The Portland daily press., 1872-04-02
Ohio PRESS.
TUESDAY MORNING, APRIL q 1872
The Early History Of the Electric Teie.
graph. Prof. Morse, Ezra cornell
and F. o. j. Smith. 81

thing relating to the history of a most bench
cent continuance for promoting mans COM
fort, happiness and intelligence. The life Oh
Prof. Morse is pleasant proof OF the iac' 'iia'
the condition of the human race has peeh 81
much ameliorated that men may no" rece''0
something more tangible than pos'huihous
honors in return for labors that greatly IN
crease the worlds store OF happiness anu
Lno,,,edoo Modern civilization has rarely
nresented itself in more attractive aspect, or
a;ven more signal evidence of its triumph, than
when. few months ago, Prof. Morse, at the
age of eighty, received public ovation. our
rounded by the ablest and most distinguished
men of his age he received the congratula-
tons of all lands through the agency OF the
wonderful means of communication which
he himself had perfected, and his own trem-
bling hands touched the mystic keys, sending
responsive greetings to the Old World and
the New. The last part of his career has
been singularly felicitous, and ample amends
have been made for the .disappointments,
struggles and losses of his earlier manhood.
While yet living his grateful countrymen
erected his statue in Central Park, New York.
He received decorations and kindred honors
from European sovereigns. And, unlike the
greater number of his brother inventors, he
died rich. s
The following extracts from paper writ
ten some years ago by James Parton for
New York journal in relation to the early his
tory of the telegraph, and especially to the
Il
Smith with the inventor, will be read with
peculiar interest at this time:
On a certain day in 1912, when Ezra Cornell
was a travelling agent for patent plough, he
arrived at Portland, in Maine, and naturally
enough called at the Office of an agricultural
journal, edited by F. o. J.. Smith, with whom
he was well acquainted. This visit proved to
be the turning point in the plough agents ca
reer On entering the Office, he found the edi-
Tor on his knees with parts of plough by his
side, drawing on the floor with piece of chalk
and trying to explain his drawing to a plough
maker named Robinson, who was standing
near. @
"Cornell,' said the editor, with animation,
and as if much relieved ''you are the very man
want to see. want scraper made, and
can't make Robinson understand exactly what
want. But you can understand it, and make
il for me too.
Ezra Cornell had indeed learned the trade of
machinist The son of a farmer named Eli
jah Cornell in Westminster county, New York,
he had passed his boyhood, as our country boys
usually DO in working on his far farm and going
1929 when he came of age, he went to Ithaca,
New York, in search of employment, and there
worked awhile in machine shop, and after
emit Of large mill In Ithaca He was one of
those men who would undertake on the spot to
build a MILL dig a canal, bore the Hoosac Tun-
mel, or construct the High Bridge, and execute
the work in a triumphant manner. He was a
sound, healthy man, too, who drank no intoxi-
eating drink, used no tobacco, and lived clearly
In every respect. 1t was with reason. therefore,
that the editor felt relieved when he saw him
enter his Office that day in Portland, while he
was vainly expounding an imaginary scraper to
Mr.. Robinson.
What do you want your scraper to do?"
asked Cornell
Mr.. Smith explained. Congress had made an
appropriation to build a line of telegraph be-
tween Washington and Baltimore, and Mr..
Smith had taken the contract from Professor
Morse to lay down the pipe in which the wire
was to be inclosed Finding that it would cost
great deal more to do the work than he had
calculated upon, he was trying to invent some
thing which would dig the ditch, and fill it with
dirt again, after the pipe was laid at the bot
tom. Cornell asked various questions concern
ing the size of the pipe and the depth of the
ditch, and, af er thinking a while, he said:
You don want either ditch a scraper."
He then took pencil and drew the outline
of amachine, to be drawn by "a yoke of oxen,
which, he said would cut open the ground to
the depth of two feet, deposit the pipe at the
bottom, and cover it with earth, as the oxen
drew the machine along. The editor was in
credulous. Cornell, however, expressed I'M
bounded confidence in its successful working
and Smith at last agreed IT, pay for one provid-
ed Cornell would superintend its construction.
1t it succeeded, the inventor was to be hand
somely paid; if it failed, he was to receive moth
ing. Ten DAYS after the trial took place when
Ire If wit he nf
machine and three men, laid one hundred feet
of pipe and covered it with earth in the first
five minutes. The contractor found that he
could lay the pipe for about ten dollars mile,
for which he was to receive one hundred dol
lars .-
Nothing would now content the contractor
but Cornelps going to Baltimore and superin-
tending the working of the machine
an advantageous offer, Cornell agreed to CO.
Upon conversing with Professor Morse, and in
specting the pipe that was to be used, he pre-
dicted failure, and endeavored to convince the
Professor that the pipe would not answer
Morse chung to the child of his brain, and the
work was begun. The pipe was laid with great
rapidity, and it was not until Mr.. Cornell had
ploughed in ten miles of pipe, nearly all the
way from Baltimore to the Relay House, that
Morse was satisfied messages could not be
transmitted through it. But, as our French
friends say ''the eyes of the universe were up
on him. and he shrank from the comments of
experiment so prolonged The ready Cornell
quickly relieved him from this embarrassment.
he shouted to his men one day: .s
Hurry up, boys Start the team lively!
We must rech the Relay House before we leave
off tonight"
Cornell, who was guiding the machine, di-
rected 1t SO that it caught nnder rock, and in
moment it was smashed to pieces The news
papers lamented the sad catastrophe and con-
doled with the inventor upon the delay which
it would cause. Another Kind of pipe was tried
and failed. The whole of that year was con-
sumad in such experiments At last. when
about seven thousand dollars of the appropria-
ton was left, and Professor Morse was almost
In despair, he gave up the execution of the
work to Mr. Cornell, who forthwith, with the
Professors approval, abandoned the pipe sys-
TEN, and set up the Geographic wire upon poles,
and employing an insulatOr and a relay magnet
OF his own invention. tF .. mr..
On the LIST of May 1913, the first messages
were sent; and although every part of the ap-
paratus worked imperfectly, and sometimes
would not work at all the line waa sufficiently
successful to establish the electric telegraph as
permanent addition to the possessions of
man. --.l u " z
WE publish in our advertising columns an
act of Congress providing for a public park
for the nation. The tract lies partly in Mon
tana and partly in Wyoming and is said to
be valueless for settling purposes but very
picturesque in scenery and charmingly diver
sified by mountains, valleys, streams, lakes
and forests. The pet scheme of Rev. Mr..
Murray, SO warmly advocated in his lectures,
for the establishment of public park in his
beloved Adirondack region is here realized
with change of place only. We append
description of the new pleasure ground taken
from the Union:
The location is on the head waters of the
Yellowstone River between the 44th and 45th
parallels of north latitude, and 10 and Ill de-
grees 10 minutes longitude west from Green
witch; The area of the proposed park is 40 by
80 IL miles, embracing 1888 square miles and
traction or about 81, 525 acres. In the SOUTH
east corner, of this parallelogram comes in
cunning almost due .north) the Yellowstone
river; After flow of ten miles the river en-
ters Yellowstone Lake. of an irregular shape.
ten to fifteen miles in extreme length and
width width Near the centre of the park the river
debouches from the lake, and after travers;ng
for few miles the hot SD rings region tnrnLIs