The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-11-22
TELEGRAPH SAVES EMPIRE.
Messages Which Prove Of Great Mo-
ment to the Various Nations.


ment to the Various Nations.
Pearson's Weekly.
On Sunday, May To- 1851 news came by
wire from Meerut to Delhi that a number
of the men of the Third Native Cavalry
were to be punished for refusing TO bite
their cartridges. 1t may be remembered
that it was the supposed fact of the cart
ridge being creased with lard which was
the immediate cause of the outbreak of
the Indian mutiny.
Mr.. Todd, who was in charge of the tele-
graph Office at Delhi, started for Meerut
early on the Monday morning TO ascertain
the cause of sudden breakdown of the
wire. He met the mutineers and was
killed. At the Delhi office were left only
two boys named Brendish and Pilkington.
About IL O'Clock heavy firing began in
the city, just outside the walls of which
the telegraph office lay. Then a wounded
British officer came by in a carriage. But
the boys remained at their posts, tele-
graphing the news of events through to
Lahore by way of Umballa, which was the
only line remaining open.
AT in the afternoon Delhi was taken
by the mutineerS from Meerut and all the
Europeans were massacred. Brendish sent
news through, and ended with the words,
land now am off,
1t was this message which enabled Gen.
Lawrence at Lahore to disarm the Sepoys
there before they heard the news of the
capture of Delhi.
If this precaution had not been taken
these regiments, which were mutinous to
the core, would most certainly have risen,
and the rebellion would have spread all
through the Punjab. AS it was, the great
province remained peaceful, and actually
proved the salvation of India, for 1t was
regiments from the northwest which in
| ficted their first defeats on the mutineers
Both Brendish and Pilkington escaped
| safely, and the former retired only few
| years ago with pension OF about E3
week.
Lord Rosebery was the sender of one of
| the most important kilograms which ever
| left these shores.
Early in 1893 France fell out with Siam.
| On July 20 of that year France presented
| an ultimatum to the Siamese government,
and friendly vessels were given three days
! to clear out of the harbor of Bangkok.
| British commercial interests were then, as
| they still are, important at BANGKOK, and
| II. Nj. S. Linnet was on the spot to protect
| them.
When Lord Rosebery heard of the French
| order he inquired of France what facilities
| would be given for victualling our ships of
! war off the Siamese ports. The French ad-
! miral replied that the order applied to ships
of war as well as merchant vessels. and
| that the Linnet was leaving.
Had our government acquiesced, 1t is al
| most certain that the Siamese natives
would have risen, all white people would
| valuable markets lost TO US forever. Instead
| Lord Rosebery telegraphed Immediately TO
] Bangkok that the Linnet was on no ac-
| The French admiral, seeing that Britain
| meant business, explained matters away by
saying that he had not intended to order
| our ship to leave; he had merely desired
| that she would change her position.
Meantime our government devoted all its
| energies toward inducing Siam to yield to
| certain of the French demands, and by
| Aug. 1 she did and the crisis was over.
| Other countries besides our own have
| profited largely by the use of the telegraph
| wire 1t is said that telegram gained for
Russia her long-coveted Pacific harbor.
Port Arthur.
| When Russia grabbed the place whole
| British fleet was promptly on the spot, and
Lord Salisbury sent "a strong communica-
/ ton to the Russian government on the SUBJ
| ject of 1.-The open door"
| At that very moment the Russian states
man, Mouravieff, is alleged TO have re-
| ceived wire from correspondent in
England, announcing. that Queen Victoria
| had declared that she would never sign
| another declaration of war.
Armed with this knowledge, he promptly
| refused to give up the town. His blum
paid, for the British ships were Withdrawn
| and Port Arthur abandoned to Russia, and
| it is now closed to all but Russian and
| Chinese ships.
| Another far Eastern telegram, a brutal
| one it has been considered, has since been
| said to have been the means of saving
| Manchuria to the Russians. 1t was that
| which LED TO the nOrrlDle massacre at
| BlagovestchenSk, in which many hundreds
| of Chinese lost their lives.
| The Russian general, Gribsky, who was
| in command at Blagovestchensk, wired to
| the Russian Governor of the province of
| Kharbarovsk, asking what was to be done.
| The answer came: I'm war, burn and de-
| stroy."
1t has since come out that the incident
| which led to this exchange of wires was
that the Chinese stopped Russian steam
! er on the river and hred on IT, killing sew
| eral of the crew, and the Russians say that,
had they not acted promptly. the rebellion
| would have spread like wildfire all over the
| country.
Property of great value has often been
| saved by wire. For instance, when Jo-
| hannesburg was taken from the Beers by
| our troops a telegram sent by Colonel Mac
| kenzie, the military governor, stopped the
| payment of a certain check on the French
Bank of South Africa, and thereby saved
| $4,000 to the British owners of the money.
| On another occasion shoal of herring
| was seen off the Island of Stronsay by an
officer of the Fishery Board. He at once
| wired particulars to every station in Ork-
ney, with the result that los boats went
out and caught behring's, which sold for
E3,240.
| More recently a wireless wire was the
/ means of saving one of the most valuable
ships in the world from serious danger. if
| not from actual destruction.
| The Kaiser Wilhelm, due at Plymouth at
| a. M, did not reach the Lizard till 80.
When the Marconi station got into COM
| munication with her she reported that she
had been steaming through very dense fog
for 1000 miles She at once asked that the
fog signal might be blown to give her some
! idea of her whereabouts, for where she lay
the fog was thicker than ever.
1t was only by aid of the fog horn that
the ship, which is one of the three fastest
| of ocean greyhounds, was able to get her