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| First Commercial Telegraph This being settled, they began experimenting together in March and April and applied for their first patent in May. The first filing of the patent met with strong opposition from Davy which was overcome and an English patent was sealed in June, 1837. Next the patent filing in Scotland met with opposition from Alexander William but was again resolved and on Dec 12th 1837, and the patent in Scotland was sealed. There was no opposition for the Irish patent, however since Cooke and Wheatstone filed this late, they did not receive the sealed Irish patent until April of 1838. Morse traveled to England to file a patent in June of 1838, however under protest from Cooke, Wheatstone, and Davy, it is denied due to prior publication of the patent in mechanical publication. English law prohibits publication of invention before the patent. All is not lost for Morse as he finds constructive conversations about the telegraph with some of the people who oppose him. In 1839 Wheatstone and Cooke had started the first commercial telegraph system in England. As the business manager, Cook had worked out an arrangement to install the telegraph system along the route of the Great Western railway between Paddington and West Drayton. The telegraph network would now expand rapidly throughout England. (4) Despite much success in the public eye, there was friction between Wheatstone and Cooke regarding who actually invented the telegraph. It was common knowledge that Cooke went to Wheatstone for scientific help on the subject of the telegraph because the device, which Cooke constructed, never worked! In1840 arbitration between Cooke and Wheatstone began with close friends in the middle. The conclusion of the findings was that Cooke had contributed the business and management skills necessary to bring the telegraph into the mainstream and Wheatstone had contributed his scientific skill to construct a stable dependable device on which the business could be built. The panel tried to be fair to both giving neither party the upper hand in the arbitration. Back in the United States Morse finally receives funding from the United States Congress to run a line from between Washington DC and Baltimore Md. In1844 Samuel Morse sends his famous message "What hath God wrought?" over his telegraph system. At one point Wheatstone and Cooke approached Morse and offered a working partnership plan, which would join the United States of America and England in a telecommunications effort. Morse considers the idea but declines. In 1845 Wheatstone's telegraph was used in England to apprehend a criminal traveling on a train.(1) "The Quake Murderer" was seen boarding a London bound train at Slough. The authorities send a telegram up the railway line to the Paddington station where the suspect is arrested. This new use of technology to apprehend a criminal was widely publicized. The telegraph was now widely known. They settled the business that same year as Cooke bought out Wheatstone's shares for 30,000 pounds. In the new company arrangement, Wheatstone is to stay on as the scientific advisor however as they move to incorporate, Alexander Bain, who has worked with Wheatstone as a technical assistant, accuses Wheatstone of stealing his ideas and intellectual. Wheatstone is horrified and defends himself in Parliament with several credible witnesses. Bain had a very weak case, however the politics in the governing body forced Cooke's new company to settle with the angry Scott and Bain received a hefty settlement of 7,500 pounds from the new company. This left Wheatstone in a very uncomfortable position. It was because of this that Wheatstone stayed on as the scientific adviser but was never paid for his duties. Building on Wheatstone's Work "The First Picture Phone" "The Second Picture Phone" "An Early History of the Telephone 1664-1865" |