Valley Daily News (Tarentum, PA)

"THE MAN WHO BEAT MORSE
Freeport Man Constructed Operating Telegraph But Patent Office Termed Idea as Being Absurd:

Freeport has produced many outstanding men in the last century and a half but none exceeds in stature Dr. David Alter, one of America's great scientists.
Most of his scientific effort was an outgrowth and expression of his deep interest in the mysteries of nature.
It is doubtful if the kindly physician ever earned a dollar from his remarkable exploits which included the development of the telegraph and telephone.

Telegraph in 1936
It was in 1836 that Dr. Alter developed a crude telegraph that linked his home and his workshop. This was long before Dr. Samuel B. Morse, credited with the discovery of this means of communication, announced his discovery.
Four years before Dr. Morse advanced his claims, Dr. Alter sought a patent but it was refused.
"The idea is absurd and chimerical," said the patent office, dismissing the application.
In 1837 Dr. Alter — who lived until 18_ — developed an electric motor and a little later announced that he had made a "telegraph that could speak." In other words, he had invented a telephone. This was long before Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, who is credited with the invention appeared on the scene.

Built "Electric Buggy"
Along about 1840 Dr. Alter constructed what he called an electric buggy. It was actually a crude automobile.
One of his inventions which for a item had considerable commercial value was a retort which extracted oil from coal. It was in operation when the Drake Oil well, drilled in 1859, made it of no further value.
The Freeport physician, whose practice often took him on journeys many miles from Freeport, found time to experiment with the infant science of daguerreotypes. He also found a way to extract bromides from the waste material thrown out by salt wells along the banks of the canal. Thus is was possible to reduce the price of this drug enough to place it within the reach of thousands who previously could not buy it because of the high cost.
In 1853 he discovered the spectrum analysis. If not the first, then he was the second man to grass the new science which made it possible for man to investigate the chemical nature of substances independent of distance through luminous radiations. Thus it was made possible to analyze chemically the sun and other heavenly bodies.

Born in 1807
Dr. Alter was of German extraction. He was born in 1807 in Allegheny Twp., across the Allegheny from Freeport. The family had settled in the area about 1800. German was the language of the household but young David mastered English by reading the New Testament. By the time he reached 19 years he refused to speak German to anyone except people unable to use English.
He delighted in reading and borrowed books from almost anyone who would lend them. A story is told of how the young man's father exploded one day when he found his son seated on a stump reading while he was supposed to be plowing a field.

Had Wide Practice
One of the borrowed books introduced to him to the mysteries of electricity and chemistry and aroused his life's chief interest. He studied medicine and started to practice about 1831. A few years later he came to Freeport.
Traveling by horseback, he visited patients at great distances , sometimes as far as 15 and 20 miles. The records of his day describe him as "a good doctor."
Frances R. Harbison in his book "Flood Tides along the Allegheny," says:
Men may deplore his failure to obtain any reward for his labors. Their minds are attuned to recompense in wealth and luxuries. Dr. Alter was pioneer in the sciences and, to one of his spirit, worldly possessions are more frequently a burden than a blessing. He lived in the midst of agricultural people. They had little need for his discoveries. Needs, actual or imaginary, create demands. Until demand arises, the fruits of genius are rarely marketable. His was the normal fate of the forerunner. While men may bestow their admiration upon him, they can well withhold their pity, for he was doubtless content in his achievements."

[Includes a 5x7 photo of Dr. Alter]