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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1886 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XLV. The Great Northwestern Telegraph Company Of Canada. THE Great Northwestern Telegraph Company of Canada was incorporated by Act of Parliament of Canada, May 7th, 1880, with a capital of 1400,000. Provisional Directors, Hon.John Norquay, Hon. Alex. Morris, Hon. A. G. Bannatyne, Hon. C. P. Brown, J. S. Aikins, M. P., E. P. Leacock, H. S. Donaldson, C. MacDonald, J. Anderson, G. A. Kirkpatrick, T. Swinyard, Hon. Dr. Schultz, F. W. Strange, J. G. Haggart, A. Markham and James J. Foy. In 1881 the stock of the company was purchased by a new proprietary, who on the 30th of August, 1881, elected as directors: ERASTUS WIMAN, HON. WM. McDOUGALL, ADAM BROWN, W. GOODERHAM, D. H. BATES, JAMES HEDLEY, O. S. WOOD, RICHARD FULLER, A. S. IRVING. Mr. Erastus Wiman, of New York, was elected President and Mr. O. S. Wood, of Montreal, Vice-President. Mr. Harvey P. Dwight, who for many years had been Western superintendent of the Montreal Telegraph Company, was appointed General Manager. Mr. Frederic Roper, Secretary of the Dominion Telegraph Company, was chosen Secretary, and Mr. Arthur Cox, Treasurer. Acting under the powers conferred by the charter of the Company, a lease was effected of both the lines of the Dominion Telegraph Company and the Montreal Telegraph Company, and the Great North Western Company has now full charge and control of both. The former consists of over five thousand miles of poles and twelve thousand miles of wire, and the latter of about seventeen thousand, five hundred miles of poles, and thirty.two thousand miles of wire. These extended systems were merged under one management, and in friendly alliance with the Western Union Telegraph Company. Of Mr. Dwight, on whom was thus placed almost sole power over this large and...

Telegraphy in the nineteenth century approximated the internet in our own day. Historian and electrical engineer David Hochfelder offers readers a comprehensive history of this groundbreaking technology, which employs breaks in an electrical current to send code along miles of wire. The Telegraph in America, 1832–1920, examines the correlation between technological innovation and social change and shows how this transformative relationship helps us to understand and perhaps define modernity. The telegraph revolutionized the spread of information—speeding personal messages, news of public events, and details of stock fluctuations. During the Civil War, telegraphed intelligence and high-level directives gave the Union war effort a critical advantage. Afterward, the telegraph helped build and break fortunes and, along with the railroad, altered the way Americans thought about time and space. Hochfelder thus supplies us with an introduction to the early stirrings of the information age. -- Richard R. John, Columbia University

Samuel F.B. Morse's invention of the telegraph marked a new era in communication. For the first time, people were able to communicate quickly from great distances. The genesis of Morse's invention is covered in detail, starting in 1832, along with the establishment of the first transcontinental telegraph line in the United States and the dramatic effect the device had on the Civil War. The Morse telegraph that served the world for over 100 years is explained in clear terms. Also examined are recent advances in telegraph technology and its continued impact on communication.

Here is an often cited panoramic history of the telegraph which discusses the principal telegraph firms and the key persons within them. Throughout his work, Reid stresses the business and economic aspects of marketing this remarkable scientific invention. The importance of The Telegraph in America as a classic reference in the field is under-scored by the fact that the author was active in telegraphy throughout the period he discusses. He thus had a personal knowledge of persons and events under examination.