Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1873-04-14
FEATS IN TELEGRAPHY.
The Wo'aders Of the Wsre-Receiving
and Sending Dispatch Without an
Instrument

eOSsoSVe't4 A)Cof>NcCft
Instrument.
In lecture, recently delivered by
Captain John n Hills, in Illinois, he
related one or two Of his experiences in
telegraphing, which, if we remember cor
rectly. were referred to us at the time
of their occurrence The exploits are,
however, so wonderful, of such local in
terest, and SO worthy of general public
ity, that we condense and give herewith,
at the risk of a repetition, full account
thereof from his lecture. He says that
ON the I'd day Of March, 1868, train
on the Bennington and Rutland, now Har- |
lem Extension. railroad, was snow-bound |
about three -fourths of a mile from Shafts
bury. The weather was intensely cold
there were no provisions on the train
fuel was nearly exhausted night was
approaching and the situation began to
look desperate Mr.. Hills two small
children were with him, and one of them,
too small to be fed with arguments,
clamored for something better. The su-
perintendent of the road, Mr. F. G.. White
was on the train. but, strange to say,
the snow would not clear the track for
a railroad king. In his helplessness he
was entirely at a loss for any means of
relief, until Captain Hills, without in
struments of any kind, except the wire
on the poles, proposed nevertheless, to
telegraph to Rutland. The superintend-
ent was incredulous, but Capt. Hills
quickly cut the wire and communicated
with the officers of the road at Rutland,
merely striking the ends of the wire to-
gether-thus making and breaking the
telegraph circuit as he would have done
with the key of an ordinary operating
instrument. An engine was immedi-
ately sent to the relief of the blockaded
train. But the entire operation required
the receiving as we'll as the sending of
messages. This was the crucial test of
Captain Hills ingenuity, skill and nerve
and until this was accomplished, the su-
perintendent and passengers felt no as
surance that the message sent had been
intelligibly communicated to the officers
at Rutland. Striking his wires togeth-
er, he wrote to the operator as follows
Trouble answer slowly | am working
without an instrument l will receive
your answer through my tongue" He
| touched the frosty wire to his tongue,
, with the same result, at first, as that en-
joyed by the boy who undertook to lick
the frost from his skate-steel, but found
that the skate knew more about licking
than he did. The wire wouldn't let go
D until it was warmed and then kindly
took the skin off with it. So the wire
Y was heightened and carried into the car.
D After it was warmed, Capt. Hills received
the message by putting one end of the
$ wire above, aud the other under his
!. tongue, and letting the electric current
e pass through it, when he was able to
read by the succession of sharp and
I somewhat painful electric shocks. His
o success was perfect. and he not only sent
o and received messages for the superin.
/ tendent, but for several of the passen
gers. The only i'll consequence of the
It exploit was the total loss of taste which
V Capt. Hills suffered for several days af
7 terward
- Another interesting scientific fac
"a stated in the lecture may be used to sus
), tain the theory that the aurora borealis
,, or northern lights, should be referred
i to electrical causes. On the occasion o
, an unusually brilliant aurora, Capt. Hill
" found great difficulty in receiving dis
a. patches. He was trying to obtain tn
night reports for the morning paper a
- Burlington. Attributing the interrupt
IN tions to atmospheric influences, he dis
Is connected his telegraphic battery ant
t. requested the New York operator to d
bo the same, when he found much NOR
bo even current and worked for some tim
IA with the atmospheric current alone, with
=. out any connection with, or assistanc
, from, the batteries. As soon as the au
y roral display materially diminished. th
u atmospheric current also diminished, an
- he returned to the use of the regula
of batteries without further interruption
thus plainly establishing a direct rela
tion of the cause and effect between tn
aurora and the electrical condition {
- the atmosphere
N A