First Around-the-World Telegram.
Charles J. Glidden, of Boston, seems to have been the first man that sent a message by telegraph and cable around the world. November 1 he wrote this message to himself, “Around the world,” and despatched it by way of Vancouver and Australia. It was not a “rush” message, and the operators did not hurry. Mr. Glidden received it thirty-eight hours and twenty minutes later. The cost, all told, was about $12.00. The route from Boston was San Francisco, Vancouver, Fanning Island, Fiji Islands, Norfolk Island, Australia, Singapore, across India to the Red Sea, across the Mediterranean to Paris and London, thence by Atlantic cable to Boston. The message received somewhat of a shock; it read when received: “Gleddon, Armund the world.” The last two words came through intact.