I went to Europe with Prof. Morse in 1865, and I remember one day while speaking about our ages he laughingly remarked that he invented the telegraph during the year I was born. He told many interesting things connected with the progress and development of what is known as the Morse code. As a souvenir of the occasion he jotted down in my note-book the following alphabet, accompanied by valuable instructions which I cheerfully pass on to the rising generation:

[The original Morse code, co-invented by Samuel Morse and given in Loyd's article, is now known as American Morse code. It is considered obsolete and has been supplanted by the International Morse code. The original morse code consist of a dot code and dashes of varying lengths. It also included additional spacing within an individual character (e.g. the letter C). In the table below a series of of connected dashes is used to indicate a single dash which has a length equivalent to the length of an equivalent number of dots. �” jws]

American Morse Code

Letter	Code		Letter	Code
A	• --		V	• • • --
B	-- • • •		W	• -- --
C	• •   •		X	• -- • •
D	-- • •		Y	• • • •
E	•		Z	• • • •
F	• -- •		&	• • • •
G	-- -- •		1	• -- -- •
H	• • • •		2	• • -- • •
I	• •		3	• • • -- •
J	-- • -- •		4	• • • • --
K	-- • --		5	-- -- --
L	----		6	• • • • • •
M	-- --		7	-- -- • •
N	-- •		8	-- • • • •
O	• •		9	-- • • --
P	• • • • •		0	-----
Q	• • -- •		,	• -- • --
R	• • •		.	• • -- -- • •
S	• • •		?	-- • • -- •
T	--		!	-- -- -- •
U	• • --

It never was contemplated that the messages should be taken by sound, but after years of practice in reading the tapes the modern expert developed and the old-time operator was driven out of business. Don't imagine, however, that you could begin to take messages by sound; anyone can send a message, but it requires great practice and perfect familiarity with the alphabet to be able to note the differences between intervals in the ticks. Practice reading and writing telegraphy for months without thinking of the sound until you are actually an expert. Prof. Morse explained that the difference between a dot and a dash was just about as much as between the word “dot” and “dash.” so to learn the alphabet, take a pencil and hit a quick, sharp blow, and say “dot” and for the dashes give a stronger push and always say “dash” and give a somewhat longer wait between the letters and a somewhat longer dwell between words. For example in learning the alphabet say: A dot dash. B dash dot dot dot, C dot dot   dot. Now do you notice that there is a little more space between those last dots? You would only detect that after you were a thorough expert. D dash dot, Dot, E dot, F dot dash dot, G dash dash dot and H is dot dot dot dot.

I never became a real expert operator as I had no occasion to practice the same professionally, but at Professor Morse’s suggestion I wrote several pages of the code until I became familiar with it. I learned this as well as many other things which I propose to talk about, merely as an accomplishment for my own amusement. “A little learning may be a dangerous thing,” and “a jack of all trades may be a master of none,” but I believe more in the old saying: “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” A boy who knows a little about everything is better than the boy who knows nothing about anything. Let the young store their minds with congenial knowledge and they will never forget it.

The letters are readily learned by studying the scientific combinations of the dots and dashes. A single dot is E, two dots I, but if they are a little further apart, O. Three dots represent S, but with a little more space between the first and second, becomes R; this reversed would be C. All of the letters change by reversal, so they should be learned in pairs. A changes to N, B to V, D to U, G to W, Q to X, and Z to &. A single dash represents T, but a longer dash is L. Anyone could learn the combinations in fifteen minutes. I have not looked at them for nearly half a century, and here I am with my shaky old hand, writing out the above dispatch. Just for fun I send it to Tom Edison to see if I have made any mistakes.

Just to familiarize you with the Morse alphabet, I will take occasion to tell a little incident which befell the professor and myself on our return to New York, by the time you have deciphered it you will have a very good idea of the technical features of the code.

[To spare you from having to use the obsolete American Morse code, I have re-coded the puzzle in International Morse code which is given in the table below. The International Mores code has a single dash, which is equivalent in length to three dots. There are no embedded spaces within a letter. �” jws]

International Morse Code

Letter	Code		Letter	Code
A	• �”		V	• • • �”
B	�” • • •		W	• �” �”
C	�” • �” •		X	�” • • �”
D	�” • •		Y	�” • �” �”
E	•		Z	�” �” • •
F	• • �” •		&	• �” • • •
G	�” �” •		1	• �” �” �” �”
H	• • • •		2	• • �” �” �”
I	• •		3	• • • �” �”
J	• �” �” �”		4	• • • • �”
K	�” • �”		5	• • • • •
L	• �” • •		6	�” • • • •
M	�” �”		7	�” �” • • •
N	�” •		8	�” �” �” • •
O	�” �” �”		9	�” �” �” �” •
P	• �” �” •		0	�” �” �” �” �”
Q	�” �” • �”		,	�” �” • • �” �”
R	• �” •		.	• �” • �” • �”
S	• • •		?	• • �” �” • •
T	�”		!	�” • �” • �” �”
U	• • �”		"	• �” • • �” •

  The Code

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