Of acquaintance therefore, there
were these simultaneous instances, where the
same message was seen, heard. smellcd, tast-
cd, and felt. So universal IS the d0t-and-line
alphabet for Bains is OF the same principle
as M0rse's.
The reader sees, therefore, FIRST, that
the dot-and-i7e alphabet can be cmp.ored by
any bcin,, who has command Of any long aud
short svmbolS,-bc they long and short 70 en-
g, such as Robinson CrusOe KEEP, j, ne cunts
with, or long and short waves Of electricity.
such as these which Falenua Is sending
across 10 the Newfoundland Bay, so propleti-
cally and appropriately named The Bay Of
Bills also. l hope the reader sees that the
alphabet can De understood b7 any intelligent
being who has anY one OF the Gvr senses lcTt
him,-by oil rational men, that is, excepting
the ieW eyeless deaf persons who have lost
both taste ana smell in some complete paralY-
SIS. The use Of MOTse.s telegraph is by 10
means confined 10 the small cliOlc who pos
sess or who understand electrical batteries
II is not only the torpedo Or the Gynaofas
sleetricus that can send Us messages from the
ocean. Whales in the sea can telegraph a.
well as senators On land. II they will only note
the difference between long spoutiags and
short ones. And they can listen, too. If they
will only note the difference betweea the long
and short, the eel Of Ocean's bottom may feel
- II. sLi.-n-- sLin taa .-nnaLh -lless.--.. 81