The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1886-03-03
ELECTRIC GRAPH.
y NORTH C~ARoLiNLAS CLAIMS THE
RoS0R ACCORDED To MORSE.


strated It's Applioation---His Reasons Tor
bis Worry Long silence.
Correspondence Of the Charlotte OdsJrper.)
WASHINGTON, ID. O., February 30
"W"utd y"u object 1" giving me ~
brit sketch ot your history, and ts-
pccially of the history OF your c"n-
necriun with The invention OF the
elcctric tci'&iaph.' 80 sAid the
Observer correspondent this morning
to Mr.. JuniuS Lynch CleIDmon>.
"Not at ALL" was the l., ply. 81 vas
bnuu ihv \i,iu-c oi tic]rrniuu>viii",
Rowan iruw Duids,n) c uHl;
N"rth Curnliua, nu the tii>' day De
{, mDrr, 1913, an ia;n - Spvrniy-tMU
Years oi age | am now an old mau
but very wril preserved, IS YOU eau
ace. For the last year OF two have
been troubled with ~ Sigh; dyspepsia,
but apart from that my health has
always been good. Indeed, I can sa,
what very Jew can say that for titty-
five consecutive Years | never lost a
meals victuale By sickness. | am sat
isticd thai, in all my HE, l Was never
coulincd to my bed so much u. ,cu
DAYS by sickness. | begin, however,
~ tNNA t'N hNN'o Va utlN hbo" 'IiStl
the end is no lar distant.
only father was q merchant, and
my boy hood days were spent tor the
most part behind the counter. AT
the aye of eighteen | was Sent to
Randolph Macon College, in Virginia.
Alter spending Il year aud a half in
the preparatory department | enter
ed college, and after passing through
the regular course, graduated in 1887.
"ln the year 1888, when about she
age of twcn.y Years, | commenced
attending lectures on chemistry, and
was f,rcibly struck with the powers
Of the galvalic battery, and its con
nection with electrical currents. In
thinking over the matter | felt con-
WINGED that electricity could be- prac
tically used in conveying intelligence
between distant points on insulated
wires. l announced this belief to my
classmates and To illustrate my idea
drew a diagram around the walls of
my . exhibiting q wire support
ed by glass brackets on upright poles
such rs are now in use, with a bat
terry at each end and an independent
clock work on which to receive mes
sages.
~ attcmi tied frequently to explain
this to my comrade-, but was only
laughed at for my pains. / was re.
gardcd IA a visionary, and my pro-
ject a. a dream. l cDntcndrd that il
would work aud prophesied that in
the near future a man would be sit
ting in his chamber in New York
convcrsiIg with his brother in New
Orlcans as famIliarly as il they were
seated at his own tircsidc. Yea, more
that the President of the United
States would in the same manner con-
verse with the Emperor OF Russia in
All instant of time. This of course
was regarded by all as the extreme of
fauuticism. Only one OF my class
mates would listen to me with any
drgrcc of %crcdulity and that was Il
young man from North Carolina By
the name of Baxter Cligg, who after
wards became somewhat prominent as
y Methodist preacher.
"ln alter years q number Of my
scho"!marcs came Out with voluntar,
communicat on I" different mews,ap' r.
t%tstIl! ing 10 =" hal l nave above stated
Prominent among them was j.. w
Cameron, at one time editor of n
paper published dt Wadrsboro, N. T..
"Being Young and somewhat diff
dent, | did not press my Suggestions
upon the public attention; but heuri.. g
that % gentleman by the name OF
Pagc, in Washington City, had become
quite eminent as an electrician, | re.
solved to communicate to him IN,
ideas on the subject OF telegraphv by
the electric current, aud to obtain his
views ON the subject. therefore
wrote to him explaining in detail my
views, accompanying the same win
diagrams, etc, and asking him Tor hi.
opinion. To tins request | received
no Answer. This failure to answer
was rather a dauper upon my entliu.
eiasni, and | thought that after nj
probably my theory was not practical
or It's merits would have been appre.
clatcd by a man eminent in electrical
science.
II therefore dropped the matter and
devoted IN! self to my studies, saying
but little more about the telegraph.
l was preparing myself by a collegiate
literary course for entering upon my
professionals IL lawyer and devoted my
self exclusively to that purpose.
"Iear, rolled by and | had almost
forgotten the telegraph matter, whe u
in the year 1874 | opened the Wash
ington GLOBE one morning, and the
first paragraph that attracted my at
80 "hS an W. vi tfC lOItla-
ton Of partnership between Page,
Morse, Amos kindall 81 Smith, to
erect an experimental telegraph wire
between Baltimore and Washington
City, aud an application to Congress
for p%ecuniary aid.
"Ihr ume | saw the C0mbinu-
ton the conviction flashed upon nv
mind thai Page had used my su2grs-
lions to bin made eleven years before
III the flr'herancc of the Morse pro-
Ject, and when | learned that al the
time | wrote to Page in 1888, and tor
some Years afterwards, he Wa oil tx
aminer IN The patent flee, and for
bidder 10y law to take oul - patent ia
MS w name, my Convictions were
confimed. Indeed, | was so positive
OF the fact thai | wrote 81 cOmmunica-
ton to the Washington GIo6e, pubIicl,
charging Pi0r with having availei
himself of u ysuggeStioms.