The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-11-02
PERFECTED TELEGRAPH.
How Alfred Vail of Morristown, N.
 Y., Worked With Prof. Morse.

Y., Worked With Prot. morse. New York Tribune.
 Monday Jan. 1, 1838-This day the cars on the Morris and Essex Railroad came for the first time to Morristown from Newark
 Saturday, the 6th.-Clear, warm morn ing Professor Gale came this morning. The magnetic telegraph Is in operation this evening for the first time, ill the fac tory.
 Extracts from the diary of Judge Ste phen Vail, Speedwell. Morris County, N. J.
 er-bound diary are two of the most i'm portant events in the history of Morris town, the most exclusive of the many su- burban cities in New Jersey. And how nearly coincident they were! The span of a week between the arrival of the first train and the click of the first telegraphic message. The first is of interest to Nor ristOwn alone, for trains were operated many years before between other points The whole world has an interest in the later events, for it assured the success of the telegraph.
 Morristown has been backyard about asserting this claim to fame, though 1t is her greatest, perhap ps. The old building in which the successful experiments were made--the Speedwell Iron Works-rapidly crumbling into ruins, can still be seen al the end of one of the city s famous drlVes There are other interesting associations
  vannah. the first steamship to cross the Atlantic. was forged there; the tires. axles and cranks of the first American locomo- tves were made under its moss-grown roof
 Yet one might make a dozen visits to Morristown and never hear of the Speed well Works. They will show you Wash ingtons headquarters, at least one of tentions in Eastern New Jersey. They point out other buildings which stood in Revolutionary times. The old works which had so much to do with the in dustrial development of the country are generally overlooked.
 But this is the story of Morristowns s connection with the invention of the tele- graph, and it Fs well to go back to the school days of Alfred Vail. In 1886, at the age of 29, he was graduated from the University of the City of New York and looked about for a lifework. Among his faculty friends was Prof. Samuel F B. Morse, who held the chair of the lit erature of the art of design.
 One afternoon young Vail chanced to visit Professor Morse when he was en- gagged in showing the operation of the electromagnetic telegraph machine on which he had been working for several years. He had established circuit by stringing q considerable length of copper wire about one of the large rooms of the university. Vail had spent several years in his fathers works at Morr Istown be- fore entering college, and the working of the invention made a profound impression on a mind filled with inherited and ac- quired mechanical genius.
 In later years he wrote thus about this exhibitions:
 There were wires suspended in the room, running from one end to the other and returning many times, making length of seventeen hundred feet. The two ends of the wire were connected with an electro-ma gnet fastened to vertical wooden frame In front of the magnet was its armature and also wooden lever or arm, fitted at it's extremity to hold a lead pencil"
 Then ss to his impressions:
 T reioiced to think that lived in such a day, and my mind contemplated the fu- a ture in which so grand and mighty an benefit of the world. Before leaving the room in which l beheld for the first time this magnificent invention, asked Pro- lessor Morse if he intended to make an experiment on a more extended line of conductors. He replied that he did. but that he desired pee Iniary assistance to carry out his plans l promised him as- sistance, provided he would admit me in a share of his invention. to which propo- sition he assented. I then returned to my boarding house. locked the door of my room, threw myself upon the bed, and gave myself up to reflection upon the mighty results which were certain to follow the introductionof this new agent in meeting and serving the wants of the world. With the atlas in my hand I traced the most importat lines which must certainly be built in the United states and calculated their length. The question then rose in my mind whether the electro-magnet could be made to work through the necessary length of line, and after much reflection I came to the conclusion that, provided the mag net would work even at distance of eight or ten miles, there could be no risk in embarking in the enterprise And uron this I decided in my own mind to sink or swim with it.
 Professor Morse went over the invention with him again. and said hnaliy; TT l can succeed in working a magnet ten miles, I can go round the globe,
 It was shortly after thus that the pro- lessor was asked to visit MorTtstown,