The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1896-03-04
"REMINISCENCES.
BIqek and BIiie.

"REMINISCENCES.
That grand old patriot, statesman,
physician, philosopher, printer and
s0rGat, Benjamin franklin, was the
first person, perhaps, who showed to
the world the wonderful possibilities of
electricity. lie il was who set scien-
tifc men 70 thinking, and made it pos
sible to invent the telegraph, and
everything else appertaining to electri-
city. Doubtless his researches in that
direction had much to do with the
message sent by Samuel F. B. Morse,
when ne finally completed his inven-
tion Of telegraphy: What hath God
wrought When Morse ascertained
that he could send a message a dis
tance of forty miles, from Washington
To Baltimore, he imagined that he had
arrived al the very acme Of discovery;
and, il was wonderful, even what he
did, but, as compared with what the
modern wizard Edison can do, it
was mere nothing. III it were posi-
bIe To create "Falkenstein, Edison
would be called upon TO make the al
tempt. When telegraphing was
known to be an assured fact, capital
lists throughout The country, Of course,
set about the erection of line of tele
graphic communication between the
east aud the west, and the National
pike, which had been, and still was,
the great thOrOughfare, was naturally
selected rs the route to be followed.
Fifty years do not seem long TO look
back on after they have passed; but, TO
look ahead, the time seems almost in
terminablc: and the wonderful scvCla-
ton that electricity hss undergone III
the last iifty years since Morse invent
ed the telegraph in 1875, is almost
enough 20 make old DIR. franklin turn
over in his grave. Electricity i used
in - mlay ways to-day, aud inven-
tions are going 10 such an extent, that
there j. no telling what may be the re-
suit in the re@t fifty years The first
line o. Telegraph erected on the pike
was the fiFs; iiHe of any length erected
in the world. The writer remembers,
although but a small boy when the
scheme was first talked of, in 1873; and
the wonder exhibited by the peOple as
To the feasibility of the undertaking,
and as To the manner of its erection, a
to how il would look, and as tn how it
would work, are a. vivid in his mem-
DRY to-day, a. when he heard them
years ago. The construction of this
line was entirely different from that Of
to-day, and the method of sending and
delivering messages was nothing like
that in vogue now. The poles, of
course, were procured in the neighbor-
hood, near the line, and were of chest
nut, not 80 large, i'm the writer's opin-
ion, as those in Use now. There was
only one wire, or, rather, three wires,
OF small diameter, twisted into one.
The poles had a slot about one and half
inches wide cut into the top which
had been sawed square oil, about two
inches deep, for the insulatOrs, which
were made ta 1T IN the slot, or, rather,
the sIai nla,se to fit the inSulators. The
iasulators We're about four inches long,
and were composed of a bottom one,
with furrow in it, fOE the wire to lie
in, and u top os cover. Both the top
and i.s.jtam of these insulatOrS were
made with a shoulder on each side, 10
prevent them from slipping, and which
were fitted into a corresponding nick
in the pole on each side. Over the
whole was fastened metal cap, well
nailed on. The wire was reeied off 4
wagon in the usual way, and the wri-
ter remembers seeing man with great
heavy gloves on his hands, saturated
with some oily substance, allowing The
wire to slip through his hand - il was
reeled oil, thereby greasias, or varnish-
ing il, while az .hs same time he re-
plenishSSl ihe substance from IA vessel
! ~ the wagon. The men did not seem
TO be long in putting up the wire, and
after all, the construction of il was only
''nine days wonder" to us. Peters
burg being q metropolis in those days
of course, had TO have a telegraph of
fee, and young fellow was -eut her,
to attend to it. He Was called ''Tele
graph Jack, and was digger mar
than old Grant, or any other man, il
his own estimation, and that of tn,
small boy. He was ''the observed q
! all Observers and masher iron
away back; and the sweet looks anC
/ sweeter smiles he received from Va
rious and sundry of the fair sex, We're
caution TO see. The Morse system o
telegaphing was il Use then, whiel
| consisted of an instrument throngi
which long ribbon of white pape
ran, about one and half inches wide
upon which the message was indited
in ''dots and dashes," or some othe
characters, by the electricity generate'
by the batteries and instrument. TIN
thing was as uninteliigible to movie
then, as the ticking Of an instrumen
is now. y great deal of speculation
was indulgei in In regard TO the tele
graph. Even at this late day, anec
dotes are told about some of the Ol,
farmers. An old fellow lived in Add
son township, who came TO town Occa
sionally, and, as verybody was tel
ing about the new telegraph, in store.
shops, bar rooms or on street-corner.
the old man could mt help hearin