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281
Heroes of the Telegraph
·
John Munro
58
During
this
time
Alfred
Vail
continued
to
improve
the
Morse
apparatus,
until
it
was
past
recognition.
The
porte-rule
and
type
of
the
transmitter
were
discarded
for
a
simple
'key'
or
rocking
lever,
worked
up
and
down
by
the
hand,
so
as
to
make
and
break
the
circuit.
The
clumsy
framework
of
the
receiver
was
reduced
to
a
neat
and
portable
size.
The
inking
pen
was
replaced
by
a
metal
wheel
or
disc,
smeared
with
ink,
and
rolling
on
the
paper
at
every
dot
or
dash.
Vail,
as
we
have
seen,
also
invented
the
plan
of
embossing
the
message.
But
he
did
still
more.
When
the
recording
instrument
was
introduced,
it
was
found
that
the
clerks
persisted
in
'reading'
the
signals
by
the
clicking
of
the
marking
lever,
and
not
from
the
paper.
Threats
of
instant
dismissal
did
not
stop
the
practice
when
nobody
was
looking
on.
Morse,
who
regarded
the
record
as
the
distinctive
feature
of
his
invention,
was
very
hostile
to
the
practice;
but
Nature
was
too
many
for
him.
The
mode
of
interpreting
by
sound
was
the
easier
and
more
economical
of
the
two;
and
Vail,
with
his
mechanical
instinct,
adopted
it.
He
produced
an
instrument
in
which
there
is
no
paper
or
marking
device,
and
the
message
is
simply
sounded
by
the
lever
of
the
armature
striking
on
its
metal
stops.
At
present
the
Morse
recorder
is
rarely
used
in
comparison
with
the
'sounder.'
The
original
telegraph
of
Morse,
exhibited
in
1837,
has
become
an
archaic
form.
Apart
from
the
central
idea
of
employing
an
electro-magnet
to
signal--an
idea
applied
by
Henry
in
1832,
when
Morse
had
only
thought
of
it--the
development
of
the
apparatus
is
mainly
due
to
Vail.
His
working
devices
made
it
a
success,
and
are
in
use
to-day,
while
those
of
Morse
are
all
extinct.
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