“There was another display of Arora last night, so brilliant that at about one o’clock (AM) ordinary print could be read by the light.  The effect continued through this forenoon, considerably affecting the working of telegraph lines. The Aurora’s currents were so regular from east to west that operators on eastern lines were able to hold communications and transmit messages over the line between the city (Boston) and Portland, the batteries being discontinued from the wire.” — The New York Times, September 3rd 1859.