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Page 22
On motion of John Spear Nicholas, seconded by the Hon. John P.
Kennedy, the following resolution was then considered:
_Resolved_, "That the President be authorized to afford Mr. Morse such
facilities as may be requisite to give his invention a proper trial
upon the Washington road, provided in his opinion and in that of the
engineer it can be done without injury to the road and without
embarrassment to the operations of the company, and provided Mr. Morse
will concede to the company the use of the telegraph upon the road
without expense, and reserving to the company the right of
discontinuing the use if, _upon experiment_, it should prove _in any
manner injurious_."
"Whatever," said Mr. McLane, "may be our individual opinions as to the
feasibility of Mr. Morse's invention, it seems to me that it is our
duty to concede to him the privilege he asks, and to lend him all the
aid in our power, especially as the resolution carefully protects the
company against all present or future injury to its works, and secures
us the right of requiring its removal at any time."
[In view of the fact that no railroad can now be run safely without
the aid of the telegraph, the cautious care with which the right to
remove it if it should become a nuisance was reserved, strikes one at
this day as nearly ludicrous.]
A short pause ensued, and the assent of the company was about to be
assumed, when one of the older directors, famed for the vigilance with
which he watched even the most trivial measure, begged to be heard.
He admitted that the rights and interests of the work were all
carefully guarded by the terms of the resolution, and that the company
was not called upon to lay out any of its means for the promotion of
the scheme. But notwithstanding all this, he did not feel, as a
conscientious man, that he could, without further examination, give
his vote for the resolution. He knew that this idea of Mr. Morse,
however plausible it might appear to theorists and dreamers, and
so-called men of science, was regarded by all practical people as
destined, like many other similar projects, to certain failure, and
must consequently result in loss and possibly ruin to Mr. Morse. For
one, he felt conscientiously scrupulous in giving a vote which would
aid or tempt a visionary enthusiast to ruin himself.
Fortunately, the views of this cautious, practical man did not
prevail. A few words from the mover of the resolution, Mr. Nicholas,
who still lives to behold the wonders he helped to create, and from
Mr. Kennedy, without whose aid the appropriation would not have passed
the House of Representatives, relieved the other directors from all
fear of contributing to Mr. Morse's ruin, and the resolution was
adopted. Of the President and thirty directors who took part in this
transaction, only three, Samuel W. Smith, John Spear Nicholas, and the
writer, survive. Under it Morse at once entered upon that test of his
invention whose fruits are now enjoyed by the people of all the
continents.
It was not, however, until the spring of 1844 that he had his line and
its appointments in such a condition as to allow the transmission of
messages between the two cities, and it was in May of that year that
the incident occurred which has chiefly led to the writing of this
paper.
MR. LATROBE'S RECOLLECTIONS.
MY DEAR MR. POE: Agreeably to my promise, this morning I put
on paper my recollection of the introduction of the magnetic telegraph
between Baltimore and Washington. I was counsel of the Baltimore &
Ohio Railroad Co. at the time, and calling on Mr. Louis McLane, the
President, on some professional matter, was asked in the course of
conversation whether I knew anything about an electric telegraph which
the inventor, who had obtained an appropriation from Congress, wanted
to lay down on the Washington branch of the road. He said he expected
Mr. Morse, the inventor, to call on him, when he would introduce me to
him, and would be glad if I took an opportunity to go over the subject
with him and afterward let him, Mr. McLane, know what I thought about
it. While we were yet speaking, Mr. Morse made his appearance, and
when Mr. McLane introduced me he referred to the fact that, as I had
been educated at West Point, I might the more readily understand the
scientific bearings of Mr. Morse's invention. The President's office
being no place for prolonged conversation, it was agreed that Mr.
Morse should take tea at my dwelling, when we would go over the whole
subject. We met accordingly, and it was late in the night before we
parted. Mr. Morse went over the history of his invention from the
beginning with an interest and enthusiasm that had survived the
wearying toil of an application to Congress, and with the aid of
diagrams drawn on the instant made me master of the matter, and wrote
for me the telegraphic alphabet which is still in use over the world.
Not a small part of what Mr. Morse said on this occasion had reference
to the future of his invention, its influence upon communities and
individuals, and I remember regarding as the wild speculations of an
active imagination what he prophesied in this connection, and which I
have lived to see even more than realized. Nor was his conversation
confined to his invention. A distinguished artist, an educated
gentleman, an observant traveler, it was delightful to hear him talk,
and at this late day I recall few more pleasant evenings than the only
one I passed in his company.
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