Further Development of the Morse Telegraph System

Early in 1838, Morse applied for his patents, which were granted in 1848. In 1838 he demonstrated his apparatus before the President of the United States and his cabinet, and a sum of money was provided by the government for the construction of a line between Washington and

Figure 2. An early telegraph relay system.

Baltimore. Over this circuit were sent, in 1844, the now-famous words "What hath God wrought!" When Morse offered his telegraph to the government it was refused on the recommendation of the postmaster-general,¹ as he was "uncertain that the revenues could be made to equal its expenditures."

It is not feasible to record here all the subsequent developments that followed Morse's invention. Among the more outstanding are the various methods of increasing the message-carrying capacity of the line. Gintl invented the duplex system in 1853, and Heaviside in 1873 and Edison in 1874 independently invented the quadruplex system. The multiplex system was suggested by Farmer in 1852, and later developed by Meyer (1873), Baudot (1881), and Delany (1884). Recent developments in telegraphy will be considered in Chapter 9.