Popular Science Monthly 



343 



C 



What the First Telegram 

 Really Said 



ONTRARY to general belief, 

 "What hath God wrought?" was 

 not the first message to be sent by 

 telegraph nor was Morse the sender 

 of the first communication. Instead, 

 it was sent by one of the committee 

 who were debating upon the proposal 

 of Morse, the inventor, to string a 

 telegraph line from Baltimore to Wash- 

 ington. Mr. Morse, who wanted to 

 end the discussion and at the same 

 time demonstrate his invention, strung 

 a wire from the committee room to the 

 top of the Capitol. One of the com- 

 mittee, who was opposed to President 

 Tyler, wrote "Tyler deserves to be 

 hanged." This was received by the 

 man at the other end exactly as it 

 was composed. 



A Horse-Collar Grows 

 on a Tree 



TREES assume every shape im- 

 aginable, but it is a rare one, 

 indeed, that has a perfect horse- 

 collar growing on it. The horse- 

 collar illustrated came from Na- 

 ture's own workshop in the 

 woods of northern Michigan, 

 where it had been grow- 

 ing undisturbed for years 

 until found by the woods- 

 men. 



It is possible that the 

 horse-collar was formerly 

 the top of a slender 

 sapling near the tree on 

 which it was found, or 

 perhaps it was a young 

 pliable limb growing on 

 the tree itself. It was 

 evidently twisted around 

 the tree and fastened in 

 such a way that it re- 

 mained in that position. 

 This might have been 

 done by some person, 

 although it may possibly 

 have come about from 

 some natural cause. 



The collar is grown so 

 perfectly that if the proper rings or snaps 

 were placed on it, it could easily be put 

 to actual use. Compared to the leather 

 collar it would last twice as long, but it 

 would not afford the horse so much comfort. 



Twenty-five feet of shore were taken away and old 

 walls and foundations removed by the dragline 

 excavator equipped with a one-yard bucket 



Widening a River with a 

 Steam Shovel 



SCIENCE is proving that there is no 

 impossibility to the truly ingenious. 

 The widening of the Sandusky 

 River, at Tiffin, Ohio, recently was 

 a case in point. Primitive man 

 would have waited patiently for 

 the river to widen its own banks 

 or for storms to wear them 

 ^ away during the course of 

 years, but the engineers 

 made the experiment of 

 using adraglineexcava tor 

 and accomplished their 

 purpose in short order. 

 Twenty-five feet of the 

 shore was to be taken 

 away, necessitating the 

 removal of old walls and 

 foundations. The exca- 

 vator, which carried a 

 forty-two-foot boom and 

 was equipped with a one- 

 yard bucket, had no 

 difficulty in clearing 

 away the most formid- 

 able obstructions, al- 

 though several of them 

 were partially under 

 water. 



It was also possible 

 by this means to load 

 wagons on the street level, and the river 

 bank was soon cleared away. The apparatus 

 moved by means of caterpillar traction un- 

 der its own power as fast as the widening of 

 the river on the Tiffin side was completed. 



This horse-collar might have 

 been the top of a sapling, or a 

 pliant limb which was made to 

 encircle the base of a larger tree 



