Samuel Finley Breese Morse and the Electric Telegraph
[1791-1872]
[Illustration: S. F. B. Morse.]
Great as was the power of the steamboat and the railroad in quickening
the social life of mankind, of still greater influence in binding
together remote communities was the invention of the electric telegraph.
The steamboat and the railroad made travel and transportation easier,
and frequent intercourse by letters and newspapers possible; but the
electric telegraph enabled men to flash their thoughts thousands of
miles in a few seconds. The inventor of this wonderful mechanism was
Samuel Finley Breese Morse.
He was born, in 1791, in a house standing at the foot of Breed's Hill,
Charlestown, Mass. His father was a learned minister who, as Daniel
Webster said, "was always thinking, always writing, always talking,
always acting"; and his mother a woman of noble character, who inspired
her son with manly purpose.
When Finley was only four years of age he was sent to a school kept by
an elderly woman known as "Old Ma'am Rand." She was lame, but nowise
halting in discipline, for she kept near at hand a long rattan stick by
means of which, when necessary, she could quickly reach her pupils in
any part of the room.
He did not remain long under "Old Ma'am Rand's" tuition, for when he was
seven he went to school at Andover, and still later entered Phillips
Academy in the same town. At fourteen he entered Yale College, where
from the first he was a thoughtful and diligent student.
Very soon Finley's two brothers joined him at college. As their father
was poor, the boys had to help themselves along. Finley turned to
account his talent for drawing. He made considerable money by painting
on ivory likenesses of his classmates and professors, receiving for a
miniature $5, and for a profile $1.
At the end of his college course he made painting his chosen profession,
and planned to get the best instruction for his life work.
Having made a friend of the great artist, Washington Allston, Morse went
with him to London, and there studied under Benjamin West who, as you
remember, was Robert Fulton's teacher. Morse was at this time a young
man of modest, gentle, and sunny manner, and easily won the affection of
his new teacher.
West held his pupils to high standards, as the following instance shows.
Upon one occasion, after spending much time in making what he
considered to be a finished drawing, Morse laid it before West for
criticism. Upon careful examination the master praised it highly, and
then added:
"Very well, sir, very well; go on and finish it."
"It is finished," was Morse's reply.
"Oh, no," said Mr. West, "look here, and here, and here," pointing to
defects in the drawing.
After spending another week upon it, Morse took it to his teacher. Again
Mr. West praised it and added:
"Very well, indeed, sir; go on and finish it."
"Is it not finished?" Morse asked with surprise and disappointment in
his voice.
"Not yet," said his critic.
Morse spent three or four days more in trying to perfect the work, and
again handed it to his teacher, who, after again praising it, said:
"Well, sir, go and finish it."
"I cannot finish it," said Morse, by this time thoroughly disheartened.
"Well," replied Mr. West, "I have tried you long enough. Now, sir, you
have learned more by this drawing than you would have accomplished in
double the time by a dozen half-finished beginnings. It is not numerous
drawings, but the _character of one_, which makes a thorough
draughtsman. _Finish_ one picture, sir, and you are a painter."
After four years of study, Morse returned to Boston. But in the
meantime, like Fulton, he had gradually turned his thought from
painting to invention. His energies were now, for many years, divided
between the two.
During these years Morse had to depend for a livelihood mainly upon
drawing and painting. He travelled through New Hampshire and Vermont,
and even as far as South Carolina, everywhere painting miniatures on
ivory, and establishing his reputation as an artist.
In 1829 he went once more to Europe for study and remained three years;
but upon his return, although painting occupied much of his time, his
career as an artist ended. His change of vocation turned upon an
incident of his voyage home.
On the ocean steamer the conversation at dinner one day was about recent
experiments with electricity. The special question of inquiry was this:
"Does the length of wire make any difference in the velocity of the
electric current passing through it?" One of the men present, Dr.
Jackson, said that so far as experiments yet indicated, electricity
passed through any length of wire in an instant.
"Then," said Morse, "thought can be transmitted hundreds of miles
instantaneously by means of electricity. For if electricity will go ten
miles without stopping, I can make it go around the globe." What a
wonderful idea, in an instant to send thought thousands of miles and
make a record of it there! That is what the telegraph was to do!
When once the possibility of this great achievement entered Morse's
mind it took complete possession of him, and he could think of nothing
else through the busy days and sleepless nights that followed. His
note-book was ever at hand to outline the new instrument and to jot down
the signs in sending messages.
In a short time he had worked out on paper the whole scheme of
transmitting thought over long distances by means of electricity. And
now began twelve toilsome years of struggle to devise machinery for his
invention. To provide for his three motherless children, Morse had to
devote to painting much time that he otherwise would have spent in
perfecting the mechanical appliances for his telegraph. His progress
therefore was slow and painful, but he persistently continued in the
midst of discouraging conditions.
His brothers, who owned a building in New York on the corner of Nassau
and Beekman Streets, allowed Morse to have a room on the fifth floor.
Here he toiled day and night, sleeping little and eating the simplest
and scantiest food. Indeed, so meagre was his fare, consisting mainly of
crackers and tea, that he bought his provisions at night lest his
friends might discover his need.
During this time of hardship he kept starvation from his door by giving
lessons in painting to a few pupils. On a certain occasion, Morse said
to one of them, who owed him a quarter's tuition: "Well, Strothers, my
boy, how are we off for money?"
"Professor," said the young fellow, "I'm sorry to say I have been
disappointed, but I expect the money next week."
"Next week!" cried his needy teacher, "I shall be dead by next week."
"Dead, sir?" rejoined Strothers.
"Yes, dead by starvation," was the emphatic answer.
"Would $10 be of any service?" asked the pupil, now impressed with the
seriousness of the situation.
"Ten dollars would save my life," was the answer of the poor man, who
had been without food for twenty-four hours. You may be sure that
Strothers promptly handed him the money.
But in spite of heavy trials and many discouragements he had by 1837
finished a machine which he exhibited in New York. Among those present
was a gifted and inventive young man by the name of Alfred Vail. Greatly
impressed, he told Morse that he believed the telegraph would be
successful, and later he joined Morse in a business compact.
Alfred Vail's father and brother were wealthy men, the owners of large
iron and brass mills, and he himself was skilful in working brass. Morse
was therefore glad to accept him as a partner, especially on account of
his good financial backing. Young Vail was full of hope and enthusiasm,
and was of great assistance in devising suitable apparatus for the
telegraph.
But in spite of this substantial and timely aid, a patent was not
secured until 1840. Then followed a tedious effort to induce the
government at Washington to adopt and apply the invention. Finally,
after much delay, the House of Representatives passed a bill
"appropriating $30,000 for a trial of the telegraph." As you may know, a
bill cannot become a law unless the Senate also passes it, but the
Senate did not seem inclined to favor this one. Many people believed
that the whole idea of the telegraph was rank folly. They regarded Morse
and the telegraph very much as people had regarded Fulton and the
steamboat, and ridiculed him as a crazy-brained fellow.
Up to the evening of the last day of the session the bill had not been
considered by the Senate. Morse sat anxiously waiting in the Senate
chamber until nearly midnight, when, believing there was no longer any
hope, he withdrew and went home with a heavy heart.
Imagine his surprise, therefore, next morning, when a young woman, Miss
Annie G. Ellsworth, congratulated him at breakfast on the passage of his
bill. At first he could scarcely believe the good news, but when he
found that Miss Ellsworth was telling him the truth his joy was
unbounded, and he promised her that she should choose the first message.
By the next year (1844) a telegraph line, extending from Baltimore to
Washington, was ready for use. On the day appointed for trial Morse met
a party of friends in the chamber of the Supreme Court, at the
Washington end of the line, and sitting at the instrument which he had
himself placed for trial, the happy inventor sent the message, as
dictated by Miss Ellsworth, "What hath God wrought!"
The telegraph was a great and brilliant achievement, and brought to its
inventor well-earned fame. Morse married a second time and lived in a
beautiful home on the Hudson, where, with instruments on his table, he
could easily communicate with distant friends. Simple and modest in his
manner of life, he was a true-hearted, kindly Christian man. He was fond
of flowers and of animals. The most remarkable of his pets was a tame
flying-squirrel that would sit on his master's shoulders, eat out of his
hand, and go to sleep in his pocket.
[Illustration: Telegraph and Railroad.]
In his prosperity, honors were showered upon him by many countries. At
the suggestion of the French Emperor, representatives from many
countries of Europe met at Paris to determine upon some suitable
testimonial to Morse as a world benefactor. These delegates voted him
$80,000 as an expression of appreciation for his great invention. Before
his death, also, a statue to his memory was erected in Central Park,
New York.
In 1872 this noble inventor, at the ripe age of eighty-one, breathed his
last. The sincere expression of grief from all over the country gave
evidence of the place he held in the hearts of the people.
REVIEW OUTLINE
THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.
THE YOUNG ARTIST AND HIS TEACHER.
MORSE GOES TO YALE COLLEGE.
HIS SUCCESS IN DRAWING.
WITH THE PAINTER WEST IN LONDON.
MORSE'S INTEREST IN INVENTION.
TWELVE YEARS OF BITTER STRUGGLE.
THE STORY OF MORSE AND YOUNG STROTHERS.
MORSE'S SCHEME DEBATED IN CONGRESS.
SUCCESS AT LAST.
TO THE PUPIL
1. What was the new problem?
2. Tell the story of Morse and the painter, Mr. West.
3. How was the idea of the telegraph suggested to Morse?
4. Give an account of Morse's trials and sufferings.
5. What honors were showered upon him?
6. Describe Morse. What do you admire in his character?