The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-09-05

al dUiJ dSSOCldlcu Will thC tSiS
graph. He it was who almost elm
mated time and distance by fulfill
ing the prophecy, "IIe shall put
girdle about the earth.
| AS you read the Presidents mes
sage, as you uscan the news from thu
Philippines. or mediate the pro
ceeding of the Car Peace Conven
ton, or the partitionlng of China
do you realize that it was our own
Morse who made all this possible,
Do you recall his early strivings.
Do you appreciate his battle witt
the doubtful. the unappreciative.
Visionary! Chimerical! How SHOULD
an artist rise to such grand concep
tions, said they. And thus against
all sorts of obstacles, denied helE
by friends, we find him praying te
Congress for assistance. Belief in
himself it was this power of convlc
ton that finally brought the desired
aid, and to-day history writes his
| name upon the tablets of the age as
one OF the greatest benefactors OF
the world.
| Professor Morses earliest tele-
graphic experiments suggested the
idea of the Fire Telegraph, to which
| | will make reference later.
Morse gave birth to new field of
industry; the first electrical field.
Its success gave rise to many Or
| ganizations throughout the country;
operating and construction compan-
les were formed, and speedily the
whole United States became cob
webbed with the fruit of Morse s
first planting. To-day millions of
dollars are invested in the telegraph
and instead Of segregated compan-
les making it necessary to transfer
kilograms, causing delays as in the
early days, we now have one or two
great corporations, whose lines
stretch from Maine to Mexico and
from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Since then another vast electrical
industry has arisen. Millions of
capital are invested, giving employ
ment to many thousands, enabling
the sound of the human voice to be
transmitted to almost illimitable
distance. What would the world
be without the telephone! 1t is thus
great cities are brought into oral
communica ation, business accelerated
and augmented, the comfort and
economy of domestic life materially
increased. To whom is this due?
How was it brought about? Let
the early struggles of Professor
Bell make reply. An instructor OF
mutes, following his fathers foot
steps, he conceived the idea of the
transmission of the human voice;
and so, with no greater apparatus
than a sugar box tor transmitter,
and so-called tub for the receiver,
began the evolution which finally
resolved itself into the telephone as
we know it now. Visionary and
chimerical as it may then have ap-
peared, financially maintained by
one whose son had been taught by
Bell to frame speech, the fight went
on, and to-day after financial vlcis-
situdes that at one time seemed
likely to overwhelm his supporter,
Professor Bell lives to see every
telephone a monument to his genius
and inscribed thereupon, "Well done
good and faithful servant and to-
gether patron and inventor live to
enjoy the usufruct of their time of
trial. May their years yet be long
upon this earth.
Not many years ago out of the
West there came a young Lochnivar
born to battle with the electrical
Ttans of the then known electrical
world. Fame cast her first glow
upon him as an expert telegrapher
whose copy read "par excellence"
and who never knew what it was
to break; and the mantle of genius
rested upon him.
mo pent up Utica contracted his
powers,' and the Edison quad
brought into the telegraph field
phantoms which still continue to ex-
ist. piling up dividends for the great
company that controls them. But
he was not to rest here; but little
while and it was heralded over ali
the country that new wizard had
arisen
"The Wizard of Menlo park
How many here recall those head
lines as they appeared in the New
York "Herald" on that memorable
day. A child was born; its name
was Electric Light. How many ap-
preciate the tremendous struggle
involved in that production ; the
amount of money and "gray matter
used to bring about success. Again
was heard the cry of the sceptic;
old scientific theories and theorists
had been attacked, and from out of
their intrenchments came fusilade,
soon, however, to be silenced by the
brllIiancy of his achievements. Then
after very considerable financial
pyrotechnical display, wherein
electric light stocks went skyward
and gas stock seemed bent on going
to Hades, it was suddenly discover
ed that these useful commercial fac
tors, like the telephone and telegraph
were scientific twins, and most sue
cessful when in each others CON-
pany.
Then came the Phonograpb, prov
ing itself Il thing of great CONNER
cial value, becoming daily more of
a necessity and a delight, not only |
lending comfort and aid. socially |
and commercially, bnt delightlng
the senses by reproducing the
sweetest songs of the best musical
talent of the age.
What magnificent work for one
man, and glad are we that he is
living to see the fruits of his work
and hear his praises acclaimed.
We come now to the electric rail-
way. Here an Edison. Daft, a
Vanderpoele vie with another to
produce the best electric road OF to-
day, and to those three men belongs
the honor of freeing the horse from
its burden.
What an age this has been! What won-
d9ful transformations have taken place,
nrid yet the 10Th century seems to be more
than lavish with the good things that