Telegraph
Following the delegation’s visit to the New York Tribune, the group headed to the headquarters of the Western Union Telegraph Company at 145 Broadway Avenue. Inside of the offices men tested out the service. The group received wishes of good fortune along their journey from Western Union offices in Cleveland and Washington D.C. It was wonderful to be able to communicate so quickly from great distances! The telegraph, invented in 1844 by Samuel Morse, had spread to several countries but was not yet popular in Japan. When the delegation returned, they ensured that the network expanded rapidly across the country. In the late 1870’s the Tokyo Central Telegraph Office was […]
Niagara Suspension Bridges
During their stay in New York the delegates made a trip north toward the Canadian border to visit Niagara Falls. Kunitake Kume made detailed descriptions of the falls in his diaries, mentioning the waterwheel and two suspension bridges that had been built over the Whirlpool Gorge downriver. The delegates crossed one of the suspension bridges, high and narrow above the water. Kume exclaimed, “When the bridge shook, we were all terrified!” The first of the suspension bridges, the Niagara Railway Suspension Bridge, was designed by John A. Roebling and completed in 1855. The bridge could support enough weight for trains to cross, previously thought impossible for suspension bridges. It was […]
Street Cars
During their stay in New York, the Embassy encountered the newly built streetcars passing along the thoroughfares and above the avenues. In his account of the scene, Kume remarks that, “Trains were also [sic] hurtling along in both directions on an elevated railroad supported on iron pillars more than twenty feet above the street.” For much of the 19th century streetcars in New York City were horse drawn. It wasn’t until the late 1860s that companies began building elevated railways, supported by massive beams and powered by cables that pulled cars along the track. While the above-ground rail lines revolutionized train routes in the city, the cable-powered design quickly proved […]