invention, the company had licensed use of the

telegraph to more than 50 companies across the

US. In 1851, twelve of this companies come
together to form the Western Union Company. By
1866, Western Union had grown to include more
than 4000 telegraph offices, almost all in rail
stations.

Another early telecommunications device is still

very much with us the telephone. Although the
Early Telecommunication Devices telephone is popularly thought to be the brainchild
of one man, Alexander Graham Bell, this is not
Although it is hardly used anymore, the telegraph the while truth. Phillip Reis, a schoolteacher in
is familiar to most people. This early Germany, invented a device in 1861 that he
telecommunication devices is credited, as any labelled a telephone. Reis’s invention was limited
school student knows, to Samuel Morse, who, in to transmitting musical tones, however, and could
1844 made the first long-distance electronic not send the sound of the human voice across the
communication via his invention, the Morse's wire.
telegraph. What is not so commonly known is that
Morse's was not the only telegraph nor he the only While Reis was working on his invention, Bell
such inventor at this time. A rival system, and another man, Elisha Gray, were also working
developed by William Cook and Charles toward the invention of the telephone, though by
Wheatstone, was patented in England in 1845 and an indirect route. Both were, in fact, seeking ways
was subsequently adopted for use by British rail of allowing multiple telegraph signals to travel
companies to enable speedy communication along the some telegraph line - a system known as
between rail stations. a harmonic telegraph. Bell worked in Boston
while Gray was based in Chicago, and the tow
However, the Cooke-Wheatstone telegraph, were rivals in their area of research. for both
which used six wires and a fragile receiver inventors, the perfection of the harmonic
requiring five magnetic needles, proved to the telegraph proved too difficult and both, separately
awkward to use, difficult to transport and but at around the some time, changed plans and
expensive to built. Morse's version used one wire started on the development of a telephone. Most
and a receiver of a simpler and stronger design. interesting of all is the fact that both men applied
This is, no doubt, why it became the favored for a patent to the US patent office for their
telegraph in many parts of the world, especially respective telephones on the same day, 14
the United States, which built a telegraph line February 1876. Bell was lucky enough to have
along railway tracks crossing the North American arrived a few hours earlier than Gray and so it was
continent, linking eastern cities with western Bell whose name was to be forever associated
frontiers. with the telephone. The harmonic telegraph,
incidentally, was perfected by Thomas Edison,
Morse chose the Magnetic Telegraph Company to best known as the inventor of the light built, in
handle the patents for his telegraph technology, 1881.
and within seven years of the appearance of his
Rights to Bell’s patent (now recognized as the an extent that, a century later, it was the largest
most valuable patent in history of technology) privately held enterprise in the world, with more
were offered to Western Union for $100000, with than a million employees controlling
the assumption that the giant telegraph company communication between more than 100 million
would be enthusiastic about the new technology. telephones. In 1984, American Telephone &
But Western Union disliked Bell's design and Telegraph was found by a US court to be too
instead asked Elisha Gray to make refinements to monopolistic and was ordered to be broken up
his original telephone design. Bell`s company into several smaller companies.
began to set up its own business and sell
telephones, while Western Union, with its * patent: an official recognition of a person as the
somewhat different design, was its competitor. inventor of a device
* monopoly: exclusive control of a market
Competition between the two continued for about
two years, but all the while, the Bell company was Question 1-6:
mounting a legal challenge to Western Union, Complete the table below. Use no more than three
claiming it held the only true basic patents for the words from the reading passage for each answer.
telephone. it based its claim on the fact that Bell Write your answers in boxes 1-5 on your answer
had beaten Gray to the patent office and so should sheet.
be the sole recognized inventor of the telephone.
Eventually, Western Union had to agree with Bell Year Event Inventor (s)
and gave up its telephone rights and patents to the (by surname)
Bell company. The telephone company's entire
network of telephones was handed over to the Bell 1845 Patent of ........(1)........
company. As compensation, Western Union was telegraph
given 20 per cent of revenue from rental of its
former equipment, this arrangement was to last 1851 Establishment of
until Bell's patents expired. In an effort to fight the ........(2)........
power the Bell company enjoyed from exclusive
rights to Bell's patents, a small telephone 1861 Invention of ........(3)........
company, Pacific Union, established telephone telephone
services in the 1920s and 1930s that it claimed
1876 Application for Gray
were based on the telephone design of Phillips
patent of
Reis. They maintained that because Reis's
........(4)........
invention pre-dated Bell1s, the Bell, design was
not the first of its kind and, therefore, Bell's
1881 Successful Edison
patents were not valid. Although the court
development of
accepted that the company may have been using
........(5)........
Reis's technology, it nonetheless held that only
Bell's patents could legally by used.
Question 6-10:
The Bell company, eventually named American
Telephone & Telegraph, thus formed an effective Look at the following lists of inventors and
monopoly on telephone services in the United companies. Match each inventor to one of the
States. The company subsequently grew to such
companies that used his/their technology. Choose Question 11-14:
E if there is no information in the reading passage. Using no more than three words, answer the
following questions. Write your answers in boxes
Write the appropriate letters A-E in boxes 6-10 on 11-14 on your answer sheet.
your answer sheet.
NB: you may use any letter more than once. 11) Name one reason why Cooke and
Wheatstone's invention was not as successful as
Morse's.
Inventors
12) In what type of location did Western Union
Morse Example* typically offer its telegraph services?
13) What sort of information was Reis's original
Example answer: D invention able to send?
14) What device did Alexander Graham Bell try
but fail to invent?
(6) Bell
Answer:
1. Cooke and Wheatstone
(7) Cooke and Wheatstone
2. Western Union Company
3. Reis
(8) Edison
4. Telephones
5. (The) harmonic telegraph
(9) Gray 6. C
7. A
(10) Reis 8. E
9. D
10. B
11. Awkward to use/ Difficult to transport/
Companies Expensive(to built)
12. Rail stations
A British rail companies 13. Musical tones
14. Harmonic telegraph
B Pacific Union

C American telephone & telegraph

D Western Union

E no information in reading passage