The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 29, 1901, Page 11

THE SUNDAY CALL 11 TAMES GAMBLE ngui been t hoids shed honer first manager the first teole- in Califernia. Hb> pied the same pasition when great transcontinental liny cted of the tion of service in tha i 1 desk duty Gamble (“x ce ¥ bad direct charge of the party that stretched tha 6 in 1if a. a night he slept on the “soft side of a pla after having worked from daw until dark, but he got the C: nia line up and in working ord between San Francisco, San Jos», Sacramento and Marysvil.a time of six ¢ franchi That was In 1861 he hed control of the building of the transcontinental line between Carson City snd Salt Lak that connected the Golden West with the Far East and bound California by cords of el to the heart of the Union. This work was commenced o1 the 27th of May, 1881, and on the 24th of Cctober of the same year barely five months later, the firs! message was clicked over the wire. This was California’s first step in the remarkable growth that she has since ned M1 o le has written especially unday Call an account of the ding of these two lines that laid e cornerstone of the prosperity o: What he has to say is not teresting r8 a recital of ad- T i enterprise, but, coming m such a source, it is history. Ly James Gamble. nor w 1 utility the conti- st in tie Allen and islatura giving them tha se, Stock- en it exclusive should vember, 185 inted super ell, for many are mer- e coptract acramento from men em-= it was to bg for the 1st of and uniess operation by that time uic >t hold good. setters were already nce agd there was no ere five men i s nyself. Our means of nsisted of the running on which were placel to hold our meager sheet-iron boll. knives, forks and n served the further reel and runaing sma 1 of September, 1833. e must have com- r two hundred \ pressure work « v we strung up about miles of wire. The next day wq commer ot daylight, worked unti] dark i managed to get six miles morg in 3 s S interested had we¢ been in our labors that as night closed in we we were lost. We b no tent with ng the day having noticed bin had decided to pars him. A heavy fog rolled and the cabin nad ic. After see e up the search about to prepare supper. Then it ane of the party in hunting for 2 squat the night with ewood stum right on the cabin that been almost under our noses all time. That cabin was one of ths ightest epots in all those six weeks of hard work At that time there was no eight-hour law and as our beds were generally made on “the soft side of a plank” It was almost easier to work than to sleep. We sent the al good rate of from five to & y. On the fifth day out we hed a polnt near w ow Belmont, and the site of what was @fterward noted as the Ralston mansion. Here the first attempt was successfully e to open up communication by tele- g h Francisco. On testing the line 1 found a good current coming from the San Francisco batteries. I con- pected my instruments and placed myself in direct communication with that office, San then located in the Old City Hall, which 18 now T ed by the Hall of Justice. This was the first message ever trans- mitted on the Pacific Coast over a tele- gr=pb 1 After this the line was used every night to repo he progress of work. The population were wonder- struck and overwheimed with curlosity at the comstruction of the line. They ex- les pined the p looked at the wire, and then the wise heads, after noting the cross-trees, decided that the Iinventive Yankees were fencing in the whole coun- try with crosses to keep the devil out. Finally we reached San Jose and there established the first regular station. The ofice was fitted up the day after our arrival, and I soon had it prepared for business. word was passed around by the ratives that something remarkable T was going on and the stréet was soon filied with open-mouthed miracle-seekers. 71 : rot that all the win- dows of the office were open, and of course every one of them was street deep with awe-inspired observers. Noticing the gea of heads curiously expectant, I pur- posely acted as mysterious as possible. Iivery tigne the Instrument clicked there was a hushed buzz of concentrated won- der. I had just received the first message from San Francisco, copied it and placed it in an envelope. On seeing me do this my audience thought that I was preparing a message on magic paper and getting ready to presto change it by the spirits of the wire to San Francisco. Instead of giving the telegram to the boy for delivery 1 purposely took it with a great gesticulation and held it under the table ovt of sight. Then I assumed a theatrica! pose, stared at the wire over- head, waved with my right hand and be- gan to work the ke The buzz at the window increased to a murmur and then passed to an excited roar from those who could not see, but knew that the spirits were about to work. In a second the crowd knew as one man that a yellow envelope with the message was about to be sent over the wire. Only an instant and the windows were vacant —everybody was tumbling over his neigh- bor to get a look at the phenomenon of a yellow envelope flying over the wires that left the side of the building. There was an expectant hush. Then somebody yelled: “There she goes *No, she didn’t. I've had my eye an that wire for ten minutes.” t's a fraud t's bogus!” LIFORN] A second of silence and the burst of laughter from the inside of the office tolu tkem that there was‘a joke somewhere, and the show was either over or had not bezun. As they had failed to see the message pass along the wire their second supposi- ticn was that the wire must be hollow and the envelope had been rolled up un- der the table and shot through to San Francisco. Everybody wanted to look at the end of the wire, and after finding that their secoud guess was wrong they gave it up. There was only one solution. The tele- graph was an enchanted spirit of some kind. I was a wizard. The whole thing was uncanny. It might blow up at any minute, and the best thing to do was to keep away from something that no one could understand and no one could ex- plain. This was California in 1853, After finishing at San Jose we made ar- rangements to push the work on to Stock- ton. I found that the wire for this next run was larger than that used before and would not work so well on our reel. The first day we were able to make only three miles, and I decided to return to San Jose and have some alterations made in the mechanical part of our wagon. That night we had stopped at the house of a farmer who had left the Eastern States before the advent of the telegraph. He was very much taken with the possibilities of tei- egraphy and would like to believe in it, but according to his mind it was impossi- ble and that was all there was about it. To convince him I clicked off a message to the operator in San Jose. That settled it. No sane man could be made to be- lieve that anybody could read the taps of a little fron bar like that, and according to his mind I must bave a great imagin- atlon and small conscience. I told him that I had just asked the Ban Jose man to expect me Jn the morn- ing and be ready to repair the machinacy. The farmer was very pollte, but he inti- wated that he had a wagon load of wat- ¢rmelons to back up his opinfon that the operator would know nothing about my coming until I rode up in frout of the office the next day. ‘Watermelons at that time w lar each and the days were v The temptation was too sreat. 1 sald that not only would the operator be expecting us, but I should wire him tu meet us at tue door with tl question, ““Where are the watermelons My agreement to do this incraased the Interest of my rancher friend, and wi true California ospitality he turn his house o u After he hitched up air of horses and we went for San Jose. I felt as it e robbif 5 the maun, but watermelons on a ioi dav are un elegant cor sulvy, 1 thought he would fall out of the wagon when we reached the door of the ofies and th the or shouting “Wkheie are those o excitedly watermelons? Where are those watermelois 1 made up the disgiace of “betting on a eure by explaining a.l the mys- teries of the aph to him, and he en- thu tically decided that he would give a ¢ wagen load of meions could lose bet as that one. ry day If he on new inventions as greut In the m me and while my party was working toward the north, L. B~ Iker, later of the firm of Baker & Hamil- ton, had charge of the wirlng party work- ing from 1 ville south. We saved t franchise by six d for the line complcied and in operation by the his won for the company the ve right of telegraphing for fifteen trom the date of the completion of ~and a most valuable conce. The opening of that line placed all the rarge eities of Californfa in direct com- munication, and as money was plentiful and tume unble ti largely made use of. The tarift between San Fran San Jose was % cents for ten words and 3 cents for every addit.onal five words or tion thereof. From San Francisco to telegraph was sco and f Btockton, Sacrumento and Marysyille the per ten words. Still no com- plaint was made by the pubic that the 1ates were too high. To them the line was a luxury at any price, No sooner had the telegraph in Califor- nia been demonstrated a success than the people of the Pacific Coast began (o je- alize thelr isolated position from the rest of the Union, end the question of an over- land telegraph line was agitated. After many political skirmighes and the intro ducing of many bills It was finally dec ded \hat no private company would be able to 1ate was undertake so vast an enterprise without the aid of the Government. It was not only a question of building the line, but the matter of maintenance after comple- tion had to be considered. A Diil finally passed Congress approe priating $40,000 a year for ten years to- ward the construction and maintenance of a line of telegraph between the Atlan- tic and the Pacific States. The contract for building the line was awarded to the Western Unfon Company, who put in a bid at the maximum price fixed by Con- gress, the bid to go In Hiram Sibley's name, but if successful all the California lines so disposed were to share in the benefits. Other companies had made bids but withdrew before the time to put up the necessary bonds. The parties whom Mr. Sibley represent- ed met at Rochester, N. Y., and agreed that if all the California lines would con- solidate they should have the construction of the line from Salt Lake to the Pacific connection, while the Western Union should build from Salt Lake to the east- ern connection. It was also agreed that the California and general subsidies, to- gether with the receipts, should be divid- ed equitably between them. In the fall of the same year, 1860, J. H. ‘Wade, the representative of the Western Union Company, came to California to complete arrangements for the commence- ment of the great work. He brought the matter before the several companies then in operation on the Pacific Coast, prépos- ing to them a plan of consolldation of all their lines, which was immediateiy car- ried out. The different companies agreed to consolidate with iie California State Telegraph Company and to create a new company called toe Overland Telegraph Company, . with a capital stock ot $1,260,000, to complete & bne from San Francisco to Balt Lake. This company. on the comple- tlon of the line, was merged int, the Cali- fornia State Telegraph Company (the cap- ital stock being doubled), which from that time until its later consolidation with the Western Union owned and controlled the telegraph lines from San Francisco to Salt Lake. The Western Union had in the meantime established a similar organiza- tion on the eastern slde of the continent to, meet the line from this side at Salt Lake. The work of construction was com- menced without delay. All the material was ordered and plans were made to com- plete the Ifne before the close of 1861 The work on the eastern end was under the superintendence of _RBdward Cre'ghton, while I wes given charge of the construc- tion from this end. The lines of the California State Tele- graph Company bad been extended as far as Virginia City in Nevada after ihe consolidation of the lines, so it was de- cided that we should’ begin on the over- land telegraph at Carson City. The wire and insulators en ordered from the Eust and shipped around Cape Horn. 'Tha st lmportant tem of materials were the poles. These had to be hauted on wagons and distributed along the rout: from Carson City to Salt Lake, a distance of €00 miles. As there was not a stick of th ght all along the whole ¢ tan med a puzzle that would be s01ve Fortunately among my as stants man full of piu and energ. Street, who n personal f nd of Brigham Young, and early In the spring he went to Salt Lake and made arrangements with the Mor- mons for the necessary poles along that section of the line. Furthermore he made friends of the Indian chlefs as far as possible and this proved of the greatext advantage. A man who In & negative way did a great deal for the telegraph was Bho-kup, head chief of the Shoshones He was not only a man of power in his own tribe but exerted a strong influence over ‘the Goshutes and Pah-Utes. Sho-kup was pers ed to take a stuge ride as Carson City and the tel graph was explained to him by.an intec- preter. He afterward called it “We-ente- o-ke-te-hope,” meaning “wire rope ox His iden of the telegraph was t it was an animal, and he wished to know on what it fed. They told him it ate lightning; but, as he had never sa¢n any one make a,supper of lightning he was not disposed to believe that. He was very well treated in Carson City and was told that he might talk with the Big Cap- tain (President H. W. Carpentier) of telegraph company at San Francisco. Thereupon he dictated the following dis- pateh: “Sho-kup, Big Chief of the Shoshones, sa)s to Dig Captain at S8an Francisco that his Indians will not injure the telegraph line. $ho-kup is a triend of the white man, ordered presents of food and clothing to be made to him. We realized fully the necessity of having the Indlans for our frlr‘ndn and no pains were spared to this end. Mr. Street contracted with the Mormons for two to three hundred miles of poles for the eastern section of the line from Salt Lake west, and I contracted for one hundred miles running east from Carson City to Ruby Valley. I had many mis- givings in respect to these contracts for poles, especially regarding those for the middie section. ng that portion of the Toute the mountains and plains were tree- less as far as the eye could reach. Where, then, the poles were to come from I could Dot conceive. But the frontier men with whom the bargain had been made ap- peared to know their busimess, and as [ afterward learned had in their hunmting expeditions discovered canyons awd gorges in the mountains where stunted pine and quaking asp could be found cut- ficiently Jarge for telegraph poles. So far, then, ail was satisfactory We purchased twenty-six wagons to v the materials over the Sierra Ne- vadas, apd on the 27th of May, 1861, the outfit 1y to move. It comprised 2 ox men and several riding hors edition v laced in the of I. M. Hubbard, an experj- In it took us a month s instea. r;f fit- charge enced and energetic telegraph builder. spite of our best effort te r the moun > it W 3 reached Carson Valley and the work coustruction commenced. v Ta the meantime, the poles were being lisiributed from both ends of the line, L the wire and insulators for the eerter end ad been ordered s fium the Missouri River to Salt E the work began energetieally from both engs. The route selected Omaha, up the South P! Kearncy, ter and Lak yon of was by way of te, via old Fort ort Laramie, up the. Sweetwa- Sal P to irough the South 0 »_Deep Creek Ruby Valley to Virginia City. were not at that time In fact)\the only settlement of tha route was one at where some troops were sta- and Austin and Eure in existence. along t Ruby V tioned ir. Creighton as I have stated, i who, the eastern sectic mmunicated freely. advising ench other at frequent intervals of the progress of the work. His reports showed me with what energy he was pushing for- ward, and so cnthusiastic were we both thht a wager was lald_between us as to who would first reach Salt Lake ready to oren communicaticn with San Franelsco and the Fast The line was first staked off, the hole- diggers followed; then came the pole-: tera, and next the wire party. We made frem three to eight miles per day. An advance telegraph station was kept up with the head of the 1 and progress reported from day to day. The news r celved on the arrival of the Pony E was telegraphed at once to San Francisco and other points. Commercial dls) were also sent and recelved daily nd In this way the newspapers {n San Francisco were supplied with news and were dafly gaining on time as the lines advanced east and west across the continent to thelr meeting point. The most friendly relations were main- tained with the Indians, nd many of them were employed by us largely with this point In mind: that they might re- port to thefr tribes how weil they were treated and thus favorably influence them te 'd the members of the party and the telegraph line. That this good feeling The First Message. His people obey him. Fe will order them to be friendly with the white men and not injure the telegraph. He would like to see Big Captain, but must return to his tribe and cannot go to San Fran- cisco.” On receipt of this message Geéneral Car-" pentier, president of the company, sent Sho-kup several friendly messages and ‘was_ maintained throughout was also in a measure due to an order issued at the start that any man of the expedition get- ting into trouble with the Indians, or their squaws, would be immediately di missed from' the service, and Lus rule was strictly enforced. Besides our general kindness, several in- cidents occurred that made the Indians think that ‘‘the wire express” was dis- tinctly a spirit to be tampered with only - by the tribe of white men telegraph ope- rators. At one time, about 200 miles east of the Slerra Nevada, a thunder storm broke over the valley at some distance from where we were working. The wires became so charged with electricity that the men were obliged to use buckskin gloves to avold the shocks. Some strange Indlans came up about this time and one of the bueks volunteered to help pull on the wire that the men were stretching. His bare hands and feet were just the kind of a conductor that old electro had been wuiting for and it gave him such a shock that he doubled over to the ground. Quick as a flash he dropped the wire and made the prettiest 400-yard dash that I have ever seen. He didn’t even stop to take breath. Off at a safe distance, he recovered his dignity, came to a full stop and gravely motioned for the uninitiated bucks of his party to approach. What he saild to them is probably a matter of Indlan history, but always re- mained a dark secret with us. He felt no antagonism toward the party. In fact, wé went up a thousand per cent in his estimation. Those Indians decided that we were an exclusive tribe of white Ine dians all by ourselves who could handle the unseen spirits without trouble, and they passed the word arcund among the tribes that the best thing to be done was to treat us well and look out for the wire. After that when an Indian wanted to cross under a telegraph line the favorite method was for him to get on a horse and go under with full s ahead. Even later, when the Indians were on the rampage for soldiers and settlers, they always treated the telegraph with a cere tain amount of respect. At one time they wrecked an office and carried away a carboy of nitric acid under the deluston nat it was a superior brand of firewater. The Indlan does not drink his whisky in pony es, but always takes a good swig out of the demijohn t make sure. The first buck who tackled the nit actd was laid out stiff and cold in less time than it takes to tell about it, and theres upon it was decided in e ncil hurriedly called that any ibe of w men who could drink firewater as strong as that were entitled to undying respect and imiration of t Indian buck who wore m And so tk forth tk best t £ Indians was to give any of the parapher- nalla of the “wireless express’ men & e berth; that telegraph operators and smen_were good feillows themselves, but their affairs must not be eddled with under any circumstances. The construction of the line was pushed forward as rapidly as possible. Many ser ous difficuities were encountered that re- quired our greatest energies to overcome. 1n one instance sixteen miles of line were buflt in one day on the desert in order to reach a point where w uld be ob= tained. Again, our pole contractors falled us, and it was necessary to send our own teams to the mountains to procure and i them. The frst c with the Mormons was also a fa but Brigham Young denounced the contructors from the pulpit and said that the work of furnishing poles should and must be carried out. fror that things went better. Some of the poles had to be hauled two hundred miles, most them bei 1k om_the mountains in the vicinit . there being very few to be had west of that point. Up to the 1st of October the work had progressed as well as could have been ox- pected, all things considered. The poles w nearly ali deiivered and the Hne completed, with the exception of some fifty or sixty mile: stween Ruby Valley and Schell Creek, about midway betweeny Carson City and Sait Lake. For that seo- tion of the line we. were obliged to go inta the mountains ourselves to get poles. Wa narrowly escaped being snowed in, but after hard work managed to get all that we wanted and be back on the plains be< fore the winter storms had started lm earnest. It was a close shave, however, and I had to go with the men myself ta keep them from stampeding. Having now secured all the poles neces- sary for the completion of the iine and having given orders for winding up ajl matters and for the return of the expedi- tion, I returned to Ruby Valley on my way home, so as to be in San Francisco at the moment of the opening of the line. 1 reached home in ample time for the first message across the great transcongl- nental telegraph line, which flew over the wire on the evening of October 24, 1861. The great work which had been agitated for so many years on this coast, in the East and in Congress was completed, and in the short space of five months from the time the expedition moved from Sacra- mento. It had been proposed to get up a cele- bratton in honor of such an important event, but owing to the uncertainty as to the exact time when the line would be completed no preparation had been made. ‘The employes of the company who stooi around manifested the greatest anxiety, watching for the first click of the Instru- ment across the comtinent came and read as follows ALT LAKE, QOct. 24, 1361, 5:13 p. ms o Ceneral H. W. Carpentier: Line Just completed. Can you come to office? STREET. The next dispatch was from Brig Young and read as follows “GREAT SALT LA October “To Hon. H. W. ( ntler, President of the Overland Telegraph Company— Dear Sir: I am very much obliged for your_kindnees, manifested through you and Mr. Street, in giving me privilege of first message to California. May success ever attend the enterprise. The success of Mr. Street in complet his end of the line under many unfavorable circum- stances In so short a time béyond our most sanguine anticipations. Join your wires with the Russian Empire and we will converse with Europe. “Your friend RI NG The first message sent from San Fri clsco was as follows: “SAN FRANC )ctober 24, ing, Great Sait ntract At last it am B CITY, p. m. “To Hon. Brigham Y Lake City: That which was so long a hepe is now a reali The transcomti- nental telegraph is complete. I congrar late you upon the s event. May it prove a bond of perpetual union and friendship between the people of Utad and the people of H This message, the section of the ov honor to manipul order was the following message, ing the painful announcement of tne death of Colonel E. D. Baker. It read: “GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, “October 24—7 p. . “To H. W. Carpentier: onel Baker was killed in battle on th st, while in the act of cheering on his command. Im- tense excitement and rhourning in Phila- delphia over his death. STREET. The street in front of the offlce was densely crowded during the evening, and there would probably have been an im- promptu celebration of the great eve but for the sad news above mentione: which cast a gioom over the city and pv vented any demonstration taking . place. Other dispatches were sent during the evening and ameng them the following to the President: “To Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States: In the temporary absence of the Governor of the State I am re- quested to send you the first message which will be transmitted over the wires of the telegraph line which connects the Pacific with the Atlantic States. The ple of California desire to congratul you upon the completion of the great work. They belleve that it will be the means of strengthening the attachment which binds both the East and the West myseif. ate to the Union, and they desire in this—the first message across the continent—to e press their loyaity to the Union and thel determination to stand by its Government on this its day of trial. They regard that Government with affection and will ad- here to it under all fortunes. “STEPHEN J. FIELD, “Chief Justice of California.” There were also received a large num- Ler of news dispatches, among which were the particulars of the death of Col- one!l Baker and another announcing: “Beauregard will retire beyond Bull Run.” The overland telegraph was then an ac- compiished fact. A few years previous news from the other side was only semi- monthly and usuul{lyhrrom twengy-five to thirty .dz old. en came the sem weekly I by the overiand routs, with news on an average from eightéen to twenty days old. After that came the pony express. This latter, though a_ vast improvement on both the first and the second, only made clearer that something still remained to be done to bring California within the sphere of the other civilized countries of the_world. "I%is the telegraph in its first clicke-did. With it disappeared the feeling of Isola- tion the inhabitants of the Pacific Coast had labored under. San Francisco was in instant communication with New Yorlk and the Atlantic seaboard. The change was a great one, but it was one to which the people readily = ted themselves, having wished and wi long for If. In that moment Califos was brought within the circle of the terhod of St No longer as one be- yond the pale of cl;!lllnllnn. dbul. with ewed assurance of peace and prospe: Ttv, She was linked in electrical bonds to, the great national family union.