Western Union

HSP_TelegraphDecoding_RemoteLearningActivity

Modern text documents use ASCII code (American Standard Code for Information Interchange). 

ASCII code is a modern version of Morse Code.

 

A modern text file (with extension .txt) uses ASCII coding to store each character in a document.  The ASCII coding is similar to Morse Code.

In Morse code a character is made up of ‘dits’ or ‘dahs’.  A ‘dit’ has a time duration of one unit of time.  A ‘dah’ has a time duration of three units of time.  The time spacing between the ‘dits’ and the ‘dahs’ making up a character is one unit of time.  The letter Q is ‘dah’, ‘dah’, ‘dit’, ‘dah’.  The ‘dit’ and the ‘dah’ is equivalent to a one or a zero in a binary code.  The time spacing between a sequential characters is three units of time and the time spacing between words is seven units of time.

In ASCII code a character is made up of ones and zeros in a group.  The group is a combination of eight ones and zeros known as a byte.  The individual one or zero is known as a bit.  Bit is a name coined by Prof. John Tukey of Princeton and is short for ‘binary digit’.  The letter Q in ASCII code is 01010001 (HEX format, 51 – HEX format is made up of 2 four-bit groups – a 5 in a four-bit group is 0101 and a one in a four-bit group is 0001).  The letter q in ASCII code (that is lower case Q) is 01110001 (HEX format, 71).  When an ASCII text file is being sent along a wire (for example on an ETHERNET cable), each bit lasts for a set unit of time.  Like Morse Code, there is a waiting time of before the next character is sent.

ASCII code is a descendent of the original Morse code.  It is in common use in modern times to store and transmit information.

A table of ASCII 8-bit code is below.  Below that is Morse code.  In Morse code a letter might be made up of one, two, three, or four ‘dits’ and ‘dahs’.  Numbers are made up fo five ‘dits’ and ‘dahs’.  In ASCII code, letters, numbers, and control characters are all made up of 8 ones and zeros.

The History of the Western Union

1851 (April): Hiram Sibley and Samuel L. Selden, and others, established the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company. The Rochester, NY firm continued to acquire rival lines and in 1856, combined forces with Ezra Cornell’s Erie & Michigan Telegraph company (with John J. Speed and F.O.J. Smith) becoming the Western Union Telegraph Company. (Image: Western Union’s 1883–84 Telegraph Headquarters, NYC) In the late 1850s, WU began rapidly expanding West.

Samuel Lee Selden

1859: Western Union began the continental expansion and took control of new western lines, including Stebbins’ St. Louis–Atchison lines, continuing the Arkansas–California Telegraphs. Dec 23, 1859, the building of the St. Louis–San Francisco Telegraph line (part of the first completed transcontinental link) began.

https://papersofprinceton.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/?a=d&d=princetonpress18591223.1.3&srpos=3&e=——-en-20–1-byDA-txt-txIN-%22western+union%22–—- 

http://papersofprinceton.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/?a=d&d=princetonpress18590916.1.1&srpos=2&e=——-en-20–1-byDA-txt-txIN-%22western+union%22——

https://papersofprinceton.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/?a=d&d=princetonpress18581015.1.1&srpos=1&e=——-en-20–1-byDA-txt-txIN-%22western+union%22–—-

1861 (October 24): WU finished the first transcontinental Telegraph line (Omaha–Salt Lake City–San Francisco). Upon completion, Chief Justice Stephen Field sent a message to President Lincoln that the United States was fully “wired” coast to coast. Lincoln, who was a frequent user of the newly available “lightning” communication, would commonly send his in-the-field communications using the telegraph.

https://ethw.org/Milestones:Transcontinental_Telegraph,_1861

https://www.history.com/articles/abraham-lincoln-telegraph-civil-war

From 1865–1867, Western Union financed the Russian–American Telegraph project. The proposed line stretched from Seattle, via Alaska and Siberia, to Moscow. Western Union’s investment was approximately $3 Million, and after the first successful trans-Atlantic cable (1866) made the route to Europe via England possible, the project was abandoned in 1867.

https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/russamertelegraph.htm

1866 (July 24): Congress passed the Telegraph Act of 1866, allowing telegraph companies rights from the federal government to construct telegraph lines along all post roads and eliminating state and local telegraph franchises and fees. This made a franchise a part of the public domain, and allowed Western Union to expand telegraph service throughout the United States, as local and state governments could no longer impede WU’s expansion with local franchise fees. In exchange, WU was obligated to give priority to government communications. Additionally, Western Union introduced a new service called the stock ticker. It allowed Western Union to send stock data over telegraph lines which gave Western Union a dominant position in financial data distribution.

https://thebhc.org/telegraph-act-1866-entering-wedge-against-western-union-monopoly

https://www.stocktickercompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/StockTickerBrochure.pdf

1871: Western Union tested the first money orders. This service allowed customers to send money directly to one another. Senders deposited cash in any WU office, which would then send a coded telegram to the WU office at the destination. The recipient would then receive the money sent. Western Union’s new system made instantaneous cash transfers system safe and efficient.

http://www.morsetelegraphclub.com/files/OldSiteArchive/files/WUHistory.pdf

1881: Jay Gould pioneered a creative, and, at the time, illegal way to take control of the Western Union. He created the A & P Telegraph Company, a competing telegraph service, to drop the value of Western Union shares. He then shorted Western Union and used his profit to buy a controlling interest in Western Union. This allowed Gould to force a merger between his A & P Telegraph Company and the Western Union which gave him control over the largest communications monopoly at the time.

Western Union and the creation of the American corporate order, Chapter 8

1883 (July-August): A national strike is launched by the Brotherhood of Telegraphers (a Knights of Labor group). The strike is supported by 15,000 men and women members of WU whom walked out on the 19th of July, demanding equal pay for women, the establishment of the eight hour work day, and the right to overtime pay. The strike interfered with national communications for a short time, and was put down by Western Union on the 11th of August. Many of the strike organizers were put on a blacklist.

https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SDU18830720.2.14&e=——-en–20–1–txt-txIN——–

1909: After buying a 30% stake in Western Union, AT&T (American Telephone & Telegraph Co.) dominated both the telephone and telegraph services. However, after a period of antitrust scrutiny, the Kingsbury Commitment in 1913 required AT&T to divest Western Union and discontinue monopolistic cross ownership. By 1914 Western Union was independent once more.

https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-324810A1.pdf

1914: Western Union serviced the first Metal Money card, an example of the early version of consumer credit cards. These cards, given to a small number of trusted Western Union clients (i.e. government officials), allowed customers to use credit to pay for Western Union services.

1920s–1930s: During this time period, telegram traffic became more popular than long-distance phone calls. At its peak, Western Union sent 200 million telegrams each year. During this time, the telephone was also becoming more widespread. However, the telegraph continued to be the fastest, most popular, and most reliable method of long-distance communication in the U.S. until the telephone networks became cheaper and more widespread.

2006 (January 27): Western Union ceased operation of telegrams and commercial messaging. The service ended because Western Union said that demand declined because other services offered by the telephone, fax, email, text, and the internet replaced telegram services. The end of these services marked the end of a 150 year old communications service. This also finished the transition of Western Union from the most prominent telegram company to a money transfer and financial service company.

Sources

The Movement of Western Union At Princeton

D_s_American_and_European_Railway_and_St go to page 167

The original telegraph company operating out of Princeton was the Magnetic Telegraph Company. The company was then acquired by the American Telegraph Company. Then, the American Telegraph Company merged into Western Union. So, it is probable that the office that was home to the Magnetic Telegraph Company became the office of the Western Union in Princeton between 1866 and 1873.

The Press building was located on Witherspoon St so the Western Union office was located somewhere around 70 Witherspoon St. This was the Western Union office between the years 1873 and 1896.

The office then moved to Lower Pyne or 104 Nassau St. The construction of this building was commissioned by Moses Taylor Pyne. This served as the location of the office until 1963 when Western Union formally left Princeton.

https://sirismm.si.edu/EADpdfs/NMAH.AC.0205.pdf   –    page 20

https://papersofprinceton.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/?a=d&d=princetonpress18730222.1.3&srpos=9&e=——-en-20–1-byDA-txt-txIN-%22western+union%22——

Pyne & Gildersleeve

Princeton_university_directory_(IA_princetonunivers00np)

The Equipment of Telegraph Offices in Princeton

When the first telegraph office was established in Princeton in the year 1846, the standard equipment that was issued was primarily the Morse Register which used al electromagnet to press a stylus onto a tape of paper which would record the message.

magnte0001artass page 13 – 15

That was the standard from 1846 to 1859. The standard never changed so registers were still used up until 1859 when the Magnetic Telegraph Company was acquired by the American Telegraph Company. The American Telegraph Company commonly used sounders rather than registers.