telegraph - technical definition

A low-speed communications device that transmits up to approximately 150 bps. Telegraph grade lines, stemming from the days of Morse code, cannot transmit a voice conversation. In 1843, the U.S. Congress authorized $30,000 to build a telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington, DC. The wire was strung onto 700 poles which were placed approximately 300 feet apart. On May 24, 1844, at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, Samuel Morse tapped out "What hath God wrought" via telegraph to his assistant Alfred Vail who was waiting at a Baltimore railroad station, some 40 miles away.