tation on
the top of one hill may be made visible to the next station on the top
of the next hill. He invented twenty-four simple characters, each
formed of a combination of three deal boards, each character
representing a letter by the use of cords; these characters were
pushed from behind a screen and exposed, and then withdrawn behind the
screen again. It was not, however, until the French revolution that
the telegraph was applied to practical purposes; but about the end of
1703 telegraphic communication was established between Paris and the
frontiers, and shortly afterward telegraphs were introduced into
England.

The history of the invention and introduction of the electric
telegraph by Prof. Morse is one of inexhaustible interest, and every
incident relating to it is worthy of preservation. The incidents
described below will be found of special interest. The article is from
the pen of the late Judge Neilson Poe, and was the last paper written
by him. He prepared it during his recent illness, the letter embodied
in it from Mr. Latrobe being of course obtained at the time of its
date. It is as follows:

On the 5th of April, 1843, when the monthly meeting of the directors
of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company was about to adjourn, the
President, the Hon. Louis McLane, rose with a paper in his hand which
he said he had almost overlooked, and which the Secretary would read.
It proved to be an application from Prof. Morse for the privilege of
laying the wires of his electric telegraph along the line of the
railroad between Baltimore and Washington, and was accompanied by a
communication from B.H. Latrobe, Esq., Chief Engineer, recommending
the project as worthy of encouragement.

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