The Dickinson press., 1888-03-17
THE TELEGRApH'S RISE.
THE FIRST MESSAGE THAT EVER
WENT OVER A WIRE.

lFl- Tt!NS lT1At EVEN
WENT OVER A WIRE.
to the Public by One of His Earliest
misunderstanding incidents Gathered
from John w. Kirk.
Morse had possessed himself of Il little room
in the east end of the Capitol, and there, alb
s!ractcd but active, the new attache of the
| lostotiicc department found him, Il thin,
| spare, carcwolll, anxious man, i'll the mids
of confusing heaps of wire and pots and APP
parent debris. A congressional committee
was on its way to see him and examine in
practical operation the machine which lie
had promised would transmit intelligent
messages between points miles apart. Tho
( line which started toward Baltimore was
built about five miles without the Washing
ton limits, and the ''mctallic circuit" before
the day of ground wires was in working or
der. The committee cainc. Tho statesmen
approached his instrument cautiously, as if
suspectins that it might suddenly get into III
exploding fit. But finally theyranged them
selves as closely as they dared beside the ami
mated electrician and awaited his exlcri-
mcnts.
Now, gentlemen, what shall we send over
the wirc:!' calculated the old man. "Pick
out Your own message and I'll show you how
simple this whole thing is and how it accom-
plishes everything that I've claimed"
The gentlemen We're hardly expecting a
challenge like this, but finally congressional
genius assorted itself. and one of the party
proposed that this startlingly original in
formation he flashed along
MIR. Brown, of Indiana, is here"
Prof. Morse bent over his instrument and
pcsged away. Tick, tick, tick-tick-tick went
the electric tapping, and then q moment later
came tho same rattling line of signals upon
all adjoining machine-the indentation Morse
register.
The old man grabbed the slip Of paper as it
came released from the instrument, scanned
it eagerly, and then, with the air of an en-
pcror whose crown is self-won, he thrust tho
tluttering white scrap forward.
"Seen-and he displaced another sheet
Oh which his dot and dash sign manual APP
peared-
Sec! Take this for n guide and you'll find
printed there the very words You asked trans
mitted.'
The delegation did as directed, and sure
enough they spelled ont so the sensational 60
ings-on of MIR. Brown of Indiana"
Converted! Those congressman converted!
Well, hardly. This is the recollection of Mr..
Kirk: Zone of them hunchcd me and winked
IA Il superior and knowing sort of way, while
another whispered: That's what 1 call pretty
t'.ia" and n third remarked right out loud:
IL Won't do! That doesn't prove anything.
l'oor Morsc's heart was almost broken. His
triumph was turned all to bitterness. Every
one OF his visitors went away more skeptical
than ever"
Morse worked only the harder after his
failure to convince the wise men from con-
:,Tess by the test of his five mil. loop. Day
by day more poles were set and more wire
was stretched, and Annapolis Junction-half
wa" TO Baltimore-was just about reached
when the Wing national convention of Nav,
lS!t, opened in Baltimore. Here. at the
81 digestion of his friend, Mr.. John W. Kirk,
Horse saw opportunities beyond any that
had come to him before. On the morning
that the convention organized lie was able by
dint of work by night as well as by day. ia
get connection through to Annapolis juno.
sion from his little Washington machine
shop. He had placed a bright young fellow
ii the Annapolis Junction, and with in.
structions to get information of what the
convention had done just as soon us the after
noon Baltimore train arrived at the junction
and telegraph it at once to Washington.
of course the capital was In a ferment;
every citizen was anxious for the news from
Baltimore: but till trains should arrive from
the scene it was recognized that nothing could
he known. The earnest old fellow spent that
e. entful afternoon all alone. save for the
co%mpanionship of John Kirk.
Cu51anly f1,a,,o oo,,o ~ ,,;,,,4ol .,:.1:..
He who was most interested bent forward as
if intent on fairly consuming the strip of pa.
per that crept out from the register. There
was almost agony i'll his face as, snail like,
the paper halted and hesitated, spurted a
little, stood still, made false starts and then
spurted more till-the message completed
Morse rose erect, looked proudly about him,
and said as grandly rs though he were dis.
trihutinS kingdoms:
MIR. Kirk, the convention has adjourned
The train for Washington has just left An.
napolis junction. And the ticket"-he hest
tated. holding final proof of his victory be
You'd all disputing-''the ticket-the ticket is
Clay and Frelinghuysen."
You arc quizzing us" was the quick re
tort he heard when this was proclaimed out
side. ''It's easy enough for you to guess thai
Clay is at the head of the ticket, but Frcling
~huysen-who the devil is Frclinghuysen."
81 only know" was the dignified answer
, THAT it is telegrapled me SO from Annapoli.
Junction, where my operator had the new.
five minutes ago from the train that is bount
this way bringing the delegates"
/, In those days the twenty miles from An
+, napolis Junction to Washington made up
trip of an hour and a quarter for the cxcep
: tionally fast trains, such as that which wa.
bringing the Wing delegates to Washington
Long before the journey was over the news
papers-enterprising even i'll those days-hat
extras on the streets, and the newsboy wa
: crying Justify the chronicle that Morse hat
caught flashing through twenty miles of air
y great crowd of people was at the station
The extras, with their cabalistic legend "B,
Telegraph" had whetted public curiosity t
kccnest edge. Out of the iammed trail
came the delegates piling, each anxious t
be foremost i'll sending abroad to friends til
inspiriting new that fortune was with Hary.
Is of the west. And how dumbfoundel the
IL were, finding i'll very type before them til
story they believed exclusively their Owl
II How but by Il miracle could the news hav
1T gained such Roadway. by telegraph $
er they read i'll the headlines of the journal
ps ''By telegraph" That pestiferous Mors,
W They had seen the wires stretching along I'll
IS track all the way from Annapolis Junctic
O. into Washington; they had seen it, and the
~ had joked about it glibly. Phew! 1t WI
d; hard to realize. But-but-but what can
lie man do when he can't do anything. II
a doubters and %scotfers became enthusiastical
IL dumb.
S. +. p. Morse had won. When he he
appeared i'll public the people showcrcd hi
with huzzas. He was no longer dreamt
he was a doer; and there We're honors for LII
~ Observation-Disclosures York Times.
IL
~. An Electric Clock.
me y new thing out is a clock. with ordina
uit works, that will run fort year without att,
IRE ton. An electric battery concealed in t
u one rirl III, Alo ol,ul- f.,... l..- L. L..