登陆注册
5201900000035

第35章

She then informed him that her father was present until the close, and, in the last moments of the session, the bill was passed without debate or revision.Professor Morse was overcome by the intelligence, so joyful and unexpected, and gave at the moment to his young friend, the bearer of these good tidings, the promise that she should send the first message over the first line of telegraph that was opened.**Prime, p.465.

Morse and his partners* then proceeded to the construction of the forty-mile line of wire between Baltimore and Washington.At this point Ezra Cornell, afterwards a famous builder of telegraphs and founder of Cornell University, first appears in history as a young man of thirty-six.Cornell invented a machine to lay pipe underground to contain the wires and he was employed to carry out the work of construction.The work was commenced at Baltimore and was continued until experiment proved that the underground method would not do, and it was decided to string the wires on poles.

Much time had been lost, but once the system of poles was adopted the work progressed rapidly, and by May, 1844, the line was completed.On the twenty-fourth of that month Morse sat before his instrument in the room of the Supreme Court at Washington.

His friend Miss Ellsworth handed him the message which she had chosen: "WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT!" Morse flashed it to Vail forty miles away in Baltimore, and Vail instantly flashed back the same momentous words, "WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT!"* The property in the invention was divided into sixteen shares (the partnership having been formed in 1838) of which Morse held 9, Francis O.J.Smith 4, Alfred Vail 2, Leonard D.Gale 2.In patents to be obtained in foreign countries, Morse was to hold 8shares, Smith 5, Vail 2, Gale 1.Smith had been a member of Congress and Chairman of the Committee on Commerce.He was admitted to the partnership in consideration of his assisting Morse to arouse the interest of European Governments.

Two days later the Democratic National Convention met in Baltimore to nominate a President and Vice-President.The leaders of the Convention desired to nominate Senator Silas Wright of New York, who was then in Washington, as running mate to James K.

Polk, but they must know first whether Wright would consent to run as Vice-President.So they posted a messenger off to Washington but were persuaded at the same time to allow the new telegraph to try what it could do.The telegraph carried the offer to Wright and carried back to the Convention Wright's refusal of the honor.The delegates, however, would not believe the telegraph, until their own messenger, returning the next day, confirmed its message.

For a time the telegraph attracted little attention.But Cornell stretched the lines across the country, connecting city with city, and Morse and Vail improved the details of the mechanism and perfected the code.Others came after them and added further improvements.And it is gratifying to know that both Morse and Vail, as well as Cornell, lived to reap some return for their labor.Morse lived to see his telegraph span the continent, and link the New World with the Old, and died in 1872 full of honors.

Prompt communication of the written or spoken message is a demand even more insistent than prompt transportation of men and goods.

By 1859 both the railroad and the telegraph had reached the old town of St.Joseph on the Missouri.Two thousand miles beyond, on the other side of plains and mountains and great rivers, lay prosperous California.The only transportation to California was by stage-coach, a sixty days' journey, or else across Panama, or else round the Horn, a choice of three evils.But to establish quicker communication, even though transportation might lag, the men of St.Joseph organized the Pony Express, to cover the great wild distance by riders on horseback, in ten or twelve days.

Relay stations for the horses and men were set up at appropriate points all along the way, and a postboy dashed off from St.

Joseph every twenty-four hours, on arrival of the train from the East.And for a time the Pony Express did its work and did it well.President Lincoln's First Inaugural was carried to California by the Pony Express; so was the news of the firing on Fort Sumter.But by 1869.the Pony Express was quietly superseded by the telegraph, which in that year had completed its circuits all the way to San Francisco, seven years ahead of the first transcontinental railroad.And in four more years Cyrus W.Field and Peter Cooper had carried to complete success the Atlantic Cable; and the Morse telegraph was sending intelligence across the sea, as well as from New York to the Golden Gate.

And today ships at sea and stations on land, separated by the sea, speak to one another in the language of the Morse Code, without the use of wires.Wireless, or radio, telegraphy was the invention of a nineteen-year-old boy, Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian; but it has been greatly extended and developed at the hands of four Americans: Fessenden, Alexanderson, Langmuir, and Lee De Forest.It was De Forest's invention that made possible transcontinental and transatlantic telephone service, both with and without wires.

The story of the telegraph's younger brother, and great ally in communication, the telephone of Alexander Graham Bell, is another pregnant romance of American invention.But that is a story by itself, and it begins in a later period and so falls within the scope of another volume of these Chronicles.** "The Age of Big Business", by Burton J.Hendrick, "The Chronicle of America", vol.XXXIX.

同类推荐
  • 少室六门

    少室六门

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 旧典备征

    旧典备征

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 如此京华

    如此京华

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 大方广三戒经

    大方广三戒经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 明伦汇编宫闱典宫闱总部

    明伦汇编宫闱典宫闱总部

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 断肠词

    断肠词

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 星空之蛊

    星空之蛊

    无论星空多么广阔,都是一个让生命相互厮杀的蛊盅。无所不能的体器,吞噬掠夺、预知未来、空间感知、无限生命……历城终将成为最强的生命。
  • 重生魔主之君临

    重生魔主之君临

    当武侠世界开始了灵气复苏,当伟力归于己身,一人也可成军,他们知道,世界变了。当叶欢凭虚御风,剑气纵横三千丈,众人蓦然惊醒,原来,传说就在身边!神话已然诞生!
  • 浅咖啡的浪漫

    浅咖啡的浪漫

    她挺着七个月大的肚子,顶着灼热的阳光在繁忙的街道上走着,一双焦虑无助的眼睛含着快要掉下的泪水,在茫茫人海中寻找着自己的丈夫,薛墨。突然人群中有人挤了她一下,她一个没站稳,摔倒在地上。她的肚子剧烈地痛了起来,殷红的血顺着她的大腿流了下来。她吓得尖叫着。她尖叫着从这个恶梦里醒来,浑身是汗,身体不住地颤抖着。她掀开被子,见自己的肚子完好无损,松了口气。她摸了摸自己的肚子,自言自语道:“宝贝,不要再吓妈妈了好不好?”“砰”地一声,有人重重地关了房间的门。
  • 钉头七箭书

    钉头七箭书

    喜、怒、忧、思、悲、恐、惊,是人的七种精神状态喜伤心,怒伤肝,思伤脾,忧伤肺,恐伤肾......封神演义中钉头七箭书又与古人探究生理学和心理学有什么关联......一次必然的意外,解开谜题的杨鸿宇惨遭横祸......留给我们的是一个25年的谜。看25年后,杨思雁踏上了寻亲的旅途,踏破工作上的阻碍,能否得知密辛
  • 兄弟是手足

    兄弟是手足

    本书共荟萃作者的短篇小说29篇,每一篇都构思精妙,情节曲折,扣人心弦,结局往往出人意料,读来令人赏心悦目。小说的素材有古有今,小说的人物有情有义,故事涉及面广,现实性强,就像是发生在读者身边的人和事。书中的故事既引人入胜,又真切感人,感染人,教育人,如《半个世纪的承诺》讲述律师希尔家族几代人赡养一个百岁老人长达半个世纪的故事,诚信感人;《天意难逃》讲述一对堂兄弟为了金钱而设局相殘,最后都结局悲惨,故事离奇而不失真实;《完美谋杀》的情节之曲折,完全可以与一部悬疑电影大片相媲美。
  • 诸神猎杀

    诸神猎杀

    这是属于个人的疯狂幻想宇宙,有的地方可能和大家的已有知识冲突,请见谅。诸神猎杀榜现世,属于诸神的浩劫已开启,凡人亦可弑神。修仙,科技,符文,进化,各种体系即将碰撞!到底是百万雄师的两军对决壮阔,还是高科技文明一人秒杀一颗星球更高效?前世?今生?欺骗?背叛?诸神猎杀榜的幕后黑手又有什么目的?敬请期待……
  • 黄金战旗

    黄金战旗

    黄金战旗,上三洲天地自然孕育而生的七大异宝之一,拥有超乎想象的能量。牧安镇,一个位于下九州之中屯睦洲偏远地带的小镇,却是有着可以惊动整个大陆的神奇秘密。余冬,刚成为捕快不到半年的少年,巧合之下被黄金战旗认主,手持黄金战旗的少年,从此开启了自己精彩的人生。
  • 神域争霸

    神域争霸

    恶灵,躲在暗处监视着整个大陆,在所有灵性生物意志薄弱的时候诱惑他们,走向堕落的深渊。麦尔,四百年前神秘消失的将军,再次出现时,却顶着“卑鄙的叛徒”、“恶魔异端”等称号;他能否让人们相信真相,解暗灵族之危?封印的龙族血脉,能否解开?宿命预言,能否成真?历尽万劫,争霸神域,能否独尊?
  • 天文常识悦读

    天文常识悦读

    本书介绍天文学常识的理念,将古今中外的天文知识融会贯通。书中收录了天文学史上的大量的重大发现,帮助我们了解天文知识;解说了从古至今所出现的天文现象,为我们驱除了心里的疑惑;搜罗列举了各种各样的天文工具,让我们了解如何观测天体;囊括了古今中外几乎所有的著名天文学家,用他们的成就帮助我们拓展天文知识。