May 29, 1847. Ezra Cornell to D.T. Tillotson: "We find people who on the start laughed at the folly (as they called it) of building telegraphs saying they would find nothing to do, who now furnish daily business for the line, and clamour the loudest if the line is out of order for a few hours so that they cannot be served at the moment." Regarding the telegraph in Canada: "See the difference, the Canadians are quarreling for the stock of a line that will never have half the business that the Erie & Michigan line will, while on the later it is dificult to get the necessary stock subscribed to build it." Telegraph lines (New York, Albany & Buffalo; New York & Boston), new lines (Erie & Michigan), finances. Topics: Telegraph business correspondence: instruments, O'Reilly contract dispute, new lines (Troy & Canada Junction); Erie & Michigan Telegraph Company.; visual telegraph: exploration of coast of Maine for sites. Personal names: Cornell, E.B.; Speed, J.J.; Smith, F.O.J.; Wood, M.L.; Wood, O.S.; Tillotson, D.T.; Kendall, Amos Geography: Maine; Montreal