The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1910-09-28
CLICK OF THE KEY
STORY OF THE FIRST TRIAL.

STORY OF THE FIRST TRIAL.
A Lack Of Tape Caused Aienzo q. Cor.
nell to Attempt lntsrprstatins the
Morse Code BY Ear-Ths Discovery
That Abolished ths Uss Of The Isps.
Ezra Cornell Il known in history a.
the father Of Cornell university, N
one of the men who helped to build
the first telegraph line and as an NJ
dent organizer Of telegraph systems In
the early days. being instrumental In
the formation Of the now famous
Western Union Telegraph company.
His son. Alonzo b. Cornell, became
ultimately vice president Of the West
ern Union and governor Of New York
state-hish commercial and political
honors.
Yet he once confessed to me that he
felt he should be credited with the
Additional honor Of having made the
discovery that telegraph messages
could be read by en-, and be seemed
to take more pride In his part In bring
ing this about than he did In any Of
his other achievements.
Il was trained as a telegraph opera
tor" said Mr. Cornell In telling me the
story. II suppose I took to telegraphy
naturally because Of my fathers deep
and large interests in the then new
mode Of communication. Anyway. !
learned the Morse key easily. and I
was. in fact. very fond Of telegraphing
from both the practical and the scien-
tific standpoints.
Zone afternoon. sometime In the ear
" fifties. when was stationed at Al
bany, N. Y. there was an unusual in
rush of newspaper dispatches-I was
in charge of the press key-and in the
midst Of the task of receiving them I
found to my CONSERVATION that was
out of tape. Before taking my seat
before the key I had neglected to re-
plenish the tape reel.
There was a bountiful supply Of
tape in the cellar Of the building. but
It was a long trip there-there were
no elevators In those days-and knew
that to go there I would waste pre-
cious time And there were those anx-
ious newspaper men hanging over my
shoulder.
suddenly. as I fished about mentnl-
~ for the quickest way out Of my
dilemma. this thought popped into my
head: You don't need any tape. Half
the time you don't look at It when the
dispatches are coming In before you
write them out. You trust to your
ears to tell what the instrument says.
Why not do SO nowT Instantly de-
termined to see whether or not could
take the dispatches by sound alone.
Il put my fingers on the key and
broke In on New York. whence the
dispatches were coming. Send rather
slowly and very distinctly asked the
man ut the other end Of the wire. He
at once began to do so-not without
some curiosity as to my reason.
found out later.
But I didn't think Of that at the
time. for I was glowing all over with
the knowledge that I could write out
the dispatches-and write them cor
rectly, for they made sens>by simply
listening to the sounds that the key
made.
THUS I continued taking the dis
patches to the very end. Then the
New York operator called me. What
are you doing up thereT he asked
why did you want me to send slowly
and distinctly
Il answered that had said goodby
to the telegraph tape forever and told
him Of the discovery I had made. He
was Immediately interested. 'SeEd
me slowly and very distinctly fifteen
or twenty words. and I'll see whether
or not I can do the same thing he re-
Quested.
Il did SO, full Of confidence. and a
little later there came to me this mes
sage: I've done 1t too. Some Of the
other boys say they can. I predict
that within a month there won't be an |
inch Of tape used in the New York |
Office
years later" added Mr.. Cornell, Il
was told that about the time that |
discovered for myself q new and revo- |
utiOnary method Of receiving tele-
graph messages the same method was
also discovered by an operator in the
main Office in Pittsburg. I have no
lOubt that this Is true. Sooner or
alter the discovery was bound to be
made not only In one. but several
,fiices. But I have always felt that
was the first to make the discovery
md should be credited with 1t In tele-