The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1873-07-26

be written out and sent of for delivery.
BY eleven o'clock the press news begins
to crowd upon the operators, and then for
two or three hours the excitement is at its
height Every one must be at his post,
every faculty. alert, and attention iucessant.
The zinc in the batteries burns ferceIy
under the corroding acid, the mysterious
scurrent, which becomes more wonderful
the more conscious we become Of human
ignorance respecting it, leaps to its work.
Every available circuit on the great lines
Is pressed to its utmost. The operators
keys dance their tattoos, to which the dis
tant receiving instruments instantly re-
spond, reproducing the slightest, most
transient motion. The whole network
OF wires, and the submarine cables which
connect it with other equally active sys-
tens on the other side Of the globe, are all
quivering from end to end with signals Of
human intelligence.
After two o'clock signs Of relaxation ap-
pear. The press messages diminish mes
sages that have been waiting to take their
turn are cleared of. At four the heavy
business Of the day in many offices is about
over. The great lines are still crowded,
and their works run on into the evening
At last the business of night work begins,
and the press messages from Washington,
and the business and social messages that
are taken at half price, in consideration Of
their being allowed to be sent at leisure,
to be delivered next morning, are transmit
ted between the great cities, north, south,
east, and west.
Every phase Of the mental activity of
the country Is more or less represented in
this great system. The fluctuations in the
markets; the price of stocks; the premi-
um on gold; the starting of railroad trains
the sailing Of ships; the arrival Of passen-
gers; orders for merchandise and manu-
factures Of every kind bargains offered
and bargains closed sermons, lectures,
and political speeches; fires, sickness, and
deaths weather reports the approach Of
the grasshopper and the weevil the trans
mission of money; the congratulations of
ifiends-eyerything, from the announce
ment Of q new planet down to an inquiry
for lost carpetbag, has its turn in passing
the wires.
The telegraph has now become so true
q representative Of our life that II would
hardly be necessary to read the messages
in order to find an indication Of the state
of the country. The mere degree Of ac-
tivity in the business uses Of the telegraph
in any given direction affords an index
Of the prosperity of the section Of country
served thereby. Mr.. 0rton, the President
Of the Western Union Company, gave a
striking statement Of this fact in his argu-
ment before committee Of Congress in
1870. He said: "The fact is, the tele-
graph lives upon commerce. 1t is the
nervous system of the commercial system.
II you will sit down with me at my Office
for twenty minutes, will show you what
the condition Of business is at any given
time in any locality in the United States.
After three years Of careful study of the
matter, | am ready TO appeal to the tele-
graph receipts as criterion under all cir
cumstances. This last year the grain bus
mess in the West has been very dull as
consequence, the receipts from kilograms
from that section have fallen off twenty.
five per cent. Business in the South has
been gaining little, month by month, for
the last year or so; and now the telegraph
ic receipts from that quarter give stronger
indications Of returning prosperity than at
| any preyious time since the war; Hor.