The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1880-03-18
sTELECrRIC rELEaRAPHY.
An Outline Of ITS History and Methods
Of WOrkinE...An Artists brain the
0erm..-Morse's Early strugEles
Z. and Disapp0lntments---Th
Method o. Cable Trans.

0erm---Merse's Early strussles
Method Of Cable Trans.
mission.
In the autumn OF 1882 Mr.. S. F. B.
Morse, an American artist, embarked
rom England in the packet ship Sully.
The list of passengers was small but
intellectual one. There was q
long voyage before them, and each
amiably undertook to relieve the tedium
of the journey by the pleasant devices
known to intelligent travellers. At an
early period of the voyage the conver-
sation around the evening table turned
upon electricity and magnetism. The
subject at once excited very general
into which Mr.. Morse, who |
had hitherto felt no further interest in |
electrical matters than lively and ex-
cited curiosity, now entered with
enthusiasm. The question
WAS asked II the velocity of electricity
was retarded by the length of the wire.
A pregnant thought lay in that inquiry,
and the conversation became earnest
and practical. DIR. jackson, one of the
coterie, replied that electricity passed
instantaneously over any known length
Of wires. At this point Mr.. Morse re-
marked: eff the presence of electricity
can be made visible in any party of the
circuit, see no reason why intelligence
may not be transmitted instantaneously
by electricity" Somehow the utter
ance of the thought aroused ut once in
his mind the idea of its possibility and
accomplishment. The fact also pre-
sented itself that this had not yet been
DONE
Day BY day he burdened his mind
with this thought, which now, by
strange fascination, engrossed his whole
being. Gradually the conception took
shape and system until at last it had
assumed such form that, ut the break
fast table one morning he communities
ted the processes by which he believed
recording telegraph could be made
serviceable to mankind. Arriving in
America, he bent all his energies to the
accomplishment in practice of what
was, as yet, but an obscurely defined
theory. His struggles and disappoint-
ments and final success belongs no less
to the history of America than to the
mighty force with which his name will
be associated.
In the year 184S Congress voted the
sum OF $50. 900 10 be used in aseries
Of experiments to test the expediency
Of the telegraph projects OF Professor
Morse.n The first wire erected was
between Baltimore and Washington, in
the following year. To Miss Annie
Ellsworth, daughter of the Commission
er ofsPatents, was given the honor of
sending the first telegram. Its lam
guage, which has long since become
historic, was In. consonance with the
inventors own oft expressed thoughts
respecting the origin Of his invention.
Indeed. the inventor may have suggest
ed the language, What hath God
wroughtp' The message was at once
| passed successfully over the wires, and
the strip of paper on which it was i'm
printed was claimed by Governor Sey-
mour, of Connecticut in honor of the
lady, who was o native of his State, and
of the inventor, who received therein
his collegiate education.
The first stock company organized
for the purpose of q general telegraph
business, was Incorporated under the
title of the 50 Magnetic Telegraph Com
pany," and extended from New Yorl
| to Philadelphia. The gross receipts o
the first three months amounted to 1916
Other companies rapidly followed unti
the very extremes of the United States
were brought into intimate relations b,
the wires of the electric telegraph. Ii
1856, the Western Union, which wa
the most powerful. of all the competin,
companies succeeded in consolidating
under their management, the American
United States, California States an,
Southwestern Companies, giving it q
once an absolute monopoly Of the tele
graphic interests of the entire country
! In this connection it is interesting 4
compare the annual report of the Presi
! dent of the Western Union Compan.
for the fiscal year ending June, 1856
with that of 1879. In 1866 the gros
receipts were, in round numbers, $6.
500, 600. They had s. 500 Offices, $500
miles of wire, and handled 5000. 90
messages. In thirteen years the gros
receipts had multiplied to 81. .0O0. .0OC
The number of miles had increased 3
212, 600; almost 5000 Offices had bee
opened for the convenience of the put
.. Lie, and 5000, 900 was the number G
,, messages transmitted during the veal
The salaries paid by the Wester
Union Company to its operators in th
large Eastern cities range from $40 I
$11O per month, the latter being pal
s worked the heavy circuits. In tn
/ w C8G tu0 Iuok III Va o0AoAy 10 NV 81 -
? tended, but the labor is unusually sever
1 The average salary in the Cincinna
Office for the best men is eighty dollal
: |. per month
How many who read this articl
: even those who are most accustomed
: telegraphing, have the remotest idea
the manner in which their message
: handled from the time it leaves the
y possession until it reaches their corr
B spondent. Entering the office at Il
: corner of Fourth and Vine, you wri
), your message and hand it to the goo
}. looking Young man sitting at the +
2 ceiyer's window, whom We will call N
: Farmer-not that that is his name, b
: because in appearance he is so total
}. unlike the genus Granger. Mr.. M
II Guire (beg pardon, we mean Mr.. FarI
er) takes your message and checks
A. That is to say, he counts the words
n the body, places the number on t
~ margin of the blank, and adds Z
= words "paid," or "collect," with {
4 amount. 1t is next whirled into q
p operating department through t
.t pneumatic tubes, when it is taken fro
"a the box by one of q number of boy
called distributing clerks, and plac
on the wire leading to its destinatio
/ Here it is filed in the regular order
I'd receipt, and takes its turn in the coul
of transmission. II not of unusu
length it is sent in less than minu
Every operator has q private sigr
which they are required to place
each message they send or receive, W
the exact time. Your telegram, we v
Oh saw, was intended for New York. q
m has been sent direct. 1t is copied
I'd ink by the receiver, and by one of
le. swift footed Mercuries is taken fr'
Id the hook and sent to the deliv'
tn department, usually in the ba
p ment. where the messengers are q
lte gregated. Here it is copied in q let
,r- press, placed in an envelope and g
N by the Uniformed Brigade" for
ar Iivorv