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>> comcast supports c-span as a public service. ♪♪ [gunshots] >> even before the familiar

telegraph key came this first morse instrument whose sparks set fire to the world of communications. western union was books and saddles, the golden spike in the railroad ties, the growing pains of a great nation. everybody knows commerce in a job, the telegraph wire tied the cattle markets of kansas and the east. in new england, the southern plantations and cutting tables, other methods of communication were slow and tedious. the telegraph was the only means of rapid communication. it was direct and fast and kept pace with the nation's expanding frontiers. >> what do you read? they are all late.

they are all late. there you are. >> watch this. blank pages. where is the news. >> what do you know? they are all blank. >> sorry, joe. >> sorry, joe's customer. it wouldn't have happened if we haven't arranged it. plenty of news today but it is still in the making. >> we will send that out right away. >> congratulations. are the twins boys are girls? >> how could we have forgotten that? they are boys. >> this is news. >> who else?

>> this goes to 8 different people. i have a lot more writing to do. >> put down -- we will see they all get the message. >> swell. >> sure, fred brown, twins are news. western union is about to make it official. and think of all the people who should know about alice and the twins, in other ways in the 10 block business area around you. high above the city, a busy executive received a telegram, a compact telegraph machine that operates by facsimile and brings the transmission to his desk.

♪♪ >> he places his reply on a cylinder and with of the push of a button goes direct to western union in his own handwriting and ultramodern telegraph method that is close to magic. 50 stories down western union serves another man whose job demands fast and accurate communication. >> western union, i would like to send a telegraph. this is a jl roberts of structural steel company. templeton, ohio. construction here ahead of schedule. urgent you wire immediately. earliest arrival, structural steel. >> urgent words speed from an engineer to his home office, a

steady flow of words flashes to western union from the commute occasions room of a large business firmly a battery of telephone centers handled swiftly the massive urgent details behind the operations of a major business. to save time, to pack more hours into the day, to get on fast orderly records the many details of a busy enterprise. no less important is 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 at a glance where the call originated in this passage a message to the customer who is telegraph in order for a 20 ton crane. all the while, people come and go in the telegraph hub of the neighborhood. >> caught short of cash, 25 was

helped. please telegraph western union, thanks. >> thank you very much. we will rush these out right away. >> let's send it. >> a typical day at western union. behind the counter the mechanical nerves of the system change words to the holes on tape to electrical impulses speeding over the wires. here's the urgent order for the 20 tons crane. to the western union operator. sending an endless flow of words, the contrast from 6 pound babies in 2010 careens passes by without notice. the operator starts a quick tap of the keyboard and another. it will guide the message

automatically to its destination. now it is gone. already arriving at syracuse a high-speed message center for the territory in which the telegram originated and the link in the chain of mechanized centers throughout the country. good news travels fast and with of the speed of light, this good news in syracuse is automatically being flashed to st. louis, message center for the delivery office guided by the two key signals in new york. accurately, practically nonstop. thousands of other telegrams coursing through these wires, flashing through round-the-clock. a high-speed transmitter, the message appears before the operator in st. louis on credit.

as it arrives, he notes the destination command with the push of a button the words are on their way to missouri. here, they are arriving in credit form ready to be in a yellow blank. a happy group announcing a double blessing to waiting grandparents. twins, twee 6 pounds each, alice doing fine, love fred. it seems to take longer than it takes to do. this passage of a message by western union. at the same time we follow this message, the order for the 2010 crane has reached its final destination, preston, california, thousands of miles

farther away, already delivered. distance means nothing when it is at the end of a telegraph circuit. sailor's request for shore leave money gone. often the same time as telegrams, 6 pound twins and 2010 careens delivered in bassett, maryland, by one of western union's this development, a modern message center on wheels which receives telegrams by radio and facsimile by cruising in outlining areas. virtually a telegraph center at the doorstep. in less time than imagine the sailor would have the money he wants through the speed magic of a telegraphic money order. this is the network of interconnecting high-speed message centers linking the fast western union system from coast-to-coast and from a great major message center springs a multitude of connecting circuits directly linking thousands of pounds in cities

large and small through the country with this vast ultramodern automatic telegraph system. the finest, fastest in the world. we call it speedway for words. a speedway extending far and wide within our shores and beyond to and from any part of the globe. a typical day continues from babies to butter. the supermarket chain wants 500 cases of butter, now, at the market price, now, figures fly over the keyboard, the tape flows and instantly it is sent to the great automatic network. and matter of minutes the butter owners on the floor of a large exchange. 70 million housewives are concerned with every move in this marketplace. the price tag is determined here. 500 cases, 95. the sale goes up on the big board.

over western union circuits, the transaction goes to shippers across the land. in every marketplace western union records the nation. to provide service to as many as possible today's western union reachedes the american people in different ways, those in small communities no western union service through agencies and railway stations like this where a young lady sends a meet me telegram. a busy housewife sending a greeting or congratulations message may call for telegraph service and simply say charge it to my phone please. the man who wants to talk away his telegram and get going sends a reservation telegram from a convenient direct coin box cabinet. the late traveler who finds his day too short for business telegraphs for a morning appointment calling on western union at his hotel, the work

for him, while he rests. the occasional user of telegrams lives and communities away from the center of things, knows a dependable local drugstore, western union's representation. millions of sports fans, western union is the answer to what is the score? wherever the map cracks the ball. wherever gridiron greats collide. wherever big time punches lie. western union is as much part of the sports seen as umpires and referees. whatever the news, wherever it happens, western union speeds the story to its national press centers serving the top newspapers with lightning fast reports. wherever disaster strikes, western union is on the job to restore compact.

and release the hungry and homeless. the copper wires of western union work their weight in gold. of all the places western union serves the american people that is perhaps here, representatives speak and act, one hundred 50 million citizens western union serves the greatest number. in the senate press room correspondence conspire the daily rate triggered of significant speeches, legislation and committee action. almost as soon as it happens through on the spot facilities western union delivers this record of front pages in the free world. there are more than outgoing stories, western union in washington into which americans pour their messages of support to their leaders. the opinions of grassroots voters who rightly believe the elected man is a public servant. when gradations are at stake,

there's a flood of telegrams that may total tens of thousands in one, 24 hour period. to read high-speed centers and other abilities, western union is ready to carry far greater in the nation's demands. one operates by microwave transmission. towers like this in washington, more than 2000 telegrams sent and received simultaneously on a single radio beam traveling with the speed of light through other towers strategically located along the route. how else does the western union of today serve? private wire systems when there is need for communications and volumes such as the private bank wire, interconnecting 188 banks in 54 cities, providing direct, immediate and confidential communications for all banks on the network.

and the serving the nation's great industries. this is more than 24 hours a day, 65 days a year. at all times, this battery of printers present a permanent record of the origin and destination of every message exchanged over the private wire system. amtrak's confirmations, instructions, purchase orders, transactions, not one detail has been left hanging in the air, in memory or left to chance. it is all in black and white. and the permanent aspect of telegraphic communication to the demand of a military or realistic record. the army and air force use private telegraph systems to coordinate the organizations operated by specially trained service personnel. these are the greatest medication centers designed and serviced by western union.

>> there are late, what do you read? they are all here. >> hi, joe. hi. that is more like it, joe. can't figure out -- >> it is all they are now, all right. things that happen to people and things people made to happen. one blank space in this edition of the paper and that will be filled for an expedition because the story is happening right now. a reporter is taking notes in the research center of western union. that is the story that will fill the last empty space in the newspaper. the story is a familiar one,

and they want to the reporter. it is an endless search for improved and slurping the communications needs of america. it's one of the finest event searches, high-speed transmission and reception are both words and pictures. a matter of seconds, 3500 words are sent and received. here is a look into the future of communications. a long way from the messages, here's modern telegraphy at work sending and receiving a facsimile, and users elbow. here is telegraphy today, 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 the push of a button. to better serve america everywhere, to bring distant friends and business customers within arms reach to the swiftness of a yellow light. a long way from the hand-to-hand relay from point to point, slow and at the mercy of human error. here is the thin white ripple of words, unchangeable, lightning fast. actual record of what has been said. here is telegraphy on wheels, roaming the streets of outlying districts to bring telegraph service to the front door. the radio beam tower and its amazing capacity of 2,000 telegraphs at a time in a single radio beam, 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 in new york of the telegram made telegram for america. we are proud of its record to the first hundred years. a record of service and progress which in the needs of today and plans for tomorrow keeps pace with a temple of a fast-moving age. >> if you are enjoying american history tv sign up for our newsletter using the qr code on screen to receive the weekly schedule of upcoming programs like lectures in history, the presidency and more. and watch american history tv every saturday online, c-span.org/history.

>> american history tv saturdays on c-span2, exploring the people and events patel the american story. 5:forty five p.m. eastern, a look at the life and legacy of robert oppenheimer, author of the atomic bomb, hosted by indiana university. washington post reporter jayda young and department of energy advisor. at 9:thirty p.m. eastern on the presidency a discussion about the lifelong friendship of gerald ford and jimmy carter who are rivals during the 1976 presidential campaign. but found common cause in the decades after they left the white house. explore the american story, watch american history tv on c-span2 and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online any time, c-span.org/history.

>> weekends on c-span2 are an intellectual feast. every saturday american history tv documents america's sto. sunday, booktv brings you the latest in nonfiction books and authors. funding for c-span2 comes from these television companies and more including spark life. >> the greatest town on earth is a place you call home. at spark light it is our home too and right now we are all facing our greatest challenge. that's why spark light is working round-the-clock to keep you connected. we are doing our part so it is easier to do yours. >> spark light along with these television companies supports c-span2 as a public service. ..all right. good afternoon and my name, susan poser. i'm the president of hofstra university, and i welcome you once again to hofstra and this very interesting presidential conference >> to this very interesting presidential conference.