78 



INTENTIONS AND DISCOVERIES. 



the falling of a tree, beyond Turtle 

 Creek, a distance of twenty-one 

 miles. He finished mending it at 

 dark, and then returned to the city. 

 and in the temporary absence oj 

 other competent operators, received 

 the speech and sent it to New York, 

 finishing it at four o'clock in the 

 morning. 



The first message of Governor 

 Young to the New York Legisla- 

 ture was commenced reading in 

 the House of Assembly at Albany, 

 on Tuesday (Jan. 5, 1847), at 18 

 minutes before 12, New York time, 

 and was transmitted to New York 

 by the New York, Albany, and 

 B'uffalo Telegraph Company, and 

 the entire document complete was 

 placed in possession of the editors 

 of that city at three o'clock p.m. 

 The message contained 5000 words, 

 ; or 25,000 letters, and was written 

 from two instruments in the Albany 

 office, by Messrs. Carter, Buel, and 

 Johnson, and read in the New York 

 office by the Messrs. Woods, at the 

 rate of 83 letters per minute, or two 

 and a-half hours for each instru- 

 ment. Professor Morse's original 

 estimate to Congress for the de- 

 spatch with which communications 

 could be sent by his telegraph, was 

 thirty letters per minute. Here we 

 see the number almost trebled in 

 a long public document. 



THE LIGHTNING STEED. 



The following versified pedigree 

 is from the Boston Chronotype : 



" That steed called 'Lightning,' (say 



the Fates,) 



Is owned in the United States. 

 'Twas Franklin's hand that caught 



the horse ; 

 'Twas harnessed by Professor Morse !" 



PARLIAMENTARY ELECTRIC 

 TELEGRAPH. 



Both Houses of Parliament have 

 a telegraph of their own, communi- j 

 eating with the offices of clerks, 

 cloisters, and committee-rooms. As ; 



a specimen of the information con- 

 veyed from the House, we have the 

 following : " Committee has per- 

 mission to sit until five o'clock ;" 

 and among the questions sent down 

 from the committee are the follow- 

 ing : " What is before the House ?" 

 " Who is speaking V " How long 

 before the House divides ?" This 

 will supersede the old form of ring- 

 ing a bell, and the startling and 

 stentorian announcements by the 

 messengers to wearied wights in 

 committee, of "The Speaker's at 

 prayers !" There will be no com- 

 plaints for the future in the news- 

 papers, by members indulging after 

 dinner at Bellamy's, of being '-barred 

 out" of a division. A " call " of 

 the House may be known in a 

 twinkling of time throughout the 

 country. His constituents may 

 know in a moment when the Hon. 

 Mr. is " up," when the " per- 

 petual motion member" is in pen- 

 dido. 



Accommodation has been aiforded 

 to an agent of the Electric Telegraph 

 Company in the reporters' gallery ; 

 and his business will be that of 

 communicating the results or the 

 progress of debates and divisions 

 up to the rising of the House. 

 (London Anecdotes.) 



MARRIAGE BY TELEGRAPH. 



The American journals report a 

 story, which, if true, throws into 

 the shade all the feats that have 

 been performed by our British tele- 

 graph. It appears that a daughter 

 of one of the wealthiest merchants 

 in Boston had formed an attach- 

 ment for a handsome young man, 

 who was a clerk in her father's 

 iounting-house; and she determined 

 X) marry him, although her father 

 lad previously promised her in 

 marriage to another suitor. The 

 "ather having heard of the attach- 

 ment, feigned ignorance of it, but 

 determined to cause it to be broken 

 off. For this purpose he directed 



