MARCH 15, 1848--JUNE 13, 1844
Work on first telegraph line begun.--Gale, Fisher, and Vail appointed
assistants.--F.O.J. Smith to secure contract for trenching.--Morse not
satisfied with contract.--Death of Washington Allston.--Reports to
Secretary of the Treasury.--Prophesies Atlantic cable.--Failure of
underground wires.--Carelessness of Fisher.--F.O.J. Smith shows cloven
hoof.--Ezra Cornell solves a difficult problem.--Cornell's plan for
insulation endorsed by Professor Henry.--Many discouragements.--Work
finally progresses favorably.--Frelinghuysen's nomination as
Vice-President reported by telegraph.--Line to Baltimore completed.--
First message.--Triumph.--Reports of Democratic Convention.--First
long-distance conversation.--Utility of telegraph established.--Offer to
sell to Government.
Out of the darkness of despair into which he had been plunged, Morse had
at last emerged into the sunlight of success. For a little while he
basked in its rays with no cloud to obscure the horizon, but his respite
was short, for new difficulties soon arose, and new trials and sorrows
soon darkened his path.
Immediately after the telegraph bill had become a law he set to work with
energy to carry out its provisions. He decided, after consultation with
the Secretary of the Treasury, Hon. J.C. Spencer, to erect the
experimental line between Washington and Baltimore, along the line of
railway, and all the preliminaries and details were carefully planned.
With the sanction of the Secretary he appointed Professors Gale and
Fisher as his assistants, and soon after added Mr. Alfred Vail to their
number. He returned to New York, and from there wrote to Vail on March
15:--
"You will not fail, with your brother and, if possible, your father, to
be in New York on Tuesday the 21st, to meet the proprietors of the
Telegraph. I was on the point of coming out this afternoon with young Mr.
Serrell, the patentee of the lead-pipe machine, which I think promises to
be the best for our purposes of all that have been invented, as to it can
be applied '_a mode of filling lead-pipe with wire_,' for which Professor
Fisher and myself have entered a caveat at the Patent Office."
Vail gladly agreed to serve as assistant in the construction of the line,
and, on March 21 signed the following agreement:--
PROFESSOR MORSE,--As an assistant in the telegraphic experiment
contemplated by the Act of Congress lately passed, I can superintend and
procure the making of the _Instruments complete_ according to your
direction, namely: the registers, the correspondents with their magnets,
the batteries, the reels, and the paper, and will attend to the procuring
of the acids, the ink, and the preparation of the various stations. I
will assist in filling the tubes with wire, and the resinous coating, and
I will devote my whole time and attention to the business so as to secure
a favorable result, and should you wish to devolve upon me any other
business connected with the Telegraph, I will cheerfully undertake it.
Three dollars per diem, with travelling expenses, I shall deem a
satisfactory salary.
Very respectfully, your ob't ser't,
ALFRED VAIL.
Professor Fisher was detailed to superintend the manufacture of the wire,
its insulation and its insertion in the lead tubes, and Professor Gale's
scientific knowledge was to be placed at the disposal of the patentees
wherever and whenever it should be necessary. F.O.J. Smith undertook to
secure a favorable contract for the trenching, which was necessary to
carry out the first idea of placing the wires underground, and Morse
himself was, of course, to be general superintendent of the whole
enterprise.
In advertising for lead pipe the following quaint answer was received
from Morris, Tasker & Morris, of Philadelphia:--
"Thy advertisements for about one hundred and twenty miles of 1/2 in.
lead tube, for Electro Magnetic Telegraphic purposes, has induced us to
forward thee some samples of Iron Tube for thy inspection. The quantity
required and the terms of payment are the inducement to offer it to thee
at the exceeding low price here stated, which thou wilt please keep _to
thyself undivulged to other person_, etc., etc."
As iron tubing would not have answered Morse's purpose, this decorous
solicitation was declined with thanks.
During the first few months everything worked smoothly, and the prospect
of an early completion of the line was bright. Morse kept all his
accounts in the most businesslike manner, and his monthly accounts to the
Secretary of the Treasury were models of accuracy and a conscientious
regard for the public interest.
One small cloud appeared above the horizon, so small that the
unsuspecting inventor hardly noticed it, and yet it was destined to
develop into a storm of portentous dimensions. On May 17, he wrote to
F.O.J. Smith from New York:--
"Yours of the 27th April I have this morning received enclosing the
contracts for trenching. I have examined the contract and I must say I am
not exactly pleased with the terms. If I understood you right, before you
left for Boston, you were confident a contract could be made far within
the estimates given in to the Government, and I had hoped that something
could be saved from that estimate as from the others, so as to present
the experiment before the country in as cheap a form as possible.
"I have taken a pride in showing to Government how cheaply the Telegraph
could be laid, since the main objection, and the one most likely to
defeat our ulterior plans, is its great expense. I have in my other
contracts been able to be far within my estimates to Government, and I
had hoped to be able to present to the Secretary the contract for
trenching likewise reduced. There are plenty of applicants here who will
do it for much less, and one even said he thought for one half. I shall
do nothing in regard to the matter until I see you."
A great personal sorrow came to him also, a short time after this, to dim
the brilliance of success. On July 9, 1843, his dearly loved friend and
master, Washington Allston, died in Boston after months of suffering.
Morse immediately dropped everything and hastened to Boston to pay the
last tributes of respect to him whom he regarded as his best friend. He
obtained as a memento one of the brushes, still wet with paint, which
Allston was using on his last unfinished work, "The Feast of Belshazzar,"
when he was suddenly stricken. This brush he afterwards presented to the
National Academy of Design, where it is, I believe, still preserved.
Sorrowfully he returned to his work in Washington, but with the
comforting thought that his friend had lived to see his triumph, the
justification for his deserting that art which had been the bond to first
bring them together.
On July 24, in his report to the Secretary of the Treasury, he says:--
"I have also the gratification to report that the contract for the wire
has been faithfully fulfilled on the part of Aaron Benedict, the
contractor; that the first covering with cotton and two varnishings of
the whole one hundred and sixty miles is also completed; that experiments
made upon forty-three miles have resulted in the most satisfactory
manner, and that the whole work is proceeding with every prospect of a
successful issue."
It was at first thought necessary to insulate the whole length of the
wire, and it was not until some time afterwards that it was discovered
that naked wires could be successfully employed.
On August 10, in his report to the Secretary, he indulges in a prophecy
which must have seemed in the highest degree visionary in those early
days:--
"Some careful experiments on the decomposing power at various distances
were made from which the law of propulsion has been deduced, verifying
the results of Ohm and those which I made in the summer of 1842, and
alluded to in my letter to the Honorable C.G. Ferris, published in the
House Report, No. 17, of the last Congress.
"The practical inference from this law is that a telegraphic
communication on my plan may with certainty be established across the
Atlantic!
"Startling as this may seem now, the time will come when this project
will be realized."
On September 11, he reports an item of saving to the Government which
illustrates his characteristic honesty in all business dealings:--
"I would also direct the attention of the Honorable Secretary to the
payment in full of Mr. Chase, (voucher 215), for covering the wire
according to the contract with him. The sum of $1010 was to be paid him.
In the course of the preparation of the wire several improvements
occurred to me of an economical character, in which Mr. Chase cheerfully
concurred, although at a considerable loss to him of labor contracted
for; so that my wire has been prepared at a cost of $551.25, which is
receipted in full, instead of $1010, producing an economy of $458.75."
The work of trenching was commenced on Saturday, October 21, at 8 A.M.,
and then his troubles began. Describing them at a later date he says:--
"Much time and expense were lost in consequence of my following the plan
adopted in England of laying the conductors beneath the ground. At the
time the Telegraph bill was passed there had been about thirteen miles of
telegraph conductors, for Professor Wheatstone's telegraph system in
England, put into tubes and interred in the earth, and there was no hint
publicly given that that mode was not perfectly successful. I did not
feel, therefore, at liberty to expend the public moneys in useless
experiments on a plan which seemed to be already settled as effective in
England. Hence I fixed upon this mode as one supposed to be the best. It
prosecuted till the winter of 1843-44. It was abandoned, among other
reasons, in consequence of ascertaining that, in the process of inserting
the wire into the leaden tubes (which was at the moment of forming the
tube from the lead at melting heat), the insulating covering of the wires
had become charred, at various and numerous points of the line, to such
an extent that greater delay and expense would be necessary to repair the
damage than to put the wire on posts.
"In my letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, of September 27, 1837,
one of the modes of laying the conductors for the Telegraph was the
present almost universal one of extending them on posts set about two
hundred feet apart. This mode was adopted with success."
The sentence in the letter of September 27, 1837, just referred to, reads
as follows: "If the circuit is laid through the air, the first cost
would, doubtless, be much lessened. Stout spars, of some thirty feet in
height, well planted in the ground and placed about three hundred and
fifty feet apart, would in this case be required, along the tops of which
the circuit might be stretched."
A rough drawing of this plan also appears in the 1832 sketch-book.
It would seem, from a voluminous correspondence, that Professor Fisher
was responsible for the failure of the underground system, inasmuch as he
did not properly test the wires after they had been inserted in the lead
pipe. Carelessness of this sort Morse could never brook, and he was
reluctantly compelled to dispense with the services of one who had been
of great use to him previously. He refers to this in a letter to his
brother Sidney of December 16, 1843:--
"The season is against all my operations, and I expect to resume in the
spring. I have difficulties and trouble in my work, but none of a nature
as yet to discourage; they arise from neglect and unfaithfulness (_inter
nos_) on the part of Fisher, whom I shall probably dismiss, although on
many accounts I shall do it reluctantly. I shall give him an opportunity
to excuse himself, if he ever gets here. I have been expecting both him
and Gale for three weeks, and written, but without bringing either of
them. They may have a good excuse. We shall see."
The few months of sunshine were now past, and the clouds began again to
gather:--
December 18, 1843.
DEAR SIDNEY,--I have made every effort to try and visit New York. Twice I
have been ready with my baggage in hand, but am prevented by a pressure
of difficulties which you cannot conceive. I was never so tried and never
needed more your prayers and those of Christians for me. Troubles cluster
in such various shapes that I am almost overwhelmed.
And then the storm of which the little cloud was the forerunner burst in
fury:--
December 30, 1843.
DEAR SIDNEY,--I have no heart to give you the details of the troubles
which almost crush me, and which have unexpectedly arisen to throw a
cloud over all my prospects. It must suffice at present to say that the
unfaithfulness of Dr. Fisher in his inspection of the wires, and
connected with Serrell's bad pipe, is the main origin of my difficulties.
The trenching is stopped in consequence of this among other reasons, and
has brought the contractor upon me for damages (that is, upon the
Government). Mr. Smith is the contractor, and where I expected to find a
_friend_ I find a FIEND. The word is not too strong, as I may one day
show you. I have been compelled to dismiss Fisher, and have received a
very insolent letter from him in reply. The lead-pipe contract will be
litigated, and Smith has written a letter full of the bitterest malignity
against me to the Secretary of the Treasury. He seems perfectly reckless
and acts like a madman, and all for what? Because the condition of my
pipe and the imperfect insulation of my wires were such that it became
necessary to stop trenching on this account alone, but, taken in
connection with the advanced state of the season, when it was impossible
to carry on my operations out of doors, I was compelled to stop any
further trenching. This causes him to lose his profit on the contract.
_Hinc illæ lachrymæ._ And because I refused to accede to terms which, as
a public officer, I could not do without dishonor and violation of trust,
he pursues me thus malignantly.
Blessed be God, I have escaped snares set for me by this arch-fiend, one
of which a simple inquiry from you was the means of detecting. You
remember I told you that Mr. Smith had made an advantageous contract with
Tatham & Brothers for pipe, and had divided the profits with me by which
I should gain five hundred dollars. You asked if it was all right and, if
it should be made public, it would be considered so. I replied, 'Oh! yes;
Mr. Smith says it is all perfectly fair' (for I had the utmost confidence
in his fair dealing and uprightness). But your remark led me to think of
the matter, and I determined at once that, since there was a doubt, I
would not touch it for myself, but credit it to the Government, and I
accordingly credited it as so much saved to the Government from the
contract.
And now, will you believe it! the man who would have persuaded me that
all was right in that matter, turns upon me and accuses me to the
Secretary as dealing in bad faith to the Government, citing this very
transaction in proof. But, providentially, my friend Ellsworth, and also
a clerk in the Treasury Department, are witnesses that that sum was
credited to the Government before any difficulties arose on the part of
Smith.
But I leave this unpleasant matter. The enterprise yet looks lowering,
but I know who can bring light out of darkness, and in Him I trust as a
sure refuge till these calamities be overpast.... Oh! how these troubles
drive all thought of children and brothers and all relatives out of my
mind except in the wakeful hours of the night, and then I think of you
all with sadness, that I cannot add to your enjoyment but only to your
anxiety. ... Love to all. Specially remember me in your prayers that I
may have wisdom from above to act wisely and justly and calmly in this
sore trial.
While thus some of those on whom he had relied failed him at a critical
moment, new helpers were at hand to assist him in carrying on the work.
On December 27, he writes to the Secretary of the Treasury: "I have the
honor to report that I have dismissed Professor James C. Fisher, one of
my assistants, whose salary was $1500 per annum.... My present labors
require the services of an efficient mechanical assistant whom I believe
I have found in Mr. Ezra Cornell, and whom I present for the approval of
the Honorable Secretary, with a compensation at the rate of, $1000 per
annum from December 27, 1843."
Cornell proved himself, indeed, an efficient assistant, and much of the
success of the enterprise, from that time forward, was due to his energy,
quick-wittedness, and faithfulness.
Mr. Prime, in his biography of Morse, thus describes a dramatic episode
of those trying days:--
"When the pipe had been laid as far as the Relay House, Professor Morse
came to Mr. Cornell and expressed a desire to have the work arrested
until he could try further experiments, but he was very anxious that
nothing should be said or done to give to the public the impression that
the enterprise had failed. Mr. Cornell said he could easily manage it,
and, stepping up to the machine, which was drawn by a team of eight
mules, he cried out: 'Hurrah, boys! we must lay another length of pipe
before we quit.' The teamsters cracked their whips over the mules and
they started on a lively pace. Mr. Cornell grasped the handles of the
plough, and, watching an opportunity, canted it so as to catch the point
of a rock, and broke it to pieces while Professor Morse stood looking on.
"Consultations long and painful followed. The anxiety of Professor Morse
at this period was greater than at any previous hour known in the history
of the invention. Some that were around him had serious apprehensions
that he would not stand up under the pressure."
Cornell having thus cleverly cut the Gordian knot, it was decided to
string wires on poles, and Cornell himself thus describes the solution of
the insulation problem:--
"In the latter part of March Professor Morse gave me the order to put the
wires on poles, and the question at once arose as to the mode of
_fastening the wires to the poles_, and the insulation of them at the
point of fastening. I submitted a plan to the Professor which I was
confident would be successful as an insulating medium, and which was
easily available then and inexpensive. Mr. Vail also submitted a plan for
the same purpose, which involved the necessity of going to New York or
New Jersey to get it executed. Professor Morse gave preference to Mr.
Vail's plan, and started for New York to get the fixtures, directing me
to get the wire ready for use and arrange for setting the poles.
"At the end of a week Professor Morse returned from New York and came to
the shop where I was at work, and said he wanted to provide the
insulators for putting the wires on the poles upon the plan I had
suggested; to which I responded: 'How is that, Professor; I thought you
had decided to use Mr. Vail's plan?' Professor Morse replied: 'Yes, I did
so decide, and on my way to New York, where I went to order the fixtures,
I stopped at Princeton and called on my old friend, Professor Henry, who
inquired how I was getting along with my Telegraph.
"'I explained to him the failure of the insulation in the pipes, and
stated that I had decided to place the wires on poles in the air. He then
inquired how I proposed to insulate the wires when they were attached to
the poles. I showed him the model I had of Mr. Vail's plan, and he said,
"It will not do; you will meet the same difficulty you had in the pipes."
I then explained to him your plan which he said would answer.'"
However, before the enterprise had reached this point in March, 1844,
many dark and discouraging days and weeks had to be passed, which we can
partially follow by the following extracts from letters to his brother
Sidney and others. To his brother he writes on January 9, 1844:--
"I thank you for your kind and sympathizing letter, which, I assure you,
helped to mitigate the acuteness of my mental sufferings from the then
disastrous aspect of my whole enterprise. God works by instrumentalities,
and he has wonderfully thus far interposed in keeping evils that I feared
in abeyance. All, I trust, will yet be well, but I have great
difficulties to encounter and overcome, with the details of which I need
not now trouble you. I think I see light ahead, and the great result of
these difficulties, I am persuaded, will be a great economy in laying the
telegraphic conductors.... I am well in health but have sleepless nights
from the great anxieties and cares which weigh me down."
"_January 13._ I am working to retrieve myself under every disadvantage
and amidst accumulated and most diversified trials, but I have strength
from the source of strength, and courage to go forward. Fisher I have
dismissed for unfaithfulness; Dr. Gale has resigned from ill-health;
Smith has become a malignant enemy, and Vail only remains true at his
post. All my pipe is useless as the wires are all injured by the _hot
process_ of manufacture. I am preparing (as I said before, under every
disadvantage) a short distance between the Patent Office and Capitol,
which I am desirous of having completed as soon as possible, and by means
of it relieving the enterprise from the heavy weight which now threatens
it."
To his good friend, Commissioner Ellsworth, he writes from Baltimore on
February 7:--
"In complying with your kind request that I would write you, I cannot
refrain from expressing my warm thanks for the words of sympathy and the
promise of a welcome on my return, which you gave me as I was leaving the
door. I find that, brace myself as I will against trouble, the spirit so
sympathises with the body that its moods are in sad bondage to the
physical health; the latter vanquishing the former. For the spirit is
often willing and submits, while the flesh is weak and rebels.
"I am fully aware that of late I have evinced an unusual sensitiveness,
and exposed myself to the charge of great weakness, which would give me
the more distress were I not persuaded that I have been among real
friends who will make every allowance. My temperament, naturally
sensitive, has lately been made more so by the combination of attacks
from deceitful associates without and bodily illness within, so that even
the kind attentions of the dear friends at your house, and who have so
warmly rallied around me, have scarcely been able to restore me to my
usual buoyancy of spirit, and I feel, amidst other oppressive thoughts,
that I have not been grateful enough for your friendship. But I hope yet
to make amends for the past.... I have no time to add more than that I
desire sincere love to dear Annie, to whom please present for me the
accompanying piece from my favorite Bellini, and the book on Etiquette,
after it shall have passed the ordeal of a mother's examination, as I
have not had time to read it myself."
On March 4, he writes to his brother:--
"I have nothing new. Smith continues to annoy me, but I think I have got
him in check by a demand for compensation for my services for seven
months, for doing that for him in Paris which he was bound to do. The
agreement stipulates that I give my services for '_three months and no
longer_,' but, at his earnest solicitation, I remained seven months
longer and was his agent in 'negotiating the sale of rights,' which by
the articles he was obliged to do; consequently I have a right to
compensation, and Mr. E. and others think my claim a valid one. If it is
sustained the tables are completely turned on him, and he is debtor to me
to the amount of six or seven hundred dollars. I have commenced my
operations with posts which promise well at present."
"_March 23._ My Telegraph labors go on well at present. The whole matter
is now critical, or, as our good father used to say, 'a crisis is at
hand.' I hope for the best while I endeavor to prepare my mind for the
worst. Smith, if he goes forward with his claim, is a ruined man in
reputation, but he may sink the Telegraph also in his passion; but, when
he returns from the East, where he fortunately is now, we hope through
his friends to persuade him to withdraw it, which he may do from fear of
the consequences. As to his claims privately on me, I think I have him in
check, but he is a man of consummate art and unprincipled; he will,
therefore, doubtless give me trouble."
"_April 10._ A brighter day is dawning upon me. I send you the
Intelligencer of to-day, in which you will see that the Telegraph is
successfully under way. Through six miles the experiment has been most
gratifying. In a few days I hope to advise you of more respecting it. I
have preferred reserve until I could state something positive. I have my
posts set to Beltsville, twelve miles, and you will see by the
Intelligencer that I am prepared to go directly on to Baltimore and hope
to reach there by the middle of May."
"_May 7._ Let me know when Susan and the two Charles arrive [his son and
his grandson] for, if they come within the next fortnight, I think I can
contrive to run on and pay a visit of two or three days, unless my
marplot Smith should prevent again, as he is likely to do if he comes on
here. As yet there is no settlement of that matter, and he seems
determined (_inter nos_) to be as ugly as he can and defeat all
application for an appropriation if I am to have the management of it. He
chafes like a wild boar, but, when he finds that he can effect nothing by
such a temper, self-interest may soften him into terms.
"You will see by the papers that the Telegraph is in successful operation
for twenty-two miles, to the Junction of the Annapolis road with the
Baltimore and Washington road. The nomination of Mr. Frelinghuysen as
Vice-President was written, sent on, and the receipt acknowledged back in
two minutes and one second, a distance of forty-four miles. The news was
spread all over Washington one hour and four minutes before the cars
containing the news by express arrived. In about a fortnight I hope to be
in Baltimore, and a communication will be established between the two
cities. Good-bye. I am almost asleep from exhaustion, so excuse abrupt
closing."
This was the first great triumph of the telegraph. Morse and Vail and
Cornell had worked day and night to get the line in readiness as far as
the Junction so that the proceedings of the Whig Convention could be
reported from that point. Many difficulties were encountered--crossing of
wires, breaks, injury from thunder storms, and the natural errors
incidental to writing and reading what was virtually a new language. But
all obstacles were overcome in time, and the day before the convention
met, Morse wrote to Vail:--
"Get everything ready in the morning for the day, and do not be out of
hearing of your bell. When you learn the name of the candidate nominated,
see if you cannot give it to me and receive an acknowledgment of its
receipt before the cars leave you. If you can it will do more to excite
the wonder of those in the cars than the mere announcement that the news
is gone to Washington."
The next day's report was most encouraging:--
"Things went well to-day. Your last writing was good. You did not correct
your error of running your letters together until some time. Better be
deliberate; we have time to spare, since we do not spend upon our stock.
Get ready to-morrow (Thursday) as to-day. There is great excitement about
the Telegraph and my room is thronged, therefore it is important to have
it in action during the hours named. I may have some of the Cabinet
to-morrow.... Get from the passengers in the cars from Baltimore, or
elsewhere, all the news you can and transmit. A good way of exciting
wonder will be to tell the passengers to give you some short sentence to
send me; let them note time and call at the Capitol to verify the time I
received it. Before transmitting notify me with (48). Your message to-day
that 'the passengers in the cars gave three cheers for Henry Clay,'
excited the highest wonder in the passenger who gave it to you to send
when he found it verified at the Capitol."
In a letter to his friend, Dr. Aycrigg of New Jersey, written on May 8,
and telling of these successful demonstrations, this interesting sentence
occurs: "I find that the ground, in conformity with the results of
experiments of Dr. Franklin, can be made a part of the circuit, and I
have used one wire and the ground with better effect for one circuit than
two wires."
On the 11th of May he again cautions Vail about his writing: "Everything
worked well yesterday, but there is one defect in your writing. Make a
_longer_ space between each letter and a still longer space between each
word. I shall have a great crowd to-day and wish all things to go off
well. Many M.C.s will be present, perhaps Mr. Clay. Give me news by the
cars. When the cars come along, try and get a newspaper from Philadelphia
or New York and give items of intelligence. The arrival of the cars at
the Junction begins to excite here the greatest interest, and both
morning and evening I have had my room thronged."
And now at last the supreme moment had arrived. The line from Washington
to Baltimore was completed, and on the 24th day of May, 1844, the company
invited by the inventor assembled in the chamber of the United States
Supreme Court to witness his triumph. True to his promise to Miss Annie
Ellsworth, he had asked her to indite the first public message which
should be flashed over the completed line, and she, in consultation with
her good mother, chose the now historic words from the 23d verse of the
23d chapter of Numbers--"What hath God wrought!" The whole verse reads:
"Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any
divination, against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of
Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!" To Morse, with his strong
religious bent and his belief that he was but a chosen vessel, every word
in this verse seemed singularly appropriate. Calmly he seated himself at
the instrument and ticked off the inspired words in the dots and dashes
of the Morse alphabet. Alfred Vail, at the other end of the line in
Baltimore, received the message without an error, and immediately flashed
it back again, and the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph was no longer the wild
dream of a visionary, but an accomplished fact.
Mr. Prime's comments, after describing this historic occasion, are so
excellent that I shall give them in full:--
"Again the triumph of the inventor was sublime. His confidence had been
so unshaken that the surprise of his friends in the result was not shared
by him. He knew what the instrument would do, and the fact accomplished
was but the confirmation to others of what to him was a certainty on the
packet-ship Sully in 1832. But the result was not the less gratifying and
sufficient. Had his labors ceased at that moment, he would have
cheerfully exclaimed in the words of Simeon: 'Lord, now lettest thou thy
servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.'
[Illustration: FIRST FORM OF KEY]
[Illustration: IMPROVED FORM OF KEY]
[Illustration: EARLY RELAY
The two keys and the relay are in the National Museum, Washington]
[Illustration: FIRST WASHINGTON-BALTIMORE INSTRUMENT
The Washington-Baltimore instrument is owned by Cornell University]
"The congratulations of his friends followed. He received them with
modesty, in perfect harmony with the simplicity of his character. Neither
then nor at any subsequent period of his life did his language or manner
indicate exultation. He believed himself an instrument employed by Heaven
to achieve a great result, and, having accomplished it, he claimed simply
to be the original and only instrument by which that result had been
reached. With the same steadiness of purpose, tenacity and perseverance,
with which he had pursued the idea by which he was inspired in 1832, he
adhered to his claim to the paternity of that idea, and to the merit of
bringing it to a successful issue. Denied, he asserted it; assailed, he
defended it. Through long years of controversy, discussion and
litigation, he maintained his right. Equable alike in success and
discouragement, calm in the midst of victories, and undismayed by the
number, the violence, and the power of those who sought to deprive him of
the honor and the reward of his work, he manfully maintained his ground,
until, by the verdict of the highest courts of his country, and of
academies of science, and the practical adoption and indorsement of his
system by his own and foreign nations, those wires, which were now
speaking only forty miles from Washington to Baltimore, were stretched
over continents and under oceans making a network to encompass and unite,
in instantaneous intercourse, for business and enjoyment, all parts of
the civilized world."
It was with well-earned but modest satisfaction that he wrote to his
brother Sidney on May 31:--
"You will see by the papers how great success has attended the first
efforts of the Telegraph. That sentence of Annie Ellsworth's was divinely
indited, for it is in my thoughts day and night. 'What hath God wrought!'
It is his work, and He alone could have carried me thus far through all
my trials and enabled me to triumph over the obstacles, physical and
moral, which opposed me.
"'Not unto us, not unto us, but to thy name, O Lord, be all the praise.'
"I begin to fear now the effects of public favor, lest it should kindle
that pride of heart and self-sufficiency which dwells in my own as well
as in others' breasts, and which, alas! is so ready to be inflamed by the
slightest spark of praise. I do indeed feel gratified, and it is right I
should rejoice, but I rejoice with fear, and I desire that a sense of
dependence upon and increased obligation to the Giver of every good and
perfect gift may keep me humble and circumspect.
"The conventions at Baltimore happened most opportunely for the display
of the powers of the Telegraph, especially as it was the means of
correspondence, in one instance, between the Democratic Convention and
the first candidate elect for the Vice-Presidency. The enthusiasm of the
crowd before the window of the Telegraph Room in the Capitol was excited
to the highest pitch at the announcement of the nomination of the
Presidential candidate, and the whole of it afterwards seemed turned upon
the Telegraph. They gave the Telegraph three cheers, and I was called to
make my appearance at the window when three cheers were given to me by
some hundreds present, composed mainly of members of Congress.
"Such is the feeling in Congress that many tell me they are ready to
grant anything. Even the most inveterate opposers have changed to
admirers, and one of them, Hon. Cave Johnson, who ridiculed my system
last session by associating it with the tricks of animal magnetism, came
to me and said: 'Sir, I give in. It is an astonishing invention.'
"When I see all this and such enthusiasm everywhere manifested, and
contrast the present with the past season of darkness and almost despair,
have I not occasion to exclaim 'What hath God wrought'? Surely none but
He who has all hearts in his hands, and turns them as the rivers of
waters are turned could so have brought light out of darkness. 'Sorrow
may continue for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.' Pray for me
then, my dear brother, that I may have a heart to praise the great
Deliverer, and in future, when discouraged or despairing, be enabled to
remember His past mercy, and in full faith rest all my cares on Him who
careth for us.
"Mr. S. still embarrasses the progress of the invention by his
stubbornness, but there are indications of giving way; mainly, I fear,
because he sees his pecuniary interest in doing so, and not from any
sense of the gross injury he has done me. I pray God for a right spirit
in dealing with him."
The incident referred to in this letter with regard to the nomination for
the Vice-Presidency by the Democratic Convention is worthy of more
extended notice. The convention met in Baltimore on the 26th of May, and
it was then that the two-thirds rule was first adopted. Van Buren had a
majority of the votes, but could not secure the necessary two thirds, and
finally James K. Polk was unanimously nominated. This news was instantly
flashed to Washington by the telegraph and was received with mingled
feelings of enthusiasm, disappointment, and wonder, and not believed by
many until confirmed by the arrival of the mail.
The convention then nominated Van Buren's friend, Senator Silas Wright,
of New York, for the Vice-Presidency. This news, too, was immediately
sent by wire to Washington. Morse at once informed Mr. Wright, who was in
the Capitol at the time, of his nomination, but he refused to accept it,
and Morse wired his refusal to Vail in Baltimore, and it was read to the
convention only a few moments after the nomination had been made. This
was too much for the credulity of the assembly, and they adjourned till
the following day and sent a committee to Washington to verify the
dispatch. Upon the return of the committee, with the report that the
telegraph had indeed performed this wonder, this new instrumentality
received such an advertisement as could not fail to please the most
exacting.
Then a scene was enacted new in the annals of civilization. In Baltimore
the committee of conference surrounded Vail at his instrument, and in
Washington Senator Wright sat beside Morse, all others being excluded.
The committee urged Wright to accept the nomination, giving him good
reasons for doing so. He replied, giving as good reasons for refusing.
This first long-distance conversation was carried on until the committee
was finally convinced that Wright was determined to refuse, and they so
reported to the convention. Mr. Dallas was then nominated, and in
November of that year Polk and Dallas were elected.
On June 3, Morse made his report to the Honorable McClintock Young, who
was then Secretary of the Treasury _ad interim_. It was with great
satisfaction that he was able to say: "Of the appropriation made there
will remain in the Treasury, after the settlement of outstanding
accounts, about $3500, which may be needed for contingent liabilities and
for sustaining the line already constructed, until provision by law shall
be made for such an organization of a telegraphic department or bureau as
shall enable the Telegraph at least to support itself, if not to become a
profitable source of revenue to the Government."
In the course of this report mention is also made of the following
interesting incidents:--
"In regard to the _utility_ of the Telegraph, time alone can determine
and develop the whole capacity for good of so perfect a system. In the
few days of its infancy it has already casually shown its usefulness in
the relief, in various ways, of the anxieties of thousands; and, when
such a sure means of relief is available to the public at large, the
amount of its usefulness becomes incalculable. An instance or two will
best illustrate this quality of the Telegraph.
"A family in Washington was thrown into great distress by a rumor that
one of its members had met with a violent death in Baltimore the evening
before. Several hours must have elapsed ere their state of suspense could
be relieved by the ordinary means of conveyance. A note was dispatched to
the telegraph rooms at the Capitol requesting to have inquiry made at
Baltimore. The messenger had occasion to wait but _ten minutes_ when the
proper inquiry was made at Baltimore, and the answer returned that the
rumor was without foundation. Thus was a worthy family relieved
immediately from a state of distressing suspense.
"An inquiry from a person in Baltimore, holding the check of a gentleman
in Washington upon the Bank of Washington, was sent by telegraph to
ascertain if the gentleman in question had funds in that bank. A
messenger was instantly dispatched from the Capitol who returned in a few
minutes with an affirmative answer, which was returned to Baltimore
instantly, thus establishing a confidence in a money arrangement which
might have affected unfavorably (for many hours, at least) the business
transactions of a man of good credit.
"Other cases might be given, but these are deemed sufficient to
illustrate the point of utility, and to suggest to those who will reflect
upon them thousands of cases in the public business, in commercial
operations, and in private and social transactions, which establish
beyond a doubt the immense advantages of such a speedy mode of conveying
intelligence."
While such instances of the use of the telegraph are but the commonplaces
of to-day, we can imagine with what wonder they were regarded in 1844.
Morse then addressed a memorial to Congress, on the same day, referring
to the report just quoted from, and then saying:--
"The proprietors respectfully suggest that it is an engine of power, for
good or for evil, which all opinions seem to concur in desiring to have
subject to the control of the Government, rather than have it in the
hands of private individuals and associations; and to this end the
proprietors respectfully submit their willingness to transfer the
exclusive use and control of it, from Washington City to the city of New
York, to the United States, together with such improvements as shall be
made by the proprietors, or either of them, if Congress shall proceed to
cause its construction, and upon either of the following terms."
Here follow the details of the two plans: either outright purchase by the
Government of the existing line and construction by the Government of the
line from Baltimore to New York, or construction of the latter by the
proprietors under contract to the Government; but no specific sum was
mentioned in either case.
This offer was not accepted, as will appear further on, but $8000 was
appropriated for the support of the line already built, and that was all
that Congress would do. It was while this matter was pending that Morse
wrote to his brother Sidney, on June 13:--
"I am in the crisis of matters, so far as this session of Congress is
concerned, in relation to the Telegraph, which absorbs all my time.
Perfect enthusiasm seems to pervade all classes in regard to it, but
there is still the thorn in the flesh which is permitted by a wise Father
to keep me humble, doubtless. May his strength be sufficient for me and I
shall fear nothing, and will bear it till He sees fit to remove it. Pray
for me, as I do for you, that, if prosperity is allotted to us, we may
have hearts to use it to the glory of God."