1st telegraph link between NYC & Chicago.

 On Jun 10,1848 1st telegraph link between NYC & Chicago.

The Lake Erie Line, a T-shaped circuit extending from Buffalo via Cleveland to Detroit and from Cleveland to Pittsburgh, was in full operation by spring 1848. It was built by the Lake Erie Telegraph Co. as part of Henry O'Rielly's Atlantic, Lake & Mississippi Telegraph system. By summer 1848, the Lake Erie Line faced competition from the Erie & Michigan Telegraph Line extending from Buffalo to Milwaukee through Cleveland, Detroit, and Chicago. John J. Speed and Ezra Cornell built the line under contract to F. O. J. Smith. Speed, in turn, subcontracted parts of the line to JEPTHA H. WADE. The telegraph, called the magnetic telegraph or lightning line, was hailed as a communications breakthrough. Its most important service was to convey news, especially business news such as stock market quotations, and political news such as election returns. But in the beginning, expectations were disappointed by poor service. Like most early telegraph lines, the Lake Erie and Erie & Michigan lines were built hastily, using cheap materials and poor insulators. The telegraph columns of the newspapers frequently contained apologies instead of the latest news.

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