CHAPTER NEWS AND HAPPENINGS

CIVIL WAR HERITAGE DAYS, KEY WEST, FL 2010

The U.S. Military Telegraph Corps, consisting of FX Chapter members Robert and John Feeney, was in operation at Fort Zachary Taylor in Key West for this annual event. The office opened for the Friday night candlelight tours of the Fort and for demonstrations on Saturday. Saturday's weather was windy during the day and wet in the evening. The seas were too rough for any reenactors to participate on the ships for the sea battle (the captains of the vessels did not want to risk the rough seas with the reenactors on board). However there was a skirmish on the beach as the Confederates tried to take the Union artillery piece. They were unsuccessful in their attempt. Saturday night saw gusts of 30 - 40 MPH, which ripped and knocked down one of the tents. Despite the weather problems, the event was pronounced a success.

FARM FESTIVAL, FLORIDA PIONEER MUSEUM, DADE CITY, FL 2010

Cold and windy weather on Saturday, Feb 6th did not appear to have much effect on attendance at this annual event, as there was a good crowd all day long. However, Super Bowl Sunday, coupled with the cold weather, caused a considerable drop in attendance for the second day. Nevertheless, visitors on both days expressed their interest in learning about Morse telegraphy. Chapter members Tom Bjorkman and Don Andrus were on hand Saturday and members L. A. Bailey and Warren McFarland were there on Sunday to demonstrate how telegraphy was used in the old Trilby depot in the 1950s. Bailey is especially knowledgeable as he worked third trick for six years during that time.

BATTLE OF TOWNSEND PLANTATION, MT. DORA, FL, 2010

This year's Civil War reenactment of The Battle of Townsend's Plantation, at Mt. Dora, suffered from intermittent bouts of inclement weather which reduced the turnout. However, the Education Day on Friday went well. Chapter members John and Rob Feeney did their telegraph presentation, including a demonstration of wire tapping, to a number of school groups studying American History. Chapter Member Don Andrus joined them for the day on Saturday, serving as a Southern Telegraph Co. cipher clerk.

BROOKSVILLE RAID REENACTMENT, 2010

Chapter members Don Andrus, John and Robert Feeney, and Tom Sorensen participated in this year's Brooksville Raid Civil War reenactment, held near Weeki Wachee Springs. Turnout was good despite threatening weather. The Southern Telegraph Company's field office was in full operation, using a single overhead wire and ground return setup, with an option to record incoming messages on an embossing register. Young wannabe telegraphers tried their hand on a key connected to a printing register, enabling them to take a printed copy of their Morse attempt with them as a souvenir. Civil War era wire tapping was demonstrated, as well as how messages were enciphered and deciphered, using a Confederate cipher drum. On the Friday Education Day, Sorensen and the Feeneys demonstrated the telegraph to 1200 students from area schools.

NEW DISPLAY AT WINTER GARDEN RAILROAD MUSEUM

The following story appeared in the December 1, 2009 issue of the West Orange Times, accompanied by a photograph, not reproduced here: REMEMBERING A DYING ART: Don Andrus of Largo (left) and Warren McFarland of Winter Springs demonstrate the new hands-on telegraph display installed recently at the Central Florida Railroad Museum in Winter Garden. Andrus and McFarland are members of the Florida Association of Telegraphers (sic) and frequently visit the Railroad Museum to demonstrate the nearly lost art of railroad telegraphy. West Orange Times, Dec 1, 2009. The display is dedicated to the memory of former Florida Chapter President Paul H. English and was constructed by chapter members, using equipment donated by the English family.

CIVIL WAR RAID ON FT. PIERCE, FL, DEC 2009
	FX Chapter members Robert and John Feeney had the Southern Telegraph Company Field Office in operation for this Civil War reenactment December 11,12 and 13th. Civil War era instruments and equipment were displayed and demonstrated. School day was Dec. 11 and about 1,000 children came through the camps.

SALUTE TO THE MILITARY, HOLLYWOOD, FL NOV 21, 2009
	Chapter members Robert and John Feeney portrayed the U.S. Army 108th Field Signal Battalion from World War I. The Feeney's had demonstrations and displays of telegraph and radio equipment used by the Signal Corps in World War I trenches and battle fields of Europe. And as always, they were dressed for the time period in the WWI uniforms. (See photo in Album section).

PIONEER HERITAGE DAY, PLANT CITY, FL, NOV 14, 2009
	FX Chapter members Tom Bjorkman and Warren McFarland were on hand at this annual event to display and demonstrate antique and replica telegraph instruments and equipment. Although overall attendance appeared to be lower than in previous years, the telegraph demonstration drew a large number of visitors who were interested in learning about Morse telegraphy.

OLD FLORIDA DAYS FESTIVAL, NAPLES, FL 2009

Chapter President Rob Feeney and members John Feeney and Don Andrus were on hand Nov 6, 7 and 8, at this annual event which focuses on early Florida history. The Southern Telegraph Company Field Office was in operation, demonstrating Civil War era telegraph instruments and equipment during the event. Approximately 2800 local area school children observed the demonstrations during the scheduled School Day.

WINTER GARDEN, FL TRAIN RIDES AND MUSIC FEST, 2009

The Central Florida Railroad Museum in Winter Garden, FL arranged with Florida Rail Adventures to provide train rides in conjunction with the annual Winter Garden Music Fest, October 3 and 4, 2009. Florida Chapter members Tom Bjorkman, Jack Griffin and Warren McFarland were on hand inside the museum to display and demonstrate antique telegraph instruments and equipment. Almost 1000 passengers rode the train before an unfortunate derailment on the second day forced the cancellation of further trips. A large number of the passengers made their way through the museum and were exposed to the history and reality of Morse telegraphy.

PARRISH (FL) TRAIN RAID, OCT 2009
	cHAPTER MEMBERS Robert Feeney and John Feeney had a telegraph display at this Civil War event. And while posing as government agents on the train ride, read telegrams and explained the telegraph operations of that time period.

MAITLAND, FL TELEPHONE MUSEUM NEW EXHIBIT OPENING

Florida Chapter member Warren McFarland was on hand at the opening of the new telephone exhibit September 15, 2009, in the Maitland Historical Telephone Museum, located at 221 West Packwood in Maitland, to showcase the connection between the telegraph and the telephone. Much of the telephone equipment on display came from the local telephone compnay founded by a former telegrapher and part of the exhibit consists of a video showing how Alexander Graham Bell received his inspiration from Morse telegraphy in his invention of the telephone. There was a good turnout of visitors who were interested in exploring that connection.

PIONEER DAYS, DADE CITY, FL, SEPT 6-7,2009

Chapter members Tom Bjorkman and Warren McFarland had the old Trilby Depot open for business over the Labor Day weekend Pioner Days celebration at the Pioneer Florida Museum, Dade City, FL. Attendance seemed larger than usual on both days, with a constant flow of visitors through the restored depot. A wire was run from the entrance of the museum to the old depot, enabling visitors to send themselves souvenir telegrams from the entrance, to be picked up at the depot.

MORSE DAY CELEBRATION, 2009

The annual Morse Day celebration was held April 25, 2009 at the Central Florida Railroad Museum in Winter Garden, FL with many chapter memmbers in attendance.  Telegraph instruments were connected to the telephone hubs and telegraphic greetings were exchanged with members of other chapters throughout the United States and Canada.  Former Chapter member Dick Metzger was also in attendance and donated a box relay, constructed by Ed Trump, to the Chapter to be used in demonstrations.  The donation was accepted with the hope that Dick would rejoin MTC.  Cathy Feeney had again baked a cake, in honor of Samuel Morse's birthday, which was enjoyed by all.  The museum had done an excellent job of advertising the event, resulting in a steady stream of visitors all day long, coming explicitly to see and hear Morse Telegraph demonstrations.

DADE CITY TRAIN SHOW, 2009

The Dade City Model Train Show, held on the grounds of the Pioneer Florida Museum, Dade City, FL, March 28, 2009, attracted a steady stream of visitors all day long, nearly all of whom came through the Old Trilby Depot where FX Chapter members Tom Bjorkman, Don Andrus and Warren McFarland had the vintage telegraph instruments up and running.  Don Andrus had constructed a miniature train order signal to demonstrate how such signals functioned.   Visitors expressed amazement at the simplicity of the system.  Tom and Don also demonstrated "hooping up" train orders and messages, which alwayts draws considerable interest.

PLANT CITY TRAIN SHOW, 2009

More than 600 visitors were clocked through the model train layouts and vendors at the annual train show and swap meet hosted by the H. B. Plant Historical Society in Plant City, FL March 21, 2009.  FX Chapter has participated in the event for the past several years, as it provides an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the importance of Morse telegraphy to railroading.  Chapter members Don Andrus, Tom Bjorkman and Warren McFarland were on hand to demonstrate to young and old the sounds of Morse telegraphy.  (See the link to the Society on the LINKS page of this site for further information regarding this event.)

NEW EXHIBIT AT DADE CITY TRAIN MUSEUM

Florida Chapter members Don Andrus and Tom Bjorkman recently assisted the Dade City (FL) Train Museum (located in the old Atlantic Coast Line depot and not to be confused with the Pioneer Florida Museum, also in Dade City) in setting up a new exhibit featuring Morse telegraphy.  Don constructed a Morse code generator, using a turntable and an old LP phonograph record.  By drilling holes near the edge of the LP to make or break the circuit, Don was able to spell out "What Hath God Wrought" in Morse code.  The circuit includes a sounder mounted on a desk and the operation of the turntable is actuated by a motion detector.  A telegraph key is also mounted on the desk and a mannequin is seated in a chair with its hand on the key.  The operator may be a little stiff and reserved, but he sends good Morse!

FARM FESTIVAL, PIONEER FLORIDA MUSEUM, 2009

The old Trilby depot at the Pioneer Florida Museum, Dade City, FL was busy all day Saturday as visitors took advanatage of the opportunity to send souvenir telegrams to members of their party, wishing them Happy Valentine's Day.  Florida Chapter members Tom Bjorkman, Don Andrus and L.A. Bailey ran a wire from the museum entrance to the old depot so that entering visitors could send a telegram to be picked up at the depot, thus ensuring a steady flow of visitor to the depot, where they learned about the role of Morse telegraphy in railroading, as well as other facets of railroading.

CIVIL WAR HERITAGE DAYS, KEY WEST, FL 2009

The annual Civil War Heritage Days were held in Key West February 13-14-15, 2009, wtih chapter members Robert, John and Cathy Feeney on hand to demonstrate the use of the telegraph during the Civil War.  The Southern Telegraph Company Field Office magically became a U. S. Military Telegraph Office, using the same equipment and staff.  Several hundred school children came through the various exhibits on Friday School Day.  During the cnadlelight tour of Fort Zachary Taylor Friday night, the Feeneys had their pocket key in action, to demonstrate wire tapping as done during the Civil War.  On Saturday, the telegraphers were pressed into service as deck hands on a Union ship attempting to stop and capture a blockade runner.  The chapter has been invited to participate again next year.  (See the link to Civil War Heritage Days on the LINKS page of this site to see pictures and slide shows of past events, and, eventually, of this year's event.)

BATTLE OF TOWNSEND'S PLANTATION, 2009

The Southern Telegraph Company Field Office was up and running at the Battle of Townsend's Planatation Civil War re-enactment, near Mt. Dora, FL, January 30-February 1, 2009.  Florida Chapter President Rob Feeney and Chapter members John and Cathy Feeney staffed the office for the entire week-end and were joined by Chapter member Don Andrus on Saturday.  Unfortunately, inclement weather on Friday limited attendance at the School Day, which is usually one of the most popular days.

BROOKSVILLE RAID CIVIL WAR REEANACTMENT, 2009

Florida (FX) Chapter Secretary-Treasurer Don Andrus manned the Southern Telegraph Company's field office at the 29th reenactment of the Civil War military action known as the Brooksville Raid on January 16 and 17, 2009.   New telegraph equipment, both original and replica, was tested at this event including a KOB with a camel back key, a set of six reproduction Daniell cells as the new source of power, and the conversion of the system from a metallic to an earth return operation. With the old metallic return circuit, to tap the line it was necessary to connect the two leads of the pocket relay to the two overhead lines and the pocket relay would start to click out the recorded "What hath God wrought" message.  With the new ground return system, one lead clips onto the overhead line and the other lead is connected to a bayonet that is stuck into the soil under the telegraph line - and the pocket relay begins to click out the message.  With both systems, once the recorded "What hath....." message finishes, the demonstrator is able to tap on the key in the pocket relay and the sounder on the nearby table responds. Spectators marvel at the simplicity of the system.  The new equipment and setup afforded a much more accurate historical simulation of the telegraph as it was in the 1860s.

TAVARES (FL) RAILROAD DAYS, 2009

Florida (FX) Chapter members Jack Grifffin, Tom Bjorkman and Don Andrus set up the Chapter's mini-telegraph office in the lobby of the Tavares City Hall, the main venue of the town's Railroad Days activities for the evening. The mini telegraph office and the constant sound of  American Morse from Tom Bjorkman's Instructograph fit in well with the country & western band, good food, and various displays of vintage crafts and railroad memorabilia, . Approximately 200 visitors came through City Hall, most stopping to listen and learn about Morse telegraphy and its connection to railroading.  Outside, the Mt. Dora & Tavares excursion train was operating, taking young and old for nostalgic runs along the shore of Lake Harris.

DESTINATION MAITLAND, SEPT. 2008

The Maitland (FL) Historical Society Museum opened a new permanent exhibit, "Destination Maitland,"  September 17, 2008, focusing on the role of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad depot in the history of the city.  The Florida Chapter of the Morse Telegraph Club was invited to participate in the Grand Opening with a demonstration of Morse telegraphy.  Chapter member Warren McFarland, whose father, coincidentally, once worked as Agent-Telegrapher at the Maitland depot, provided the demonstration which was well received by those in attendance.       In addition, using a telegraph key permanently loaned by the Central Florida Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society and a sounder donated by the Florida Chapter of MTC, a key-on-board (KOB) was made a part of the permanent exhibit, which will allow future visitors to the exhibit to try their hand at sending Morse code.

WEBSITE HELPS OUT AUTHOR

Author Sean McLachlan, a writer on history and travel, who is currently working on a new book, Guerrilla and Partisan Ranger Tactics of the Civil War, which is scheduled to be published in 2009, by Osprey Publishing, saw the photograph of wire tapping equipment on our website and contacted the webmaster in order to learn more about it.  The wire tapping equipment was constructed by Chapter Secretary-Treasurer Don Andrus for use in Civil War re-enactments in which he participates.  Don and Chapter President, Rob Feeney, who is also a Civil War re-enactor, explained the construction and use of the wire-tapping equipment to McLachlan, who wrote both of them, thanking them for their assistance.  Maybe they will get credit in the book.  Who knows?

WEBSITE GIVES AN ASSIST
	The Florida Chapter website received a request from the curator of the Oshkosh WI Public Museum asking for assistance in establishing a working telegraph exhibit. The request was passed along to the Milwaukee Chapter and in short order the exhibit was up and running. Glad we could help, and kudos to the Milwaukee Chapter for their prompt response.

THIS DOG COULD READ CODE!

Chapter members Don Andrus and John Feeney, assisted by Cathy Feeney, established a field office of the Southern Telegraph Company at the annual Cape Coral, FL Civil War Heritage event on the grounds of the Cape Coral Historical Society museum, November 3, 2007. John and Don were featured on a live segment on WINK-TV during the morning. There was considerable interest from all visitors, but the younger group were especially interested in tapping out their own names on the Morse printing register and taking the tape home for a souvenir. One of the older visitors, a retired fireman, was also interested in the printing register. He said that they had similar machines in the fire stations where he worked, to record the calls from the alarm boxes throughout the city. He told of a fire station dog which learned to read the code! Each alarm box activated a unique three digit code when pulled and every box in a given area began with the same numeral, with the second and third digits further locating the alarm box which had been activated. Alarm bells from all over the city would sound in every fire station, but the crews would only respond to alarms whose code located it within their area of responsibility. The talented fire dog resided in a fire station whose area code began with the numeral nine --- nine strikes of the bell, followed by a pause, followed by more strikes, another pause and the final strikes indicating the location of the alarm box. As soon as the ninth strike of the bell sounded, the fire dog would be up and running to the fire truck.

FLORIDA CHAPTER RECEIVES DONATION

Upon learning of the Florida Chapter’s efforts to restore the telegraph office of the old Trilby Depot, now on the grounds of the Pioneer Museum in Dade City, FL, to its 1950s appearance, Bill and Mary Cogswell, National Railroad Historical Society members from Deland, FL decided to donate a group of train orders from their collection for display at the depot. These train orders are the office copies of train orders received at the Trilby depot in December 1968, when it was an active train order office. Chapter member Warren McFarland is in the process of preparing a display which will preserve the train orders and also educate the general public as to the purpose and use of train orders. The Florida Chapter of the Morse Telegraph Club is extremely grateful to Bill and Mary Cogswell for this generous donation. For the benefit of visitors to this website who may not be familiar with train orders, the following explanation is offered: One of the primary responsibilities of the railroad telegrapher was to copy train orders for delivery to passing trains. These train orders were issued by a Train Dispatcher who controlled the movement of trains over tracks within a given territory. The Standard Book of Rules and the Official Time Table in effect at the time provided the general background for the movement of trains, but train orders were more specific. They were addressed to a specific train or trains and directed that train to do whatever the Train Dispatcher had decided needed to be done: meet another train, wait at specified locations, run late on its published schedule, be cautious under the circumstances described or numerous other actions.. The Standard Book of Rules established the form, format and meaning of the train orders as well as the meanings of all fixed, audible and hand signals in addition to a large number of other rules for the movement of trains and the duties and deportment of various classes of railroad employees. The Official Time Table contained train numbers and schedules, the location of all offices where a passing train might expect to receive train orders, the lengths of all passing tracks and a variety of other information which might be necessary or useful to train crews operating trains over the territory covered. After World War II, many major railroads installed Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) systems to control train movements. Using CTC, a Train Dispatcher could align track switches so that trains could move into and out of sidings without having to stop and hand throw switches. The Train Dispatcher could also control the trackside signals governing the movement of trains. These capabilities eliminated the need for most train orders, thus eliminating the need for railroad telegraphers to copy and deliver them.

MORSE CLUB TAPS INTO PAST
	By RONNIE BLAIR rblair@tampatrib.com Tampa (FL) Tribune, Published: Sep 5, 2005

DADE CITY - The tapping sounds emanating from the telegraph instruments in the old Trilby Depot provide a time-machine experience for Tom Bjorkman and Warren McFarland. The two men worked - long, long ago, they say - as telegraphers for railroad companies. Bjorkman, 67, of Brooksville, was with the Erie Railroad. McFarland, 82, of Orlando, was with the Atlantic Coastline Railroad. Once upon a time, they were go-to guys when it came to sending and receiving messages. For these two, Morse code is a second language, as simple as A, B, C. Or in this case, as simple as dot-dash, dash-dot- dot-dot, dash-dot-dash-dot. Where others hear meaningless noise, Bjorkman and McFarland hear an insistent tapping that lifts away the years and hearkens back to a time when the telegraph played a crucial role in the nation's development.

These days, though, the message Bjorkman, McFarland and others like them send is mainly one of remembrance. As members of the Morse Telegraph Club of Florida, they keep the torch lit for a means of communication that serves little purpose in an age of cellular telephones and e-mail. ``We just like to keep it alive a little bit longer,'' Bjorkman said. On Sunday, at the 31st annual Pioneer Days Festival, Bjorkman and McFarland demonstrated telegraph equipment to visitors who strolled through the Trilby Depot, which sits on the grounds of the Pioneer Florida Museum and Village. Morse Telegraph Club members also demonstrated the equipment Saturday, but they won't be back today as the festival concludes.

Bjorkman said the club is restoring the telegraph table at the depot. Work remains to be done, but progress has been made. ``We have a good working display,'' Bjorkman said. The club members, no fans of the hands-off approach, encouraged children to tap out their names in Morse code. The youngsters might as well do it for fun. None of them is likely to do it for pay, as Bjorkman and McFarland once did. ``I last did it for real in 1962,'' Bjorkman said.

The telegraph had a good ride, though. Samuel Morse invented the telegraph in the 1840s and by the 1850s its use was widespread in the United States. McFarland and Bjorkman said that during the Civil War, the telegraph was used to keep generals updated about events on the battlefields. The military also made use of the telegraph in World War I and, to a lesser extent, in World War II, Bjorkman said. By the mid-20th century, though, as other means of communications developed, the telegraph's importance began to wane. In most places, it was phased out in the 1960s, Bjorkman said. The last land line in the United States was discontinued in 1982 at Whitehall, Mont., he said.

Telegraphers had seen that coming 40 years earlier. In 1942, some of them formed the Morse Telegraph Club to keep the traditions of their vocation alive. Now there are club chapters in nearly every state, including the chapter in Florida, which has 34 members. Once a year, the members pay homage to the man who made their old profession possible. On the last Saturday of each April, each chapter celebrates Morse's birthday, which was April 27, 1791. The Florida group holds its Morse birthday gala at the Central Florida Railroad Museum in Winter Garden.

Railroads and the telegraph were linked almost from the beginning, McFarland said. Since the railroad tracks were already there, it made sense to put in telegraph lines along the tracks. ``Then it became natural for railroad employees to become telegraph operators,'' he said.

One piece of equipment Bjorkman and McFarland demonstrated Sunday was an Instructograph, a device used to teach Morse code. The lessons were on yellow paper tape that was threaded through a machine. Holes punched in the paper represented the dots and dashes. The machine read those, then sent a message to a telegraph sounder and the student would try to write down the message as it was tapped out. McFarland said he never had an Instructograph. Instead, his father served the machine's role, helping him to learn Morse code. ``I learned this,'' McFarland said. ``I've never forgotten it.''     Reprinted from The Tampa (FL) Tribune.  Used by permission.

FLORIDA CHAPTER RECEIVES 2006 PRESIDENT'S AWARD

Morse Telegraph Club International President Lavina Shaw has announced that the Florida and Saskatoon Chapters are  recipients of the 2006 President's Award for the United States and Canada, respectively.  This award is given annually to recognize the activities of those chapters who are outstanding in forwarding the mission of the Morse Telegraph Club, which is to preserve the history and knowledge of Morse telegraphy.  Both chapters have been very active in presenting demonstrations in many different venues and in participating in various reenactments which highlight the importance of Morse telegraphy in the national history of both countries. In presenting the awards, International President Lavina Shaw wrote:  "To the members of the Morse Telegraph club:                                    Florida "FX" Chapter                                    Saskatoon "KN" Chapter      I have decided to award two "President Awards" this year to two very well-deserving chapters.  I did this for two reasons:   First I couldn't decide which chapter deserved it more - both chapters have done a fantastic job.  You did exceedingly well with putting on Morse demonstrations, re-inactments, etc.  You have made us proud!  Secondly, I do not know whether my successor will carry on the tradition, so I thought it fitting that both chapters should be recognized.      Thank you for helping to make the Morse Telegraph Club a great one! 73 Lavina Shaw International President (until May 1/07)" Speaking for all chapter members, Secretary Don Andrus wrote President Shaw:  "The Florida Chapter is very pleased to receive the President's Award.  It is most gratifying to know that our efforts have been recognized at the international level.  We also recognize that many other chapters are quite active and may in the future have their efforts rewarded.  We encourage all chapters to do whatever they can do to make sure that the knowledge of this vital step in our technological history is not forgotten by current and future generations."