By the late 1800's, Americans had nearly 50 years of experience with a new communication device that used electricity and magnets to instantly "write at a distance." The success of the telegraph led Alexander Graham Bell to develop an "electrical speech machine" in 1876 that also used electricity and magnets to capture and send the sound of the human voice over long distances. But as wonderful as these amazing devices were, they shared a common weakness - their messages could only go where their wires led.
So what was a ship at sea or a sheriff on an open range to do when they urgently needed to summon help? Could mankind communicate over great distances without wires?