The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1872-04-18

r out his invention. Although the prac
tical working of it had been demonstrate
ed on small scale, yet to the minds
Congressmen,- the English ParIia
ment to Stephenson and his locomotive
the invention seemed altogether too chi
mericaI to be likely ever to prove Of any
worth and so, after a futile attempt tC
induce the Congressional Committee tC
make favorable report, Prof Morse re-
turned to New York, having wasted an
entire winter and accomplished nothing
In the Spring OF 1888, be determined to
make an effort in Europe, hoping for bet
ter appreciation there than IN his own
country. 1t was a mistaken thought,
however, for after q sojourn OF four years
he returned 90 New York, having sue
ceeded in procuring merely q 6revet din
uentjon III France, and 40 aid or security
Of any kind from the other countries
! But if this European visit was temporarily
unproductive Of satisfaction so far as
electric biography was concerned, it was
destined to yield i'm portant practical re
suits in the almost unknown art of pho
Biography. While Professor Morse was
iii Paris, in the spring of 1889, he was
invited by Daguerre to inspect the re
suit of his experiments DaguerrG was
then waiting for the French Government
to secure him q pension before he pub
lished his process, The specimens shown
to Morse by Daguerre were some delin-
cations of inanimate objects. Professor
Morse suggested to Daguerrc the feast
biIity of taking portraits Of living sub
jects. AS the time required for portray
ing varied from fifteen totwenty min
utes, Daguerre declared that in his opin-
ion it would be impracticable for that
purpose. After Pro lessor Morse returned to
America, still cherishing the belief that
life portrait, could be produced, he con
structed the necessary apparatus and in
order to experiment in that direction,
owing to the rudeness of his Instruments
he labored under many difficulties. HeI
first daguerreotyped the Unitarian
Church in New Y ork, in September, 1889
He next undertook to make portraits Of
his daughters. He improyised studio
on the roof of house. After sitting OF
ten or twenty minutes in the face of the
sun, he was delighted to find that be
PROD need excellent portraits. Professor
Morse believed that he had made the
first life portrait, but the weight Of evi-
dence tips the scale in favor of Professor
Draper. Between these two gentlemen,
however, the honor lies divided. They
ass ociated themselves subsequently as
partners, and engaged in the practice Of
photography. The partnership, howey
er, was of brief duration, and Professor
Morse continued the business alone in Or
der to obtain the means necessary to ac-
cumplsh the great purpose of his life
the consummation of the electric tele-E
graph.
But this was a hope which though |
fondly cherished, would nave been given
up by less energetic man after SO many
rebuffs, but a frm belief in the inesti-
mable value Of his invention prompted |
Professor Morse to make still another eff
fort at Washington, The results, at first,
were hardly more encouraging than on
the previous attempt. Again and again |
he was pronounced visionary, and his
scheme stigmatized as ridiculous. Sol
faint were the chances ofCongress appo-
priating anything that on the last night
Of the session, having become thoroughly
wearied and disguised with the whole
matter, Prof Morse went home and re--
tired to bed ; but in the morning he was
reused with the information that few
minutes before midnight his bill had
como up, had been considered, and tina t
he had bsen awarded $3O,OOO with
which 70 make an experimental essay
between Baltimore and Washington. The
year following the work was completed,
and proved complete success. From
that time until the present the demands
for the telegraph have been constantly
increasing; they have been spread over
every civilized country in the world, and
have become, by usage, absolutely neces-