Lives of the electricians

by William T. Jeans

This appears to have been the darkest hour before the dawn; for in the midst of his gloom and poverty he determined to make one more experiment. He insulated a wire two miles long with hempen threads saturated with pitch tar and surrounded with india-rubber; and this, which he called the first submarine cable ever made, was laid in New York harbour between Castle Garden and Governor’s Island on October 18, 1842. The wire was wound round a reel and placed in a boat; and in the bright moonshine the Professor unwound and paid out the wire while another man rowed the boat. Several signals passed through the wire; but before he had an opportunity of exhibiting its operation to those whom he wanted to convince, the wire was dragged up by the anchor of another boat and part of it carried off by the sailors. But it was not destroyed till he had satisfied himself that despatches could be transmitted through it. He renewed the experiment two months afterwards in the canal at Washington with complete success; and in after years he ever spoke of these experiments, especially the first, as the birthtime of submarine telegraphy. He received the gold medal of the American Institute for this success.

Encouraged by the success of this experiment, he wrote a letter on December 6, 1842, to the Hon. C. G. Ferris, a member of the House Committee of Commerce, giving a minute account of his invention, and asking that an appeal might be made through the Committee to Congress for a grant to erect an experimental line of telegraph. Mr. Ferris at once took up the subject, and a bill was drawn up appropriating 30,000 dollars for that purpose; but ere it came before Congress the inventor was able to announce another discovery that strengthened his faith in the marvellous power of the telegraph. In a letter dated January 17, 1843, he said: “Professor Fisher and myself made an important discovery just before we left New York, namely, that several currents of electricity will pass upon the same wire without interference either in the same direction or in opposite directions. The discovery I have at once reduced to practice. The wire for the two circuits which I use for my two instruments in the Capitol is composed of three instead of four threads.”

Five weeks after that announcement Mr. John Kennedy moved in Congress to proceed with the bill making the grant for an experimental line. Professor Morse was present in the gallery listening to a debate which, though not very auspicious, was not devoid of humour. An abridged report of the proceedings on the 27th of February, 1843, states that on the motion of Mr. Kennedy, of Maryland, the Committee took up the bill to authorise a series of experiments to be made in order to test the merits of Morse’s Electro-Magnetic Telegraph—a bill appropriating 30,000 dollars, to be expended under the direction of the Postmaster-General. Mr. Cave Johnson said that, as the present Congress had done much to encourage science, he did not wish to see the science of mesmerism neglected and overlooked. He therefore proposed that one-half the appropriation should be given to Mr. Pisk (a gentleman at that time lecturing in Washington on mesmerism) to enable him to carry on experiments as well as Professor Morse. Mr. Houston thought that Millerism should also be included in the benefits of the appropriation. Mr. Stanly had no objection to the appropriation for mesmeric experiments, provided Mr. Cave Johnson would be the subject (Laughter.) Mr. Cave Johnson retorted that he would have no objection provided Mr. Stanly was the operator. (Much laughter.) Several gentlemen having called for the reading of the amendment, the Clerk read thus: “Provided that one half of the said sum shall be appropriated for trying mesmeric experiments, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury.” Mr. Mason, rising to order, contended that the amendment was not bonâ fide, and that such a proposal was calculated to injure the character of the House. He appealed to the Chair to rule it out of order; but the Chairman, declining to judge of the motives of members in offering amendments, would not undertake to pronounce it not bonâ fide. He said objections might be raised to it on the ground that it was not sufficiently analogous in its character to the bill under consideration, but in his opinion it would require a scientific analysis to determine how far the magnetism of mesmerism was analogous to that to be employed in telegraphs. (Laughter.) The amendment was rejected, and in the end the bill was carried by a majority of six votes—89 to 83. Professor Morse was accustomed afterwards to remark that a “change of three votes would have consigned the invention to oblivion.” “I was told at the time,” he also said, “by many personal friends in the House, that the bill finally passed more out of deference to my personal standing than from any just appreciation of the importance of the invention, a compliment which, however gratifying to personal pride, was fully set off by perceiving the low estimate of the result of my labours. Other motions disparaging the invention were made, such as proposing to appropriate part of the sum to telegraph to the moon, but the majority of Congress did not concur in this attempt to defeat the measure by ridicule.” In the Senate, however, it was not honoured even by ridicule. It was allowed to lie untouched till the last night of the session. Here also the Professor was an eager but despairing spectator of the fate of his project. He sat listening all day—to him a day of gloom and anxiety, unrelieved by a single ray of hope. The session had to close at midnight, and at ten o’clock one of the senators advised him to go home, as it was useless staying longer—the prospect was hopeless. Morse thought so too, and with a heavy heart left for his hotel, where after paying his bill, he found that on his return to New York he would have thirty-seven and a half cents in his pocket.

With this capital, he must again return to his brush and easel, and work for fresh means to enable him to appeal to Congress at a more convenient season. Such were the reflections that perturbed his mind, as, overcome with fatigue, he retired to rest. Little did he dream that night that he was to be an historic illustration of Shakespeare’s remark that “our little life is rounded with a sleep.” Rising at a late hour next morning, he was informed when at breakfast that a lady had called to see him, and upon his entering the parlour, he was met by Miss Annie Ellsworth, daughter of the Commissioner of Patents. With a radiant smile she said, “I have come to congratulate you, Mr. Morse,” who was advancing to shake hands with her, all unconscious that she was a messenger of glad tidings. “To congratulate me,” said the care-worn inventor, “for what?” “Why, upon the passage of your bill, to be sure,” she replied. “Surely you must be mistaken,” said the Professor, who probably thought the announcement too good to be true; “I left at a late hour and its fate seemed inevitable.” “Indeed I’m not,” was the reply; “father remained till the close of the session; and your bill was the very last that was passed. I begged permission to convey the news to you, and I am so glad I am the first to tell you. It was passed without any discussion.” As the Commissioner of Patents was a friend who had taken a warm interest in the fate of the telegraph, the Professor accepted this assurance, and warmly pressing the lady’s hand, expressed unfeigned delight at the news. In the course of some further conversation, he said that as a reward for being the first bearer of the glad tidings, she should be invited to send the first message over the first line of telegraph. The promise was accepted.

He next sought permission to construct his telegraph on the railroad from Baltimore to Washington. Even this simple matter was not settled without some opposition. Happily Professor Morse secured the support of Mr. Latrobe, who was then engineer to the Baltimore and Ohio railway, and who has given an interesting account of his connection with the project. He says that while “calling on Mr. Louis McLane, the president, on some professional matter, I was asked in the course of conversation whether I knew anything about an electric telegraph which the inventor, who had obtained an appropriation from Congress, wanted to lay down on the Washington branch of the road. He said he expected Mr. Morse, the inventor, to call on him, when he would introduce me to him, and would be glad if I took an opportunity to go over the subject with him, and afterwards let him (Mr. McLane) know what I thought about it. While we were yet speaking Mr. Morse made his appearance, and when Mr. McLane introduced me he referred to the fact that, as I had been educated at West Point, I might the more readily understand the scientific bearing of Mr. Morse’s invention. The president’s office being no place for prolonged conversation, it was agreed that Mr. Morse should take tea at my dwelling, when we would go over the whole subject. We met accordingly, and it was late in the night before we parted. Mr. Morse went over the history of his invention from the beginning with an interest and enthusiasm that had survived the wearying toil of an application to Congress, and, with the aid of diagrams drawn on the instant, made me master of the matter, and wrote for me the telegraphic alphabet which is still in use all over the world. Not a small part of what Mr. Morse said on this occasion had reference to the future of his invention, its influence on communities and individuals, and I remember regarding as the wild speculations of an active imagination what he prophesied in this connection, and which I have lived to see more than realised. Nor was his conversation confined to his invention. A distinguished artist, an educated gentleman, an observant traveller, it was delightful to hear him talk, and at this day I recall few more pleasant evenings than the only one I passed in his company.

“Of course my first visit the next morning was to Mr. McLane to make my report. By this time I had become almost as enthusiastic as Mr. Morse himself, and repeated what had passed between us. I soon saw that Mr. McLane was becoming as eager for the construction of the line to Washington as Mr. Morse could desire. He entered warmly into the spirit of the thing, and laughed heartily, if not incredulously, when I told him that although he had been Minister to England, Secretary of State, and Secretary of the Treasury, his name would be forgotten, while that of Morse would never cease to be remembered with praise and gratitude. We then considered the question as to the right of the company to permit the line to be laid in the bed of the road—the plan of construction at that time being to bury in a trench some eight or ten inches deep a half-inch leaden tube containing the wrapped wire that was to form the electric circuit. About this there was, in my opinion, no doubt.” The President accordingly brought the subject before the monthly meeting of the directors held in April, 1843. Just as the meeting was about to adjourn, he said he had almost overlooked an application which he had received from Professor Morse for permission to lay his telegraph line on the railroad from Baltimore to Washington, and which their chief engineer recommended as worthy of encouragement. A resolution was moved and seconded, giving “such facilities as may be requisite to give the invention a proper trial,” provided it could be done without injury to the road or embarrassment to the company. The President pointed out that the company reserved the right of requiring the removal of the telegraph at any time, and the resolution appeared for a moment to command assent; but one of the older directors then rose and stated that, notwithstanding all the precautions suggested, he could not as a conscientious man vote for the resolution without some further examination. He knew that this idea of Mr. Morse, though it appeared plausible to theorists, dreamers, and men of science, was regarded by all practical people as destined to certain failure, and must consequently result in loss and possible ruin to Mr. Morse. He felt conscientious scruples in giving a vote which would tempt a visionary enthusiast to ruin himself. However, Mr. John P. Kennedy now, as in Congress, came to the rescue of Mr. Morse, and the resolution was adopted.

The experimental line from Baltimore to Washington was at once commenced, and Professor Morse was appointed superintendent of the work with a salary of 2,500 dollars. Different accounts have been given of the progress of the work; but for authenticity and importance his own account, given in a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, is still of historic interest. On August 10, 1843, he said, with reference to his experiments with the prepared wire in one continuous line of 160 miles, that they were attended with perfect success. “I had prepared a galvanic battery of 300 pairs in order to have ample power at command, but, to my great gratification, I found that 100 pairs were sufficient to produce all the effects I desired through the whole distance of 160 miles. It may be well to observe that the 160 miles of wire are to be divided into four lengths, of forty miles each, forming a fourfold cord from Washington to Baltimore. Two wires form a circuit; the electricity, therefore, in producing its effect at Washington from Baltimore, passes from Baltimore to Washington and back again to Baltimore, of course travelling eighty miles to produce its result. One hundred and sixty miles, therefore, give me an actual distance of eighty miles, double the distance from Washington to Baltimore. The result then of my experiments is, that a battery of only 100 pairs at Washington will operate a telegraph on my plan eighty miles distant with certainty, and without requiring any intermediate station! 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. The practical inference from this law is that a telegraphic communication on the electro-magnetic plan may, with certainty, be established across the Atlantic ocean! Startling as this may now seem, I am confident the time will come when this project will be realised. The wire is now in its last process of preparation for enclosing in the lead tube, which will be commenced on Tuesday the 15th of August.” It thus appears that he had no sooner begun the construction of the first land line in America than he had conceived the greatest submarine achievement in telegraphy. This was the first authoritative proposal of an Atlantic telegraph.

The idea of enclosing insulated wires in pipes was taken from the accounts published in America of Wheatstone’s first telegraph in England; but this method when tried proved unsuccessful, and was at once abandoned, the wires being henceforth placed on poles. About a year was occupied in completing the first practical line; and then Professor Morse sent for Miss Ellsworth, and asked her to supply the first message. This she did, giving the memorable words: “What hath God wrought!” The Professor himself worked the transmitter, which was in the chamber of the United States Supreme Court at Washington; the date was the 24th of May, 1844; and the message was received at Baltimore in the signs which were henceforth to be known as the Morse Alphabet, as follows:

WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT