THE TELEGRAPH 321 



Before this, many experiments had been tried in sending 

 messages by electricity ; some had been partially successful, 

 but none of them had suggested any possibility of com- 

 mercial success. Morse's success was made possible only 

 through the inventions of other men, whose results he put 

 together in the construction of the telegraph. Two of the 

 most important of these were the invention of the electric 

 magnet and of a constant battery to furnish electricity. 



He made application to Congress for aid to build a tele- 

 graphic line between Washington and Baltimore. He was 

 finally successful in his appeal and in 1843 received an ap- 

 propriation of $30,000. With this, a line between the two 

 cities was constructed and the first message was sent. 



This first line proved so successful that the telegraph was 

 soon in use in all parts of the world. By 1861 a line had 

 been built connecting New York with San Francisco. 



To-day there is a network of telegraph lines extending 

 over the whole country. In 1914 there were 240,000 miles 

 of line (equal to the distance to the moon) and 1,600,000 

 miles of wire. In 1912 it was estimated that there were 

 90,000,000 messages sent out, or nearly one for every person 

 in the United States. 



Atlantic cable. The next great step was the laying of the 

 Atlantic cable in 1857 from Newfoundland to Ireland, so 

 that messages could be sent across the ocean. The credit 

 for this is due largely to Cyrus W. Field. After the cable had 

 been used successfully for eighteen days, however, it ceased 

 to work. At the close of the Civil War, Mr. Field deter- 

 mined to lay another cable. He started out in 1865 with 

 2300 miles of cable on board the Great Eastern, at that time 

 the largest vessel in the world. About a thousand miles from 

 starting, the cable parted and they were unable to find it. 

 In the following year, 1866, another attempt was made, 

 which proved successful. From that time there has been 

 telegraphic communication between America and Europe. 



