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281
Heroes of the Telegraph
·
John Munro
201
'It
is
much
after
midnight
now,'
says
this
author.
'The
machinery
below
has
ceased
to
rumble,
and
the
tired
hands
have
gone
to
their
homes.
A
hasty
lunch
has
been
sent
up.
We
are
at
the
thermoscope.
Suddenly
a
telegraph
instrument
begins
to
click.
The
inventor
strikes
a
grotesque
attitude,
a
herring
in
one
hand
and
a
biscuit
in
the
other,
and
with
a
voice
a
little
muffled
with
a
mouthful
of
both,
translates
aloud,
slowly,
the
sound
intelligible
to
him
alone:
"London.--News
of
death
of
Lord
John
Russell
premature."
"John
Blanchard,
whose
failure
was
announced
yesterday,
has
suicided
(no,
that
was
a
bad
one)
SUCCEEDED!
in
adjusting
his
affairs,
and
will
continue
in
business."'
His
tastes
are
simple
and
his
habits
are
plain.
On
one
occasion,
when
invited
to
a
dinner
at
Delmonico's
restaurant,
he
contented
himself
with
a
slice
of
pie
and
a
cup
of
tea.
Another
time
he
is
said
to
have
declined
a
public
dinner
with
the
remark
that
100,000
dollars
would
not
tempt
him
to
sit
through
two
hours
of
'personal
glorification.'
He
dislikes
notoriety,
thinking
that
a
man
is
to
be
'measured
by
what
he
does,
not
by
what
is
said
about
him.'
But
he
likes
to
talk
about
his
inventions
and
show
them
to
visitors
at
Menlo
Park.
In
disposition
he
is
sociable,
affectionate,
and
generous,
giving
himself
no
airs,
and
treating
all
alike.
His
humour
is
native,
and
peculiar
to
himself,
so
there
is
some
excuse
for
the
newspaper
reporters
who
take
his
jokes
about
the
capabilities
of
Nature
AU
SERIEUX;
and
publish
them
for
gospel.
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