Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-08-14

the principles of this mode uf communi-
eating intelligence. - In the same arti-
Gle the telegraph is described as OF elm
cn!culable importance to the mercantile
interests, " and is referred to us being in
n "highly improved condition in
Boston.
Was there, then. a system of practical
/ telegraphy in use before the invention Of
Professor Morse?
There were many such systems. There
were even attempts at an electric tele-
/ graph nearly sixty years before the Bal
/ timore and Washington line. Arthur
/ Young, a gentleman who visited France
| in 1857, tells of the experiments of one
/ NJ. Lomond, who conveyed messages by
| electricity from one room to another;
! Francis Ronalds, in 1928, passed cleo
/ trio sparks through eight miles OF Wirei
/ In 1887 w. f. Cooke and Professor
| Wheatstone patented the ''ueedle teie-
| graph - In which the electric current
| moved delicate pointer to right or left
at the movement of an ivory handle, and
| the thirteen mile line between Padding
| ton and West Dreyton was several years
| in advance of Professor Morse.
! But it was not TO any of these that the
writer in the american Magazine re-
| ferred.
| The SBleRTHDu, "HlCHy NO says Lo0
been Hbrought to great perfection by an
| enterprising citizen of Boston, had no
! wires and was operated without spark
| of electricity; yet by means of it mes
sages were sent lat the rate of IA miles
a minute, which is eleven times as fast
| as the swiftuess of sound, and seven
| times as fast as the speed of cannon
! ball. -
The Boston telegraph of 1884 was an
elaborate system of signalling from tower
| to tower by means of painted arms OF
wood pivoted to tall upright pole and
rapidIy set at different angles by means
of ropes controlled by "wincheS, or
'crank handles.
A machine of this sort was called
Hsemaphore, or "semaphoric teie-
| graph;'' for the word telegraph had
been in common use since the preceding
century.
| The movable arms OF the semaphors
were not used TO represent letters
of the alphabet, nor were the messages
| sent by them spelled out word by word.
The different portions OF the arms in
dictated only numbers, and the
numbers referred to messages or
parts of messages which were printed
| in a book, or course, both the sender
and receiver of the dispatch had copy
| of this telegraphio dictionary, in which
the messages were arranged alphabet
cally for the convenience of the sender,
with a numerical index for the use OF
| the receiver. Chords Book - was the
standard IN 1884, and j. r. Parker's
Appendix was also used. a copy OF
| Parker's Book may be seen In the Boston
| Atheneum; and doubtless IN other large
public libraries both that and Ell
! ford So may be found. as well as 1.-The
| Boston Harbor Book, which supple
mented the two.
! Valuable as this method of rapid COM
munication, however its use was con-
fined almost entirely to the coast, and
limited to reporting to the merchants OF
| Boston the news of arriving vessels.
Five watchmen were constantly on
duty from sunrise to sunset i'll the signal
towers, and during the ten years 1884 to
1874. the arrival of no fewer than II ,235
vessels was thus telegraphed to those
most interested.
In France the semaphoric system had
been introduced much earlier, and hao
been extended overthe country in lines
that stretched away like our modern
electric lines. 1t was said 5000 messages
could be sent IN day from Paris to any
part of France.
Readers OF Monte CTlSto 10 not
need to be reminded that when Napol-
con, escaping from Elba, landed on the
shores of France on the first OF March,
1915, his approach was presently an
nounced to Louis XVIII. by his ministe
of police.
"How many men had he with hIm9'
asked the king.
"Sire, il was impossible to learn; the
dispatch simply stated the fact OF the
landing and the route taken by the
usurper.
"And how did this dispatch reach
your" inquired the king.
The minister bowed his head, and
while deep color overspread bis cheeks,
he stammered out: "By the telegr aph.
sire.'
It is curious to notice that in 1874, the
very year when Morse's invention was
about to wrap the world in iron, and
make il thrill with electric fire, writer
in Hunts Merchants Magazine strongly
advocated the extension over the United
States of this same clumsy, wooden,
signaling telegraph, which was so gen.
eral In France, and which was SO useful
here for diffusing marine intelligence.
He says: ga line of telegraph COM
munications upon our railroads would
tend to prevent the frequent collisions
which take place, thereby saving very
great expense to the proprietors and pre-
venting the loss of life. "The rapid
| ity of the public mail, - be adds, ''s