The Event

Approximateley 12 hours after the event, the billions of tons of charged particles ejected from the sun reached earth’s magnetosphere.  The resulting auroral display was observed globally and reports are truely spectacular- "A little after midnight we were awakened by the auroral light, so bright that one could easily read common print." At the time of the event telegraph systems had relatively recently been deploye across several continents.  Operators of the telegraph stations noticed their equiptment going haywire.  Reports of operators being shocked and even equiptment causing fires trickled in. A transcript of two telegraph operators during the event: Boston operator, (to Portland operator) - "Please cut off your battery entirely from the line for fifteen minutes." Portland operator - "Will do so. It is now disconnected." Boston - "Mine is disconnected, and we are working with the auroral current. How do you receive my writing?" Portland - "Better than with our batteries on. Current comes and goes gradually." Boston - "My current is very strong at times, and we can work better without the batteries, as the Aurora seems to neutralize and augment our batteries alternately, making current too strong at times for our relay magnets. Suppose we work without batteries while we are affected by this trouble." Portland - "Very well. Shall I go ahead with business?" Boston - "Yes. Go ahead."