Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1888-02-10

Caught Hasulu1 through luo lW'HAf
mi los OF air. A great crowd Of people
was Mt the station. The extras. with
their cabalistic legend by Telegraph.
h al whetted publ c curiosity TO keenest
edge. Dat of the jammed tran came
the delegates piling, each anxious To be
fore most in sending abroad TO friends
the inspiriting news that fortune was
with Harry Of the West And how
dumfounded they were, finding in very
/ type before them the story they had
believed exclusively their own. Certain
/ they were that no railroad train had
/ preceded their own. How but by
miracle could the news have gained
such Roadway? "By telegraph, SO
/ they read in the headlines OF the jour
mails. by telegraph! That pestifer-
Gus Morse They had seen the wires
stretching along the track all the
way from Annapolis junction TO Wash
ing; they had seen II, and they had
joked about t glibly. Phew! 1t was
hard to realize But-but but what
eau man do when he can do any
thingp The doubters and scoilers be-
came enthusiastically dumb
;. +. b. Morse had won. When he
next appeared in public the people
/ shOwered him with huzIas.
He was no longer dreamer; he was
"A door; and there were honors for him
unstinted Yet he bore all meekly.
once in while the calm of that strong
face given way to a radiance seen there
but seldom in the later years.
STRANGER
who had been Sc ated close to the little
company attentive 10 this rominiscence
arose rs Mr.. Kirk halted, offered his
hand, and said This is n great big
treat to me, sir, and | hope YOU i par
don my intrusion. Nv name is Plumb
Col. Ralph Plump thew call me out
home in Illinois, where they elect me
to congress. | just want to add one
word to the story you've told. / know
sonnet ling of it myself | was dele
gate from OHIO to that Clay conven-
lion. | was on that first tram 10 Wash
ington. | remember the Little shed at
Annapolis Junction, where we stopped
on our way. | saw the man there who
was ticking away on tile brass ma
chine; / saw him and | talked with
him. | wanted to know what strange
hing he was doing. and he said he was
telegraphing to Morse in Washington
toward the wires overhead running in
that direction the first wire ever put
up for tel egraphing. In common W tn
all the rest Of the real wise ones of the
Law, | hailed the affair as a huge iok g,
till, when we landed in the Washing
ton CITY station. sure enough Morse had
had the news an hour or more ahead
NJ us and the whole city was informed
q &. a. 4. IL
norse on the ticket with our hero Clay.
The evidence couldn't be upset of
course; the most prejudiced of us
couldn't presume to suggest that
Morse's work was guesslng-for no
man alive would have imagined that
frelinghuysen could be ma lie the nom
;nee for vice president. Yes. I'm down
ght glad to havo met You, Mr.. Kirk
vou make me feel Young again with the
lale you We told. Now, cant YOU come
Town 20 Washington before this winter
= goRe? I'd nightly like to buy you
Due dinner.
When the gentleman from Illinois
had sad goodnight, leaving behind
rather remarkable sensations, so
strange wa. the coincidence he had
pointed. Mr.. Kirk told someth NC of
experiences connected with the early
advances of telegraphy.
-When went west from Washing
ton that spring" he said. al took
along with me samples Of the indent-
ed strips of paper IA they came from
the receiv ng instrument. An enthu-
siast | talked of telegraph to every
body / met In Columbus, G ncinnati.
indianapolis and other western CEN
ters met college professors business
men. and other people ranked high for
intellect. knowledge. aud common
sense. and all. or nearly all, were pro-
nounced skeptics ~ to the practicable
iiy of Morse ideas. And | am put
ting it little m ill., | think, in saying
that the impression wasn't long in
getting abroad that | was ~ little off -
I meant well. but didn't know The
last remember of some of my friends
out there they were still plying me.
Il was in Indiana in the autumn af-
ter congress had made a thirty thou
sand dollar appropriation to Morse for
his experimental line. The congress-
man OF that district was up for re-elec-
on. Poor. deluded man. he had I'M
fortunately voted for that appropr a
ton. He had been for years the
political pride of the district. The
people out there would give him any
thing he'd take if they had the z wing
Of it. OF course he didn't doubt that
he would he reelected as if by accla-
nation; but before election day lie saw
things differently. Ayoung man whom
nobody had ever heard much of before
got an opposition nom nation. and
went stump ne all over the district.
and before long the fight became very
warm. Il have not one word to say
against my opponent so the young
man always began his speech. He 3
a gentleman; his character cannot be
lmpeached; he is honest. reasonable.
well-nformod good neighbor. and "a
real N ce man But. gentlemen. while
he was in congress he voted your
money away upon clap-trap things like
this, and the nominee, producing n
congressional document. proceeded to
read the text of the bill which appropri-
ated the 800 600 for Morse's expert
ments Thirty thousand dollarsr no