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Show IODAY IN HiSTORY JANUARY 6. j Today is the birthday of one of tin-greatest tin-greatest and most usr-tul Invt-ntl.jus of all tliin-s. ihe telegraph. It was on January Janu-ary i;. 1S:!S. that the H rat telegraph apparatus ap-paratus wiih completed. Samuel l- i:. .Morse pos.wojw.pd jK. muster mind which coneolved this wonderful Instrument, but he lacked the money lo eurrv out his project, lie gave private demoiiHtrsi lions r what he had accomplished, but through the lliuiiu-lfil iisKlHtanec of Alfred Vail Blso an electrician and Inventor, Morse's idea were pul into workable shape. Al-rred Al-rred Vnll. following Morne's plans, constructed con-structed the Instrument, which win; made nl Ihe Speedwell Iron works, near Morris-town. Morris-town. N. J. . Tho work was conducted with great secrecy. William Ha.vter. who was an employee at the works, rendered valuable valua-ble assistance. Morse had devised a series oi ton numbered leaden types, which were to be operated in giving tint signals, but which necessitated tho us" of n dictionary by which the numbers could be translated Into words. This was not aatlHfactory to Vail, and ho constructed construct-ed an entirely new Instrument involving a lover or point" on a radically different differ-ent principle, which, when tested, produced pro-duced dots and dashes. Vail found that the letter "c" was the I most frequently used, and he accordingly assigned it tin- shorter symbol, a slugl" dot. Ho visited a printing office, and from tho problem, as worked out In the compositor's cane, devised the famous dot-and-dash .alphabet, misnamed lb" 'Morse." At Inst the machine was In working order, and Baxter, on. the tHh of January, hall's and coat I ess. announced an-nounced the good news thai the machine ma-chine was completed. An experiment was made with a soil of wire ihree, mllm long. Vail was at mi" end of tlio wire and Morso was at Mm other. Vall's father, who was skeptical as to the possibility possi-bility of such nn Instrument, wrotu on :i piece of paper. "A piillciiL waiter is no loner." and :ialil. Mf you can send this, and Mr. Morse can read It at the other ?ik1. I shall be convinced." it was accomplished ac-complished and tho father's delight knew no bounds. Tho machine was? taken to Washington and caused not only wonder but excitement. The first telegraph line was constructed between Washington and Baltimore. ;md the rh-st imurumcnt ,IOW U1 u,,, custody of the National Museum at Washington. Wash-ington. May 21. IS It. the official test was made In charge of the Baltimore end of the wire was Alfred Vail. Morso'n partner, while nt the other instrument In the chamber of the I". S. supreme court at Washington sat the Inventor himself, now 53 years old. surrounded by his friends and high government officials. Morse had promised hl.s young friend, Miss lill'HWorth. who had surprised Mini a yenr before with the news of th" passage, pas-sage, of his bill, that she should send the first message. Mor mother suggested the words "What hath (Sod wrought!" and they were accepted by the Inventor, who found them unite In accord with his own religious feelings. Written In the Morau Alphabet the four word woro trnnamltted to Baltimore, and n iimtiicut later wer lliLslu'd back by Mr. Vail. It wua the II rat nucprag to be recorded on a complete com-plete 'line of telegraph, and with It tho triumph of the Invouior was complete. Other notable eVnt happening on January Jan-uary 0 were the birth of Thoman ('hlttcn-.-en (1780): t-'hurlen Sumner (lSlli. fiu-Inont fiu-Inont American stutesmun; Joseph Holt. HSfli). the Jurist; I'larenee King (ISIS), .the originator of the Culled Stales geological geo-logical survey; Joan d'Arc (1102); Richard Rich-ard II of Kngland (1366); and the wedding day of Cieorge Washington and Martha Cuslls (17n0i. |