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CHAPTER V.

THE OVERLAND TELEGRAPH LINE.

The building of the Overland Telegraph line was probably the biggest factor in opening up the country of the centre and north of Australia. The land had gone back to its peaceful dreaming after the passing of Stuart's small exploring forces and had remained that way for some years. However, the outside world was progressing and the Telegraph which had been invented by Morse in 1838 was revolutionizing communications all over the world. For some time long cables had been working their way across the lands and seas from England to many places and people began to think that it was time Australia began to be part of this great network of communications. Each state had different ideas of where the cable should come ashore from Java but it was finally decided that the line overland should come straight through the centre of Australia from Darwin to Adelaide. Following this, the South Australian Government authorised a loan of £120, 000 for the construction of an overland telegraph line and a contract was drawn up with the British Australian Telegraph Co. , saying that the line should be completed by 1st January, 1872. This meant that the line had to cross approximately 2, 000 miles of almost unexplored country, through tropical jungle, across swamps and rivers, over mountain ranges where no tracks had been found and across deserts where nothing grew and little water could be found. There were no towns for supplies and no one lived in this area so everything had to be transported overland for the work. And there was only 18 months left to complete the agreement. It was a gigantic task to plan such a huge piece of work but the job was taken on by a small, energetic, dark-haired and black-bearded man who wore glasses. His name was Charles Todd.

Charles Todd.

Charles Todd was born in Islington, England on 7th July, 1826 and went to school at Greenwich. When he was fifteen he went to work at the big Royal Observatory at Greenwich where he stayed for six years. Then he went to work at the Cambridge Observatory for another seven years. He was good at Maths and very interested in electricity and it was this interest that led to his going back to the Royal Observatory at Greenwich in May, 1854. Here he worked in the Galvanic Department which specialised in studying electrical phenomena and electric telegraph. In February, 18 55 he accepted the post of Government Astronomer and Superin­ tendent of Telegraphs in the little colony of South Australia, and taking his new wife, Alice Gillam Bell of Cambridge, he left for his new post. He arrived in Adelaide on Guy Fawkes Day, 5th November, 1855. As Superintendent of Telegraphs in the colony of South Australia, Todd found that there was not one telegraph line in the whole colony but he soon put that to rights. He had brought all the equipment needed with him as well as an assistant, E. C. Cracknell. Through their efforts a line was put through from Adelaide to Port Adelaide in 1856. Later a bigger job was undertaken; to construct the South Australian side of a Telegraph Line to Melbourne. This line, the first inter-colonial one in Australia was sending messages in July, 1858. By far his biggest job was now waiting. He had to organise and plan the huge task of spanning the whole continent with a line of poles, joined by a magic wire - the Over land Telegraph.