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281
Heroes of the Telegraph
·
John Munro
14
At
the
age
of
fifteen,
Wheatstone
translated
French
poetry,
and
wrote
two
songs,
one
of
which
was
given
to
his
uncle,
who
published
it
without
knowing
it
as
his
nephew's
composition.
Some
lines
of
his
on
the
lyre
became
the
motto
of
an
engraving
by
Bartolozzi.
Small
for
his
age,
but
with
a
fine
brow,
and
intelligent
blue
eyes,
he
often
visited
an
old
book-stall
in
the
vicinity
of
Pall
Mall,
which
was
then
a
dilapidated
and
unpaved
thoroughfare.
Most
of
his
pocket-money
was
spent
in
purchasing
the
books
which
had
taken
his
fancy,
whether
fairy
tales,
history,
or
science.
One
day,
to
the
surprise
of
the
bookseller,
he
coveted
a
volume
on
the
discoveries
of
Volta
in
electricity,
but
not
having
the
price,
he
saved
his
pennies
and
secured
the
volume.
It
was
written
in
French,
and
so
he
was
obliged
to
save
again,
till
he
could
buy
a
dictionary.
Then
he
began
to
read
the
volume,
and,
with
the
help
of
his
elder
brother,
William,
to
repeat
the
experiments
described
in
it,
with
a
home-made
battery,
in
the
scullery
behind
his
father's
house.
In
constructing
the
battery
the
boy
philosophers
ran
short
of
money
to
procure
the
requisite
copper-plates.
They
had
only
a
few
copper
coins
left.
A
happy
thought
occurred
to
Charles,
who
was
the
leading
spirit
in
these
researches,
'We
must
use
the
pennies
themselves,'
said
he,
and
the
battery
was
soon
complete.
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