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281
Heroes of the Telegraph
·
John Munro
53
The
Government
now
paid
him
a
salary
of
2,500
dollars
a
month
to
superintend
the
laying
of
the
underground
line
which
he
had
decided
upon.
Professors
Gale
and
Fisher
became
his
assistants.
Vail
was
put
in
charge,
and
Mr.
Ezra
Cornell,
who
founded
the
Cornell
University
on
the
site
of
the
cotton
mill
where
he
had
worked
as
a
mechanic,
and
who
had
invented
a
machine
for
laying
pipes,
was
chosen
to
supervise
the
running
of
the
line.
The
conductor
was
a
five-wire
cable
laid
in
pipes;
but
after
several
miles
had
been
run
from
Baltimore
to
the
house
intended
for
the
relay,
the
insulation
broke
down.
Cornell,
it
is
stated,
injured
his
machine
to
furnish
an
excuse
for
the
stoppage
of
the
work.
The
leaders
consulted
in
secret,
for
failure
was
staring
them
in
the
face.
Some
23,000
dollars
of
the
Government
grant
were
spent,
and
Mr.
Smith,
who
had
lost
his
faith
in
the
undertaking,
claimed
4000
of
the
remaining
7000
dollars
under
his
contract
for
laying
the
line.
A
bitter
quarrel
arose
between
him
and
Morse,
which
only
ended
in
the
grave.
He
opposed
an
additional
grant
from
Government,
and
Morse,
in
his
dejection,
proposed
to
let
the
patent
expire,
and
if
the
Government
would
use
his
apparatus
and
remunerate
him,
he
would
reward
Alfred
Vail,
while
Smith
would
be
deprived
of
his
portion.
Happily,
it
was
decided
to
abandon
the
subterranean
line,
and
erect
the
conductor
on
poles
above
the
ground.
A
start
was
made
from
the
Capitol,
Washington,
on
April
1,
1844,
and
the
line
was
carried
to
the
Mount
Clare
Depot,
Baltimore,
on
May
23,
1843.
Next
morning
Miss
Ellsworth
fulfilled
her
promise
by
inditing
the
first
message.
She
chose
the
words,
'What
hath
God
wrought?'
and
they
were
transmitted
by
Morse
from
the
Capitol
at
8.45
a.m.,
and
received
at
Mount
Clare
by
Alfred
Vail.
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