The invention of the electric telegraph (电报) gave birth to the communications industry. Although Samuel B. Morse succeeded in making the invention useful in 1837, it was not until 1843 that the first important telegraph line was built up. By 1860 more than 50,000 miles of lines connected people east of the Rockies (落基山脉). The following year, San Francisco was added to (加入到)the network. The national telegraph network strengthened(加强)the ties between East and West and contributed to the rapid expansion(扩张)of the railroads by providing an efficient ways to monitor schedules and routes (计划和路线). Furthermore, the extension of the telegraph, combined with the invention of the steam-driven rotary printing press (蒸汽驱动转轮印刷机) by Richard