They sent them by wire using very old technology that eventually became the common Fax machine in the past 20 years.
Fax Machine History
Many inventors after Alexander Bain, worked hard on inventing and improving fax machine type devices.
* In 1850, a London inventor named F. C. Blakewell received a patent what he called a "copying telegraph".
* In 1860, a fax machine called the Pantelegraph sent the first fax between Paris and Lyon. The Pantelegraph was invented Giovanni Caselli.
* In 1895, Ernest Hummel a watchmaker from St. Paul, Minnesota invented his competing device called the Telediagraph.
* In 1902, Dr Arthur Korn invented an improved and practical fax, the photoelectric system.
* In 1914, Edouard Belin established the concept of the remote fax for photo and news reporting.
# In 1924, the telephotography machine (a type of fax machine) was used to send political convention photos long distance for newspaper publication. It was developed by the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) worked to improve telephone fax technology.
# By 1926, RCA invented the Radiophoto that faxed by using radio broadcasting technology.
# In 1947, Alexander Muirhead invented a very successful fax machine.
# On March 4, 1955, the first radio fax transmission was sent across the continent.
http://inventors.about.com/od/bstartinventors/a/fax_machine.htm