USA > Indiana > Early Indiana trials: and sketches. Reminiscences > Part 40
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417
THE TELEGRAPHI.
This paper was made to travel slowly beneath the pencil. So long as no attractive power was exerted by the electro-magnet, the pencil would continue to trace a straight line, as the paper moved onward : but on momentarily making the circuit with the battery, the armature was drawn to the electro-magnet, and the pencil, carried by the arm of the lever upward, made an angular mark, like the letter V reversed. on the paper. These angles might either be joined in groups, by rapidly succeeding completions of the circuit, or they might be sepa- rated by longer or shorter spaces of straight line. The nine digits were represented by corresponding numbers of angles, and these were combined so as to form all possible numbers. In the telegraph con- structed by Morse, in 1844, between Baltimore and Washington, a different mode of recording the signals was adopted. The use of the pencil was found objectionable, from its so frequently requiring fresh pointing, and from the risk of breakage. The same arrangements were retained in regard to the paper, but it was made in its course to pass under a roller having a groove around it. , The long arm of the lever carried a blunt steel point, standing out from its upper surface vertically, under the groove in the roller. When, therefore, the arm of the lever was elevated, by the attraction of the magnet upon the armature, the steel point pressed the paper into the groove, and pro- duced an indentation. If the attraction were momentary, a depressed point was produced ; but if the aet were continued for a longer time. a lengthened depression was the result, as the paper was drawn on. The combinations of these two kinds of marks denoted the various letters and figures. In his first instrument, Morse produced the requisite groups of angles by means of types having as many project- ing ridges, or teeth as there were to be angles. These being arranged in a frame, as required for the message, made the successive contacts with the battery, as they were drawn under the lever, or spring. Snb- sequently, however, a single key was used, by depressing which with the finger the circuit might be completed when necessary.'
The above extract is from the " National Cyclopædia," published in London, in the year 1850. The article may be denominated a labored attempt to prove that the telegraph is not an American, but an Eng- lish invention. It will be in vain, however, to attempt to satisfy com- ing generations that the electro-magnetic telegraph is not the product of American genius. Wheatstone, in England, and Steinheil, in Bavaria, about the year 1837, invented telegraphs, differing from Morse's, and from each other. Wheatstone's is a very inferior one, not of the recording kind, but requiring to be watched by one of the. attendants-the alphabet being made by the deflection of the needle ..
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EARLY INDIANA TRIALS.
That of Steinheil, though a recording telegraph, is so complicated and delicate, as to be unfit for extended lines. Wherever Morse's instru- ment has been carefully examined it has been pronounced the best. Already, it has been approved by most of the Governments of the old world. In 1851, at a convention held by Austria, Prussia, Saxony, Wirtemburg, and Bavaria, for the purpose of determining upon a uniform system of telegraphing for Germany, Mr. Morse's instrument, by the advice of Steinheil, was selected and declared to be superior to any other that had ever been invented. The first foreign aeknowl- edgment of his invention was by the bestowal of a nishan, or order --- the " order of glory "-by the Sultan of Turkey. Next comes a gold snuff-box, from the King of Prussia, containing the Prussian gold medal of scientific merit. Last, from the King of Prussia, the " Wirtemberg Gold Medal of Arts and Sciences." In 1838, Morse went to England to secure a patent in that country, but was refused, upon the pretext, manufactured by Wheatstone and his friends, that his invention had been published. The only proof which could be adduced was the publication of an extract of the New York " Journal of Commerce " in an English periodical devoted to science.
The first electric telegraph completed in the United States was erected between Baltimore and Washington, in 1844, and the first public message transmitted was the announcement of the nomination by the Baltimore Convention, of James K. Polk, as the Democratic candidate for the Presidency. More than twenty thousand miles of telegraph have since been ereeted in this country, and but a few years will pass until all parts of our vast domain will be bound together by iron wires.
Many important improvements have been made of late in tele- graphing. Whether the system of placing the wire under the ground, or that of suspending it upon poles, will ultimately prevail, can not be predicted. The most interesting feature of telegraphing, and that likely to be attended by the most important results, is the Submarine. It has been satisfactorily demonstrated that wires may be so coated with gutta percha and other materials as to act under water. "A tube," says the National Cyclopædia, " so constructed, has been carried under the sea between Dover and Calais; and the first communication · by electric telegraph was made from Cape Grinez to Dover on August 28, 1850. Tha length from Dover to Cape Grinez is 21 miles. The copper wire is one-tenth of an inch in thickness, and is inclosed in a solid eylinder of gutta percha half an inch in diameter. The entire length of wire is 25 miles, and its weight is one tun, two ewts., 1 quarter, 10} lbs. The weight of the gutta percha is about four tuns."
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THE TELEGRAPH.
The clectrie printing telegraph will, perhaps, be regarded rather muore curious than valuable by genuine mechanics. The machinery is complicated, and, we believe, expensive ; time, however, may demon- strate its practical utility.
The latest species of telegraphing of which we have heard, is the Atmospheric. It is thus described by the Washington correspondent of the Detroit " Free Press:" " Mr. Richardson, the inventor of the Atmospheric Telegraph, has erected a working model of his invention in the room of the Senate Committee on Pensions, where it is visited daily by admiring crowds. There is much more in this than I had supposed. Indeed, I think it is hazarding little to say that in a few years our friends, Coleman & Stetson, of the Astor House, New York, or Willard, of this city, may order a fresh salmon from your Macki- naw fishermen, and have it placed on their larder in less than ten minutes, ' alive and kicking.' It seems difficult to believe this; and yet the means by which such a result is to be accomplished are far less extraordinary, and more simple than those by which the magnetic
telegraph operates, as any one will be satisfied who gives five minutes attention to Mr. Richardson's model. This model consists of a tube or pipe, having an inch bore, in which runs back and forth a plunger, or easily-sliding plug. A miniature mail bag is attached to the back end of this plunger, which, by the way, is so constructed that little or no air can pass between its edge and the inner surface of the tube. When the load has been attached to the plunger, the openings in the pipe between the plunger and the point of destination are all closed, and made air-tight. A little air pump is then applied, which exhausts the atmosphere in this part of the tube, creating a vacuum into which the plunger rushes, followed by its load, impelled by the pressure of the atmosphere in the rear. It will be seen that just so fast as the atmosphere is withdrawn from the tube, and the vacuum is created, just so fast the load will follow; and that, therefore, the precise rate of speed desired may be acquired, whether that is one mile per hour or a thousand.
" I gave the model a very thorough examination, and raised every objection I could think of; but the inventor has a perfectly satisfac- tory argument in reply to every objection, and I really can not see why the heaviest mails and all express matter may not be carried with perfect certainty and case, and unheard-of rapidity, by means of this invention. A company has already been formed, I under- stood, for the construction of one of these telegraphic lines, with a tube two feet in diameter, between Boston and New York. The
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EARLY INDIANA TRIALS.
experiment has already been tried with a tube a mile long, and with perfect success."
Professor Morse still indulges the idea of returning to his old pro- fession-painting; so much of his time, however, will necessarily be devoted to the business to which he has given so much attention for twenty years, an opportunity will probably never arise for him to grat- ify his ardent wish to become once more associated with the beautiful and classic models of Italy and the Louvre. We only do him justice when we assert that he is one of the most intellectual and refined characters of the age. His genius, or his learning, alone, would con- stitute him an ornament to the proudest galaxy of literary and scien- tific men, in the world ; and it is with pride and pleasure we claim them both as the property of our country. The period is near at hand when the universal voice will pronounce in his favor, and when the miserable pretenders of Great Britain that have attempted to usurp his honors, will sink to merited oblivion.
Professor Morse resides at Locust Grove two miles south of Pough- keepsie, on the banks of the Hudson.
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RAILROADS OF INDIANA.
RAILROADS OF. INDIANA.
As the prosperity of our State is so intimately identified with our railroads on the one hand, and the success of our railroads for all time is so closely and inseparably connected with the prosperity of the State on the other, I have thought it proper to occupy some space in the consideration of our railroads, and their effects upon the future growth and prosperity of Indiana.
In order to understand and appreciate the effects of our railroads upon every branch of industry and production, as well as upon the value of real estate, it is necessary to look at the geographical position of the State, the character of the country, the quality of the soil, the climate, the mineral wealth to be developed, the susceptibility of the lands to cultivation and improvement, the kind and extent of local productions, the natural facilities in aid of commerce, and products, and whatever may tend to the prosperity of the State, and the suc- cess of her public improvements.
Indiana is bounded on the east by the State of Ohio, on the north by the State of Michigan, on the west by the State of Illinois, and on south by the Ohio river. She is 276 miles in length, by an average width of 142 miles ; contains 33,803 square miles, or 21,637,760 acres. She is situated between latitudes 37° 51' and 41º 46', She contains ninety-one counties ; was admitted into the Union in the year 1816, with a constitution prohibiting slavery. The general features of the State are level, or slightly undulating. There are no mountains or high hills in the State, except the hills that fringe the Ohio river. The general soil of the State is composed of rich river-bottoms, tim- bered uplands and prairies, adapted to all kinds of grain and grasses grown in this climate. The State is entirely free from surface stone, and the wild lands are generally well timbered with oak, poplar, wal- nut, hickory, beech, and sugar upon the uplands ; and with sycamore, walnut, hackberry, and elm, and an undergrowth of pawpaw, haws, and grapevines on the first bottom. The whole soil may be said to be easy of cultivation and eminently productive. The State is well watered with living springs and running streams, mostly over pure gravelly beds, abounds in mineral wealth, of iron, coal, building rock, fire clay, and salt springs. The staple produets of Indiana, as best adapted to the climate and soil, are wheat, rye, corn, oats, barley, buckwheat, tobacco, potatoes, flax, hemp, and garden products, fruits of all kinds, eattle, horses, mules, hogs, sheep, and indeed whatever
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EARLY INDIANA TRIALS.
the climate and seasons will mature, the soil will abundantly produce, if properly cultivated. In a word, Indiana yields to no State in the Union in point of soil, timber, water, rock, mineral wealth, and gen- eral productiveness.
The character of the State, of her institutions, and the healthiness of her climate, may be inferred from the constant and rapid increase of her population. In 1800, she contained 4,875 inhabitants; in 1810, 24,520; in 1820, 147,178; in 1830, 195,853; in 1840, 685,- 866 ; in 1850, 988,416, and at this time not less than 1,500,000. The progressive improvements have fully kept pace with the increase of population, and at no former period have the manifestations of the onward march of the State to that high destiny that awaits her, been stronger than at present.
The value of taxables of the State, as appears by the report of the Auditor for the year 1855, was $301,858,474. The Auditor estimated that a new valuation at that time, would probably have given $380,- 000,000. At this time, in round numbers, we may safely set down the taxables of the State at $400,000,000. The product for the year 1855 was, wheat 6,658,952 bushels; corn, 34,811,902; oats, 8,041,- 919; rye, 226,559 ; potatoes, 1,170,290; horses, mules, and asses, 304,028 ; cattle, 798,419 ; sheep, 882,797 ; swine, 2,668,572, and this with not one acre in ten of the State in cultivation, and not one acre in twenty properly tilled.
Without designing to raise and agitate the vexed question of slav- ery, as a State institution, it will not be out of place to say, that the growth and prosperity of Indiana, from the wilderness of her territo- rial condition, has been owing mainly to her free constitution, and the consequent character of her population. The grand secret of which is, that free white labor is honorable, bringing into the field of enterprise, the active and persevering industry of the Anglo-Saxon race, and holding out inducements to the hardy and industrious laborers of foreign countries, to make Indiana their home, where, from the freedom of her institutions, the equality of her citizens, the salubrity of the climate, the fertility of her soil, the facility of her communications with the markets for their surplus products, they are insured health, comfort, and happiness by their own industry.
Indiana may be called an inland State; for although she is washed on the north by Lake Michigan, on the south by the Ohio river, and on the west by the Wabash river, yet no navigable waters penetrate her interior. She combines all the elements essential to the suc- cess of railroad operations. Lying across the track of all the rail- roads connecting the eastern Atlantic States with the Valley of the
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Mississippi, and the still further west to the shores of the Paeifie, her railroads must ever continue to do a heavy, thorough business, increasing from year to year, as new roads are added to those already built, extending the lines of travel and business into new and more distant fields; while the vast productions of the State, as her resources are developed by railroad facilities, must, at all times, fur- nish heavy and profitable local freight for the cars.
It is a matter of regret that while we have in the United States more miles of railroad than all the world beside, even to this day we have no connected chains of railroads uniting the North and East with the South, in the valley of the Mississippi, but still rely upon the tardy movements of steamers, running only when the rivers are open and at navigable stages, and then contending against rapid cur- rents and obstructed navigation. Our railroad enterprises have been mostly constructed upon the same parallels of latitude, where the fruits ripen at the same time, forbidding an exchange of the same kind of products, for the use of the consumers. But the time is coming when New Orleans, Mobile, Pensaeola, Augusta, Charleston, and Gal- veston will be connected with Chicago, Detroit, Buffalo, and Cleve- land, through the capital of our State, by iron rails. When Indiana will be on the great railroad highway between the North and the South, as she now is between the East and the West ; when the rapid transit of the flying ears will exchange the tropical fruits of the South for the more substantial products of the North. The citizens of the devoted cities of the South, in times of epidemic, like those that vis- ited New Orleans a few years since, when commerce bent her sails for happier ports, when the silence of death reigned unbroken, except as the sound of the lonely hearse was heard, carrying to the grave the recent dead, will have rapid facilities to migrate from the presence of disease and death, to the healthy North. The railroad system of the United States will never be complete until the Northern Lakes and the Southern Gulfs, the Atlantic and the Pacific, are united by unbro- ken chains, and rapid transits.
For the information of persons seeking homes in this great valley, and who would prefer locating near railroad facilities, it may be pro- per to say something of our railroad system, and of our roads, more in detail. Indiana has not, like Illinois and some other States, received the patronage of the General Government in the shape of lands to aid in the construction of her railroads. Still we may claim for our associated enterprise, perhaps, as much eredit as any other State in the Union. Much, very much, has already been done for the State by the construction of railroads by private capital and enter-
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EARLY INDIANA TRIALS.
prise, while much more remains to be done. The city of Indianapo- lis, the capital of the State, is located within five miles of its geo- graphical center, in the midst of one of the most beautiful and fertile regions of the West ; contains 25,000 inhabitants ; the country, for one hundred miles in diameter around the city, may be termed an improved plain, admirably adapted to the construction of railroads in every direction,-so much so that Indianapolis and our railroads pre- sent upon the map, an appearance not unlike the hub and spokes of the wheel of a wagon- the roads, like the spokes, running from the center to the circumference in every direction. The city is sur- rounded on three sides-the East, the South, and the West-by what is called the Union Track, under the charge of a central company, composed of the presidents of all the roads centering at the capital. Near the center of the city on the south side, the Union Passenger Depot is located, 420 feet in length, by 100 feet in width, with five tracks inside, handsomely lit up with gas by night. All the passen- ger trains of all the roads receive, discharge, and interchange passen- gers in this central building. The time each train leaves is shown by a stationary Director. Tickets for all the roads are sold at the office by a single person, who expresses no preference for any particular route over another. The entering and leaving of the trains are regu- lated by the superintendent of the station, and they move in and out with the regularity of clock work at the precise time. The freight depots of the several roads are located on their own tracks, and the trains switch on and off the Union Track as required.
This central railroad system, which for simplicity and convenience, especially to the traveling public, may challenge the admiration of all, was devised, planned, and carried into effect by myself, as presi- dent, Austin W. Morris, treasurer, and Thomas A. Morris, chief en- gineer of the Bellefontaine, John Brough, president of the Madison, and Chauncey Rose, president of the Terre Haute railroad compa- nies ; Thomas A. Morris being the chief engineer in the construc- tion of the track and buildings. The other railroad companies sub- sequently came into the central arrangement, which is found to work admirably.
The roads completed at this time, forming radiating lines from the common center, are the following :
THE TERRE HAUTE AND RICHMOND, running from Indianapolis to Terre Haute, through the counties of Marion, Hendricks, Putnam, Clay, and Vigo, seventy-three miles in length, connecting with the Alton and Evansville roads.
THE MADISON AND INDIANAPOLIS, running from Indianapolis to
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INDIANA RAILROADS.
Madison, through the counties of Marion, Johnson, Bartholomew, Jennings and Jefferson, eighty-six miles in length, connecting with the Ohio River.
THE JEFFERSONVILLE AND INDIANAPOLIS, running from Indian- apolis to Jeffersonville, over the Madison road to Edinburgh, thence through the counties of Johnson, Bartholomew, Jackson, Scott, and Clark, one hundred and twenty miles, connecting with the Ohio River.
THE INDIANAPOLIS AND CINCINNATI, running in this State from Indianapolis to Lawrenceburgh, through the counties of Marion, Shelby, Decatur, Ripley, Franklin, and Dearborn, ninety miles, con- necting with the Ohio River, and the Ohio and Mississippi road to Cincinnati.
THE INDIANA CENTRAL, running from Indianapolis to Richmond, through the counties of Marion, Hancock, IIenry and Wayne, seventy- five miles in length, connecting with railroads to Dayton and Cincin- nati.
THE INDIANAPOLIS, PITTSBURG AND CLEVELAND, running in this State from Indianapolis to Union, through the counties of Marion, Hancock, Madison, Delaware and Randolph, eighty-four miles ; con- necting with roads to Cleveland, Pittsburg, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati.
THE PERU AND INDIANAPOLIS, running from Indianapolis to Peru, through the counties of Marion, Hamilton, Tipton, Howard and Miami, sixty-five miles ; connecting with the Wabash and Erie canal, and the Wabash Valley Railroad.
THE LAFAYETTE AND INDIANAPOLIS, running from Indianapolis to Lafayette, through the counties of Marion, Boone, Clinton and Tippe- canoe, sixty-five miles ; connecting with the Wabash and Erie canal, and the Wabash Valley, and New Albany and Salem Railroad.
These roads have extensive connections between their termini, with other completed cross and intersecting lines. Indeed, directly and indirectly the whole of the railroads in the State, unite and center in the great Union Passenger Depot at the Capital, giving an interchange of passengers daily, of not less than 4000 between the trains.
I have only named specially, the lines of roads that run their trains directly from the center of the system. It remains to notice those that pass through the State in other directions.
THE OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI, running directly from Cincinnati to St. Louis, enters the State near Lawrenceburgh, at the great Miami, runs through the counties of Dearborn, Ripley, Jennings, Jackson, Lawrence, Orange, Martin, Davies and Knox in this State, 155 miles ;
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connecting within the State with several roads running directly to Indianapolis.
THE NEW ALBANY AND SALEM, running from New Albany on the Ohio river, to Michigan city on Lake Michigan, through the counties of Floyd, Clark, Washington, Orange, Lawrence, Monroe, Owen, Put- nam, Montgomery, Tippecanoe, White, Pulaski, Starke and Laporte, 260 miles in length ; connecting at its northern terminus with the lake, and the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana railroads, and inter- mediately with several railroads running directly to Indianapolis.
THE NORTHERN INDIANA enters the State near the northeast corner of the county of Elkhart, running through the counties of Elkhart, St. Joseph, Laporte, Porter and Lake, ninety-five miles; connecting with the Lake Shore Road east, the lines to Chicago west, and the New Albany and Salem Road, south.
THE MICHIGAN SOUTHERN enters the State in the county of Laporte, near Michigan city, runs through the counties of Laporte, Porter and Lake, forty-five miles ; connecting with Roads to Chicago, Detroit and Toledo, and with the New Albany and Salem Road, and indirectly with Indianapolis.
THE EVANSVILLE AND CRAWFORDSVILLE, running from Evansville to Terre Haute, through the counties of Vanderburgh, Gibson, Knox, Sullivan and Vigo, 109 miles ; connecting at Evansville with the Ohio river, at Terre Haute, with the Alton, and the Terre Haute and Rich- mond Roads, and intermediate at Vincennes, with the Ohio and Mis- sissippi Road.
THE MARTINSVILLE AND FRANKLIN, running through the counties of Morgan and Johnson, twenty-five miles in length; connects with the Madison and Indianapolis Road at Franklin, and with the line of the Evansville and Indianapolis projected road.
THE EDINBURGH AND SHELBYVILLE, running through the counties of Johnson and Shelby, fifteen miles in length; connects with the Madison and Indianapolis line at Edinburgh, and with the Knights- town, Rushville and Cincinnati roads at Shelbyville.
THE SHELBYVILLE AND KNIGIITSTOWN, running through the coun- ties of Shelby, Rush, and Henry, twenty-five miles; connecting at Shelbyville, with the Rushville, Edinburgh and Indianapolis and Cincinnati roads, and at Knightstown, with the Indiana Central.
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