lower, with moderate demand for home trade and export. Sales 8000 barrels. Genesee at $5.12. Wheat prime in fair demand, market firm, common description dull, with a downward tendency; sales, 4000 bushels at $1.10. Corn, foreign news unsettled the market; no sales of importance made. The only sale made was 2500 bushels at 67 c.,” or a total of sixty-eight words. “Fog Smith” once more issued his edict, and decided that no English word should be spelt with more than three letters, but by this time there were competing lines of telegraph in existence, and the able manager “locked the door after the steed was stolen.”
On the extension of the telegraph system, arrangements were made for sending reports of the proceedings in Congress, and for this a more comprehensive and ingenious system of ciphers was adopted, but founded upon the same principle as that employed for commercial news, and an immense number of congressional phrases and forms of speech were represented by their particular cipher. Thus “bacon” was equivalent to saying that “a report was brought up from the Committee on Agriculture;” and “bawl” that “an interesting debate followed, in which several honourable senators took part.” The fact of a report being brought up from the committee on military affairs, was represented by the word “bad,” and the word “bribe” signified that a Bill to reduce and graduate the price of public lands was taken up and discussed; in fact, almost every variety of judicial, diplomatic, and executive phrase was provided for in a voluminous and alphabetically arranged code of ciphers. When the scrap of news was received from Congress, the cipher words were not only translated into their legitimate meaning, but they were very largely amplified, being treated in many cases as a clergyman would deal with a small text for his sermon. Some occasional mistakes have occurred by this practice, which have been ludicrous, and sometimes highly inconvenient. On one occasion when a measure was under discussion, the telegram stated that a certain Whig orator addressed the senate, but the wires of the telegraph being interrupted, no portion of the speech came to hand. The recipients of the message considered what were the probable objections which a Whig would have to the Bill in question, and a very violent speech against it was duly printed the next morning. Unfortunately the honourable senator had spoken and voted in exactly the opposite direction. On another occasion the want of due attention to the cipher word caused a serious mistake. Among the words which were adopted in the system was “dead.” Its equivalent was, “after some days’ absence from indisposition, the honourable gentleman reappeared in his seat.” Now it happened that the venerable senator John Davis had been unwell, and had again taken his place in the senate, and the telegram sent was “John Davis dead.” The words of the message were not translated but adopted literally; and immediately the sad event was communicated all over the Union of the death of Davis, who, on the following day, had the privilege vouchsafed to but few persons, of learning what was the opinion of posterity upon his private life and public career. In this country Lord Brougham, and more recently the Duke of Buckingham, have had the privilege of reading their memoirs under circumstances similar to those of senator Davis.
It is, however, in connection with the foreign news that the most strenuous exertions and greatest activity is displayed by the telegraph reporters of America. They have fast sailing yachts, which put out to sea to meet the European steamers, board them, carry off the heads of the latest news, and speedily transmit the latest intelligence over the continent. Among the earliest of these attempts, was the obtaining and transmission of the news taken out by the Europa. The foreign news by that ship was forwarded from New York at ten minutes past eight in the morning, received at New Orleans, two thousand miles distant, by the telegraph lines, and hung up in the Merchants’ Exchange by nine o’clock on the same morning. The mode adopted was to direct the agent of the Associated Press at Liverpool to prepare a synopsis of commercial news up to the latest moment of departure of the steamer, in such a form as to be ready for transmission the moment the steamer reached New York. Some “news boatmen” were ordered to cruise in the harbour and watch for the steamer; and as soon as she came up to quarantine, the bag of news was handed to one of the boatmen, who immediately made all possible speed with oar and sails to the city, and then to the telegraph office, with the prepared message. By this means the news is not unfrequently received at New York some time before the steamer is alongside the quay. On one occasion great anxiety was felt respecting the safety of the Atlantic, one of the American line of postal steamers. News was brought by the Africa, that the Atlantic was safe, and the pleasing intelligence was known in all parts of the country long before the ship that brought the news had come to her moorings. The intensity of delight with which the news was received is thus described by Mr. Jones, one of the earliest members of the Associated Press. He says:—“At last the news came. It was read aloud to them—‘The Atlantic is safe!’—when there arose loud and enthusiastic shouts of joy. It flew from mouth to mouth, from one extremity of the city to the other, along the shipping, among the ship-yards and ship-builders, among those who had worked on the missing vessel. It flew abroad to the suburban towns. It became a theme of exultation at the hotels and theatres. In some of the latter the managers came on the boards and announced to their auditors, ‘The Atlantic is safe!’ which was followed by the rising of the whole audience to their feet, and giving the most deafening and enthusiastic applause. In our whole experience in telegraph reporting we recollect no instance in which a piece of news gave such universal delight. No battle ever won in Mexico diffused greater satisfaction in New York than the safety of the noble ship Atlantic.”
These endeavours to anticipate by the telegraph the receipt of news by the ordinary means are not, however, confined merely to the neighbourhood of New York and Boston. A fast-sailing yacht has