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even before the familiar telegraph came this first instrument spark set fire to the world of communication. sure, western union was a boots and saddles but golden spike in the railroad ties singing and the growing pains of a great nation. what everybody knows commerce did the job.he about markets of kansas to the tables of the east.so it's the cotton mills of new england the southern plantations in the new york cutting tables. other methods of communication were slow and tedious. the telegraph was the only means of a rapid communication. it was direct, it was fast, kept pace with the nation's expanding frontiers. what he read question work what

he read question they are all late. what is your paper mister? what is this, joe? >> what is what? what's blank pages where the news? what do you know. >> sorry joe. joe'se' customer would not have happened if we had not arranged it. there's plenty of news today but it is still in the making. >> are right matt i will send that out right away. >> i do not mean to be personal but congratulations. >> did you mean to say the twins are boys or girls sir? how could he forget that they were boys for. >> a regular. telegram of cours? >> oh sure.

it. >> who also elected the good news? >> discussed about eight different people i lre have a lt more writing to do here. >> you that won't be necessary put down your address we will see they all get the g message. >> well. quick sure fred van twins are news. western union is about to make it official. and while you think of all the people who should know about alice and the twins, thousands of other telegrams being sent and received in other ways in the 10 block business area around you. ♪ high above the city a busy executive receives a telegram by desk affects the compact machine that operates by facsimile brings message transmission right to his desk. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ he places his reply on a cylinder and with a push of a button the reply goes direct to western union in his own handwriting and ultra modern telegraph method that's close to matching. fifty stories don't western union serves another man whose job demands fast and accurate communication. >> i like to send a telegram mrn structural steel company templeton, ohio. construction here ahead of schedule. urgent you wire immediately. earliest arrival structural steel. >> urgent word speed from an engineer to his home office a

steady flow of words and flashes to western union from thebu communication rooms of the large fig business firm a battery of tele- printers handle swiftly a details by the daily operations of the major business. to save time, to pack more hours into the day, to get on fast or delete record the minute details of a busy enterprise. no less important as telegraph service to the smaller business whose need for rapid communications is well served by the familiar call box. at the turn of a handle the summons arrives at the branch office recorded on tape. the experience clerk knows that a glance where the call originated in dispatches a customer to the messenger. all the while people come and go in the telegraph hub of the neighborhood. >> even caught short of cash.

twenty-five it would help. please telegraph western union banks. >> alright thank you very much. we will rush these out right away big. >> good. >> and good luck. >> thanks. >> is a typical bubble day at western union. behind the counter the mechanical nerves of the system change words to holes on tape in the holes on tape to electrical impulses speeding over the wires. here's the urgent order for the 20-ton crane. [background noises] to the western union operator impartially and impersonally sending it almost endless flow of words, the contrast between s go by with almost out notice. now the operator starts a quick tap of the keyboard and another

at once the creaky signal so guide the message automatically to its destination. now it is gone. already arriving in syracuse high-speed method center for the territory which the telegram originated a link in the chain of mechanized centers throughout the company. good news travels fast and with the speed of light this good news now in syracuse is automatically being flashed onward to st. louis for the delivery office guided only by the two key signals punched in new york swiftly, accurately, h practically nonstop along with thousands of other telegrams pulsing through these wires flashing through an and round-the-clock succession. now the high-speed transmitter hethe method appears before the operator in st. louis on both. .

as it arrives. she knows the destination and quick, with a push of a button, the words are on their way to cumberland. here they are arriving in printed form, ready to be gummed down on the familiar yellow black, happy group of happy group, announcing a double blessing to waiting grandparents. yes, sir. twins. six pounds each. alice is doing fine. loveve france. passage of the message by western union and at the very same time we follow this miami. preston, california reached it

and already delivered because distance means nothing when it's at the end of a telegraph circuit. telegram is 6-pound twins and 20-pound crane delivered, mile of western union newest developments, a modern message center on wheels which receives telegrams by radio in facsimile. virtually telegraph center at the doorstep and unless time the sailor would have a money he wants. thlinking tonight the vast westn union system from coast to coast and from a great center, multitude of connectec canning circuits directing linking thousands of pounds large and small throughout the country

with vast automatic telegraph system, the finest, fastest in the world. speedway extending far and wide with shores and even beyond to and from any part of the globe. meanwhile typical day continues from babies to butter. super market chain wants 500 pieces of butter now at the market price now, fly over the keyboard, the tape flows and instantly theed great automatic network and matter of minutes the butter order is on the floor of a large produce exchange. 70 million house wives are concerned with every move in this marketplace for the price tags of the nation's grocery shows are determined here. 500 cases, 95, the sale goes up on the big board. over the western union circuits

the transaction instancely to shippers across the land in every type of marketplace from butter to bonds, western union records the nation's sense. to provide service to as many as possible, today's western union reaches thees american people in different ways. those in small communities may no western union service through agencies and railway stations like this where a young lady sends telegram. the busy housewife send greeting or congratulation message may call for telegraph service and simply say, charge it to my phone, please. her machine who wants to talk away his telegram and gets going sends from convenient cabinet. the late traveler who finds day too short for all business telegraphs for morning appointment calling western union to work for him while he

rests and here the occasional user of telegraph that list in communities away at the o centen of things knows that a drugstore as western union representation. to millions of sports fans western union is the answer to what's the score? wherever the back cracks against the bar, wherever grid iron greats collide, wherever big time punches fly, western union is as much a part of the sport scene as the umpires and referees whatever the news, wherever ithe happens, western union feeds the story serving top newspapers with life reports and deadlines wherever disaster strikes western union to bring

word to and from and relief for the hungry and homeless. copper wires of western union have been worth weight in gold. of all the many places western union serve it is american people it is perhaps here where representatives ask for 50 million that she knows western union serves thest greatest number. ballots, legislation and committee action almost as soon as it happens through on the spot facilities western union delivers this record to front pages and the free world but there are more than outgoing stories. messages of sport and protest to their leaders. the opinions of grassroots voters who rightly believe who the elected man is a public servant whenat grade issues aret hestake people speak their mindn

telegraph that total tens of thousands in 24-hour variant through high-speed centers and other facilities, western union stands ready to carry greater traffic in nation demand. one section of the system operates by micro awe being transmission from towers like this in washington more than eg2,000 telegrams can be sent ad received simultaneously on a single radio traveling with the ospeed of light through other towers particularly located along the route. how else does this western union of today serve? especially the same private wire systems when there's a need for communications and volume such asba the private bank wire, interconnecting 188 banks in 54 cities providing direct immediate and confidential communications for all banks on the network. here is an outstanding example

serving the nation's great industries, yes, western union does more than serve the individual 24 hours a day, at all times the battery of teleprinters with permanent record of every message exchange over the private wire system, contract cans, confirmations introductions, purchase orders, financial transactions, not one detail the has been left hanging in the air filed in memory or left to chance. it's all in black and white. in the pentagon, brain center of america's military might, the aspect of telegraphic communicationms conforms to the traditional demand of a military or realistic records. the army and air force use private telegraph systems to coordinate the vast organizations operated by sspecially trained service personnel. among the greatest communication centers ever designed and

serviced by western union. >> what do you read? they are all here. hey, what do you read? >> hi, joe. >> hi. >> yeah, that's more like it, joe. it's good news. >> yeah. >> i can't figure out last edition. >> it's all there now all right. the things that happened to people and the things that people make it happen. it was just one blank space in this addition of the paper but that will be filled in the next edition because the story is happening right now. a reporter is taking notes in tthe research center of western union and what he is looking at will make the story that will fill the last empty space in the newspaper. the story is a familiar one to western union, a new one to the

reporter. it's the story of an endless search for improved facilities to serve the communications needs of america. the news of the story is one of the finds of that search, high speed facsimile are both words and fibbing user. pictures. in a matter of seconds, 3500 words are received. here is a look into the future of communications. a long way from the early key that clapped out dot and dash messages. here is modern telegraphy at work sending and receiving facsilime placing vast system at the user's elbow. here is telegraphy today hurdling millions of words across thousands of miles automatically guided and controlled by the magic brain of an almost infallible system.

speeding messages to destinations with just the push of a button to better serve america everwhere to bring business friends and customers within arm's reach through swiftness of yellow blank along way from the old hand to hand relay from point to point slow and at the mercy of human error. here is the thin white ribbon of words. accurate, moving the message, visible transcript of the senders actual record of what has been fed. here is telegraphy on wheels roaming the streets to bring telegraph service right to the front door, the radio alabama tower and amazing capacity of 2,000 telegrams at one time in a single radio alabama. that's a long' way from the one

telegram on one wire of a century ago. from this telegraph center of the world headquarters of western union and new york comes a telegram, a telegram for america, western union is proud of its record through the first hundred years, a record of service and progress which in the needs of today and plans for tomorrow keepsw, pace with the fast-moving age. >> if you're enjoying american history then sign up for newsletter to receive the weekly schedule of upcoming schedules like lectures in history, the presidency and more, sign up for the american history t newsletter today and be sure to watch american history tv every saturday or any time online at

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