Naming of the Federal Capital of Australia: The Ceremony

Clip 4: Telegraphists spread the news

0 min 47 sec

Taken from the historical footage Naming of the Federal Capital of Australia: The Ceremony (1913)

Original title classification not rated – this clip chosen to be PG

A video which normally appears on this page did not load because the Flash plug-in was not found on your computer. You can download and install the free Flash plug-in then view the video. Or you can view the same video as a downloadable MP4 file without installing the Flash plug-in.

Availability of the complete title

Please note: this clip is silent

Curator’s clip description

The intertitles at the beginning of this clip explain it all: ‘Telegraphists at work sending the news to Sydney. 200 words a minute. A record’.

Curator’s notes

Telegraphists, or telegraph operators, used morse code to communicate information in the days before contemporary forms of mass communications. This clip is a vivid illustration of the typical work that telegraphists once did, and the importance of their profession.

Lauren Williams, curator

australian screen