Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1875-06-24

and Mr.. Stephenson, the great engineer.
Never" said Wheatstone, "did feel
such tumultuous sensation as when, all
alone in the still room, heard the
needles click, and as spelled the words
l felt all the magnitude of the Invention"
1t might have been supposed that this
wonderful proof of applied science
would forthwith have made q stir in
Cnristendom; but when the Directors of
the London & Birmingham Railroad
soon afterward proposed to lay it down
to the latter town ii the Birmingham Il
Liverpool Directors would continue ii on
their line, these latter refused, whilst
not long after that, at meeting OF the
proprietors of the Great Western
Railroad at Bristol, a certain enlightened
person, by name Hayward, denounced
the invention as "a new-fangled scheme"
Ia frightful charge, and one which, in
such an assembly. he doubtless knew
full well bore death in it-and managed
to obtain q resolution repudiating an
agreement entered into with the pat
entees to extend it to Bristol. Mean
while Brunei had Immediately recog-
nized its importance. and managed TO
convey the wires in tubes to Slough Sta
ton, three miles from Windsor Castle.
But, strange to say, here again for some
time il was only used for railroad mes
sages, until Mr.. Cooke, the co-patentee,
proposed to maintain it at his own ex-
pense, on condition of doing the compa-
ny's business free and in return being
allowed TO send the messages CT the
public. This, then, was the first popular
use of the electric telegraph. The little
office stood perched up high above the
line, near the railroad station, and has,
we hope, been preserved as it deserves.
The charge for message was at first
what after many fluctuations, IL has
come to be at last-one shilling. AT
length that time-honered and curious
festival, the Eton Montem, the last ever
held in 1874, brought the Slough tele-
graph into some prominence The tele-
graph book for 1874 at the Great Western
terminus, Paddington, states that
The Commissioners Of Police have issued
orders that several officers Of the detective
force shall be stationed at Paddington to
watch the movements Of suspected persons
going by the down train, and give notice by
the electric telegraph 10 the Slough station
OF the number Of such suspected persons, their
dress, names, If known; also the carriages In
which they are.
The plan was perfectly successful, for
presently came the entries:
PADpINGroN, 1920 a. m.--Trsin just start
ed contains three thieves.
SLOUGH, 10:4s.--Arrived. Officers have eau.
toned three thieves.
PADprN6ToN, 1880 a. m.-Special just left I;
contained two thieves; one, Oliver Martin, Is
dressed in black, Grape on bis hat; the other,
Fiddler Dick
SLOUGH, lI:15 a. m.-Thieves in custody
lady having lost her bag; one OF her SOW
ereigns in Fiddler Dicks wateh-fob.
The thieves must have been terror
struck. An entry dated Slough, 11:15,
records:
Several OF the suspected persons who came
down are lurking about Slough, utteripg bit
ter invectiyes against the telegraph. Not one
Of those cautioned has ventured To proceed
TO the Montem.
But 1t was reserved for the following
year to bring the value of the telegraph
far more wildly before the public, and
il was through the detection OF crime,
not through it's value as a political OF
commercial a!ent, that it bounded into
fame. The traveller on the Great West
ern Railroad may observe just after he
fits by Slough in the fastest of express
trains the towers of Windsor in the hori.
zon on his left, and in the foreground a
group of cottages around large, time
stained, red brick mansion. This is the
hamlet of Salt Hill, the scene Of Eton
Montem, Salt Hill being the Mons"
and the tribute levied on the occasion the
"salt" The huge mansion is o famous
hostelry, at which in coaching days sew
enty coaches daily changed horses. In
cottage beside ii was committed in Jan
uary, 1916, the crime destined 10 bring
the detective power of electricity before
the world. A Quaker killed a woman
with whom he had secretly lived He
was tracked TO Slough station, and, being
suspected five minutes after he had taken
his seat, the news was flashed TO London.
He was Swallowed" for several hours TO
discover his haunts, and at length arrest
ed, and, being brought to trial, found
guilty and hanged. From that hour
dates the rapid and enormous growth of
telegraphy. BY the end of 1916 500 miles
were in operation in England. The fol-
lowing year the Electric Telegraph Com
pany commenced operations, and u few
years later the wires ran over more
thousands of miles than in lS45 they
did over hIndreds.-N. y. World.