The Portland daily press., 1865-06-13
Telegraph around the World.

X " = A.7 IL L -.
we have been accustomed to the use of the
talking magnetic wires but brief period, yet
it would be a hard case to do without them
Strike them out Of existence and our patience
would be sorely tried. 1t would be IKE send
| ing back a disembodied spirit to tabernacle
Of flesh, and numbering it with mortal coils"
! How gradually and surely we have been edu-
Gated up to the present Standard We can
well remember when steamboats, first began
to walk our waters like thing of life, how we
used to look back upon the sslow coach" and
sailing vessels and pity our fathers who we're
subjected to such conveyances for themselves
or the news, and no doubt they looked back
and piled the generation that had gone be-
| fore them. a7se Ell i1H lsgls .saaa
1t has often occurred to us how anxious and
impatient we should have been during the
past four years of our nations strife for its
own existence, If we had been compelled to
wait for news of each battle until 1t could be
brought to US even by the iron horse, to say
nothing of the much slower one of flesh and
bones But let that pass. iss.ae ssiI ,TosH
The first experiment at telegraphing by the
unseen power of electricity, in England, was
after the battle of Waterloo, and more than
ten years subsequent to that eventful period,
the Government Of England was suspicious of
the invention and hesitated to lend lis aid to
such apparently wild and Improbable enter
prises. q aaar sss % asis5s.isssf
It was still later when one Of our persever-
aaxr1l,f ~.
enormous distance Of two miles on Long Is
land. This rude and imperfect attempt threw
spark into the genius of Morse and fred
him up with a zeal and enthusiasm that knew
no bounds. gig snf tae7ai 8lsa .ist d
1t seems strange to us now, when our whole
country is covered with a network of magnet
ic wires, to read how earnestly Morse petit
toned Congress to give his patent a fair trial,
some twenty odd years ago, and how hard it
was to make intelligent and scientific and
learned men believe that such an experiment
could succeed. To many minds 1t then seem
ed like breaking down the partition wall be-
tween this and the spiritual world. .1n {
But at last $4,000 were granted towards
the construction Of q line between Baltimore
and Washington, distance Of forty miles =
In June, 1874, this line was in successful OPP
GRAFTON, and what a sensation 1t produced
throughout the country It did seem as If
the curtain had been raised and we were in
the spirit land where there's neither time nor
space. The lovers prayer, the annjhilationo
Of space, was answered After this there was
no occasion for Government patronage; pri-
vate enterprise did the work; and what a
work. Aesgs .aaa
ta We have now more than $4,000 miles of
telegraph wire in which more than six millions
of dollars are invested. The British Provin-s
ces have over 5000 miles, England has near
ly 10000 miles; France some 10000, and in
other portions Of the globe there are about
10000 more, making in the aggregate one
hundred and sixteen thousand miles, and ere
long the wires will stretch across as much
space as there is between the earth and the
moon. ts.t,- ,l..-s E. ~. ea
There are now On the tapis two great tele-
graph schemes, the Russo American and the
Atlantic submarine. The Russo American is
a sure thing and win be soon accomplished,
but the otheris more uncertain, and yet, those
who are judges in such matters havefu con-
ddence that the great enterprise will be fully
accomplished. The Russo-American line is
well underway. 1t already reaches from
Cape Race, Newfoundland to Portland, Bos-
ton, New York, San Francisco (California)
and New Westminster in British Columbia. -s
There are three routes proposed from the
Amoor. The one most favored by Russia is
UsG Pekin and the Islands of Japan, but this
wonld be longer, besides It would require
many links of submarine work, two Of which
would exceed sixty miles In length. But that
would be no insuperable objection, for the one.
between England and Holland is over 100
miles under water, aud between Italy and sar-
DINA there are 80 miles, and between Bornea
and Balaklava, across the Black Sea, nearly
$50 miles. ssiaa3 anA aaca 1i sss
But the straighest and least expensive line
is through the mainland Of Eastern Siberia
directly to Behring's Straits On this route
a submerging of 40 miles would reach the
American Continent, and thence the course is
very easy through Observation-Disclosures to Brit
ish Columbia. Behring's Straits interpose no
barrier but what can be easily overcome.
The Toronto Globe says: sIn connection
with this great work, there is scheme of the
Hudson Bay Company-the overland tele-
graph to British Columbia by the way of the
Red River country" This region Of terrific
ry is increasing in interest and Importance
every year, and the time is coming when it
will support large population. Wire, to- the
extent of 1900 miles, has already been sent
out, aud it Is said the work is to be proseeu-
ted this season. Should the Atlantic cable
again prove failure, the other line will sure
Aly be completed, which will bring us within
speaking distance of the whole world and "the
rest Of mankind" Our own Forest City will
then be in daily communication with London.
Paris, ST. Petersburg, Berlin and the four
quarters of the globe. Who says this is not
wonderful age in which we are permitted
to live? The question Is, what will next take
place? Perhaps we shall chain the electric
fluid and make in motive power as well as a
speaking one. AH0sgAN 9aaA4MHfst 3aat
H9 % az 3 81 .baril141 Isia af1 u
SOFA Life in South Carolina. -