The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1872-04-13
Death Of Morse.

fessor Samuel Finley Breese Morse.
Ihe event was expected; and it is re-
markable that so brilliant and useful a
mental career terminated by paraly-
Sis of the brain that made the lightning
element flash around the world the
thoughts of mans intellect.
Prof. Morse was the eldest son of
.)edediad Morse, well known in insti-
tutions of learning in this country as Il
writer of Geography. The son was born
in Charlestown, Mass, April 9th, 1871.
He was, therefore, in his eighty
first year this month. He graduated
at Yale College in 1910. Ills tastes
were decidedly for the fine arts; but,
at college, he was a careful student of
chemistry and other branches of natu-
raj philosophy. This served him ef-
fectually afterwards in perfecting his
great invention.
With his fathers approval, he went
to London, shortly after graduating, to
study painting under West, and he
there became intimate with G.. r.. Les
lie. After achieving some renown as a
painter, among the exclusive English
circles, he returned to America; and
for some years eked out bare susie
nance by portrait painting. He was
more literally patronized in Charleston
than in other cities. In 1922, he located
in New York. In 1924, he took prom
inent part in organizing drawing as
ISOLATION, which in 1926, became the
National Academy of Design, and
Morse was it's President for sixteen
years.
In 1929 Morse went to Europe and
remained there until 1882. 1t was on
his voyage in the packet ship Sully,
from Havre to New York, that he in
vented the electric telegraph.
One night Il discussion arose among
the passengers about some late discov-
cries i'll electric magnetism. Morse's
studies i'll chemistry made him an ar
bitrator in the discussion, and when he
retired at night to his berth his active
mind was full of the subject. He could
not sleep, and ere daylight he had map
ped out his invention. This is the sue
cinct account he gave of it himself,
many years ago, to the late Mr.. Otis,
for mary years editorially connected
with the Picayune who when Morse put
up his first wire in Washington City,
was there, representing a New York
paper, and saw the first dispatches
sent.
Morse's original idea was, to use I,
strip of paper, saturated with chemi-
cal composition, that when brought in
contact with the electrically charged
wire, would be decomposed, and form,
thus, an alphabet by marks OF various
number and width.
He did not relinquish his artist pur-
suits, on his return to New York; but,
in his leisure moments, kept up his
scientific studies and his experiments
with the telegraph. 1t was in 1898
that his first apparatus was completed.
1t could send messages a distance Of a
half mile, but could not bring back an
answer. In 1896, he had completed
his invention, was to send and receive
messages, and use the needle to indent
the paper, and thus form an alphabet.
In 1888 he applied to Congress for aid,
to help him make a practical expert
ment on large scale, but was refused.
lie went to England and could not OBJ
tain a patent; but in France was awar-
ded one. Returning to his own coun-
try, for five years he was indefatigable
in his efforts to obtain aid from Con-
grcss to enable him to test his inven-
ton; and finally, on the very last night
of the session of lS43-the night of
March 4-at the midnight hour, some
friendly Congressman tackled on to
some general bill al appropriation of
$1,000 to enable him to put Il telegraph
between Washington and Baltimore;
and in the hurry and confusion of the
moment the appropriation passed,
along with other measures, doubtless
at the time deemed far more impor-
tant.
In 1911, Morse had his wires in
working order between Washington
and Baltimore. The first message he
sent over them was, "What had God
wrought.''
In 1912, Morse laid the first subma-
rine cable, New York harbor being Sc
lected for the experiment. In the fol-
lowing year he first spoke of an ocean
telegraph cable.
The reader will remember that last
year statue of Prof. Morse was erect
ed in Central Park, New York, and the
venerable man appeared on the occa-
sion, to send off, by telegraph, to all
parts of the world, Il dispatch of con-
graduation to thousands of operators,
eagerly waiting at their wide scattered
stations to do him honor. Swiftly as
went his message to them as swiftly
back, from all parts of the globe where
civilized man has settled, came the
lightning messages, to do honor to the
mind that next to Robert F'ultOn'S has