The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-01-14
STORIES0F TELEGRAPHY.
wv MORSE FOUGHT AGAINST
GREAT ODDS AND WON.

ETOin me NtiO lOfN ifHtco'
Pathetic pictures have been given by
-riters galore of the saddening experiences
.hot were Prof Morses in the early days OF
his telegraph's inception-sclentistS grmac-
and politicians sneering, earnest endeavor
robnffed, proffered evidence secuted, hope
,.n+ over forlorn and halting. And
- +oIe is twice told even to schoolboy ears
.au Of how, through these crowding trials
I'd grooming disappointments, genius finally
nome to its reward and gave to the brave
oId man the glory of a hero to whom all
t..,,,on kind are debtors But has the story
a,.or been told of the day when for the first
.i,oe his visions were materialized in public
rbt Of the day when for promises he offered
sroofs when the people, forgetting all their
9arision. hurrahed for him in the streets be-
Use of the wonder of his accomplishment!
ca SGor+oirlv it has not been told, in prqnt at
,oost nv the one man now living who best
t"ov tell it-a man who was officially close
~ tbe hopeful inventor i'll dark days, and
Tho was beside him on the eventful after
noon unchronicled IN passing histories,
,,han expectation doomed finally into
sontnrons reality and huzzas chronicled the
copyersation of popular opinion.
A GLIMPSE of it came out night or two
a when in easy chairs up in the
GS7Isev House half a dozen friends
o,nn Of consequence in this town-dis-
cnssed the past and the present. After
mich of the rest of the earth had been
trsversed. somebody whacked at Jay Gould,
whence the journey was natural and easy
70 geographic topics, what Jay has done
md what Congress may do.
,sWhat wonders have been worked since
,fo,se,s dawn ouoth three or four of the
company at once:
Then the gray-haired man, John w. Kirk,
noted in telegraph circles these many, many
Years. broke his silence.
~ knew Morse" he said, knew him in
t;netelv. and was with him during the days
that were most trying to him., l saw him
stretch his first working telegraph line,
belned him encounter the rebutfs that made
nnmuch of his experience just before he was
6nallv and completely successful and on
the dav that that final and complete success
came / was in his company still"
STORY story!' ran the ejaculation round.
"Storvl story!' And there was no escaping
the call The grizzled and gray old gentle
man dropped into "reminiscences and for an
hour or more attentive listeners ranged
round delighted. They heard much that
was new-certainly much that before had
never been said except through suggestions
of scant gossip.
Rack in the winter of 1881 Mr.. Kirk
was taken from Ohio to Washington to look
after bids that he and business associates
had made to carry the mails over stage
routes to the West-as the towns of Pitts
burg. Wheeling and Cleveland were then
described. His business was not the task of
q single day: it had months of waiting in it,
and Mr.. Kirk settled down in the Congress
sional presence for the season. The Post
Office Department saw good deal of him
before the winter was over. When you
expect big contract you are apt to be
gracious: and if genial, young, with spare
lime on vour hands-as Mr.. Kinks case was
A years ago-an odd enterprise isn't likely
to Shock your tastes. Thu. .came Kirk to
know Prof Morse.
John A. BRYAN, Second Assistant Post
master General at that time, was one of the
cleverest Ohio politicians of the day, man
of attainments in many departments of
learning, but inclined to all the cautiousness
of the keen political leader and withal ex-
citable when affairs were not to his personal
liking
See herem he cried one morning as Mr..
Kirk entered his office. ''See herel There's
an abominable scheme to ruin me, sir p
The gentleman's language was little more
ornamental than type permits. as he pro
ceeded to make clear to his friendly caller
that superior officers had plotted to sacrifice
him by putting in his hand the duty OF
handling the thirty-thousand dollar appro-
priation which Congress, Fin its haste to
adjourn at a previous session, had voted for
electric experiments by Morse. ''To be
identified with such foolishness," declared
this officer, was to commit political
suicide for of course the end of the whole
business would be that Morse would be
recognized as crazy, and men conserving
with him would be looked upon with
suspicion, as, the Assistant Postmaster-G Gen
eral seemed to think, they deserved to be.
You must help me out of the scrape,h he
said to Mr.. KIRK. Il want you to undertake
Che duty of looking after Morse. If he puts
up wires you see that it's all right and I'll
pay the bills-only, you see, | really can't
afford to have any closer connection with
the thing
Morse had possessed himself of little
room in the east end of the capitol, and
there, distracted but active, the new
attache of the Post Office Depart
ment found him, thin, spare, carewoTn
anxious man, in the midst of confusing
heaps Of wire and pots and apparent debris.
The worker paid little heed to his visitor.
lie was on the eve of a test whereby he
hoped to satisfy official doubters. A Con
gresSional committee was on It's way to see
MIN and examine in practical operation the
machine which he had promised would
transmit intelligent messages between points
miles apart. The line which, started toward
Baltimore, was built about five miles with
out the Washington limits, and the
metallic circuit" before the day of ground
wires was in working order. The com
mlttee came. The inventor was in high
spirit. Enthusiasm made him almost 6
young man again. The time had arrived
b. felt, for a signal victory. No longer
you'd anybody question his claims. Now
FOR proof not to be gainsaid. The statesmen
approached his instrument cautiously, as il
suSpecting that it might suddenly get into
an exploding fit. They lifted their feet high
ana swiftly over stray lines of wire crossing
the floor, fearful of shocks. Their skeptical
countenances would have driven the origina
doubting Thomas wild with envy But
nnally they ranged themselves as closely as
they dared beside the animated electrician
and awaited his experiments.
Now, gentlemen, what shall we send
over the wirep calculated the old man
fick out your own message and I'll show
you how simple this whole thing is and how
u accomplishes everything that I've claim
ne gentlemen were hardly expecting a
challenge like this, but finally Congressional
genius asserted itself, and one of the party
proposed that this startlingly original in,
formation be flashed along:
49, ''s.s.... ............... ...,.....,..S
Mr.. Brown of Indiana is here.
#''''. s............. ....................s