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281
Heroes of the Telegraph
·
John Munro
22
In
spite
of
this
trial,
however,
the
directors
of
the
railway
treated
the
'new-fangled'
invention
with
indifference,
and
requested
its
removal.
In
July,
1839,
however,
it
was
favoured
by
the
Great
Western
Railway,
and
a
line
erected
from
the
Paddington
terminus
to
West
Drayton
station,
a
distance
of
thirteen
miles.
Part
of
the
wire
was
laid
underground
at
first,
but
subsequently
all
of
it
was
raised
on
posts
along
the
line.
Their
circuit
was
eventually
extended
to
Slough
in
1841,
and
was
publicly
exhibited
at
Paddington
as
a
marvel
of
science,
which
could
transmit
fifty
signals
a
distance
of
280,000
miles
in
a
minute.
The
price
of
admission
was
a
shilling.
Notwithstanding
its
success,
the
public
did
not
readily
patronise
the
new
invention
until
its
utility
was
noised
abroad
by
the
clever
capture
of
the
murderer
Tawell.
Between
six
and
seven
o'clock
one
morning
a
woman
named
Sarah
Hart
was
found
dead
in
her
home
at
Salt
Hill,
and
a
man
had
been
observed
to
leave
her
house
some
time
before.
The
police
knew
that
she
was
visited
from
time
to
time
by
a
Mr.
John
Tawell,
from
Berkhampstead,
where
he
was
much
respected,
and
on
inquiring
and
arriving
at
Slough,
they
found
that
a
person
answering
his
description
had
booked
by
a
slow
train
for
London,
and
entered
a
first-class
carriage.
The
police
telegraphed
at
once
to
Paddington,
giving
the
particulars,
and
desiring
his
capture.
'He
is
in
the
garb
of
a
Quaker,'
ran
the
message,
'with
a
brown
coat
on,
which
reaches
nearly
to
his
feet.'
There
was
no
'Q'
in
the
alphabet
of
the
five-needle
instrument,
and
the
clerk
at
Slough
began
to
spell
the
word
'Quaker'
with
a
'kwa';
but
when
he
had
got
so
far
he
was
interrupted
by
the
clerk
at
Paddington,
who
asked
him
to
'repent.'
The
repetition
fared
no
better,
until
a
boy
at
Paddington
suggested
that
Slough
should
be
allowed
to
finish
the
word.
'Kwaker'
was
understood,
and
as
soon
as
Tawell
stepped
out
on
the
platform
at
Paddington
he
was
'shadowed'
by
a
detective,
who
followed
him
into
a
New
Road
omnibus,
and
arrested
him
in
a
coffee
tavern.
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