Originally published February 23 2006
Western Union will no longer send telegrams
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Effective January 27, 2006, Western Union stopped all Telegram and Commercial Messaging services. The decline of the telegram has picked up steam in recent years with services like affordable long-distance, faxes and the internet.
After 145 years, Western Union has quietly stopped sending telegrams.
"Effective January 27, 2006, Western Union will discontinue all Telegram and Commercial Messaging services.
We regret any inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you for your loyal patronage.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact a customer service representative."
The decline of telegram use goes back at least to the 1980s, when long-distance telephone service became cheap enough to offer a viable alternative in many if not most cases.
Email could be counted as the final nail in the coffin.
It long ago refocused its main business to make money transfers for consumers and businesses.
It's now called Western Union Financial Services, Inc. and is a subsidiary of First Data Corp.
The world's first telegram was sent on May 24, 1844 by inventor Samuel Morse.
The message, "What hath God wrought," was transmitted from Washington to Baltimore.
In a crude way, the telegraph was a precursor to the Internet in that it allowed rapid communication, for the first time, across great distances.
Western Union goes back to 1851 as the Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company.
In 1856 it became the Western Union Telegraph Company after acquisition of competing telegraph systems.
By 1861, during the Civil War, it had created a coast-to-coast network of lines.
* 1884: Became one of the original 11 stocks tracked by the Dow Jones Average.
* 1964: Began using a transcontinental microwave beam to replace land lines.
* 1974: Launched Westar I, the first U.S. dedicated communications satellite.
On Jan. 26, the last day you could send a telegram, First Data announced it would spin Western Union off as an independent, publicly traded company.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml