The telegraph manual: a complete history and description of the semaphoric, electric and magnetic telegraphs of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, ancient and modern.

EMINENT TELEGRAPHERS. 823
I much regret the impossibility to do justice to the career of Mr. Swain
in this outline. His life has been full of usefulness, and his example is
worthy of imitation.
In the administration of the affairs of the " Ledger " Mr. Swain never
yielded the responsibility. He was known as the " Ledger man," and he
was the master of the enterprise in every particular. lie always exercised the right of determining what was suitable for publication, and no
one has ever had the authority to publish in the columns of that paper a
line, editorial or otherwise, except by his sanction, implied or expressed.
Mr. Swain was the "Ledger man" and he was alone responsible for the
contents of that paper. It has been owing to this fact that the tone and
tenor of the " Ledger "7 has been so uniform and judicious.
Mr. Swain has been, on all occasions, a liberal patron of new and useful enterprises. When the electric telegraph had given proof of its commercial utility, on the experimental line between Baltimore and Washington, he was among the first to appreciate its merits. In due time
efforts were made to extend the line to Philadelphia, and in order to command the necessary capital, each of the cities through which the line was
to pass. was allotted a certain proportion of the stock. To Philadelphia
was given four thousand dollars. Mr. Swain was urged to promote the
enterprise among his friends. Their efforts in obtaining the capital required at that city were crowned with success, though that success was
due entirely to the "Ledger," and the "United States Gazette," the
former subscribing three thousand five hundred dollars, and the latter five
hundred dollars. Commercial men could not be induced to embark in the
new and to them untried enterprise. They did not appreciate the prospective usefulness of the telegraph. With Mr. Swain it was no adventure,
because his comprehensive mind and practical sagacity enabled him to
look into the future. History has since demonstrated the correctness of
the judgment he exhibited, in the extraordinary and most liberal subscription above given.
Early in 1846, Mr. Swain was elected a director of the Telegraph
Company, and he gave to the new enterprise the benefit of his colmmlercial experience. He fully appreciates the grandeur of the invention, and
of its transcendent position as an art: but, as in all other things, Mr.
Swain has studied it as an element of commerce, as an art for the useful
purposes of man; and no one has done more toward perfecting the telegraph for business relations than he. The influence of his teachings has
spread throughout the whole country.
In 1850, Mr. Swain was elected President of the Magnetic Telegraph
Company, extending from New-York to Washington. He sought not the
position, but the friends of the enterprise desired his experienced and
well-methodized mind in the perfection of the system. The telegraph was
new, it had not established itself in the affairs of trade, and it required an
organization commensurate with the wants of the age. Mr. Swain yielded
to the wishes of his friends, and accepted of the presidency. though it
was to him a great pecuniary sacrifice. HIe contemplated limiting, his
services to a single term. He entered upon the duties of the office, with
his usual resolve, to be the master of his vocation. Ile travelled over the
line, and reviewed its whole structure, and aided in the perfection of its
outdoor organization. In this new and novel labor he shared with others,
and soon became as thorough in his knowledge of the construction of the
lines. as though he had taken part in its original erection. Having become fully informed as to the exterior department of the service, he m1ext
gave his attention to the administration of the stations. IIe soon found
opportunities to present improvements, and as the science and art of telegraphing became more and more developed, Mr. Swain was prepared to