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NEW TECHNOLOGY, NEW INTELLIGENCE

49

MORSE CODE

American Samuel Morse—working

with Joseph Henry and Alfred Vali—

developed an early electrical

telegraph in 1837 by sending

electrical pulses along a wire. It

was a simple system that used a

hand-operated key. When the

key was pressed, the signal was

“on” and when released it

was “off.” The central feature

of this invention was the

development of a code

to read these electrical

pulses. In Morse code, the

twenty-six letters of the

English alphabet were each

given an individual code

made up of dots and dashes

(the dash was three times longer

than a dot). It was soon found that

skilled operators could transmit and

receive messages with great speed

and accuracy, and Morse code spread

around the world. It was used in radio

messages throughout the twentieth

century—and every secret agent

would be trained in its use.

messages revealed that the New York source was engraving

printing plates for the manufacture of Confederate bank notes.

When the workshop was raided by the police, notes totaling

several million dollars were seized.

The early telegraph systems were large and cumbersome and

demanded a powerful source of electricity. This began to change in

the twentieth century with the development of portable batteries, glass

valves, and the ability to transmit wirelessly by radio waves. The advent

of the suitcase radio during World War II was invaluable for secret

agents, able to transmit and receive messages wherever they wanted

and without outside help (see pages 170–171).

Right: HMS

Agamemnon

laying

the Transatlantic

telegraph cable.

It was completed in

1858 after four years

of work, but only

functioned for three

weeks. A second,

more durable cable

was laid in 1866.

Left: This map from 1871 shows the scale of the ambitious

scheme to completely encircle the globe with telegraph lines.