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Believed to be the last living Associated Press telegrapher, Keel spent his working day manually sending news down the AP wire by Morse Code. Telegraphers along the wire would decode the stories for printing in local newspapers. About 1500 telegraphers worked for the service over an 80-year span. They were replaced by teletypes in 1928, but Keel stayed on with the AP, serving as the communications chief for several bureaus. Keel died July 2 at age 97. -30- From This is True for 27 June 1999 Suggestions for further reading:
 By: Tom Standage List Price: $14.95 Amazon Price: $10.17 Editorial Review: A new paperback edition of the first book by the bestselling author of A History of the World in 6 Glasses—the fascinating story of the telegraph, the world’s first “Internet,” which revolutionized the nineteenth century even more than the Internet has the twentieth and twenty first. The Victorian Internet tells the colorful story of the telegraph's creation and remarkable impact, and of the visionaries, oddballs, and eccentrics who pioneered it, from the eighteenth-century French scientist Jean-Antoine Nollet to Samuel F. B. Morse and Thomas Edison. The electric telegraph nullified distance and shrank the world quicker and further than ever before or since, and its story mirrors and predicts that of the Internet in numerous ways.  By: Tom Wheeler List Price: $13.95 Amazon Price: $11.86 Editorial Review: Abraham Lincoln's two great legacies to history—his extraordinary power as a writer and his leadership during the Civil War—come together in this close study of the President's use of the telegraph. Invented less than two decades before he entered office, the telegraph came into its own during the Civil War. In a jewel-box of historical writing, Wheeler captures Lincoln as he adapted his folksy rhetorical style to the telegraph, creating an intimate bond with his generals that would ultimately help win the war.  By: John Steele Gordon List Price: $12.95 Amazon Price: $11.01 Editorial Review: Today, in a world in which news flashes around the globe in an instant, time lags are inconceivable. In the mid-nineteenth century, communication between the United States and Europe -- the center of world affairs -- was only as quick as the fastest ship could cross the Atlantic, making the United States isolated and vulnerable. But in 1866, the Old and New Worlds were united by the successful laying of a cable across the Atlantic. John Steele Gordon's book chronicles this extraordinary achievement -- the brainchild of American businessman Cyrus Field and one of the greatest engineering feats of the nineteenth century. An epic struggle, it required a decade of effort, numerous failed attempts, millions of dollars in capital, a near disaster at sea, the overcoming of seemingly insurmountable technological problems, and uncommon physical, financial, and intellectual courage. Bringing to life an overlooked story in the annals of technology, John Steele Gordon sheds fascinating new light on this American saga that literally changed the world.  List Price: $19.95 Amazon Price: $19.95 Editorial Review: This collection of words and pictures--some of them rarely seen--celebrates the life of a woman who is missed by many. The editors of the Daily Telegraph have assembled photos from Princess Diana's childhood up to the last month of her life that commemorate her roles as a wife, mother, activist, and woman. Images of the shy young woman (seen in the formal engagement photo) are followed by wedding photos and shots with her two young boys. Then the princess begins to emerge more on her own--dancing with John Travolta, bringing Prince William to his first day of nursery school, comforting a young patient, inspecting a recently cleared landmine field, and jogging in work-out clothes toward her car. Together, these photographs form a portrait of a warm and engaging woman whose life was cut tragically short. Royalties from the book will be donated to the Diana Memorial Appeal, which contributes to Diana's favorite charities.  By: Russell Doubleday List Price: $0.99 Amazon Price: $0.99 Editorial Review: The adventures of Inventors and Engineers. True Incidents and Personal Experiences. Including How Marconi created the radio. The creation of the Air-Ship. How Automobiles work. The fastest Steamboats. The invention of Moving Pictures the invention of the Submarine. The water from which the steam is made is also fed automatically into the boiler, when the engine is in motion, by a pump worked by the engine piston. A hand-pump is also supplied by which the driver can keep the proper amount when the machine is still or in case of a breakdown. A water-gauge in plain sight keeps the driver informed at all times as to the amount of water in the boiler. |
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