Show Grapevine ne Telegraph The grapevine telegraph is in origin a picturesque brother of the underground railway According to the dictionary the phrase was coined during the Civil war As the underground railway was a secret and guarded means of sending slaves from the South to freedom so the grapevine telegraph was any devious or covered means by which news or rumor traveled traveled traveled-by by private letter by word of mouth and so on I Communication was not well organized organ and there were many false war reports afloat reports not to tobe tobe tobe be easily and speedily silenced Tales and canards of mysterious origin were said to have come by Uby grapevine telegraph The dictionary dictionary dictionary diction diction- ary still seeks to limit the use of the term to mysterious rumors and fabricated reports But by extension exten exten- ion sion the grapevine route is any means of communication which is not easily detected or which is able to smuggle its messages past barriers barriers bar bar- intended to keep them out |