The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1881-05-12
"REMINISCENCES OF THE Pa
CIFIC COAST TELEGRAPH.

| Inc Telegraph dG IIdI Ol-l4e WAS d
source of great curiosity to almost
every person along the route.
particularly to the nativepopulation
who looked upon the construction of
the line with the greatest wonder.
Many of them in ignorance of its
real purpose and not understanding
the use of the poles erected along
the road at regular intervals, strung
with wire with a crossarm on each
pole, conceived the idea and eX-
pressed it as their belief that the
Yankees were fencing in the country
with crosses to keep the devil out.
From this period the work was
successfully carried on without any
incident of Importance until we
reached San Jose. AT this place the
first regular station was opened.
The office was fitted up on the day
following our arrival, and l soon
had it prepared for business. While
these Preparations were being made
the portion of the street fronting
the Office had rapidly filled up with
crowd of people, a large pro-
portion of whom were nGEiye
Californians, all manifesting the
greatest interest and desiring to
know what was going on. The day
being warm, the windows of the
Office were wide open. AS they
opened on the sidewalk all that l
was doing inside was plainly visible
to those standing without. Observ-
ing the anxious and inquiring
expression on the faces of those
who had managed to get near
enough to thrust their heads
through the open window, It'll
occurred to me to act in a very
mysterious manner in order TO see
what effect it would have upon my
spectators. l had just received the
first message from San Francisco, !
which, after it had been copied, l |
placed in an envelope. On seeing
me do this my audience thought, as
l supposed, | was preparing the
message for transmission. took it /
from the table on which had placed
it, and instead of handing it to the
boy for delivery, l put it, holding it
in my hand, under the table, which
was provided with sides sufficiently |
deep to hide the envelope from their
view. AS did this l kept my eyes
fixed on the wire, while, with my
right hand l took hold of the key
and began working it. The moment
the crowd heard the first click of
the instrument they all rushed from
under the veranda out into the street
to see the message in the envelope
pass along the wire. On seeing
them rush out tumbling one over
the other to catch a glimpse of the
we on the inside burst out
into one long and continued roar of
laughter. Our laughing seemed to
puzzle them still more. But little
by little they began to realize that
they had been made the victims of
an innocent joke. They at first
signs Of disappointment
that their expectations had not been
but instead of passing anyi
time in vain regrets, they immedi- {
ately set to work to find out what
really had become of the mysterious ;
And, after all, their con- :
ception of this, although mistaken
one, was very rational one. To
one who had neither heard of
the telegraph and electricity, nor {
conceived the possible existence of
the latter, what could be more
natural than to suppose that the en-
velOpe and its contents were pro- {
PEELED under the agency of motive
power along the wire from one point
20 another. AS they had failed
to see it pass along the wire their
second suppositiOn was that the wire
was hollow and that the envelope
with its message inclosed was forced
through the hollow part, and with .
this idea they asked whether such {
was not the case; nor would they
believe the contrary until, for them {
selves, they had examined the end {
of The wire. Conviction on this
point put an end to their conjec- /
lures. The telegraph was to them
the very hardest kind of a conun- I
drum. 1t was impossible of solu-
ton. Their final conclusion was {
that it was an enchanted spirit-but S
a good one or an evil one G
hey could not quite determine Y
over which l had such control that
t was obliged to do my bidding. t
Under this impression they departed Il
me by one, looking upon both the f
and myself as something, d
Is the Scotchman would say, "un- n
,anny. "-CQLifOTIlidn b