Mohave County miner., 1890-05-24
osIciN OF fElecRApny.
Aoystss That wss IL vesss nsssrs 1As
Days sf Christ.

oEIciN or tElEcRAPhX
Aeyssss That wss IL vesss nsssrs N
Days II christ.
There was . system of telegrsphy b.
tween thu site Of Chicago and that Of
the City II Mexico before the days Of
Morse; before Franklin's discovery, b.
fore the discovery of Amefjea BY
Columbus- perhaps before the days 81
Christ.
Such ars the assertions Of 1 Chicago
Tribune torrespondent who asks con-
siderdtiph III bis statements oil thS fdL
lowing basis:
Chicago was certainly the Northern
terminus Of telegraph line whose
other end was in Mexico, at so remote .
period OF the worlds history that tho
very name OF the race that built 1t il
buried HI oblivion. II was not the In
dams. The ancestors Of old fecumsell
and Hiawaths are moderns compared
with the eaflief race.
The hfst telegrapbic system was en-
ployed some centuries ago by that Curl
oui race e people that built the huge
mounds Of earfn .:...t are met with
everywhere In the MissisGpp.. Valley
and down to the Atlantic coast. W.
cali the peopls Of that age simply
Monnd-H Builders Tor want OF bstter
name. The facS Ii dead. Ths last
man Of them had passed 70 his etefnst
rest long centuries before this land be:
game ihS home u modern TED men.
But the mighty works OF th6se simple
people live after them. We look upon
their great earth-works, and like
volncy among his ruins can only feel
that to them Is due our veneration.
For them we must entertain at least q
feeling Of respect being. as they are,
the last remaining vestiges Of 4 race
most remarkable and most interesting
of all the men Of earth; springing fIys.
teriously into existence; living for cen.
turtles, and finally disappearing is corn.
pletely from the face Of the earth q
though they never had been born.
Being wholly unknown to other peo-
pies OF their times. we have no data ON
which to base reliable history Of tais
peculiar race Of men. Our antiauari.
ans toll us that they built substantial
cities; that they were tillera of the soilt
that they knew the principles Of art;
hat they had written language and
religion; that they had . commercial |
system; and that they could send q
message across the country with the |
Telocity Of light.
A telegraph in prehistoric times, a.
Tc look back upon IT, seems certainly 1
! myth; yet It Il after all the simplest
hing imaginable. The writer did not /
lain for It the electric principle Of the
dorse telegraph. The electricity l
which Franklin found himself able to
ontrol would have been totally una
ailable in the hands Of primitive peo-
lie.
The Mound Builders Geographic
ystem consisted OF chain OF large
hounds. starting at Chicago, hence
caring across the country to Prairie
y Chen, Wis, thence down the Mis-.
lssippi to Arkansas. and onward In .
,ore or less straight line to the ter.
linus at the City Of Mexico. then the
apital Of the Aztec Empire. These
bounds were built In the most suitable
'cations, 70 that fire lighted 1t one
pint could be seen distinctly at the
ext. and thus that signal-light could
. hastily transmitted from one station
} another over the thousands Cf miles
hich separate the two terminal points
the line. II
The signal stations are located often
q distance of many miles apart, per.
.ps half dozen spanning q hundred
lies; thus, as may readily be seen, .
niger signal could be sent across q
ate with the speed Of light. Around ,
csc signal mounds are usually ,
'ouped thousands Of lesser size, and
meiimes . fortification or other ,
rthwork. indicating that city Of
rye size had originally existed on the
OF. Thus at Tooiesboro, Ia, in adj
lion to one Of the most remarkable q
closure earthworks Of the continent,
ere are mounds Of all shapes and !
'es, the number running up into the !
No better selection of I
NAL station could have been secured Z
an this. On the very brow Of . great =
M overlooking the Mississippi ars 9
,ated the eight huge conical mounds Q
earth upon which the signal fires c
re lighted, away back in another age
the worlds history. telling . tale Of
nger or festivity. A light at this
int would be instantly observed at =
,scatinc. the next station. twenty =
les to the north, or Flint Hills. now :
rliDgton. away in the hazy distance. :
rty miles to the south, and thence 4
lid be transmitted from mound TO 4
'und. from station to station hun !,
IDS Of miles In either direction. =
This telegrapbic system employed by :
mound-builders IL the greatest 1,
nder Of the Western world. Nor 10 II
myth - 10 frequently originates in ii
fertile imagination Of the newspa- y
writer; but the mounds and earth 1,
rks are there 70 show for themselves. :,
their purpose Is self-evident. Now I,
ests have grown up. 80 that between =
ny Of the stations the line Of obser- II
ion Is cut of. hence the line Is out of "
air; but students Of archaeology as =,
and believe that the thousands Of -
unds In the long line from Chicago =,
Mexico City were, beyond doubt ~
nal stations In the first and original q,
:grsph system. Se
:.
n ~ 1