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Heroes of the Telegraph
·
John Munro
6
The
charge
from
a
Leyden
jar
was
frequently
sent
through
a
chain
of
persons
clasping
hands,
or
a
length
of
wire
with
the
earth
as
part
of
the
circuit.
This
experiment
was
made
by
Joseph
Franz,
of
Vienna,
in
1746,
and
Dr.
Watson,
of
London,
in
1747;
while
Franklin
ignited
spirits
by
a
spark
which
had
been
sent
across
the
Schuylkill
river
by
the
same
means.
But
none
of
these
men
seem
to
have
grasped
the
idea
of
employing
the
fleet
fire
as
a
telegraph.
The
first
suggestion
of
an
electric
telegraph
on
record
is
that
published
by
one
'C.
M.'
in
the
Scots
Magazine
for
February
17,
1753.
The
device
consisted
in
running
a
number
of
insulated
wires
between
two
places,
one
for
each
letter
of
the
alphabet.
The
wires
were
to
be
charged
with
electricity
from
a
machine
one
at
a
time,
according
to
the
letter
it
represented.
At
its
far
end
the
charged
wire
was
to
attract
a
disc
of
paper
marked
with
the
corresponding
letter,
and
so
the
message
would
be
spelt.
'C.
M.'
also
suggested
the
first
acoustic
telegraph,
for
he
proposed
to
have
a
set
of
bells
instead
of
the
letters,
each
of
a
different
tone,
and
to
be
struck
by
the
spark
from
its
charged
wire.
The
identity
of
'C.
M.,'
who
dated
his
letter
from
Renfrew,
has
not
been
established
beyond
a
doubt.
There
is
a
tradition
of
a
clever
man
living
in
Renfrew
at
that
time,
and
afterwards
in
Paisley,
who
could
'licht
a
room
wi'
coal
reek
(smoke),
and
mak'
lichtnin'
speak
and
write
upon
the
wa'.'
By
some
he
was
thought
to
be
a
certain
Charles
Marshall,
from
Aberdeen;
but
it
seems
likelier
that
he
was
a
Charles
Morrison,
of
Greenock,
who
was
trained
as
a
surgeon,
and
became
connected
with
the
tobacco
trade
of
Glasgow.
In
Renfrew
he
was
regarded
as
a
kind
of
wizard,
and
he
is
said
to
have
emigrated
to
Virginia,
where
he
died.
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