Hardware Devices, Wires, Poles and Morse Code

Devices and Standard Code

The telegraph worked by transmitting an electrical impulse along a copper wire. An electromagnet in the receiver was activated by alternately making and breaking the circuit created by the wire and the earth. The standard use of these "makes and breaks" was Morse code, a system of signals pioneered by Samuel Morse and perfected by his assistants. Morse code is analogous to modern software in that it is the system through which we use the hardware.

A telegraph operator translates a message into code by using the above device.

 

The impulses travel the wire and are received by the above device.

 

The table below shows selected instances of telegraphical innovations and events.

1864	Abandon tape for ticker
1869	New high speed methods of news transmissions described
1871	Cable laid across Lake Michigan
1875	Cable laid in Milwaukee River
1876	Mr. Gray exhibits multiple message system
1877	Prof. Haskin's adaptations of Gray instrument tested and pronounced practical

 

A ticker like this was the precursor to our scrolling marquee of stock prices.

 

Telegraph Wires and Poles

Wisconsin had a ready supply of telegraph poles in the northern forests of the state. Poles were not entirely necessary. In rural areas, telegraph lines were sometimes strung from tree to tree to fence post. The telegraph poles became unstable and unsightly after several years as the weight of the wires and the shifting earth encouraged gravity to take its course.