First page of a Letter by Daniel H. Craig, addressed to the
Government Commissioners of the Nova Scotia Telegraph
Joseph Howe, George R. Young, and William Murdoch
Source: Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions: CIHM 33361
Chapter 9
1 January 1850 to 31 December 1859
Index with links to the other chapters
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In 1852, Alexander Jones wrote:
"The war was a very fierce one; many phamphlets appeared on both sides, including one by Mr. Craig in his defence against Smith's charges." The publication Jones referred to, "including one by Mr. Craig in his defence," was a 29-page printed phamphlet, part of which is reproduced below. [The quote is from page 140, Historical Sketch of the Electric Telegraph, by Alexander Jones, 1852, published by George E. Putnam, New York.] And who was Alexander Jones? Dr. Alexander Jones, a graduate in medicine whose early interest in communications had lured him into journalism, became the first general manager of the newly-formed New York Associated Press. Jones opened a simple office at the top of a long, dim flight of stairs at the northwest corner of Broadway and Liberty Street, in New York. This served as the headquarters of The Associated Press for more than two decades. At first the entire New York staff consisted of Jones and one assistant. Jones gave The Associated Press all his energy and ability, but was seriously overworked and submitted his resignation on May 19, 1851. Jones' replacement as general manager was Daniel H. Craig. [Excerpted from The Associated Press: The Story of News, by Oliver Gramling, 1940] |
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Note: This excerpt is from a public statement (quoted by Craig in his letter) signed by nine of the most powerful men in New York in 1850: Gerard Hallock, New York Journal of Commerce Horace Greeley, New York Tribune Thomas McElrath, New York Tribune George H. Andrews, New York Courier & Enquirer Moses Sperry Beach, New York Sun Alfred Ely Beach, New York Sun Erastus Brooks, New York Express James Brooks, New York Express James Gordon Bennett, New York Herald |
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Getting The European News to the Public in New York [Late in 1848, six New York newspapers], the Journal of Commerce, Courier and Enquirer, Herald, Sun, Tribune, and Express, through their Committee, in an interview with Mr. L.R. Darrow, the Superintendent of the Saint John [Electric Telegraph] Line, then nearly finished, arranged to run an express, on the arrival of each steamer at Halifax, from that point to Saint John, New Brunswick, the eastern terminus of the Telegraph at that time, on condition of having the privilege of transmitting a despatch of three thousand words to Boston and New York, leaving copies if wanted, at the intermediate towns and cities. The press were granted the exclusive use of the wires from the moment their despatch was offered until it was finished. This was deemed necessary to warrant the vast outlay anticipated, and as a protection to the public. Other parties, however, were not shut out from the use of the wires. If they could anticipate our agent at the telegraph office, their messages were sent through to their destination. The arrangement thus made with Mr. Darrow extended from New York to Saint John, and to Halifax when the line reached that city, and was based, in regard to price, &c, upon a previous contract of a year's standing with Mr. F.O.J. Smith, for the transmission of the steamers' news from Boston to New York. After the papers were signed, Mr. Smith, for certain reasons, refused to be a party to it, and a separate agreement was, therefore, made with him for the use of the lines under his control. In all these arrangements, however, the names and character of the agents to be employed by the press, were not mentioned. There were two competitors for the agency; and the "superior activity" of the man, and the recommendation of two or three editors in Boston, in the Association, induced us to employ Mr. Craig, the present agent. The Associated Press, previous to the new enterprise, had employed the express steamer Buena Vista to run from Halifax to Boston; and at the time of effecting the arrangement with Mr. Darrow, five of the associated newspapers had the steamer Newsboy employed in cruising off Sandy Hook, for the European steamers. The news brought by the Buena Vista cost nearly $1,000 each time it was transmitted to New York, and the expenses of the Newsboy were at the rate of over $20,000 per annum, which were cheerfully paid by the Courier and Enquirer, Herald, Journal of Commerce, Sun, and Express, the owners of the steamer at that time. After the overland express from Halifax to Saint John was established, the Newsboy was withdrawn, but the cost of getting the European news increased. An examination of the bills of the last year exhibited the enormous expenditure, in that short space of time of $29,700, most of which went into the pockets of the telegraph companies. These few facts are merely stated en passant. They have, perhaps, very little to do with the principles at issue with Mr. F.O.J. Smith, who seeks to dictate to the merchants and others what agents in New Orleans, Liverpool, or Halifax, they shall employ to do their business. These facts, however, will serve to illustrate the position in which we are placed. There was no difficulty with Mr. F.O.J. Smith during the time the Buena Vista brought the news to Boston hours and hours in advance of the English steamer. He interposed no objection then to the transmission of her news over his wires to New York. There was no difficulty with Mr. F.O.J. Smith when the Newsboy brought the foreign news ahead of the steamer to this port. He interposed no objection then to the despatch of the news, by telegraph, to Boston. There was no difficulty with Mr. F.O.J. Smith when our overland express reached Saint John one and two days advance of the arrival of the European steamer at this port. He interposed no objection then to the transmission of the news to New York, although, as he well knows, it was the easiest thing in the world to fly a flock of carrier-pigeons across the Bay of Fundy, hours ahead of the express. It was not until the wires were carried to Halifax, that our agent became so very obnoxious to Mr. F.O.J. Smith. It was then that the press were given to understand that another agent must be employed. We were informed that our agent would use the facilities of the Associated Press to prey upon the mercantile community, and that the wires would be cut in the rear of each American market to which the pigeon would be dispatched. We were advised to employ another agent, who had been kindly selected for us in Boston. This new agent was indeed sent to Halifax, endorsed in the advertising columns of two Boston newspapers, by Mr. F.O.J. Smith, as possessing superior facilities over his lines; and one of the messages of this agent was actually forced upon us, to the exclusion of our own, by F.O.J. Smith; and it was the arrival of this agent at Halifax, with his "superior facilities," that caused the appearance of the carrier pigeons. The Committee of the Associated Press, to all the charges against our own agent, and to the suggestion to employ another, informed Mr. F.O.J. Smith that the Press could not injure a man's character by discharging him on the mere suspicion of another; but that if the charges against the obnoxious agent could be proved, he would not for another moment remain in our employ. The charges continued to be made; but no proof was furnished. About the middle of last month Mr. F.O.J. Smith wrote to the Associated Press, that as the evening papers of Boston were not connected with us in the reception of the news, he would consider our arrangements at an end. In reply, a circular was addressed by the Committee, on the 29th ultimo to the superintendents of the several telegraph lines between New York and Halifax, that a new contract was necessary, and that any paper securing its share of the cost of getting the steamers' news, could have a copy of the same. This was sent to Mr. F.O.J. Smith, as the Superintendent of the line reaching from New York to Portland. Before, however, it could reach him, he sent the following telegraphic dispatch to the Committee:
After the reception of our circular, he reiterated his demand for the immediate dismissal of our agent. And yet, not a carrier pigeon has been used; the beautiful and innocent doves remaining billing and cooing in their cote, and have not, to our knowledge or belief, flapped a wing for the Associated Press or any other party, since Mr. Craig has been acting as our agent. Such an answer was wholly unexpected. We could not believe that any man having control of such a powerful element of communication from distant points would presume to dictate to the public the agents to be employed in sending messages over the wires. Although denying the right of Mr. F.O.J. Smith in thus dictating to us, we made inquiries into "Craig's reckless system of business;" and all that we could ascertain, was, that a man named Anderson, once in his employ, was detected in Saint John in the act of cutting the wires. How far Mr. Craig was connected with this Anderson, in this affair, is to be seen in the following letter from Mr. L.R. Darrow, the Superintendent of the Saint John [New Brunswick] and Calais [Maine] telegraph line:
Such is our statement. But, after all, it has very little to do with the principle in dispute between Mr. F.O.J. Smith (the owner of the line from Portland to Boston, the President of the line from Boston to New York, and the reputed owner of one-forth of Morse's patent) and the Associated Press of Boston and New York. That is a matter of some importance to the community, who are daily sending important and confidential messages over the wires, with the expectation of their safely reaching their destination. It is, therefore, fortunate that the outrageous demand of Mr. F.O.J. Smith is made at this early day, and before the telegraphic system becomes a monopoly. It will be the means of opening the eyes of the commercial community, from one end of the Union to the other. It may prevent such a powerful element of communication from falling into the hands of grasping, corrupt and tyrannical men; and, if so, we shall be happy to have been the cause of thus saving the public. Meanwhile, however, the merchants, and, indeed, the whole community, should be on their guard. Our efforts to obtain the news will continue. We have expended upwards of $50,000 in the last two years to give the earliest and the latest intelligence from Europe, and we shall not hesitate to expend an equal amount in the nest two years for the same purpose. But between us and the news there are three hundred and fifty miles of telegraph wire, over which the press are not permitted to send a message, unless we consent to employ the agents selected for us by the manager of that line. The commercial community are, therefore, for the present, at the mercy of the speculators. We now leave this matter. Those who are acquainted with the newspaper press of this city, or country, cannot fail to see that the separate and distinct interests embraced in our Association are quite sufficient for the protection of the public. Gerard Hallock, Journal of Commerce Greeley & McElrath, Tribune Geo H. Andrews, Courier & Enquirer Beach Brothers, New York Sun J. & E. Brooks, New York Express James Gordon Bennett, New York Herald New York, January 24, 1850  The name "Beach & Brothers" in the above image is an 1850 typesetting error. This should read "Beach Brothers", referring to the brothers Alfred Ely Beach and Moses Sperry Beach, who were co-publishers of the New York Sun newspaper. |
On March 31, 1851, an Act (chapter 8, 1851, 14 Victoria) was passed by the Legislature to reduce the authorized capital to £10,000, divided into 1000 shares of £10 each, and placing a three-year deadline for the company to "go into operation", or the enabling legislation would lapse — this appears to be evidence that the company was having difficulty raising capital.
Reference:The quotations are from a report delivered at the Railroad Convention in Portland, Maine, on 31 July 1850, by the two delegates sent to represent Kings County, John Hall, MPP, and Samuel Chipman. This Convention was attended by representatives of several States, and the Provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.
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In the late 1880s, the European and North American Short Line Railway built a railway in Nova Scotia, from Oxford Junction through Oxford, Tatamagouche, and Scotsburn, to Brown's Junction (near the Town of Pictou). This railway was always known as the Short Line, and it continued in operation into the 1970s — the track between Oxford Junction and Pugwash carried regular freight trains into the mid-1990s. |
It is most unusual to find this wealth of detail (the above is only a tiny sample) in descriptions of ships of those days. We are given details about the steam engine, such as cylinder and crankshaft dimensions, and steam pressure, that are extremely rare. Mr. Bruzelius has made a significant contribution to the Internet's historical resources.
On 7 May 1874, under 37 Victoria chapter 84, the Company's name was changed to the Windsor Gas Light Company.
Solon Borland (1808-1864): a Senator from Arkansas; born in Virginia, September 21, 1808; attended preparatory schools in North Carolina; studied medicine and afterwards practiced; settled in Little Rock, Arkansas; served throughout the Mexican War as a major in the Arkansas Volunteer Cavalry; was appointed and subsequently elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill a vacancy and served from March 30, 1848, to April 3, 1853, when he resigned; chairman, Committee on Printing (31st and 32nd Congresses), Committee on Public Lands (33rd Congress); served as United States Minister to Nicaragua and to the other Central American Republics 1853-1854; declined an appointment as Governor of the Territory of New Mexico; returned to Arkansas and resumed the practice of medicine in Little Rock until 1861; during the Civil War raised a brigade of troops for the Confederate Army; later was appointed a brigadier general in the Confederate Army; died near Houston, Texas, on January 1, 1864.
Source:
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000642
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(Congressman Borland's speech, page 614) The British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company — the Cunard Line — launched two new ships early in 1850, Asia and Africa. They were nearly identical in design and construction. Asia was launched first, in January 1850, and departed Liverpool on Saturday, 18 May 1850, on her first trip across the North Atlantic. The British and North American Royal Mail steamship Asia, H. E. Judkins commander, arrived at Boston on Tuesday [28 May 1850]. Asia made her passage across the Atlantic in the short time of 9¼ days. Source: Roman Citizen newspaper, Rome, New York, 5 June 1850 http://istg.rootsweb.com/newsarticles/1850_newsarticles.html |
In 2002, the Casket newspaper continues regular weekly publication.
John Cabell Breckinridge (1821-1875): a Representative and a Senator from Kentucky and a Vice President of the United States; born in Kentucky, January 16, 1821; attended the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University); studied law in the Transylvania Institute, Lexington, Kentucky; was admitted to the bar in 1840; major of the Third Kentucky Volunteers during the Mexican War in 1847 and 1848; member, State house of representatives 1849; elected as a Democrat to the 32nd and 33rd Congresses (March 4, 1851-March 3, 1855); was not a candidate for renomination in 1854; elected Vice President of the United States in 1856 on the Democratic ticket with James Buchanan as President; unsuccessful candidate for President in 1860; elected to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1861, until expelled by resolution of December 4, 1861, for support of the rebellion; entered the Confederate Army during the Civil War as brigadier general and soon became a major general; Secretary of War in the Cabinet of the Confederate States from January until April 1865; resided in Europe until 1868; returned to Lexington, Kentucky, and resumed the practice of law; vice president of the Elizabethtown, Lexington Big Sandy Railroad Co.; died in Lexington, Ky., May 17, 1875.
Source:
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000789
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NOTES: The following is an attempt to identify the companies listed in the "Company" column in the table above for 1851-1852: Table showing the estimate for the Post Office Packet Service of Great Britain...
The entries are listed below in the order in which they appear in the table: S. W. Railway London and South Western Railway Company for many years operated a mail and passenger service between Southampton and the Channel Islands. General Steam General Steam Navigation Company (taken over by Peninsular & Oriental in 1920) Peninsular and Oriental Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company Cunard British and North America Royal Mail Steam Packet Company (The Cunard Line) ran a weekly mail and passenger service between Liverpool, England, and Halifax, Boston and New York. Royal Mail Royal Mail Steam Packet Company began shipping operations in 1841. Pacific Pacific Steam Navigation Company was formed in London in 1838. The company commenced operations on the West Coast of South America in 1840, and obtained the British Government Mail contract to the area in 1852. From the 1840s until the 1920s operated a service between England and Valparaiso - Callao - Guayaquil - Panama. General Screw General Screw Steam Shipping Company ran a monthly mail service from Plymouth, England, to Calcutta, India via St. Vincent, Ascension, St. Helena, Cape Town, Mauritius, Ceylon, and Madras. Laird MacGregor Laird Australian European and Australian Royal Mail Company Hall, Brothers Hall Brothers Steam Ship Company Ltd. East India English East India Company |
Joseph Ripley Chandler (1792-1880): a Representative from Pennsylvania; born in Kingston, Massachusetts, August 22, 1792; moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1815; editor of the United States Gazette 1822-1847; member of the Philadelphia city council 1832-1848; elected as a Whig to the 31st, 32nd, and 33rd Congresses (March 1849 - March 1855); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1854 to the 34th Congress; appointed by President Buchanan as Minister to the Two Sicilies and served from June 15, 1858, to November 15, 1860; president of the board of directors of Girard College; died in Philadelphia July 10, 1880.
Source:
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000292
Benjamin Stanton (1809-1872): a Representative from Ohio; born in Ohio, June 4, 1809; member of the Ohio State senate in 1841 and 1843; delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1850; elected as a Whig to the 32nd Congress (March 1851 - March 1853); elected as a Republican to the 34th, 35th, and 36th Congresses (March 1855 - March 1861); chairman, Committee on Military Affairs (36th Congress); Lieutenant Governor of Ohio in 1862; moved to Martinsburg, West Virginia, in 1865, and practiced law; moved to Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1867 and continued the practice of law; died in Wheeling, West Virginia, June 2, 1872.
Source:
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
http://bioguide.congress.gov/
George Smith Houston (1811-1879); born in Tennessee, January 17, 1811; member, State house of representatives 1832; elected as a Democrat to the 27th and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 1841 - March 1849); declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1848; elected to the 32nd and to the four succeeding Congresses and served from March 1851 until January 1861, when he withdrew; chairman, Committee on Ways and Means (32nd and 33rd Congresses), Committee on Judiciary (35th Congress); Governor of Alabama 1874-1878; elected to the United States Senate and served from March 1879, until his death in Alabama, December 31, 1879.
Source:
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000822
Gilbert Dean (1819-1870): Born in New York state, August 14, 1819. Graduated from Yale College in 1841; elected as a Democrat to the 32nd and 33rd Congresses and served from March 1851, to July 1854, when he resigned to become a New York state court judge. Died October 12, 1870.
Source:
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=D000172
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The Collins Line E.K. Collins & Company What is the Collins Line? Where does Cunard come in here? Congressman Dean was speaking on the topic Steam Navy Messrs. James Brown, E.K. Collins, E. Riggs and W.S. Wetmore, of New York, have announced their intention of applying to the Legislature of the State, to incorporate themselves and others under the name of the New York and Liverpool United States Mail Steamship Company, with a capital of $2,000,000, for the purpose of running a line of steamers between New York and Liverpool. [New Brunswick Courier, Saint John, 20 January 1849] From 1850 to 1858, Cunard's main competitor on the North Atlantic was the New York and Liverpool United States Mail Steamship Company, run by Edward Knight Collins and usually known as the Collins Line. In 1847, Collins negotiated an annual subsidy for his company of $385,000 from the United States government, and ordered four new 2,885-ton, wooden-hulled side-wheel steamships, the world's largest at the time. The first vessel of this fleet was named Atlantic, and the others were Pacific, Baltic, and Arctic. These ships were much larger and more comfortable, more powerful and faster than anything Cunard had. Atlantic and Pacific were launched on the same day, February 1, 1849. The paddle wheels were 36 feet in diameter, with 36 paddles. Each ship was powered by two side-lever 800-horsepower [600 kW] engines. Each engine had one cylinder 95 inches (nearly eight feet) [241 cm] in diameter, supplied with steam at seventeen pounds per square inch pressure [120 kPa] (which was about the highest pressure that could be delivered safely and reliably by the boiler technology of the time). With both engines running at full power, about sixteen revolutions per minute, and a little assistance from auxiliary sails, Collins' steamers could make 12 or 13 knots (23 to 25 km/h) most of the time. Their coal consumption was enormous, one ton for every 265 revolutions of the paddle wheels, or 85 tons in 24 hours; in a round trip one of these ships burned a quantity of coal almost equal to the ship's tonnage. Put in modern terms, they got about 6 kilometres (4 miles) to the ton. Cunard's primary operating policy was reliability, not speed. Collins emphasized speed, which was good publicity but very expensive. From the beginning, the Collins Line was faster than Cunard on the Atlantic crossing. Atlantic sailed for Liverpool on her maiden voyage on April 27, 1850. She returned to New York in ten days sixteen hours, setting a new record time westbound. By then, captains, owners, and the newspapers could see it coming — a transatlantic trip in under ten days. In 1851, Cunard averaged 11 days 12 hours eastbound, and 12 days 9 hours westbound; Collins averaged 10 days 21 hours eastbound and 11 days 3 hours westbound. In April 1852, from Liverpool, Pacific reached Sandy Hook in nine days twenty hours fifteen minutes, the first ship, sail or steam, to cross the Atlantic to New York in under ten days. The four new Collins ships were lavishly designed. Passengers were served good food well prepared, and lots of it. For food storage, there was a refrigerator — a room which was stocked with forty tons of ice before each departure. There was provision for passengers to bathe — before these vessels there was no such arrangement, even for voyages that often took a month and sometimes two. The Collins ships were expensive to operate, and the Collins company had a hard time financially. It was completely dependent on substantial subsidies from the United States government, and year by year there was increasing political opposition to continuing these subsidies. The long debate in the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads in July 1852, and again in February 1855, was part of this continuing struggle between those who wanted to use U.S. government money to keep the Collins Line operating on the North Atlantic, and those opposed. Collins' financial problems were intensified by the loss of two ships, half of his fleet. About noon on September 27, 1854, Arctic, eight days out of Liverpool and 60 miles 100 km south of Cape Race, Newfoundland, collided with the French bark Vesta while steaming at 11 knots in a dense fog; Arctic sank about 5pm with the loss of 323 lives (the casualties included 92 of Arctic's 153 officers and men, and all her women and children were lost including the wife, the only daughter, and the youngest son of E.K. Collins). Collins now had three ships, barely enough to perform the mail contract. On January 25, 1856, Pacific cleared Liverpool with 145 passengers and 140 crew. She thrashed her way out into St. George's Channel, passed Tuskar Light, and was never seen again. To this day, no one knows what happened to Pacific; no wreckage or debris from the steamer was ever found. Collins now had two ships. Even before the loss of Pacific, his credit was stretched to the limit by the cost of the new 4000-ton screw steamer Adriatic, being built to replace Arctic. Adriatic was launched in September 1856. The last trip by a Collins ship ended when Baltic tied up at New York on February 18, 1858. The entire Collins fleet — all three remaining ships, Atlantic, Baltic, and Adriatic — was sold at auction on April 1, 1858, for just $50,000. (Collins had paid more than $1,800,000 to have these three ships built.) Sources: The Magnificent Failure, by E. Milburn Carver, (a history of the Collins Steamship Company), originally published in Yankee Magazine (date not known), anthologized in Yankees Under Steam, edited by Austin N. Stevens, published by Yankee, Inc., Dublin, New Hampshire, 1970. Steam at Sea: Two Centuries of Steam-Powered Ships by Denis Griffiths, Conway Maritime Press, 1997, ISBN 0851776663. References: http://www.blueriband.com/Portraits/BAAPA/body_baapa.html http://www.greatoceanliners.net/arctic.html http://ns1763.ca/ponyexpress/ponyex13.html Other shipping lines sacrificed safety for speed, and lives were lost, but not a single life was lost on a Cunard ship in the first 75 years of the company's history — an incredible and unparalleled record. The first disaster his company experienced — the sinking of Lusitania torpedoed by a German submarine on May 7, 1915 — occurred 50 years after Cunard's death in 1865. (Several modern sources make the monumental mistake of linking Titanic to Cunard, but Titanic was not a Cunard ship. Titanic was built, owned, and operated by the White Star Line, a company independent of and in competition with Cunard. Two decades after Titanic's brief career ended dramatically in April 1914, during the financial difficulties associated with the Great Depression of the 1930s, the British Government forced the merger of Cunard with White Star, and this later association no doubt is the source of the confusion about Titanic's ownership.) |
| "Hyde's Line" means this stage line was owned and operated by the renowned Hiram Hyde, who played an important part in the development of transportation and communications in Nova Scotia for sixty years, from 1840 until 1900. |
Note (24 May 2002): The railway track, built in the 1850s by the Nova Scotia Railway from Richmond to Truro, eventually became part of the ICR (Intercolonial Railway) main line track between Montreal and Halifax — and in 2002 most of it, the section between Rockingham and Truro, remains in daily operation as the CN main line. Beginning in 1878 and continuing until 1917, the ICR main line track into Halifax terminated at the North Street Station located at the northeast corner of the intersection of Barrington Street with North Street, on the land now occupied by the West Cable Anchor (a block of concrete the size of a medium-sized apartment building) of the Macdonald Bridge. Richmond Station, located 0.75 mile 1.20 km north of North Street Station, was on the site of Governor's farm, below Fort Needham, close to old Pier Six (where the Mont Blanc Exploded).
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1854-56 Sebastopol (or Sevastopol), Crimean Republic, Ukraine The Sevastopol Federal District was established around what was once the top secret Russian naval base by the same name. Known to the west as Sebastopol, the city/base was established by Catherine the Great in the late 1700s as the home for the Imperial Russian Black Sea Fleet. It was from this port that the Russian Tsars hoped to accomplish their dream of capturing the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits and Constantinople, thereby establishing unrestricted access to warm ocean waters. In the 19th century, the British and the French supported the Ottoman Empire in order to thwart Russia's attempts at this endeavor. In the early 1850s, the allies (English, French, and Turkish forces) declared war on Russia, fought several battles in Bulgaria, notably around Varna, and interior Crimea at the Alma River, Inkerman Hills, and Traktir Bridge, and laid siege to the city of Sebastopol for nine months. Source: Ukrainian history: Sebastopol/Crimean War, by Roger Werner http://www.waycool.net/sebastopol.htm |
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four of his seven steamers have been taken and sent to aid in the blockade of Sebastopol" (Congressman Olds' speech, 15 February 1855) Which four Cunard ships were taken by the British Government for use during the Crimean War? Cambria was launched on 1 August 1844 and on 4 January 1845 departed Liverpool on its maiden voyage to Halifax and Boston. From 1848 onwards it began to alternate its destination between New York and Boston. In March 1854 it was requisitioned by the British government to serve as a troop transport in the Crimean War, travelling first to Varna and then to the Crimea. After this service it was refitted and on 29 March 1856 resumed the Liverpool to Boston / New York service. Europa was launched in September 1847 and departed Liverpool on its maiden voyage on 17 July 1848 to Halifax and Boston; the final destination on subsequent voyages varied between New York and Boston. In 1854 it became a Crimean War transport. In August 1858 it collided with another Cunard vessel, Arabia, off Cape Race and both were damaged. In February 1866 it made its last voyage from Liverpool to Boston and was sold the following year. Niagara was launched in August 1847 and on 20 May 1848 departed Liverpool on its maiden voyage to Halifax and Boston; subsequent voyages went to either New York or Boston. In 1854 it was used as a Crimean War transport. It ran from Liverpool to Havre in 1866 but was then sold. Note by ICS (5 July 2001): Three of Cunard's ships, requisitioned by the British Government for military use during the Crimean War, have been identified as Cambria, Europa, and Niagara. The fourth has been more elusive. |
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Note by ICS (22 January 2002): It now appears that seven Cunard ships were requisitioned by the British Government for military use during the Crimean War. In addition to the three named above, four others were used as Crimean War transports in 1854-1855: Andes, Cunard's first iron-hull screw-driven ship, made its maiden voyage across the North Atlantic from Liverpool to New York, December 1852 - January 1853. In 1854 it was used as a Crimean War transport. Arabia began its maiden voyage across the North Atlantic from Liverpool to New York on 1 January 1853. In 1854 it was used as a Crimean War transport. In 1856 Arabia returned to Cunard's transatlantic service, Liverpool - Halifax - Boston and Liverpool - New York. Alps began its maiden voyage across the North Atlantic from Liverpool to New York on 2 February 1853. In 1854 it was used as a Crimean War transport, and then went back to Cunard's service. Taurus was built for Cunard's Mediterranean service and began its maiden voyage from Liverpool to Constantinople on 20 April 1853. Later in 1853 Taurus travelled between Liverpool and New York, and in 1854 was used as a Crimean War transport. |
Edson Baldwin Olds (1802-1869): a Representative from Ohio; born in Marlboro, Vermont, June 3, 1802; moved to Ohio about 1820; member of the State house of representatives in 1842, 1843, 1845, and 1846; served in the State senate 1846-1848 and was its presiding officer in 1846 and 1847; elected as a Democrat to the 31st, 32nd, and 33rd Congresses (March 1849 to March 1855); chairman, Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads (32nd and 33rd Congresses); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1854 to the 34th Congress; moved to Lancaster, Ohio, in 1857; during the Civil War was arrested for disloyalty and imprisoned in Fort Lafayette in 1862; while in prison was again elected a member of the State house of representatives; after his release from prison served in the above capacity from 1862 to 1866; resumed mercantile pursuits; died in Lancaster, Ohio, January 24, 1869.
Source:
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=O000063
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at Washington on the 15th of February 1849. The Niagara — Cunard line — left Boston with a mail under the Postal Treaty on the 21st of February 1849 (Congressman Olds' speech, 15 February 1855) Complete text of the 1848 Postal Convention (Treaty) between Great Britain and the United States There shall be charged upon all letters not exceeding half an ounce 14 grams in weight, conveyed either by United States or by British packets (ships), between a port in the United States and a port in the United Kingdom, an uniform sea rate of eight pence, or sixteen cents; and such postage shall belong to the country by which the packet conveying the letters is furnished... http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/diplomacy/britian/br1848.htm RMS (Royal Mail Steamship) Niagara departed from Liverpool, England, at noon on Saturday, 27 January 1849, commanded by Captain Stone. On Friday, 9 February 1849, Niagara stopped as usual for a few hours at Halifax, and then continued on to Boston, arriving there on Sunday morning, 11 February. Niagara encountered much severe weather on this trip and was detained several hours by ice off Cape Sable. She brought 52 passengers to Boston. Source: New Brunswick Courier, 17 February 1849 (A weekly newspaper published in Saint John, New Brunswick) This was one of the regular trips under Cunard's contract with the British Admiralty. As specified by the contract, through the three months December 1848, January and February 1849, Cunard's RM ships departed Liverpool once every two weeks. From 1 March 1849, departures from Liverpool were weekly, every Saturday at noon. As noted by Congressman Olds, Niagara's return trip departed from Boston on Wednesday, 21 February 1849. Niagara's departure from Liverpool on Saturday, 27 January 1849, was Cunard's last westbound trip before the start of Nova Scotia's Pony Express. Cunard's next departure from Liverpool was Europa, commanded by Captain W.G. Browne, at noon Saturday, 10 February 1849. Europa arrived at Halifax at 5pm Wednesday, 21 February 1849. The first trip of the Pony Express departed Halifax on Europa's arrival and, eleven hours later, delivered the news packet to the Associated Press' specially chartered ship waiting at Victoria Beach, Annapolis County, which took the news across the Bay of Fundy to Saint John, where it was immediately telegraphed to New York. |
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Telegraph Offices in operation in Nova Scotia 30 September 1855 | |
| Annapolis | Middleton |
| Antigonish | New Glasgow |
| Arichat | Pictou |
| Barrington | Port Hood |
| Bridgewater | Pugwash |
| Bridgetown | Ragged Islands |
| Canso East | Sackville |
| Canso West | Shelburne |
| Cape Canso | Sydney |
| Chester | Tatamagouche |
| Digby | Truro |
| Guysborough | Wallace |
| Halifax | Weymouth |
| Hantsport | Wilmot |
| Kentville | Windsor |
| Liverpool | Wolfville |
| Lunenburg | Yarmouth |
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Source: 1855 Annual Report of the Nova Scotia Electric Telegraph Company dated in Halifax on 9th January 1856 and published as Appendix No. 6, pages 67-72 of Journal and Proceedings of the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia, Session 1856 CIHM: 9_00946_107 | |
direction of the President of the United States, may contract with any competent person, persons, or association, for the aid of the United States, by furnishing not exceeding two ships in laying down a submarine cable, to connect existing telegraphs between the coast of Newfoundland and the coast of Ireland, and for the use of such submarine communication when established by the government of the United States, on such terms and conditions as shall seem to the President just and reasonable, not exceeding seventy thousand dollars per annum until the nett profits of such person, or persons, or association, shall be equal to a dividend of six per cent. per annum, and then not exceeding fifty thousand dollars per annum for twenty-five years:
Provided, that the government of Great Britain shall, before or at the same time, enter into a like contract for those purposes with the same person, persons, or association, and upon terms of exact equality with those stipulated by the United States: And provided, That the tariff of prices for the use of such submarine communication by the public shall be fixed by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States and the government of Great Britain, or its authorized agent: Provided further, That the United States and the citizens thereof shall enjoy the use of the said submarine telegraph communication for all time on the same terms and conditions which shall be stipulated in favor of the government of Great Britain, and the subjects thereof, recognizing equality of rights among the citizens of the United States in the use of said submarine communication and the lines of telegraph which may at any time connect with the same at its terminus on the coast of New Foundland and in the United States, in any contract so to be entered into by such person, persons, or association, with that government:
Provided further, That the contract to be made by the British government shall not be different from that already proposed by that government to the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company except such provisions as may be necessary to secure to each government the transmission of its own messages by its own agents: And provided further, That it shall be in the power of Congress, after ten years, to terminate said contract upon giving one year's notice to the parties to such contract.
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Nova Scotian Telegraph 1849 - 1858 |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Miles | km | Built | |
| Halifax to New Brunswick border | 130 | 209 | 1849 |
| Truro to Pictou | 40 | 64 | 1850 |
| Halifax to Liverpool | 102 | 164 | 1851 |
| Halifax to Yarmouth (via Windsor) | 224 | 361 | 1852 |
| Pictou to Sydney, C.B. | 195 | 314 | 1852 |
| Pictou to Amherst (via Pugwash) | 80 | 129 | 1853 |
| Liverpool to Barrington | 62 | 100 | 1853 |
| Halifax to Truro (second wire) | 64 | 103 | 1853 |
| Barrington to Yarmouth | 45 | 72 | 1854 |
| Antigonishe to Cape Canso | 67 | 108 | 1854 |
| St. Peters, C.B. to Arichat, C.B. (about) | 20 | 32 | 1854 |
| Plaister Cove to Port Hood
(Plaister Cove is now known as Port Hastings) |
28 | 45 | 1855 |
| Wolfville to Canning | 9 | 14 | 1858 |
| Total | 1,066 | 1,716 | |
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In the very early days of the electric telegraph, the equipment was designed to deliver the message at the destination in the form of a squiggly line drawn by a mechanical pen on a paper tape — the line appearing along one side of the tape when there was no electric current in the telegraph circuit, moving across the tape when an electric current was supplied by the transmitter, and returning when the current disappeared — while the tape was pulled along at a steady speed by a clockwork mechanism. A shorter deviation indicated a dot, and a longer deviation a dash. After the complete message had been recorded on the paper tape, someone would tear off the tape, lay it on a table, and "read" it — scanning the squiggles in sequence from beginning to end, to decide what characters were represented and marking each one directly on the tape. Then the message would be copied from the marked tape by hand onto paper, usually a printed telegraph form, which was then delivered to the addressee. The tape-marking machine was very simple. The mechanical pen was mounted on a pivoted iron arm, which was placed close to a magnet connected to the telegraph circuit. The current in the telegraph line activated the magnet, which pulled the arm and pen and changed the position of the line on the tape. The marking machine had adjustable stops to control the movement of the arm. As the dots and dashes came through the circuit, the arm would move back and forth between the stops, making a clicking sound each time it moved. After a few months, some operators found that they could tell the characters from the clicking sound, without looking at the tape. They could write the message directly on the printed form, just by listening to the clicking of the marking arm. This development was a complete surprise to everyone. Nobody had anticipated that the message could be received just by listening to the clicking sound. This ability to write down the message directly from the sounder was a significant improvement in telegraph operations, and was quickly adopted in telegraph offices everywhere. However, this method meant that telegraph operators had to develop a new skill which required special training. This 1863 report that, in telegraph offices in Nova Scotia, "nearly everything is taken by sound" means that our telegraph system was using up-to-date methods. The tape-marker machines were kept, however, for occasional use for special messages where a direct paper record was considered to be desirable; this is the reason that "nearly everything" (but not everything) was taken by sound. Note by ICS, 24 May 2002 |
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Note by ICS, 7 May 2002:
In her book History of the Dominion Atlantic Railway, Marguerite Woodworth states that as part of the celebration of the opening of the Windsor Branch, Tuesday, June 8th, 1858, was declared a public holiday in Halifax by "the Lieutenant Governor, His Excellency Sir Gaspard le Marchant, the Earl of Mulgrave; all shops and offices were closed to enable the population to celebrate"... However, Mr. Jay Underwood has helpfully brought to my attention that Sir Gaspard le Marchant and the Earl of Mulgrave were two different people. There were two Nova Scotia Lieutenant Governors during 1858: Sir John Gaspard Le Marchant: 5 Aug 1852 - 15 Feb 1858 George Augustus Constantine Phipps, Earl of Mulgrave: 15 Feb 1858 - 17 Sep 1863 Thus G.A.C. Phipps was the Lieutenant Governor who presided over the official celebration of the opening of the Halifax to Windsor railway in June 1858. |
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189,465 board feet = 15,789 cubic feet
= 447.1 cubic metres |
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Wayback Machine http://web.archive.org/index.html "Use the Wayback Machine to view web sites from the past." History of Nova Scotia, Chapter 9 The Wayback Machine has copies of this webpage from the early days: Archived: 2000 August 15 http://web.archive.org/web/20000815195255/http://www.alts.net/ns1625/nshist09.html Archived: 2000 December 6 http://web.archive.org/web/20001206081500/http://alts.net/ns1625/nshist09.html Archived: 2001 February 8 http://web.archive.org/web/20010208132736/http://www.alts.net/ns1625/nshist09.html Archived: 2001 April 19 http://web.archive.org/web/20010419135245/http://www.alts.net/ns1625/nshist09.html Archived: 2001 August 16 http://web.archive.org/web/20010816212740/http://alts.net/ns1625/nshist09.html Archived: 2001 November 16 http://web.archive.org/web/20011116051114/http://www.alts.net/ns1625/nshist09.html |
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