THE SIMPLE IDEA OF AN ATLANTIC CABLE 29 
Samuel F. B. Morse, a portrait-painter who had found 
Americans inappreciative of art, had the idea in 1832 of send- 
ing messages by electricity. Henry, a Princeton professor, 
knew much more of the scientific theory of this than Morse. 
But the latter, disappointed in his ambitions of painting, ex- 
perimented at New York University, where he taught art, 
and made a primitive recording telegraph that sent messages 
through a long wire. There was little public interest or en- 
couragement for this at first; in fact, it was ridiculed. 
In 1842, when Morse asked Congress for $30,000 to demon- 
strate his invention on a large scale, the politicians were sar- 
castic. One of them stated that an appropriation might better 
be made in the interests of mesmerism. ‘Taxpayers criticized 
the idea of public money being spent for the fantastic notion 
of a broken-down artist that he could “send messages by light- 
ning.” Just when Morse had given up hope of government 
aid, the bill was passed by a narrow margin. Field was to have 
a similar experience fifteen years later. 
Even when Morse demonstrated the reality and reliability 
of a line from Washington to Baltimore, the telegraph was 
not recognized as an important factor in modern life. Years 
passed before the telegraph companies made any profit. The 
early offices established for the use of the public were little 
patronized. People did not realize the possibilities of this 
device for flashing messages across the country. The nation 
was changing from an agricultural to an industrial basis, but 
it was still conservative, despite the new railroads and steam- 
ships that were the wonder of the day. 
Shortly after 1850, when the idea of ocean cables began en- 
gaging the imagination of a few dreamers, the telegraph was 
just coming into its own. At last its usefulness was being rec- 
ognized as a method to regulate railroad trains and as a means 
of transmitting items for the newspapers. Professor Morse, 
who had grown old fighting for his patents, began at last to 
make some money after long years of poverty and ridicule. 
