i5th
[ Rep. No. 753.
CONGRESS,
2d St8,ion.
I
Ito. or REn.
ELECTRO·MAGNETIC TELEG RAPHS.
(To accompeny bill H. R. No. 113.)
•
APRIL G, 1838•
•
Mr.
SMITH,
from the Committee on Commerce, mad" the follow ing
Il~POllT:
0"
Tht Committu
Commerct, 10 whom lite 8ubjtcl was rtferrt'd, have
had tht ,ame U1lder comideraliun, at.d report:
On the 3d of February, 1837, the House of Represcntati,'cs passed a
resolution requesting the Secretary of the Treasury to report to the
House, at its present session, upon the propri"ty of establishing u. system of telegraphs for the United Statt!8.
In pursuance of this request, the Secretary of the Treasury, at all carly
day after the passage of said resolution, addressed a circular of iJU{lliry
to numerous scientific aud practical individuals in ditlerent IJurts of the
UllIon ; and, on the 6th of December last, reported the rasult of this proceeding to the House. (See Honso doetUlll'llt No. 15.)
This reI)(}rt of the Secretary imbodics many useful suggestions on the
necessity aud practicability of a system of telegraphic despatches, hoth
for public aud individual purposes; and the committee caUllot doubt that
the American public is fully prepared, and even desirous, that every requisite eJi'ort be made on the part of Congress to COU8UIJU11l1tC an ohject
of so deep interest to the purposes of Government ill peace aud in wur,
and to the enterprise of lhe age.
Amid the suggestions thus elicited from various sources, and imbodied
in the before-mentioned report of the Secretary of the Treasury, a plan
for an electro.magnetic telegraph is communicated by Professor Morse,
of the Uuiversity of tho city of Sew York, pre-eminently interesting, and
even wondel'ful.
'rhis invention consists in the application, by mcdumism. of galvanic
electricity to telegrnphic purposes, and is claimed by Professor Morso
and his associates as origillal with them; nnd Deillg S0, in fuct, nR th"
committee believe, lcUcrl:l-putcnt have been foIecurec.l, under dse ll1lthurity
of the United States, for the invention. It has, morp.ovcr, hC<ln flnb.
jected to the test of experiment, upon a scale of ten mHes distnncn, by a
selcci C".ommittee of the Frllnklill Institute of the city of Philadulphia, nnd
reported upon by thut eminelltly Id"h trihullul in the lIlost fuvllrablfJ
and confid4Jut terms. An (!xtract from the report thus niade hi Jwrcullto
annexed, marked A.
In additionlll confirmation of thn rnNit~ of hi" propol'ect Ry~tom of tplcgraph$, Profossor Morso has exhibited it in operation (by a coil (If JIlI'lal.
lic wire moallnring about ten milcil ill length, rcndcriug the action elillUI
Tbomu Ailen, pnnL
r Rep. No. 763.
]
to a telegraph of half that <!istance,) to the Committee on Commerce of
the House of Ucpresclltatives, to the President of the United States, and
the several Heads of llel'artmcllts, to members of Congress genernlly,
who ha,'c taken interest in the examination, aud to a vast number
of scientific and practical individuals from various parts of the Union;
and all concur,it is believed, and withollt a dissenting doubt, ill admiration
of the in~enious and ~iellti6c character of the invention, and in the opinion that it 1S successfully a\lapted to the purposes of telegraphic despatches, and in a COil viet ion of its great and incalculable practical importance
and usefulness to the country, and ultimately to the whole world.
Dut it would be presumptuous in auy oue, (and tbe inventor himself is
most sensible of this,) to attempt, at this stage of the invention, to calculate in anticipation, or to hold out promises of what its whole extent of
capacity for usefulness may be, in either a political, commercial, or social
point of ,'iew, if the electrical power upon which it depends for successful action shall prove to be efficient, as is now supposed it will,
to carry illteUigence through any of the distances of 50, 100, 500, or
more miles IlOW contemplated. No such attempt, therefore, will be
indulged in this report. It is obvious, however, that the influence of
this invention over the political, commercial, and social relations of the
people of this widely-extended country, looking to nothing beyond, will,
in the event of success, of itself amount to a revolution unsurpassed in
moral grandeur by any discovery that has been made in the arts and sciences, from the most distant period to which authentic history extends, to
the present day. With the means of almost instantaneous communication of inteUigence between the most distant points of the country, and
simultaneously between any given number of intermediate points which
this invention contemplates, space will be, to all practical purposes of information, completely annihilated between the States of the Union, as also
between the individual citizens thereof. The citizen will be invested with,
and reduce to daily and familiar use, an approach to the HIGH ATTRIBUTE
01' UBIQUITY, in a degree that th(l human mind~ until recently, has hardly
dared to cOlltempla.to seriously as belonging to human agency, from an
instinctive feeling of religious reverence and reserYe on a power of such
awful grandeur.
Referring to the annexed report of the Franklin Institnte, already adverted to, and alNo to the letters of Proft.'ssor Morse, hereto annexed,
marked, H, C, Bnd D, for othor dctailli of the superiority of this system
of telegraphs over all other methods heretofore reduced to practice by
any individual or Government, the committee agree unanimously that
it is worthy to engross the attention and means of the Federal Government, to the full extent that may be necessary to put the invention to the
most decisive te.t that can be desirable. The power of the invention, if
successful, is 10 extensive for good and for evil, that the Government
alone should possess the right to control and regulate it. The mode of
proceeding to test it, as luggested, as also the relations which the inventor and his a!sociates are willing to recognise with the Government on
the subject of the future ownership, l1se, and control of the invention, are
luccinctly .et forth ill tho annoxe<1 letters of ProfellOr Morse, marked
C and D.
Tho probable outlay ot an experiment upon a scale equal to flfty mile.
of telegraph, and lfIual to a Cll'Cuit of double that dittaoOl, 11 eRimaMd at
r Rep. No. 763.
I
3
'30,000. Two-thirds of this expenditure will be for material, which,
whether the experiment shall succeed or fail, will remain uninjured, and
of very little diminished value below the price that will be paid for it.
The estimates of Professor Morse, as will be seen by his letter marked
D, amount to 126,000; but, to meet any contin~llcy not no\V anticipated, and to guard againat allY want of requisite funds in an enterprise of
such moment to the Government, to the people, and to the scientific world,
the committee J'e('ommend an appropriation of 130,000, to be expended
under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury; and to this end ¥ubmit herewith a bill.
It is believed by the committee that the luhject is one of luch universal interest and importance, that an early ac.tioll upon it will be deemed
desirable by Congress, to enable the inventor to complete his trial of the
invention upon the extended scale contemplated, in seaaon to fun. ish Congress with a full report of the result during its present session, if that lIball
be practicable.
All which is respectfully submitted.
FRANCIS O. J. SMITH,
S. C. PHILLIPS,
SAMUEL CUSHMAN,
JOHN I. DE GRAFF,
EDW ARD CURTIS,
JAS. M. MASON,
JOHN T. H. WORTHINGTON,
WM. H. HUNTER,
GEORGE W. 'rOLAND,
Committee on Commertt,
U. S. H. R.
A.
HALL OF THE FRANKLIN !NSTITU'rE,
Fehruary 8, 1838.
The suh-committee, from the committee of science amI a.rts, appointed to examine the electro-magnetic telegraph of Professor Samuel j;'. Ii.
Morse, report:
That this ill~trumcnt was exhibited to them ill the hall of the Institute,
and every opportunity given I.ly Mr. Morso uml his associate, Mr. Alfrl'J
Vail, to examine it carefully, and to judge of its opc'ratioll; awi they
now preset:t the following as the result of their ohservations:
•
fit.
•
The op('rutioCl of the telegraph, as exhihited to U8,
was very 8ati~factory. 'rhe power given to the lI1a~net at the rc~ist(!r,
through a Jongth of wirc of tcn miles, was ubumialltly I'utficicllt tor the
movements required to marl( the Ri,(uals. The commuuicatioll of 'hilt power
was instantnneous. The time l'f'(lnirc(\ to make the signnls wn~ t\~ ",hurt,
o.t least, us that necessary ill the ordillary telegraphs. It nppcal'l>i tl) tho
committeo, therefore, that the possihility of ".hue tclfll(rajJlIH UpOll thi.
plan, in actual practice, is not to bo doubtod; though di(flcnlticH may he
n.nticipatcd, w}uch could 1I0t be tc!;tcd or the triuls made willa tllu model.
[ Bep. No. 763. ]
One of the~ relatca to the insulation and protection of the wires, which
are 10 pass ovar many milcs of distance, to form the cireuib between the
.talions. Mr. Morse has proposed several plans: the last being to oover
thc wirc!i with cottOIl thread, then varnish thcm thickly with gum-elastic.
and t'nc1ose the whole ill leaden tubes. More practical and economical
means will probably be devi~'<i; but the fact is not to be concealed, that
auy effectual plan llIust hc very expensive.
J}oubts have been raised as:o the distance to which the electricity of
an ordinary battt!ry can be made ettident; but }'our committee think
that 110 serious difficult}, is anticipated as to this point. The experiment with the wire wound in a coil, may 110t, indeed, be deemed COIlclusive; but one of the memhers of the conmlittee assisted ill Sll experiment ill which a magnet was very sensibly affected by a battery of
a sillgle pair, through all insulated wire of two and three-quartcr miles
ill ICligth. of which the folds wcre four inches apart; and when a battery
of tCIl pairs was used, water was freely decomposed. An experiment is
said to ha \'C b,'cll made, with success, on the llirmingham and Manchester
railroad, through a circuit of thirty miles in length.
It ma y he proper to state, that the idea of using electro-magnetism for
telegraphic purposes has presented itself to several individuals, and that it
may be ditl1cult to settlc among them the question of originality. The
celcbratC'tl Gauss has 11 telegraph of this kind in actual operation, (or
commnnicating signals between the university of Gottingen und his magnetic observatory in its vicinity. Mr. \\'heatstone, of London, has heen
for some time also engaged iu experimeuts on an elcctro-maguetic telegraph. Bllt the plan of Professor Morse is, so far RS the committee are
infornwd~ entirely different from auy of those devised by other iudi viduals,
all of w~lich net by giviug ditJ'erent directions to a magnetic needle; and
would, therefore, require several circuits of wires between nil the stations.
In conclusion, the committee heg leave to state their hig-h gratification
with the exhibition of Professor Morse's telegraph, und their hope that
means mny Le given to him to snhject it to the test of all actual experimellt, made between statiolls at a considerable distnnce from each other.
The advantages which this tfllcgraph would present, if successful, over
every kind heretofore used, make it worthy the patronage of the Government. Thesl~ are, that the stations may be nt a distance asunder, far
exceeding that to which all other telegrnphs Rre limited; rmll that the signals may be given at night, and in rains, snows, and fogs, when other
telegraphs fail.
R. M. PATTERSON, Chairmtm.
NEW YORK
Cn'Y
UNH'ERSI'n,
September 27,
lS~7.
SIl\: In reply to the inquiries which yon have done me the honor
to milke, in asking my opinioll "of the propriety of establishing a system
of tcle~ruph8 for the Unih'u Statc8," I wOl1ld suy, ill re~llrd to the general
queHtion, thnt I hclieve there can HCCLfcely he two opinions, in such a community as ours, in regard to the advalltnge which would l'elnlt 1 both to
DEAR
[ Bep. Iio. 763. ]
6
the Government and the public generallyJ from the establishment of a sys&em of communication b, which the m06t speedy intercoune may be had
between the most distant partl of the country. The mail ....ma.iteeema
to me, is founded on the univenally admiued principle, that the greater
the speed with which intelligence can be transmitted from point to point,
tbe greater is the benefit derived to the whole community. The ollly
question that remains. therefore, is, what .ystem is best calculated, from
its compleleneal and cheapness, to effect this desirable end?
\\"ith regard to telegraphs constructed on the ordinary principles, however perfected within the limits in which they are necessarily coufined,
the most perfect of them are liable to one insurmountable objection: IMy
are weUu llu gnalt:f' part of t!ae time. In foggy weather, and ordin:llily during the night, no intelligence can be transmitted. Even wht!u tbey
can transmit, much time is consumed in communicating but little, and that
little not always precise.
Having invented an entirely new mode of telegraphic communication,
which, so far as experiments have yet been made with it, promises resulls
of almost marvellous character, I beg leave to prescnt to the Dcpartment
a brief accouut of its chief characterisucs.
About five years ago, on my voyage home from Europe, the electrical
experiment of Franklin, upon a wire some four miles in length, was casually recalled to my mind in a conversation with one of the passengers; in
which experiment it was ascertained that the electricity travelled through
the whole circuit in a time not appreciable, but apparently instantaneous.
It immediately occurred 10 mt, thai, if the prele7lCe of electricity could
be made VISIBLE in any duired part of thia circuit, it would not be difficult to cOllllrucl a SYSTEM 01' SIGNg, 69 wMcA intelligence could 6e instantaneously transmitted. The thought thus conceived took strong
hold, of my mind in the It:isure which the voyage afforded, and I planned
a system of signs, ar.d an apparatus to carry it into effect. I cast a species
of type, which I had devised for this purpose, the first week after my arrival home; and, although the rest of the machinery was planned, yet,
from the pressure of unavoidable duties, I was compelled to postponc my
experimellts, and was not able to test the whole plan until within a few
weeks. The result has realized my most sanguine expectations.
As I have contracted to have a complete apparatus made to demonstrate
at Washington by the Is~ of January, 1838, the practicability and superiority of my mode of telegraphic communication by means of electro-magnetism, (an apparatus which I hope to have the pleasure of exhibiting to
you,) I wiJI coufine myself, in this communication, to a statcment of its
peculiar advantages.
Firat. The fullest and moat precue i7iformation can be almost instantaneously transmitted between any two or more pointl!l, bctwecll which
a wire conductor is laid; that is to say, no other time is consumed than
is nccessary to write the intelligence to be conveyed, and to convert the
words into the telegraphic numbers. Thl' numbers arc then transmitted
ncarly lDstantaneomlly, (or, if I have been rightly iuforrucd in regnrd to
80me recent experiments in the velocity of electricity, two hundred thouNalJd time, more rapidlylhan !is/at !) to any distance, where the numbers arc immediately recognised, ond reconverted ioto the words of the
intelligence.
Secfmd. The .nm(l full intelligence can be communicated at any mo-
8
[ Jlep. No. 763. ]
nunt, i~ctiw o/IAe time 0/ day or ni6/a/, or date of tAt totat/a"..
This singie point establishes its superiority to all other modes of telegraphic communication now known.
T/airtl. The whole apparatus will occupy but little 8]JI1~, (acarcelyai-:
cubic feet, probably not more than four;) and it may therefore be placed,
without inconvenience, in any house.
FourlA. The r«ord of intel/iKe,," u "... in a pnmtIfUflt manntf',
and in .fUcla a / . . . that it can be at once bound up in tIOIumu conveDient for reference, if desired.
Fiftla. C. . ."nicatiolll are Htf'd to aU but the penona for whom
they are inteoded.
TheIe are the chiE-f advantages of the electro-magDetic telegraph oYer
other kinds of telegraphs, and which must give it the preference, pfOTided
the expenae aDd other circumstances are reaaonably favorable.
The newness of the whole plan makes it not 10 easy to eatima&e the
expense, but an aJlPl"OMA to a correct estimate can be made.
The principal expense will be the first coat of the wire or metallic conductors, (consisting of four lengths,) and the aecuringthem against iDjury.
The cost of a single copper wire 1-16 of an inch diamet8r, (and it mould
not be of less dimeRSions,) for 400 miles, was recently estimated in Scotland to be about .el,OOO sterling, including the solderings of the wire together; that ~,~ hout six dollars per mile for one wire, or twenty-four
d~llars per mile f~r the four wires. I hay" recently contracted for tw~nty
miles of copper Wile, No. 18, at 40 cents per pound. Each pound, it is
estimated, contains 93 feet, which gives a result coitK'iding with the Scotch
estimate, if'l 60 per mile be added for solderings.
The preparation of the wire for being laid, (if in the ground,) comprehends the clothing of l/ae wirt8 with an insulating or nonooConducting substance; the encaring them in wood, clay, atone, iron, or other mt.lal;
and the Irenching of the earth to receive them. In this part of the business I have no experience to guide me, the whole being altogether new.
I can, therefore, only make at present a rough estima~. Iron tubes enclosing the wires, and filled in with pitch and resin, would probably be
the most eligible mode of securing the conductors frollJ injury, while at
the same time it would be the most costly. Iron tubes of one and a half
inch diamp.ter, I learn, can be obtained at Baltimore, at 28 cents per foot.
The trenching will not be more than 3 cents for 2 feet, or about $75 per
mile. Thill estimate is for a trench 3 feet deep and 1 ~ foot wide. There
is no grading; the trench may follow the tmel, of any road, over the
highest hills or lowest valleys. Across rivers with hridges, the circllit
may easily be carried, enclosed bene~th the bridge. Where the stream is
wide, and no bridge, the circuit, enclosed in lead, may be sunk to the bottom.
If the circuit i8 laid through the air, the first cost would doubtless be
much lessened. Thi~ plan of making the circuit has some advantages,
but there are al80 some disadvantages; the chief of which latter is, that,
being ahvays in light, the temptation to injure the circuit to mischievously
disposed perlOIls, is .~reater than if it were buried out of 8i~ht beneath
their feet. As an offset, however, to this, an injury to the circuit is more
easily detected. With regard to danger from wantonness, it may be sufficient to say, that th~ same ob)ection was originally made in the several
cue" lucC8l1ively, o{ waCer-plpet, gas-pipe., and railroad.; and yet wo
[ Rep. No. 763. ]
1
do DOt hear of wantonness injuriml any of theBe. Stout span, of some
thirty feet in height, well planted the ground, and placed about 350 feet
apart, would, in this case, flo rf'qllired, along the tops of which the circuit
might be stretched. Fifteen :!uch spurs would be wanted to Ii mile. This
mode would be as cheap, probably, a... any other, uuless the laying of the
circuit in water should be found to be most eligible. A aeries of ex perimenta, to ascertain the practicability of this mode, I am about to commence
with Professor Gule, of our university, a gentleman of great science, aud
to \Vhose assistance, in Dlany of my late experiments, I am greatly indebted. \\. e are preparing a cireuit of twenty Dliles. The result of our
experiments I will have the honor of reponing to yon.
The other machinery, conaiating of the apparatus for transmitting and
receiving the iutelligence, can be made at a very trifling cost. The only
pans of the apparatus that waste or consume Blaterials, are the batteri.,
which consume ocid and zinc, and the register, which consumes ptIpW
for recording, and tHncih or ink for marking.
The cost of printing, in the first instance, of a t~I~lf1'IJphic dictionary,
should perhaps also be taken iuto the account, as each olticer of Ihe Government, as well as many others, would require a copy, should this mode
of telegraphic communication go into etfect. This dictionary would contaill a full vocabulary of all the words in common use in the English language, with the numbers regularly affixed to each word.
The stations in the case of this telegraph may be as numerous as are
desired ; the only additional e~nse for that purpose being the adding
of the transmitting and receiving apparatus to each station.
The cost of supporting a system of telegraphs on this plan (when a
circuit is once established) \vc,uld, in my opillion, be much less than on
the common plans; yet, for want of experience in this mode, I would not
affirm it positively.
As to " the propriety of connecting the system of telegraphs with any
existing department of Government," it would seem most natural to con..
nect a telegraphic system with the Post Officc Department; for, although
it does not carry a mail, yet it is another mode of accomplishing the principal object for which the mail is established, to wit: tho rapid and regular transmission of intelligcnce. If my system of telegraphs should be
established, it is I!vidcnt that the telegraph would have but little rest day
or night. The advantage of communicating intelligence instantaneously
in hundreds of instances of daily occurrence, \Vould warrant such a rate
of pOItage, (if it may be so called,) as \Vould amply dl'fray all expenses
of the first cost of establishing the system, and of guarding it, and keep.
ing it in repair.
As every word is numbered, an obvious mode of rating might be, a
cl&(Jr~e 0/ a certain amount on '0 many numbers. I presume that five
words can certainly be tran8mitted in a minute; for, with the imperfect
machinery I now \lie, I have recorded at that rate at the dis&ance of half
in
a mile.
In conclusion, I would IIIry, that if the perfecting of this new .ystem of
telegraph8 ~ which may jUt'tly be called tho American teJngraph, linco I
can establi8h my claims to priority in the invp-ntioD) Iball be thought 01
public utility, and worthy tho attention of Government, Ilhall be ready
to make any sacrifice of perlOnal service and of lime to aid in it. accom.
plithmem.
8
[ Jlep. No. 763. ]
In the mean time, I remain,sir, with aincere respect, aud hi!h
esteem, your most obedient, humble .rvant,
..-.w
SAML F. B. MORSE.
Hon. I..KVI WOOD.vay,
Secret"ry oJ IAe n-eavry.
c.
WASBIRaTOlI, Fe6nuJ,., 15, lass.
DEAa SI.: In consequence of the convenation had with the committee
on the subject or my telegraph, I would state, that I think it desirable that
an experiment, on a somewhat extended we, should fim be made to test
both the practicability and the facility of communicating intelligf'DCe for
at least one hundred miles. The experiment may proceed, as to cost, with
perfect safety to the Government. Fi,.". The wire for this distance, consisting of four lengths, making a total of four hundred miles of wire,
might be obtained, and receive its covering of cotton and otbE'r insulation.
'rhis length would amply suffice to ascertain the law of the propulsive
IX- wer of voltaic electricity, and previous to any measures being taken for
burying it in the earth. So that, if any unforeseen difficulty should occur
fatal to its practicability, the wire is not consumed or lost. Jf the expected
success is realized, theil, StcOM. The preparation of the wire might be
c?mmenccd for burying in the earth, and, being found complete thro~h
the whole route, tbe several portrules, registers, batteries, &c., might be
Vlovided to put the telegraph into complete action. Tbis experiment of one
hundred miles would furnish the data from which to make the estimates
of a more general extension of the system. If no insurmountable obsta
clea preaent themselves in a distance of olle hundred miles, none may be
eXJ>t=cted in one thousand or in ten thousand miles; and then will be presented for the consideration of the Government the propriety of completely organizing this new telegraphic system as a part of the Government, attaching it to some Department already existing, or creatillg a new
one, which may be called for by the accumulating duties of the present
Departments.
It is obvious, at the slightest glance, that this mode of instantanbous
communication must inevitably become an instrument of immense power,
to be wil'lded for good 01' for evil, as it shall, be properly or improperly
directed. In the hands of a company of speculators, who should monopolize it for themselves, it might be the means of enriching the corporation
at the expense of the bankruptcy of thousands; and even in the hands of
Government alone, it might bftcome a means of working vast mischief to
the republic. In considering these prospective evils, I would respectfully
SU~gelt a remedy which offers itself to my mind. Let the 801e right of
llsing the telegraph belong, in the first place, to the Governmpnt, who
should grant, for a Ipecif\ed lIum, or bonus, to any individual or company
of individual. who may apply for it, aud under luch restrictions and r"gulntion. &I the Government may think proper, the right to lay down a
way of commnnication between any two pomts, for the purrose of tranlmitting' intelligence; and thul would be promoted a genera competition.
The Government would have a telegraph of itl own, and have its modes
n
•
[ .... No. 761. ]
or eommunieatiDl with hi own ~II and • •11, iDdepe..... of pri-
Yate pemliuioo, or intene..nee with:mel interruption 10 the nnlilary
traDlmillio..1 on &be l'rivDte lcl~grupbs. Thu.'I th{'l'e wonkl be a .,..·m of
checks and preTeDtiyetl 01 abue, operating to r.train the ..tioD of tbie
otherWL"C c.laDplOUl power, within thole boundl which will penait only
the good and aeutraliae the eyiL Shoukl the Go...,...t th. take the
teIepa.lhlOlely ....r ita own CODtIOi, thfo ..y..... derived from the 1.0n.... alonc, it must be plain, will be of ,·ast amount. From the t!nterpriIiDt charader of our COlUllrymeIl. abown in the manllcr in whidl tbey
carry forward any new projt.'Ct wh~b promiles private or public adYftntap, it is DOt villooary ~poee tbal it would DOl be
the whokIUlCace of thia COUD&rV w
be dlumeUed for thnee ...,.. which are ..
ditJ'uae, with the speed of thought, a knowledgP. of aU that ia oeeurrilll
throughout the Iaod; makiDg, in fact, ...e ~'_'-'I of taw whole
1ODI-"
COUDtry.
If tbe Government as disposed to test this mode of teieKrapllic t'OIDD..
nicatioo by enabling me to give it a fair trial for ODe hundred miIea, I wiD
engage to euter into no arrangement. to diapoee of my rightK u tho inventor and patclltee for the United States, to any individual ur compau,
of individuals, previous to offering it to the Government Cor such a just
and reasollable compensation as shall be mutually agreed upon. •
I remain, sir, I\:spectClllly, your most obedient _nant,
SAMUEL F. B. MORSE.
To the Hon. F. o. J. SUITH,
Chairman oJlhe Commillee on Commtru
o/the Hotl&e 0/ Repruenltlli,:ta.
D.
W ASBINGTON, Fehruary 22, 1838.
I have endeavored to approach a proper estimate of the
expt.·usc attenda.nt on preparing a complcte telegraphic communication for
some distance; aud taking into consideration the possibility that the
experiment may be conclusively tried before thc close of the present session
of COIl~ress, I ha.ve thought that an appropriation fur fifty miles of distance
would test the practicability of the telegraph quite as satisfactorily as one
huudred, hceause the obstacles necessary to be overcome would llot be
more proportiollally in fifty than in one hundred; while,at the same time,
the douhle circuit necessary in the fifty miles would give a ain.l{le circuit
of olle hundred for tbe purpose of testing the effe(!t of distance UpOll the
passage of electricity. Fifty miles would require a less amount appropriation, and tho experiment could also be sooner brought to a reault.
Two hundred miles of wire, or wire for two circuits for fifty
miles of distance, including the covering of the wire with
cotton, at '100 per milo.
•
•
•
'iO,OOO
Otber expense. of preparatit)D of the wire, such as caoutchouc,
wax, resin, tar, with reels for winding, 8Oldering, &c., 8ay
'6 per milo
1,200
DEAR SIR:
or
0'
_.11,
t 1& hi proper &hat 1 .hould here Rate &.\at &he pawnt-rilh& i. DOW joint!,. (lwned, 'D unCllual
..,., by mYfelf, Prore.or Gale
New l·ork ci&,. Univtl'lit,., and
Alfrtcl anc1 Gt!o'1'
V~l.
a
10
( Bep. No.
'fbi.
J
.tteriea and regilten, with type, &c., for two stations, and
materials for experimenting on the belt modes of magnets
at long diltances·
•
hrvice8 of Profe880r Gale in the chemical department; services of Mr. Alfred Vail in the mechanical department; seryicea of uaistantB in different departments; my own Betvices in luperintending aDd directiDg the whole-4Otai
Total
4,000
'16,000
This eatimate it exclusive of expense necessary to lay down the wire
beneath the ground. Thit is WlDee£ ary until the previous preparations
are found satiafactory.
I cannot .y what time will be required for the completion of the circuits for fifty miles. If the order could be immediately given for the wire,
I think all the other matter connected with it might be completed 80 that
every thing could be in readiness in tAree montAa. Much will depend
on the punctuality with which contractors fulfil their engagements in furnishing the wire and other apparatus.
I remain, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
SAMUEL F. B. MORSE.
To the Hon. F. O. J. SMITH,
CAairmtln of the Committee on Commerce.