The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
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Title: The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
Author: Henry M. Field
Release date: December 27, 2010 [eBook #34765]
Language: English
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THE STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH
by
HENRY M. FIELD
* * * * *
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THE STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH
by
HENRY M. FIELD
"Since the discovery of Columbus, nothing has been done in any degree
comparable to the vast enlargement which has thus been given to the
sphere of human activity."
--THE TIMES, August 6th, 1858.
New York
Charles Scribner's Sons
1898
Copyright, 1892, by
Henry M. Field.
Press of J. J. Little & Co.
Astor Place, New York
PREFACE
The recent death of Mr. Cyrus W. Field recalls attention to the great
enterprise with which his name will be forever associated. "The Atlantic
Telegraph," said the late Chief Justice Chase, "is the most wonderful
achievement of civilization, and entitles its author to a distinguished
rank among public benefactors. High upon that illustrious roll will his
name be placed, and there will it remain while oceans divide, and
telegraphs unite, mankind." The memory of such an achievement the world
should not let die. The story of its varied fortunes reads like a tale
of adventure. From the beginning it was a series of battles, fighting
against the elements and against the unbelief of men. This long struggle
the new generation may forget, profiting by the result, but thinking
little of the means by which it was attained. What toil of hand and
brain had gone before; what days and nights of watching and weariness;
how often hope deferred had made the heart sick: how year after year had
dragged on, and seen the end still afar off--all that is dimly
remembered, even by those who reap the fruits of victory. And yet in the
history of human achievements, it is necessary to trace these
beginnings step by step, if we would learn the lesson they teach, that
it is only out of heroic patience and perseverance that anything truly
great is born.
Twelve years of unceasing toil was the price the Atlantic Telegraph cost
its projector; and not years lighted up by the assurance of success, but
that were often darkened with despair: years in which he was restlessly
crossing and recrossing the ocean, only to find on either side, worse
than storms and tempests, an incredulity which sneered at every failure,
and derided the attempt as a delusion and a dream. Against such
discouragements nothing could prevail but that faith, or fanaticism,
which, believing the incredible, achieves the impossible. Such a tale,
apart from the results, is in itself a lesson and an inspiration.
In attempting to chronicle all this, the relation of the writer to the
prime mover has given him facilities for obtaining the materials of an
authentic history; but he trusts that it will not lead him to overstep
the limits of modesty. Standing by a new-made grave, he has no wish to
indulge in undue praise even of the beloved dead. Enough for him is it
to unroll the canvas on which the chief actor stands forth as the
conspicuous figure. But in a work of such magnitude there are many
actors, and there is glory enough for all; and it is a sacred duty to
the dead to recognize, as he did, what was due to the brave companions
in arms, who stood by him in disaster and defeat; who believed in him
even when his own countrymen doubted and despaired; and furnished anew
men and money and ships for the final conquest of the sea. If history
records that the enterprise of the Atlantic Telegraph owed its inception
to the faith and daring of an American, it will also record that all his
ardor and activity would have been of no avail but for the science and
seamanship, the capital and the undaunted courage, of England. But when
all these conditions were supplied, it is the testimony of Englishmen
themselves that his was the spirit within the wheels that made them
revolve; that it was his intense vitality that infused itself into a
great organization, and made the dream of science the reality of the
world. This is not to his honor alone: it is a matter of national pride;
and Americans may be pardoned if, in the year in which they celebrate
the discovery of the continent, they recall that it was one of their
countrymen whom the Great Commoner of England, John Bright, pronounced
"the Columbus of our time, who, after no less than forty voyages across
the Atlantic in pursuit of the great aim of his life, had at length by
his cable moored the New World close alongside the Old." How the miracle
was wrought, it is the design of these pages to tell.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I. Page 1
Discovery of the New World by Columbus. Relative Position
of the Two Hemispheres. Nearest Points--The Outlying
Islands, Ireland and Newfoundland. Shorter Route to Europe
suggested by Bishop Mullock. The Electric Telegraph Company
of Newfoundland. Project of Mr. F. N. Gisborne. Failure of
the Company
CHAPTER II. Page 15
Mr. Gisborne comes to New York. Is introduced to Cyrus W.
Field, who conceives the Idea of a Telegraph across the
Atlantic Ocean. Is it Practicable? Two Elements to be
mastered, the Sea and the Electric Current. Letters of
Lieutenant Maury and Professor Morse
CHAPTER III. Page 24
Mr. Field enlists Capitalists in the Enterprise. Commission
to Newfoundland to obtain a Charter. The New York,
Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company
CHAPTER IV. Page 38
The Land-Line in Newfoundland. Four Hundred Miles of Road
to be built, a Work of Two Years. Attempt to lay a Cable
across the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in 1855, fails. A Second
Attempt, in 1856, is successful
CHAPTER V. Page 51
Deep-Sea Soundings by Lieutenant Berryman in the Dolphin in
1853, and the Arctic in 1856, and by Commander Dayman, of
the British Navy, in the Cyclops, in 1857. The Bed of the
Atlantic. The Telegraphic Plateau
CHAPTER VI. Page 69
Mr. Field in London. The English Engineers and
Electricians. Result of Experiments. The Atlantic Telegraph
Company organized. Applies to the Government for Aid.
Contract for a Cable
CHAPTER VII. Page 91
Mr. Field returns to America. Seeks Aid from the
Government. Opposition in Congress. Bill passed
CHAPTER VIII. Page 112
Return to England. The Niagara--Captain Hudson. The
Agamemnon. Expedition of 1857 sails from Ireland. Speech of
the Earl of Carlisle. The Cable broken
CHAPTER IX. Page 142
Preparations for an Expedition in 1858. Mr. Field is made
the General Manager of the Company. The Squadron assemble
at Plymouth, and put to Sea, June 10. New Method of laying
Cable, beginning in Mid-Ocean. The Agamemnon in Danger of
being Foundered. The Cable lost Three Times. The Ships
return to England. Meeting of the Directors. Shall they
abandon the Project? One Last Effort
CHAPTER X. Page 165
Second Expedition Successful. Cable landed in Ireland and
Newfoundland
CHAPTER XI. Page 188
Great Excitement in America. Celebration in New York and
other Cities
CHAPTER XII. Page 213
Sudden Stoppage of the Cable. Reaction of Public Feeling.
Suspicions of Bad Faith. Did the Cable ever work?
CHAPTER XIII. Page 229
Attempts to revive the Company. The Government asked for
Aid, but declines to give an Unconditional Guarantee.
Failure of the Red Sea Telegraph. Scientific Experiments.
Cables laid in the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf.
Brief History of the next Five Years
CHAPTER XIV. Page 241
The Enterprise renewed. Improvement on the Old Cable. The
Great Eastern and Captain Anderson. Expedition of 1865.
Twelve Hundred Miles laid safely, when the Cable is broken
CHAPTER XV. Page 293
Formation of a New Company, the Anglo-American. New Cable
made and shipped on Board the Great Eastern
CHAPTER XVI. Page 306
The Expedition of 1866. Immense Preparations. Religious
Service at Valentia. Sailing of the Fleet. Diary of the
Voyage. Cable landed at Heart's Content
CHAPTER XVII. Page 347
Return to Mid-Ocean to search for the Cable lost the Year
before. Dragging in the Deep Sea. Repeated Failures. Cable
finally recovered and completed to Newfoundland
CHAPTER XVIII. Page 376
The Afterglow. Honors conferred in England and America.
Commercial Revolution wrought by the Cable. Mr. Field and
the Elevated Railroads in New York City. Tour round the
World. Last Years. Death in 1892
STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH
CHAPTER I.
THE BARRIER OF THE SEA.
When Columbus sailed from the shores of Spain, it was not in search of a
New World, but only to find a nearer path to the East. He sought a
western passage to India. He had adopted a traditionary belief that the
earth was round; but he did not once dream of another continent than the
three which had been the ancient abodes of the human race--Europe, Asia,
and Africa. All the rest was the great deep. The Florentine sage
Toscanelli, from his knowledge of the world so far as then discovered,
had made a chart, on which the eastern coast of Asia was represented as
lying opposite to the western coast of both Europe and Africa. Accepting
this theory, Columbus reasoned that he could sail direct from Spain to
India. No intervening continent existed even in his imagination. Even
after he had crossed the Atlantic, and descried the green woods of San
Salvador rising out of the western seas, he thought he saw before him
one of the islands of the Asiatic coast. Cuba he believed was a part of
the mainland of India; Hayti was the Ophir of King Solomon; and when,
on a later voyage, he came to the broad mouth of the Orinoco, and saw it
pouring its mighty flood into the Atlantic, he rejoiced that he had
found the great river Gihon, which had its rise in the garden of Eden!
Even to the hour of his death, he remained ignorant of the real extent
of his magnificent discovery. It was reserved to later times to lift the
curtain fully from the world of waters; to reveal the true magnitude of
the globe; and to unite the distant hemispheres by ties such as the
great discoverer never knew.
It is hard to imagine the darkness and the terror which then hung over
the face of the deep. The ocean to the west was a Mare Tenebrosum--a Sea
of Darkness, into which only the boldest voyagers dared to venture.
Columbus was the most successful navigator of his time. He had made
voyages to the Western Islands, to Madeira and the Canaries, to Iceland
on the north, and to the Portuguese settlements in Africa. But when he
came to cross the sea, he had to grope his way almost blindly. But a few
rays of knowledge glimmered, like stars, on the pathless waters. When he
sailed on his voyage of discovery, he directed his course, first to the
Canaries, which was a sort of outstation for the navigators of those
times, as the last place at which they could take in supplies; and
beyond which they were venturing into unknown seas. Here he turned to
the west, though inclining southward toward the tropics (for even the
great discoverers of that day, in their search for new realms to
conquer, were not above the consideration of riches as well as honor,
and somehow associated gems and gold with torrid climes), and bore away
for India!
From this route taken by the great navigator, he crossed the ocean in
its widest part. Had he, instead, followed the track of the Northmen,
who crept around from Iceland to Greenland and Labrador; or had he
sailed straight to the Azores, and then borne away to the north-west, he
would much sooner have descried land from the mast-head. But steering in
darkness, he crossed the Atlantic where it is broadest _and deepest_;
where, as submarine explorers have since shown, it rolls over mountains,
lofty as the Alps and the Himalayas, which lie buried beneath the
surface of the deep. But farther north the two continents, so widely
sundered, incline toward each other, as if inviting that closer relation
and freer intercourse which the fulness of time was to bring.
As the island of Newfoundland is to stand in the foreground of our
story, we observe on the map its salient geographical position. It holds
the same relation to America that Ireland does to Europe. Stretching far
out into the Atlantic, it is the vanguard of the western continent, or
rather the signal-tower from which the New World may speak to the Old.
And yet, though large as England, and so near our coast, few Americans
ever see it, as it lies out of the track of European commerce. Our
ships, though they skirt the Banks of Newfoundland, pass to the south,
and get but occasional glimpses of the headlands. Even what is seen
gives the country rather an ill reputation. It has a rockbound coast,
around which hang perpetual fogs and mists, through which great icebergs
drift slowly down, like huge phantoms of the deep, gliding away to be
dissolved by the warm breath of the Gulf Stream: dangers that warn the
voyager away from such a sea and shore.
Sailing west from Cape Race, and making the circuit of the island as far
as the Straits of Belle Isle, one is often reminded of the most northern
peninsula of Europe. The rocky shores are indented with numerous bays,
reaching far up into the land, like the fiords along the coast of
Norway; while the large herds of Caribou deer, that are seen feeding on
the hills, might easily be mistaken for the flocks of reindeer that
browse on the pastures and drink of the mountain torrents of ancient
Scandinavia.
The interior of the island is little known. Not only is it uninhabited,
it is almost unexplored, a boundless waste of rock and moor, where vast
forests stretch out their unbroken solitudes, and the wild bird utters
its lonely cry. Bears and wolves roam on the mountains. Especially
common is the large and fierce black wolf; while of the smaller animals,
whose skins furnish material for the fur-trade, such as martins and
foxes, there is the greatest abundance. But from all pests of the
serpent tribe, Newfoundland is as free as Ireland, which was delivered
by the prayers of St. Patrick. There is not a snake or a frog or a toad
in the island!
Yet, even in this ruggedness of nature, there is a wild beauty, which
only needs to be "clothed upon" by the hand of man. Newfoundland, in
many of its features, is not unlike Scotland, even in its most desolate
portions, where the rocky surface of the country, covered with thick
moss, reminds the emigrant Scot of the heather on his native moors. In
the interior are lakes as long as Loch Lomond, and mountains as lofty as
Ben Lomond and Ben Nevis. There are passes as wild as the Vale of
Glencoe, where one might feel that he is in the heart of the Highlands,
while the roar of the torrents yet more vividly recalls the
Land of the brown heath and shaggy wood,
Land of the mountain and the flood.
Yet in all this there is nothing to repel human habitation. By the hand
of industry, these wild moors might be transformed into fruitful fields.
We think it a very cold country, where winter reigns over half the year,
as in Greenland; yet it is not so far north as Scotland, nor is its
climate more inhospitable. It only needs the same population, the same
hardy toil: and the same verdure would creep up its hill-sides, which
now makes green and beautiful the loneliest of Scottish glens.
But at present the country is a _terra incognita_. In the interior there
are no towns and no roads. As yet almost the whole wealth of the island
is drawn from the sea. Its chief trade is its fisheries, and the only
places of importance are a few small towns, chiefly on the eastern side,
which have grown up around the trading posts. Besides these, the only
settlements are the fishermen's huts scattered along the coast. Hence
the bishop of the island, when he would make his annual visit to his
scattered flock, is obliged to sail around his diocese in his yacht,
since even on horseback it would not be possible to make his way through
the dense forests to the remote parts of the island. This first
suggested the idea of cutting across the island a nearer way, not only
for internal intercourse, but for those who were passing to and fro on
the sea.
It was in one of these excursions around the coast that the good Bishop
Mullock, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Newfoundland, when
visiting the western portion of his diocese, lying one day becalmed in
his yacht, in sight of Cape North, the extreme point of the province of
Cape Breton, bethought himself how his poor neglected island might be
benefited by being taken into the track of communication between Europe
and America. He saw how nature had provided an easy approach to the
mainland on the west. About sixty miles from Cape Ray stretched the long
island of Cape Breton, while, as a stepping-stone, the little island of
St. Paul's lay between. So much did it weigh upon his mind that, as soon
as he got back to St. John's, he wrote a letter to one of the papers on
the subject. As this was the first suggestion of a telegraph across
Newfoundland, his letter is here given in full:
_To the Editor of the Courier_:
Sir: I regret to find that, in every plan for transatlantic
communication, Halifax is always mentioned, and the natural
capabilities of Newfoundland entirely overlooked. This has been
deeply impressed on my mind by the communication I read in your
paper of Saturday last, regarding telegraphic communication
between England and Ireland, in which it is said that the
nearest telegraphic station on the American side is Halifax,
twenty-one hundred and fifty-five miles from the west of
Ireland. Now would it not be well to call the attention of
England and America to the extraordinary capabilities of St.
John's, as the nearest telegraphic point? It is an Atlantic
port, lying, I may say, in the track of the ocean steamers, and
by establishing it as the American telegraphic station, news
could be communicated to the whole American continent
forty-eight hours, _at least_, sooner than by any other route.
But how will this be accomplished? Just look at the map of
Newfoundland and Cape Breton. From St. John's to Cape Ray there
is no difficulty in establishing a line passing near Holy-Rood
along the neck of land connecting Trinity and Placentia Bays,
and thence in a direction due west to the Cape. You have then
about forty-one to forty-five miles of sea to St. Paul's
Island, with deep soundings of one hundred fathoms, so that the
electric cable will be perfectly safe from icebergs. Thence to
Cape North, in Cape Breton, is little more than twelve miles.
Thus it is not only practicable to bring America two days
nearer to Europe by this route, but should the telegraphic
communication between England and Ireland, sixty-two miles, be
realized, it presents not the least difficulty. Of course, we
in Newfoundland will have nothing to do with the erection,
working, and maintenance of the telegraph; but I suppose our
Government will give every facility to the company, either
English or American, who will undertake it, as it will be an
incalculable advantage to this country. I hope the day is not
far distant when St. John's will be the first link in the
electric chain which will unite the Old World and the New.
J. T. M.
St. John's, November 8, 1850.
This suggestion came at the right moment, since it quickened, if it did
not originate, the first attempt to link the island of Newfoundland with
the mainland of America. For about the same time, the attention of Mr.
Frederick N. Gisborne, a telegraph operator, was attracted to a similar
project. Being a man of great quickness of mind, he instantly saw the
importance of such a work, and took hold of it with enthusiasm. It might
easily occur to him without suggestion from any source. He had had much
experience in telegraphs, and was then engaged in constructing a
telegraph line in Nova Scotia. Whether, therefore, the idea was first
with him or with the bishop, is of little consequence. It might occur
at the same time to two intelligent minds, and show the sagacity of
both.
But having taken hold of this idea, Mr. Gisborne pursued it with
indomitable resolution. As the labors of this gentleman were most
important in the beginning of this work, it is a pleasure to recognize
his untiring zeal and energy. In assurance of this we could have no
higher authority than the following from the late Mr. E. M. Archibald,
who was at the time Attorney-General of Newfoundland, and afterwards for
many years British Consul at New York:
"It was during the winter of 1849-50, that Mr. Gisborne, who
had been, as an engineer, engaged in extending the electric
telegraph through Lower Canada and New Brunswick to Halifax,
Nova Scotia, conceived the project of a telegraph to connect
St. John's, the most easterly port of America, with the main
continent. The importance of the geographical position of
Newfoundland, in the event of a telegraph ever being carried
across the Atlantic, was about the same time promulgated by Dr.
Mullock, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Newfoundland, in a St.
John's newspaper.
"In the spring of the following year (1851), Mr. Gisborne
visited Newfoundland, appeared before the Legislature, then in
session, and explained the details of his plan, which was an
overland line from St. John's to Cape Ray, nearly four hundred
miles in length, and (the submarine cable between Dover and
Calais not having then been laid) a communication between Cape
Ray and Cape Breton by steamer and carrier-pigeons,
eventually, it was hoped, by a submarine cable across the Gulf
of St. Lawrence. The Legislature encouraged the project,
granted L500 sterling to enable Mr. Gisborne to make an
exploratory survey of the proposed line to Cape Ray, and passed
an act authorizing its construction, with certain privileges,
and the appointment of commissioners for the purpose of
carrying it out. Upon this, Mr. Gisborne, who was then the
chief officer of the Nova Scotia Telegraph Company, returned to
that province, resigned his situation, and devoted himself to
the project of the Newfoundland telegraph. Having organized a
local company for the purpose of constructing the first
telegraph line in the island, from St. John's to Carbonear, a
distance of sixty miles, he, on the fourth of September, set
out upon the arduous expedition of a survey of the proposed
line to Cape Ray, which occupied upward of three months, during
which time himself and his party suffered severe privations,
and narrowly escaped starvation, having to traverse the most
rugged and hitherto unexplored part of the island.[A] On his
return, having reported to the Legislature favorably of the
project, and furnished estimates of the cost, he determined to
proceed to New York, to obtain assistance to carry it out....
Mr. Gisborne returned to St. John's in the spring of 1852,
when, at his instance, an act, incorporating himself (his being
the only name mentioned in it) and such others as might become
shareholders in a company, to be called the Newfoundland
Electric Telegraph Company, was passed, granting an exclusive
right to erect telegraphs in Newfoundland for thirty years,
with certain concessions of land, by way of encouragement, to
be granted upon the completion of the telegraph from St. John's
to Cape Ray. Mr. Gisborne then returned to New York, where he
organized, under this charter, a company, of which Mr. Tebbets
and Mr. Holbrook[B] were prominent members, made his financial
arrangements with them, and proceeded to England to contract
for the cable from Cape Ray to Prince Edward Island, and from
thence to the mainland. Returning in the autumn, he proceeded
in a small steamer, in November of that year, 1852, to stretch
the first submarine cable, of any length, in America, across
the Northumberland Strait from Prince Edward Island to New
Brunswick, which cable, however, was shortly afterward broken,
and a new one was subsequently laid down by the New York,
Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company. In the spring of
the following year, 1853, Mr. Gisborne set vigorously to work
to complete his favorite project of the line (which he intended
should be chiefly underground) from St. John's to Cape Ray. He
had constructed some thirty or forty miles of road, and was
proceeding with every prospect of success, when, most
unexpectedly, those of the company who were to furnish the
needful funds dishonored his bills, and brought his operations
to a sudden termination. He and the creditors of the company
were for several months buoyed up with promises of forthcoming
means from his New York allies, which promises were finally
entirely unfulfilled; and Gisborne, being the only ostensible
party, was sued and prosecuted on all sides, stripped of his
whole property, and himself arrested to answer the claims of
the creditors of the company. He cheerfully and honorably gave
up every thing he possessed, and did his utmost to relieve the
severe distress in which the poor laborers on the line had been
involved."
This is a testimony most honorable to the engineer who first led the way
through a pathless wilderness. But this Newfoundland scheme is not to be
confounded with that of the Atlantic Telegraph, which did not come into
existence until a year or two later. The latter was not at all included
in the former. Indeed, Mr. Gisborne himself says, in a letter referring
to his original project: "My plans were to run a subterranean line from
Cape Race to Cape Ray, fly carrier-pigeons and run boats across the
Straits of Northumberland to Cape Breton, and thence by overland lines
convey the news to New York." He adds however: "Meanwhile Mr. Brett's
experimental cable between Dover and Calais having proved successful, I
set forth in my report, [which appeared a year after his first
proposal], that 'carrier-pigeons and boats would be required only until
such time as the experiments then making in England with submarine
cables should warrant a similar attempt between Cape Ray and Cape
Breton.'" But nowhere in his report does he allude to the possibility of
ever spanning the mighty gulf of the Atlantic.
But several years after, when the temporary success of the Atlantic
Telegraph gave a name to everybody connected with it, he or his friends
seemed not unwilling to have it supposed that this was embraced in the
original scheme. When asked why he did not publish his large design to
the world, he answered: "Because I was looked upon as a wild visionary
by my friends, and pronounced a fool by my relatives for resigning a
lucrative government appointment in favor of such a laborious
speculation as the Newfoundland connection. Now had I coupled it at that
time with an Atlantic line, all confidence in the prior undertaking
would have been destroyed, and my object defeated." This may have been a
reason for not announcing such a project to the public, but not for
withholding it from his friends. A man can hardly lay claim to that
which he holds in such absolute reserve.
However, whether he ever entertained the _idea_ of such a project, is
not a matter of the slightest consequence to the public, nor even to his
own reputation. Ten years before Professor Morse had expressed, not a
dreamer's fancy, but a deliberate conviction, founded on scientific
experiments, that "a telegraphic communication might with certainty be
established across the Atlantic Ocean;" so that the idea was not
original with Mr. Gisborne, any more than with others who were eager to
appropriate it.
It is a part of the history of great enterprises, that the moment one
succeeds, a host spring up to claim the honor. Thus when, in 1858, the
Atlantic Telegraph seemed to be a success, the public, knowing well who
had borne the brunt and burden of the undertaking, awarded him the
praise which he so well deserved; but instantly there were other
Richmonds in the field. Those who had had no part in the labor, at least
claimed to have originated the idea! Of course, these many claims
destroy each other. But after all, to raise such a point at all is the
merest trifling. The question is not who first had the "idea," but who
took hold of the enterprise as a practical thing; who grappled with the
gigantic difficulties of the undertaking, and fought the battle through
to victory.
As to Mr. Gisborne, his activity in the beginning of the Newfoundland
telegraph is a matter of history. In that preliminary work, he bore an
honorable part, and acquired a title to respect, of which he cannot be
deprived. All honor to him for his enterprise, his courage, and his
perseverance!
But for the company of which he was the father, which he had got up with
so much toil, it lived but a few months, when it became involved in debt
some fifty thousand dollars, chiefly to laborers on the line, and ended
its existence by an ignominious failure. The concern was bankrupt, and
it was plain that, if the work was not to be finally abandoned, it must
be taken up by stronger hands.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] "On the fourth day of December, I accomplished the survey through
three hundred and fifty miles of wood and wilderness. It was an arduous
undertaking. My original party, consisting of six white men, were
exchanged for four Indians; of the latter party, two deserted, one died
a few days after my return, and the other, 'Joe Paul,' has ever since
proclaimed himself an ailing man."--_Letter of Mr. Gisborne._
[B] Horace B. Tebbets and Darius B. Holbrook.
CHAPTER II.
CAN THE OCEAN BE SPANNED?
Mr. Gisborne left Halifax and came to New York in January, 1854. Here he
took counsel with his friend Tebbets and others; but they could give him
no relief. It was while in this state of suspense that he met, at the
Astor House, Mr. Matthew D. Field, an engineer who had been engaged in
building railroads and suspension bridges at the South and West. Mr.
Field listened to his story with interest, and engaged to speak of it to
his brother, Cyrus W. Field,[A] a merchant of New York, who had retired
from business the year before, and had spent six months in travelling
over the mountains of South America, from which he had lately returned.
Accordingly, he introduced the subject, but found his brother
disinclined to embark in any new undertaking. Though still a young man,
his life had been for many years one of incessant devotion to business.
He had accumulated an ample fortune, and was not disposed to renew the
cares, the anxieties, and the fatigues of his former life. But listening
to the details of a scheme which had in it much to excite interest, and
which by its very difficulty stimulated the spirit of enterprise, he at
length consented to see Mr. Gisborne, and invited him to his house.
Accordingly he came, and spent an evening describing the route of his
proposed telegraph, and the points it was to connect. After he left, Mr.
Field took the globe which was standing in the library, and began to
turn it over. _It was while thus studying the globe that the idea first
occurred to him, that the telegraph might be carried further still, and
be made to span the Atlantic Ocean._ The idea was not original with him,
though he was to carry it out. It was indeed new _to him_; but it had
long been a matter of speculation with scientific minds, though their
theories had never attracted his attention. But once he had grasped the
idea, it took strong hold of his imagination. Had the Newfoundland
scheme stood alone, he would never have undertaken it. He cared little
about shortening communication with Europe by a day or two, by relays of
boats and carrier-pigeons. But it was the hope of further and grander
results that inspired him to enter on a work of which no man could
foresee the end.
An enterprise of such proportions, that would task to the utmost the
science and the engineering skill of the world, was not to be rashly
undertaken; and before giving a definite reply to Gisborne, Mr. Field
determined to apply to the highest authorities in his own country.
The project of an Atlantic telegraph involved two problems: Could a
cable be stretched across the ocean? and if it were, would it be good
for anything to convey messages? The first was a question of mechanical
difficulties, requiring a careful survey of the ocean itself, fathoming
its depth, finding out the character of its bottom, whether level, or
rough and volcanic; and all the obstacles that might be found in the
winds that agitate the surface above, or the mighty currents that sweep
through the waters below. The second problem was purely scientific,
involving questions as to the laws of electricity, not then fully
understood, and on which the boldest might feel that he was venturing on
uncertain ground.
Such were the two elements or forces of nature to be encountered--the
ocean and the electric current. Could they be controlled by any power of
man? The very proposal was enough to stagger the faith even of an
enthusiast. Who could lay a bridle on the neck of the sea? The attempt
seemed as idle as that of Xerxes to bind it with chains. Was it possible
to combat the fierceness of the winds and waves, and to stretch one long
line from continent to continent? And then, after the work was achieved,
would the lightning run along the ocean-bed from shore to shore? Such
were the questions which had puzzled many an anxious brain, and which
now troubled the one who was to undertake the work.
To get some light in his perplexity, Mr. Field, the very next morning
after his interview with Gisborne, wrote two letters, one to Lieutenant
Maury, then at the head of the National Observatory at Washington, on
the nautical difficulties of the undertaking, asking if the sea were
itself a barrier too great to be overcome; and the other to Professor
Morse, inquiring if it would be possible to telegraph over a distance so
great as that from Europe to America?
The mail soon brought an answer from Lieutenant Maury, which began:
"Singularly enough, just as I received your letter, I was closing one to
the Secretary of the Navy on the same subject." A copy of this he
inclosed to Mr. Field, and it is given here. It shows the conclusions at
which, even at that early day, scientific men were beginning to arrive:
"National Observatory,
Washington, February 22, 1854.
"Sir: The United States brig Dolphin, Lieutenant Commanding O.
H. Berryman, was employed last summer upon especial service
connected with the researches that are carried on at this
office concerning the winds and currents of the sea. Her
observations were confined principally to that part of the
ocean which the merchantmen, as they pass to and fro upon the
business of trade between Europe and the United States, use as
their great thoroughfare. Lieutenant Berryman availed himself
of this opportunity to carry along also a line of deep-sea
soundings, from the shores of Newfoundland to those of Ireland.
The result is highly interesting, in so far as the bottom of
the sea is concerned, upon the question of a submarine
telegraph across the Atlantic; and I therefore beg leave to
make it the subject of a special report.
"This line of deep-sea soundings seems to be decisive of the
question of the practicability of a submarine telegraph between
the two continents, _in so far as the bottom of the deep sea is
concerned_. From Newfoundland to Ireland, the distance between
the nearest points is about sixteen hundred miles;[B] and the
bottom of the sea between the two places is a plateau, which
seems to have been placed there especially for the purpose of
holding the wires of a submarine telegraph, and of keeping them
out of harm's way. It is neither too deep nor too shallow; yet
it is so deep that the wires but once landed, will remain for
ever beyond the reach of vessels' anchors, icebergs, and drifts
of any kind, and so shallow, that the wires may be readily
lodged upon the bottom. The depth of this plateau is quite
regular, gradually increasing from the shores of Newfoundland
to the depth of from fifteen hundred to two thousand fathoms,
as you approach the other side. The distance between Ireland
and Cape St. Charles, or Cape St. Lewis, in Labrador, is
somewhat less than the distance from any point of Ireland to
the nearest point of Newfoundland. But whether it would be
better to lead the wires from Newfoundland or Labrador is not
now the question; nor do I pretend to consider the question as
to the possibility of finding _a time calm enough, the sea
smooth enough, a wire long enough, a ship big enough_, to lay a
coil of wire sixteen hundred miles in length: though I have no
fear but that the enterprise and ingenuity of the age, whenever
called on with these problems, will be ready with a
satisfactory and practical solution of them.
"I simply address myself at this time to the question in so far
as _the bottom of the sea_ is concerned, and as far as that,
the greatest practical difficulties will, I apprehend, be found
after reaching soundings at either end of the line, and not in
the deep sea....
"A wire laid across from either of the above-named places on
this side will pass to the north of the Grand Banks, and rest
on that beautiful plateau to which I have alluded, where the
waters of the sea appear to be as quiet and as completely at
rest as at the bottom of a mill-pond. It is proper that the
reasons should be stated for the inference that there are no
perceptible currents, and no abrading agents at work at the
bottom of the sea upon this telegraphic plateau. I derive this
inference from a study of a physical fact, which I little
deemed, when I sought it, had any such bearings.
"Lieutenant Berryman brought up with Brooke's deep-sea sounding
apparatus specimens of the bottom from this plateau. I sent
them to Professor Bailey, of West Point, for examination under
his microscope. This he kindly gave, and that eminent
microscopist was quite as much surprised to find, as I was to
learn, that all those specimens of deep-sea soundings are
filled with microscopic shells; to use his own words, _not a
particle of sand or gravel exists in them_. These little
shells, therefore, suggest the fact that there are no currents
at the bottom of the sea whence they came; that Brooke's lead
found them where they were deposited in their burial-place
after having lived and died on the surface, and by gradually
sinking were lodged on the bottom. Had there been currents at
the bottom, these would have swept and abraded and mingled up
with these microscopic remains the _debris_ of the bottom of
the sea, such as ooze, sand, gravel, and other matter; but not
a particle of sand or gravel was found among them. Hence the
inference that these depths of the sea are not disturbed either
by waves or currents. Consequently, a telegraphic wire once
laid there, there it would remain, as completely beyond the
reach of accident as it would be if buried in air-tight cases.
Therefore, so far as the bottom of the deep sea between
Newfoundland, or the North Cape, at the mouth of the St.
Lawrence, and Ireland, is concerned, the practicability of a
submarine telegraph across the Atlantic is proved....
"In this view of the subject, and for the purpose of hastening
the completion of such a line, I take the liberty of suggesting
for your consideration the propriety of an offer from the
proper source, of a prize to the company through whose
telegraphic wire the first message shall be passed across the
Atlantic.
"I have the honor to be respectfully yours.
"M. F. Maury,
"Lieutenant United States Navy.
"Hon. J. C. Dobbin, Secretary of the Navy."
The reply of Professor Morse showed equal interest in the subject, in
proof of which he wrote that he would come down to New York to see Mr.
Field about it. A few days after he came, and saw Mr. Field at his
house. This was the beginning of an acquaintance which soon ripened into
friendship, and which henceforth united these gentlemen together in this
great achievement. Professor Morse, in conversation, entered at length
into the laws of electricity as applied to the business of telegraphing,
and concluded by declaring his entire faith in the undertaking as
practical; as one that might, could, and would, be achieved. Indeed,
this faith he had avowed years before. In a letter written as early as
August tenth, 1843, to John C. Spencer, then Secretary of the Treasury,
Professor Morse had detailed the results of certain experiments made in
the harbor of New York to show the power of electricity to communicate
at great distances, at the close of which he says--in words that now
seem prophetic:
"The practical inference from this law is, that a telegraphic
communication on the electro-magnetic plan may with certainty
be established across the Atlantic Ocean! Startling as this may
now seem, I am confident the time will come when this project
will be realized."
It was the good fortune of Mr. Field--at that time and ever since--to
have at hand an adviser in whose judgment he had implicit confidence.
This was his eldest brother, David Dudley Field. They lived side by side
on Gramercy Park, and were in daily communication. To the prudent
counsels, wise judgment and unfaltering courage of the elder brother,
the Atlantic Telegraph is more indebted than the world will ever know,
for its first impulse and for the spirit which sustained it through long
years of discouragement and disaster, when its friends were few. To
this, his nearest and best counsellor, Mr. Field opened the project
which had taken possession of his mind; and being strengthened by that
maturer judgment, he finally resolved that, if he could get a sufficient
number of capitalists to join him, he would embark in an enterprise
which, beginning with the line to Newfoundland, involved in the end
nothing less than an attempt to link this New World which Columbus had
discovered, to that Old World which had been for ages the home of empire
and of civilization. How the scheme advanced through the next twelve
years, it will be our province to relate.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] Born November 30, 1819, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, the son of a
Congregational minister, of whom three sons are still living: Mr. David
Dudley Field, of New York; Mr. Justice Stephen J. Field, of the Supreme
Court of the United States; and the writer of the present volume.
[B] From Cape Freels, Newfoundland, to Erris Head, Ireland, the distance
is sixteen hundred and eleven miles; from Cape Charles, or Cape St.
Lewis, Labrador, to the same point, the distance is sixteen hundred and
one miles.
CHAPTER III.
THE COMPANY ORGANIZED.
And so the young New York merchant set out to carry a telegraph across
the Atlantic Ocean! The design had in it at least the merit of audacity.
But whether the end was to be sublime or ridiculous time alone could
tell. Certain it is that when his sanguine temper and youthful blood
stirred him up to take hold of such an enterprise, he little dreamed of
what it would involve. He thought lightly of a few thousands risked in
an uncertain venture; but never imagined that he might yet be drawn on
to stake upon its success the whole fortune he had accumulated; that he
was to sacrifice all the peace and quiet he had hoped to enjoy; and that
for twelve years he was to be almost without a home, crossing and
re-crossing the sea, urging his enterprise in Europe and America. But so
it is, that the Being who designs great things for human welfare, and
would accomplish them by human instruments, does not lift at once the
curtain from the stern realities they are to meet, nor reveal the
rugged ascents they are to climb; so that it is only when at last the
heights are attained, and they look backward, that they realize through
what they have passed.
But could he find anybody to join him in his bold undertaking? Starving
adventurers there always are, ready to embark in any Quixotic attempt,
since they have nothing to lose. But would men of sense and of
character; men who had fortunes to keep, and the habit which business
gives of looking calmly and suspiciously at probabilities; be found to
put capital in an enterprise where, if it failed, they would find their
money literally at the bottom of the sea? It seemed doubtful, but he
would try. His plan was, if possible, to enlist ten capitalists, all
gentlemen of wealth, who together could lift a pretty heavy load; who,
if need were, could easily raise a million of dollars, to carry out any
undertaking.
The first man whom he addressed was his next-door neighbor, Mr. Peter
Cooper, in whom he found the indisposition which a man of large
fortune--now well advanced in life--would naturally feel to embark in
new enterprises. The reluctance in this case was not so much to the
risking of capital, as to having his mind occupied with the care which
it would impose. These objections slowly yielded to other
considerations. As they talked it over, the large heart of Mr. Cooper
began to see that, if it were possible to accomplish such a work, it
would be a great public benefit. This consideration prevailed, and what
would not have been undertaken as a private speculation, was yielded to
public interest. The conference ended by a conditional agreement to
engage in it, if several others did, and, as we shall see, when the
Company was organized, he became its President.
The early accession of this gentleman gave strength to the new
enterprise. In all the million inhabitants of the city of New York there
was not a name which was better known, or more justly held in honor,
than that of Peter Cooper. A native of the city, where he had passed his
whole life, he had seen its growth, from the small town it was after the
War of the Revolution, and had himself grown with it. Beginning with
very small means and limited opportunities, he had become one of its
great capitalists. Many who thus rise to wealth, in the process of
accumulation, form penurious habits which cling to them, and to the end
of their days it is the chief object of life to hoard and to keep. But
Mr. Cooper, while acquiring the fortune, had also the heart of a prince;
and used his wealth with a noble generosity. In the centre of New York
stands to-day a massive building, erected at a cost of nearly a million
of dollars, and consecrated "To Science and Art." This was Mr. Cooper's
gift to his native city. Remembering his own limited advantages of
education, he desired that the young men of New York, the apprentices
and mechanics, should have better opportunities than he had enjoyed. For
this he endowed courses of lectures on the natural sciences; he opened
the largest reading-room in America, which furnishes a pleasant resort
to thousands of readers daily; while to help the other sex, he added a
School of Design for Women, which trains hundreds to be teachers, and
some of them artists; who go forth into the world to earn an honest
living, and to bless the memory of their generous benefactor. This noble
institution, standing in the heart of the city, is his enduring
monument.
Yet while doing so much for the public, those who saw Peter Cooper in
his family knew how he retained the simple habits of early life--how,
while giving hundreds of thousands to others, he cared to spend little
on himself; how he remained the same modest, kindly old man; the pure,
the generous, and the good. His was
"The good gray head that all men knew,"
and that was sadly missed when, nearly thirty years after, in 1883, at
the age of ninety-two, he was borne to his grave. It is a pleasant
remembrance that the beginning of this enterprise was connected with
that honored name.
Mr. Field next addressed himself to Mr. Moses Taylor, a well-known
capitalist of New York, engaged in extensive business reaching to
different parts of the world, and whose daily observation of all sorts
of enterprises, both sound and visionary, made him perhaps a severer
judge of any new scheme. With this gentleman he had then no personal
acquaintance, but sent a note of introduction from his brother, David
Dudley Field, with a line requesting an interview, to which Mr. Taylor
replied by an invitation to his house on an evening when he should be
disengaged. As these two gentlemen afterwards became very intimately
associated, they often recurred to their first interview. Said Mr.
Field: "I shall never forget how Mr. Taylor received me. He fixed on me
his keen eye, as if he would look through me: and then, sitting down, he
listened to me for nearly an hour without saying a word." This was
rather an ominous beginning. However, his quick mind soon saw the
possibilities of the enterprise, and the evening ended by an
agreement--conditional, like Mr. Cooper's--to enter into it.
Mr. Taylor, being thus enlisted, brought in his friend, Mr. Marshall O.
Roberts--a man whose career has been too remarkable to be passed without
notice. A native of the City of New York, (though his father was a
physician from Wales, who came to this country early in this century,)
he found himself, when a boy of eight years, an orphan, without a friend
in the world. From that time he made his way purely by his own industry
and indomitable will. At the age of twenty he was embarked in business
for himself, and his history soon became a succession of great
enterprises. If we were to relate some of the incidents connected with
his rise of fortune, they would sound more like romance than reality. He
was the first to project those floating palaces which now ply the waters
of the Hudson and the great lakes. He was one of the early promoters of
the Erie Railroad. When the discovery of gold in California turned the
tide of emigration to that coast, he started the line of steamers to the
Isthmus of Panama, and controlled largely the commerce with the Pacific.
Thus his hand was felt, giving impulse to many different enterprises on
land and sea. His whole course was marked by a spirit of commercial
daring, which men called rashness, until they saw its success, and then
applauded as marvellous sagacity.
Mr. Field next wrote to Mr. Chandler White, a personal friend of many
years' standing, who had retired from business, and was living a few
miles below the city, near Fort Hamilton, at one of those beautiful
points of view which command the whole harbor of New York. He too was
very slow to yield to argument or persuasion. Why should he--when he had
cast anchor in this peaceful spot--again embark in the cares of
business, and, worst of all, in an enterprise the scene of which was far
distant, and the results very uncertain? But enthusiasm is always
magnetic, and the glowing descriptions of his persuader at length
prevailed.[A]
There were now five gentlemen enlisted; and Mr. Field was about to apply
to others, to make up his proposed number, when Mr. Cooper came to ask
why _five_ would not do as well as _ten_? The question was no sooner
asked than answered. To this all agreed, and at once fixed an evening
when they should meet at Mr. Field's house to hear his statements and to
examine the charter of the old company, find out what it had done, and
what it proposed to do, what property it had and what debts it owed; and
decide whether the enterprise offered sufficient inducements to embark
in it. Accordingly they met, and for four nights in succession discussed
the subject. It was in the dining-room of Mr. Field's house, and the
large table was spread with maps of the route to be traversed by the
line of telegraph, and with plans and estimates of the work to be done,
the cost of doing it, and the return which they might hope in the end to
realize for their labor and their capital. The result was an agreement
on the part of all to enter on the undertaking, if the Government of
Newfoundland would grant a new charter conceding more favorable terms.
To secure this it was important to send at once a commission to
Newfoundland. Neither Mr. Cooper, Mr. Taylor, nor Mr. Roberts could go;
and it devolved on Mr. Field to make the first voyage on this business,
as it did to make many voyages afterwards to Newfoundland, and still
more across the Atlantic. But not wishing to take the whole
responsibility, he was accompanied at his earnest request by Mr. White,
and by Mr. D. D. Field, whose counsel, as he was to be the legal adviser
of the Company, was all-important in the framing of the new charter that
was to secure its rights. The latter thus describes this first
expedition:
"The agreement with the Electric Telegraph Company, and the
formal surrender of its charter, were signed on the tenth of
March, [1854,] and on the fourteenth we left New York,
accompanied by Mr. Gisborne. The next morning we took the
steamer at Boston for Halifax, and thence, on the night of the
eighteenth, departed in the little steamer Merlin for St.
John's, Newfoundland. Three more disagreeable days, voyagers
scarcely ever passed, than we spent in that smallest of
steamers. It seemed as if all the storms of winter had been
reserved for the first month of spring. A frost-bound coast, an
icy sea, rain, hail, snow and tempest, were the greetings of
the telegraph adventurers in their first movement toward
Europe. In the darkest night, through which no man could see
the ship's length, with snow filling the air and flying into
the eyes of the sailors, with ice in the water, and a heavy sea
rolling and moaning about us, the captain felt his way around
Cape Race with his lead, as the blind man feels his way with
his staff, but as confidently and as safely as if the sky had
been clear and the sea calm; and the light of morning dawned
upon deck and mast and spar, coated with glittering ice, but
floating securely between the mountains which form the gates of
the harbor of St. John's. In that busy and hospitable town, the
first person to whom we were introduced was Mr. Edward M.
Archibald, then Attorney-General of the Colony, and now British
Consul in New York. He entered warmly into our views, and from
that day to this, has been an efficient and consistent
supporter of the undertaking. By him we were introduced to the
Governor, (Kerr Bailey Hamilton,) who also took an earnest
interest in our plans. He convoked the Council to receive us,
and hear an explanation of our views and wishes. In a few hours
after the conference, the answer of the Governor and Council
was received, consenting to recommend to the Assembly a
guarantee of the interest of L50,000 of bonds, an immediate
grant of fifty square miles of land, a further grant to the
same extent on the completion of the telegraph across the
ocean, and a payment of L5,000 toward the construction of a
bridle-path across the island, along the line of the land
telegraph."
This was a hopeful beginning; and, though the charter was not yet
obtained, feeling assured by this official encouragement, and the public
interest in the project, that it would be granted by the colony, Mr.
Field remained in St. John's but three days, when he took the Merlin
back to Halifax on his way to New York, there to purchase and send down
a steamer for the service of the Company, leaving his associates to
secure the charter and to carry out the arrangements with the former
company. To settle all these details was necessarily a work of time.
First, the charter of the old Electric Telegraph Company had to be
repealed, to clear the way for a new charter to the Company, which was
to bear the more comprehensive title of "New York, Newfoundland, _and
London_." This charter--which had been drawn with the greatest care by
the counsel of the Company, while on the voyage to Newfoundland--bore on
its very front the declaration that the plans of the new Company were
much broader than those of the old. In the former charter, the design
was thus set forth:
"The telegraph line of this company is designed to be strictly
an 'Inter-Continental Telegraph.' Its termini will be New York,
in the United States, and London, in the kingdom of Great
Britain; these points are to be connected by a line of electric
telegraph from New York to St. John's, Newfoundland, partly on
poles, partly laid in the ground, and partly through the water,
_and a line of the swiftest steamships ever built from that
point to Ireland_. The trips of these steamships, it is
expected, will not exceed five days, and as very little time
will be occupied in transmitting messages between St. John's
and New York, the communication between the latter city and
London or Liverpool, will be effected _in six days_, or less.
The company will have likewise stationed at St. John's a steam
yacht, for the purpose of intercepting the European and
American steamships, so that no opportunity may be lost in
forwarding intelligence in advance of the ordinary channels of
communication."
But the charter of the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph
Company, which was now to be obtained, began by declaring, in its very
first sentence: "Whereas it is deemed advisable to establish a line of
telegraphic communication between America and Europe by way of
Newfoundland." Not a word is said of fast ships, of communications in
less than six days, but every thing points to a line across the ocean.
Thus one section gives authority to establish a submarine telegraph
across the ocean, from Newfoundland to Ireland; another section
prohibits any other company or person from touching the coast of
Newfoundland or its dependencies [which includes Labrador] with a
telegraphic cable or wire, from any point whatever, for fifty years; and
a third section grants the Company fifty square miles of land upon the
completion of the submarine line across the Atlantic.
In other respects the charter was equally liberal. It incorporated the
associates for fifty years, established perfect equality, in respect to
corporators and officers, between citizens of the United States and
British subjects, and allowed the meetings of the stockholders and
directors to be held in New York, in Newfoundland, or in London.
To obtain such concessions was a work of some difficulty and delay. The
Legislature of the province were naturally anxious to scan carefully
conditions that were to bind them and their children for half a century.
I have now before me the papers of St. John's of that day, containing
the discussions in the Legislature; and while all testify to the deep
public interest in the project, they show a due care for the interests
of their own colony, which they were bound to protect. At length all
difficulties were removed, and the charter was passed unanimously by the
Assembly, and confirmed by the Council.
This happy result was duly celebrated, in the manner which all
Englishmen approve, by a grand dinner given by the commissioners of the
new Company, to the members of the Assembly and other dignitaries of the
colony, at which there were eloquent prophecies of the good time coming,
showing how heartily the enterprise was welcomed by all classes; and how
fond were the anticipations of the increased intercourse it would bring,
and the manifold benefits it would confer on their long-neglected
island.
No sooner were the papers signed, than the wheels, so long blocked, were
unloosed, and the machinery began to move. Mr. White at once drew on New
York for fifty thousand dollars, and paid off all the debts of the old
company. A St. John's newspaper of April 8th, 1854, amid a great deal on
the subject, contains this paragraph, which is very significant of the
dead state of the old company, and of the life of the new:
"The office of the new Electric Telegraph Company has been
surrounded the last two or three days by the men who had been
engaged the last year on the line, and who are being paid all
debts, dues, and demands against the old association. We look
upon the readiness with which these claims are liquidated as a
substantial indication on the part of the new Company that they
will complete to the letter all that they have declared to
accomplish in this important undertaking."
In the early part of May, the two gentlemen who had remained behind in
Newfoundland rejoined their associates in New York, and there the
charter was formally accepted and the Company organized. As all the
associates had not arrived till Saturday evening, the 6th of May, and as
one of them was to leave town on Monday morning, it was agreed that they
should meet for organization at six o'clock of that day. At that hour
they came to the house of Mr. Field's brother Dudley, and as the first
rays of the morning sun streamed into the windows, the formal
organization took place. The charter was accepted, the stock subscribed,
and the officers chosen. Mr. Cooper, Mr. Taylor, Mr. Field, Mr. Roberts,
and Mr. White were the first directors. Mr. Cooper was chosen President,
Mr. White, Vice-President, and Mr. Taylor, Treasurer.
This is a short story, and soon told. It seemed a light affair, for
half a dozen men to meet in the early morning and toss off such a
business before breakfast. But what a work was that to which they thus
put their hands! A capital of a million and a half of dollars was
subscribed in those few minutes, and a company put in operation that was
to carry a line of telegraph to St. John's, more than a thousand miles
from New York, and then to span the wild sea. Well was it that they who
undertook the work did not then fully realize its magnitude, or they
would have shrunk from the attempt. Well was it for them that the veil
was not lifted, which shut from their eyes the long delay, the immense
toil, and the heavy burdens of many wearisome years. Such a prospect
might have chilled the most sanguine spirit. But a kind Providence gives
men strength for their day, imposes burdens as they are able to bear
them, and thus leads them on to greater achievements than they knew.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] Although it is anticipating a year in time, I cannot resist the
pleasure of adding here the name of another eminent merchant, who
afterward joined this little Company, Mr. Wilson G. Hunt. Mr. Hunt is
one of the old merchants of New York who, through his whole career, has
maintained the highest reputation for commercial integrity, and whose
fortune is the reward of a long life of honorable industry. He joined
the Company in 1855, and was a strong and steady friend through all its
troubles till the final success.
CHAPTER IV.
CROSSING NEWFOUNDLAND.
There is nothing in the world easier than to build a line of railroad,
or of telegraph, _on paper_. You have only to take the map, and mark the
points to be connected, and then with a single sweep of the pencil to
draw the line along which the iron track is to run. In this airy flight
of the imagination, distances are nothing. A thousand leagues vanish at
a stroke. All obstacles disappear. The valleys are exalted, and the
hills are made low, soaring arches span the mountain streams, and the
chasms are leaped in safety by the fire-drawn cars.
Very different is it to construct a line of railroad or of telegraph in
reality; to come with an army of laborers, with axes on their shoulders
to cut down the forests, and with spades in their hands to cast up the
highway. Then poetry sinks to prose, and instead of flying over the
space on wings, one must traverse it on foot, slowly and with painful
steps. Nature asserts her power; and, as if resentful of the disdain
with which man in his pride affected to leap over her, she piles up new
barriers in his way. The mountains with their rugged sides cannot be
moved out of their place, the rocks must be cleft in twain, to open a
passage for the conqueror, before he can begin his triumphal march. The
woods thicken into an impassable jungle; and the morass sinks deeper,
threatening to swallow up the horse and his rider; until the rash
projector is startled at his own audacity. Then it becomes a contest of
forces between man and nature, in which, if he would be victorious, he
must fight his way. The barriers of nature cannot be lightly pushed
aside, but must yield at last only to time and toil, and "man's
unconquerable will."
Seldom have all these obstacles been combined in a more formidable
manner to obstruct any public work, than against the attempt to build a
telegraph line across the island of Newfoundland. The distance, by the
route to be traversed, was over four hundred miles, and the country was
a wilderness, an utter desolation. Yet through such a country, over
mountain and moor, through tangled brake and rocky gorge, over rivers
and through morasses, they were to build a road--not merely a line of
telegraph stuck on poles, but "a good and traversable bridle-road, eight
feet wide, with bridges of the same width," from end to end of the
island.
But nothing daunted, the new Company undertook the great work with
spirit and resolution. Gisborne had made a beginning, and got some
thirty or forty miles out of St. John's. This was the easiest part of
the whole route, being in the most inhabited region of the island. But
here he broke down, just where it was necessary to leave civilization
behind, and to plunge into the wilderness.
Intending to resume the work on a much larger scale, Mr. White, the
Vice-President, was sent down to St. John's to be the General Agent of
the Company; while Mr. Matthew D. Field, as a practical engineer, was to
have charge of the construction of the line. The latter soon organized a
force of six hundred men, which he pushed forward in detachments to the
scene of operations.
And now began to appear still more the difficulties of the way. To
provide subsistence for man and beast, it was necessary to keep near the
coast, for all supplies had to be sent round by sea. Yet in following
the coast line, they had to wind around bays, or to climb over
headlands. If they struck into the interior, they had to cut their way
through the dense and tangled wood. There was not a path to guide them,
not even an Indian trail. When lost in the forest, they had to follow
the compass, as much as the mariner at sea.
To keep such a force in the field, that, like an army, produced nothing,
but consumed fearfully, required constant attention to the commissary
department. The little steamer Victoria, which belonged to the Company,
was kept plying along the coast, carrying barrels of pork and potatoes,
kegs of powder, pickaxes and spades and shovels, and all the implements
of labor. These were taken up to the heads of the bays, and thence
carried, chiefly on men's backs, over the hills to the line of the road.
In many respects, it had the features of a military expedition. It moved
forward in a great camp. The men were sheltered in tents, when sheltered
at all, or in small huts which they built along the road. But more often
they slept on the ground. It was a wild and picturesque sight to come
upon their camp in the woods, to see their fires blazing at night while
hundreds of stalwart sleepers lay stretched on the ground. Sometimes,
when encamped on the hills, they could be seen afar off at sea. It made
a pretty picture then. But the hardy pioneers thought little of the
figure they were making, when they were exposed to the fury of the
elements. Often the rain fell in torrents, and the men, crouching under
their slight shelter, listened sadly to the sighing of the wind among
the trees, answered by the desolate moaning of the sea.
Yet in spite of all obstacles, the work went on. All through the long
days of summer, and through the months of autumn, every cove and creek
along that southern coast heard the plashing of their oars, and the
steady stroke of their axes resounded through the forest.
But as the season advanced, all these difficulties increased. For
nearly half the year, the island is buried in snow. Blinding drifts
sweep over the moors, and choke up the paths of the forest. How at such
times the expedition lay floundering in the woods, still struggling to
force its way onward; what hardships and sufferings the men endured--all
this is a chapter in the History of the Telegraph which has not been
written, and which can never be fully told. The
Gentlemen of England,
Who dwell at home at ease,
and who are justly proud of the extent of their dominions, and the life
and power which pervade the whole, may here find another example of the
way in which great works are borne forward in distant parts of their
empire.
But to carry out such an enterprise, requires head-work as well as
hand-work. Engineering in the field must be supported by financiering at
home. It was here the former enterprise broke down, and now it needed
constant watching to keep the wheels in steady motion. The directors in
New York found the demand increasing day by day. The minds which had
grasped the large design must now descend to an infinity of detail. They
had to keep an army of men at work, at a point a thousand miles away,
far beyond their immediate oversight. Drafts for money came thick and
fast. To provide for all these required constant attention. How
faithfully they gave to this enterprise, not only their money, but their
time and thought, few will know; but those who have seen can testify. In
the autumn of that year, 1854, the writer removed to the city of New
York, and was almost daily at the house of Mr. Field. Yet for months it
was hardly possible to go there of an evening without finding the
library occupied by the Company. Indeed, so uniformly was this the case,
that "The Telegraph" began to be regarded by the family as an unwelcome
intruder, since it put an interdict on the former social evenings and
quiet domestic enjoyment. The circumstance shows the ceaseless care on
the part of the directors which the enterprise involved. As a witness of
their incessant labor, it is due to them to bear this testimony to their
patience and their fidelity.
When they began the work, they hoped to carry the line across
Newfoundland in one year, completing it in the summer of 1855. In
anticipation of this, Mr. Field was sent by the Company to England at
the close of 1854, to order a cable to span the Gulf of St. Lawrence, to
connect Cape Ray with the island of Cape Breton. This was his first
voyage across the ocean on the business of the Telegraph--to be followed
by more than forty others. In London he met for the first time Mr. John
W. Brett, with whom he was to be afterward connected in the larger
enterprise of the Atlantic Telegraph. Mr. Brett was the father of
submarine telegraphy in Europe, though in carrying out his first
projects he was largely indebted to Mr. Crampton, a well-known engineer
of London, who aided him both with advice and capital. With this
invaluable assistance, he had stretched two lines across the British
channel. From his success in passing these waters, he believed a line
might yet be stretched from continent to continent. The scientific men
of England were not generally educated up to that point. The bare
suggestion was received with a smile of incredulity.[A] But Mr. Brett
had faith, even at that early day, and entered heartily into the schemes
of Mr. Field. To show his interest, he afterward took a few shares in
the Newfoundland line--the only Englishman who had any part in this
preliminary work.
The summer came, and the work in Newfoundland, though not complete, was
advancing; and the cable in England was finished and shipped on board
the bark Sarah L. Bryant to cross the sea. Anticipating its arrival, the
Company chartered a steamer to go down to Newfoundland to assist in its
submersion across the Gulf of St. Lawrence. As yet they had no
experience in the business of laying a submarine telegraph, and did not
doubt that the work could be accomplished with the greatest ease. It was
therefore to be an excursion of pleasure as well as of business, and
accordingly they invited a large party to go with them to witness the
unaccustomed spectacle.
As we chanced to be among the guests, we have the best reason to
remember it. Seldom has a more pleasant party been gathered for any
expedition. Representing the Company were Mr. Field, Mr. Peter Cooper,
Mr. Robert W. Lowber, and Professor Morse; while among the invited
guests were gentlemen of all professions--clergymen, doctors and
lawyers, artists and editors. In the groups on the deck were the
venerable Dr. Gardiner Spring and Rev. J. M. Sherwood; Dr. Lewis A.
Sayre, Bayard Taylor, the well-known traveller, Mr. Fitz-James O'Brien,
and Mr. John Mullaly--the three latter gentlemen representing leading
papers of New York.[B] Besides these, the party included a large number
of ladies, who gave life and animation to the company.
Well does the writer recall the morning of departure--the seventh day of
August, 1855. Never did a voyage begin with fairer omens. It was a
bright summer day. The sky was clear, and the water smooth. We were on
the deck of the good ship James Adger, long known as one of the fine
steamers belonging to the Charleston line. She was a swift ship, and cut
the water like an arrow. Thus we sped down the bay, and turning into the
ocean, skimmed along the shores of Long Island. The sea was tranquil as
a lake. The whole party were on deck, scattered in groups here and
there, watching the sails and the shore. A rude telegraph instrument
furnished entertainment and instruction, especially as we had Professor
Morse to explain his marvellous invention, which some who listened then
for the first time understood.
At Halifax, several of us left the ship, and came across Nova Scotia,
passing through that lovely region of Acadia which Longfellow has
invested with such tender interest in his poem of Evangeline. Thence we
crossed the Bay of Fundy to St. John in New Brunswick, and returned by
way of Portland.
The James Adger went on to Newfoundland, steering first for Port au
Basque, near Cape Ray, where they hoped to meet the bark which was to
come from England with the cable on board. To their disappointment, it
had not arrived. Mr. Canning, the engineer who was to lay the cable, had
come out by steamer, and was on hand, but the bark was not to be seen.
Having to wait several days, and wishing to make the most of their time,
they sailed for St. John's, where they were received by the Provincial
Government and the people with unbounded hospitality, after which they
returned to Port au Basque, and were now rejoiced to discover the little
bark hidden behind the rocks. It was decided to land the cable in Cape
Ray Cove. After a day or two's delay in getting the end to the shore,
they started to cross the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Adger towing the
bark. The sea was calm, and though they were obliged to move slowly, yet
all promised well, till they were about half-way across, when a gale
arose, which pitched the bark so violently, that with its unwieldy bulk
it was in great danger of sinking. After holding on for hours in the
vain hope that it would abate, the captain cut the cable to save the
bark; and thus, after they had paid out forty miles, it was hopelessly
lost, and the Adger returned to New York.
This loss was owing partly to the severity of the gale, and partly to
the fact that the bark which had the cable on board was wholly unfitted
for the purpose. It was a sailing-vessel, and had to be towed by another
ship. In this way it was impossible to regulate its motion. It was too
fast or too slow. It was liable to be swayed by the sea, now giving a
lurch ahead, and now dragging behind. Experience showed that a cable
should always be laid from a steam vessel which could regulate its own
motion, running out freely when all went smoothly, and checking its
speed instantly when it was necessary to ease up the strain, or to pay
out more slack to fill up the hollows of the sea.
This first loss of a submarine cable was a severe disappointment to the
Company. It postponed the enterprise for a whole year. To make a new
cable would require several months, and the season was so far advanced
that it could not be laid before another summer. Was it strange if some
of the little band began to ask if they had not lost enough, and to
reason that it was better to stop where they were, than to go on still
farther, casting their treasures into the sea?
But there was in that little company a spirit of hope and determination
that could not be subdued; that ever cried: "Once more unto the breach,
good friends!" After some deliberation, it was resolved to renew the
attempt. Mr. Field again sailed for England to order another cable,
which was duly made and sent out the following summer. This time, warned
by experience, the Company invited no party and made no display. The
cable was placed on board a steamer fitted for the purpose; from which
it was laid without accident, and remained in perfect working order for
nine years.
Meanwhile the work on land had been pushed forward without ceasing.
After incredible labor, the Company had built a road and a telegraph
from one end of Newfoundland to the other, four hundred miles; and, as
if that were not enough, had built also another line, one hundred and
forty miles in length, in the island of Cape Breton. The first part of
their work was now done. The telegraph had been carried beyond the
United States through the British Provinces to St. John's in
Newfoundland, a distance from New York of over one thousand miles.
The cost of the line, thus far, had been about a million of dollars, and
of this the whole burden, with but trifling exceptions, had fallen upon
the original projectors--Mr. Field having put in over two hundred
thousand dollars in money--and Mr. Cooper, Mr. Taylor, and Mr. Roberts
each a little less. No other contributors beyond the six original
subscribers had come, except Professor Morse, Mr. Robert W. Lowber, Mr.
Wilson G. Hunt, and Mr. John W. Brett. The list of directors and
officers remained as it was at first, except that this year, 1856, Mr.
White died, and his place as director was filled by Mr. Hunt, and that
Mr. Field was chosen Vice-President, and Mr. Lowber Secretary. In all
the operations of the Company thus far, the various negotiations, the
plan of the work, the oversight of its execution, and the correspondence
with the officers and others, mainly devolved upon Mr. Field.
And so at length, after two long and weary years, these bold projectors
had accomplished half their work. They had passed over the land, and
under the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and having reached the farthest point of
the American coast, they now stood upon the cliffs of Newfoundland,
looking off upon the wide sea.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] One or two exceptions there were, not to be forgotten. Professor
William Thomson, of the University of Glasgow, then a young man, but
full of the enthusiasm of science, was already prepared to welcome such
a project, with confidence of success. As early as October and November,
1854, he wrote to the Secretary of the Royal Society of London,
declaring his belief in its practicability. The letters are published in
the Proceedings of the Royal Society for 1855. Such faith was not
visionary, for it was based on clearer knowledge and more thorough
investigation, and gave promise of those eminent services which this
gentleman was afterwards to render to the cause of electrical science.
Mr. C. F. Varley, also, was one of the first to perceive the possibility
of an ocean telegraph, as he was to contribute greatly to its final
success.
[B] The letters of Mr. Taylor, which first appeared in The New York
Tribune have been since collected in one of his volumes of travel. Mr.
O'Brien, a very brilliant writer, who afterward fell in our civil war,
fighting bravely for his adopted country, furnished some spirited
letters to The Times. But Mr. Mullaly, who appeared for The Herald, was
the most persevering attendant on the Telegraph, and the most
indefatigable correspondent. He accompanied not only this expedition,
but several others. He was on board the Niagara in 1857, and again in
both the expeditions of 1858; and on the final success of the cable,
prepared a volume, which was published by the Appletons, giving a
history of the enterprise. This contains the fullest account of all
those expeditions which has been given to the public. I have had
frequent occasion to refer to his book, and can bear witness to the
interest of the narrative. It is written with spirit, and doubtless
would have had a longer life, if the cable itself had not come to an
untimely end.
CHAPTER V.
THE DEEP-SEA SOUNDINGS.
When a landsman, born far away among the mountains, comes down to the
coast, and stands for the first time on the shore of the sea, it excites
in him a feeling of awe and wonder, not unmingled with terror. There it
lies, a level surface, with nothing that lifts up its head like a peak
of his native hills. And yet it is so vast, stretching away to the
horizon, and all over the sides of the round world; with its tides and
currents that sweep from the equator to the pole; with its unknown
depths and its ceaseless motion; that it is to him the highest emblem of
majesty and of power--a not unworthy symbol of God himself.
In proportion to its mystery is the terror which hangs over it. A vague
dread always surrounds the unknown. And what so unknown as the deep,
unfathomable sea? For thousands of years the sails of ships, like winged
birds, have skimmed over it, yet it has remained the one thing in nature
beyond alike man's knowledge and his power:
Man marks the earth with ruin,
His control stops with the shore.
And the little that has been known of the ocean has been chiefly of its
surface, of the winds that blow over it, and the waves that are lifted
up on high. We knew somewhat of its tides and currents as observed in
different parts of the earth. We saw off our coast the great Gulf
Stream--that steady flow of waters, so mighty and mysterious, which,
issuing out of the tropical regions, poured its warm current, sixty
miles broad, right through the cold waters of the North Atlantic; and
sweeping round, sent the airs of a softer climate over all the countries
of Western Europe. Old voyagers told us of the trade-winds that blew
across the Pacific, and of terrible monsoons in China and Indian seas.
But all that did not reveal what was going on a hundred fathoms below
the surface. These old sailors had marvellous tales of Indian
pearl-divers, who, holding their breath, plunged to the depth of a few
hundred feet; but they came up half-dead, with but little to tell except
of the frightful monsters of the deep. The diving-bell was let down over
sunken wrecks, but the divers came up only with tales of riches and
ruin, of gold and gems and dead men's bones that lay mingled together on
the deep sea floor. Was the bottom of the sea all like this? Was it a
vast realm of death, the sepulchre of the world? No man could tell us.
Poets might sing of the caves of ocean, but no eye of science had yet
penetrated those awful depths, which the storms never reach.
It is indeed marvellous how little was known, up to a very recent date,
of the true character of the ocean. Navigators had often tried to find
out how deep it was. When lying becalmed on a tranquil sea, they had
amused themselves by letting down a long line, weighted with a
cannon-ball, to see if they could touch bottom. But the results were
very uncertain. Sometimes the line ran out for miles and miles, but
whether it was all the while descending, or was swayed hither and
thither by mighty under-currents, could not be known.
But this true character of the ocean it was necessary to determine,
before it could be possible to pass the gulf of the Atlantic. What was
there on the bottom of the sea, where the cable was to find its resting
place? Was that ocean-bed a wide level plain, or had it been heaved up
by volcanic forces into a hundred mountain-peaks, with many a gorge and
precipice between? Such was the character of a part of the basin of the
ocean. Here and there, all over the globe, are islands, like the Peak of
Teneriffe, thrown up in some fierce bursting of the crust of our planet,
that shoot up in tremendous cliffs from the sea. Who shall say that the
same cliffs do not shoot down below the waves a thousand fathoms deep?
And might there not be such islands, which did not show their heads
above the surface, lying in the track between Europe and America: or
perchance a succession of mountain ranges, over which the cable would
have to be stretched, and where hanging from the heights it would swing
with the tide, till at last it snapped and fell into the abyss below?
Such at least were possible dangers to be encountered; and it was not
safe to advance a step till the basin of the North Atlantic was
explored.
The progress of invention, so rapid on land, at length found a way of
penetrating the sea, and even of turning up its bottom to the gaze of
men. To measure the depth with something like mathematical accuracy, an
instrument was introduced known among nautical men as Massey's
Indicator, the method of which is very clearly explained in an article
which appeared in one of the New York papers, (The Times,) on the
deep-sea soundings made for the Atlantic Telegraph:
"The old system is with a small line, marked at distances of
one hundred fathoms, and with a weight of thirty or fifty
pounds, the depth being told by the length of line run out.
This is, of course, the most natural apparatus that suggests
itself, and has been in use from the earliest ages. Experience
has given directions for its use, avoiding some of the grosser
causes of error from driftage and other causes. Yet its success
in immense ocean depths is problematical, and a problem decided
in the negative by many of the first scientific authorities at
home and abroad. In the mechanical improvements of the last
half-century substitutes for this simple but rather uncertain
method began to be devised. It was proposed to ascertain the
depth by the amount of pressure, or by explosions under water,
with other equally impracticable plans. At last was noticed the
perfect regularity of the movements of a spirally-shaped wheel,
on being drawn through the water. Experiments proved that this
regularity, when unaffected by other causes, could be relied on
with perfect accuracy, and that an arrangement of cog-wheels
would register its revolutions with mathematical precision.
Very soon it came in use as a ship's log. So perfect was their
precision, that they were even introduced in scientific
surveys. Base lines, where the nicest accuracy is required,
were run with them, and we have the highest authority of the
Royal Navy for believing that they never failed. At this point
it was proposed to apply them in a perpendicular as well as in
a horizontal motion through the water. Massey's apparatus
promising to solve those problems of submarine geography left
unsolved by the old method of obtaining depth with a simple
line and sinker, and this more especially as some causes of
error, considerable on the surface, disappear in the still
water below."
To make our knowledge of the sea complete, one thing more was wanting--a
method not only of reaching the bottom, but of laying hold of it, and
bringing it up to the light of day. This was now to be supplied.
[Illustration: BROOKE'S DEEP SEA SOUNDING APPARATUS.
A shows the instrument ready for sounding. It is very simple, consisting
only of a cannon-ball, pierced with an iron rod, and held in its place
by slings. As the ball goes down swiftly, it drives the rod into the
bottom like the point of a spear, when an opening at the end catches the
ooze in its iron lips. The same instant (see B) the slings loosen, the
ball drops off, and the naked rod, C, with its "bite" is drawn up to the
surface.]
It is to the inventive genius of a lieutenant of the United States navy,
Mr. J. M. Brooke, that the world owes the means of finding out what is
at the bottom of the sea. This is by a very simple contrivance, by which
the heavy weight, used to sink the measuring line, _is detached as soon
as it strikes bottom_, leaving the line free so that it can be drawn up
lightly and quickly to the surface without danger of breaking. Below the
weight, and driven by it into the ooze, is a rod, in which is an open
valve, that now closes with a spring, by which it catches a cupful of
the soil, which is thus brought up to the surface, to be placed under
the microscope, and be subjected to the sharp eye of science. With this
simple instrument the skilful seaman explores the bottom of the ocean by
literally feeling over it. With a long line he dives to the very lowest
depths, while the clasp at the end of it is like the tip of the
elephant's trunk, serving as a delicate finger with which he picks up
sand and shells that lie strewn on the floor of the deep. What important
conclusions are derived from this inspection of the bottom of the sea,
is well stated by Lieutenant Maury in the letter already quoted.
In happy concurrence with this, as an additional preparation, a partial
survey of the Atlantic had been made the very year before this
enterprise was begun, in 1853. Lieutenant Berryman was the first who
applied this new method of taking deep-sea soundings to that part of the
Atlantic lying between Newfoundland and Ireland, with results most
surprising and satisfactory. But to remove all doubt it seemed desirable
to have a fresh survey. To obtain this, Mr. Field went to Washington and
applied to the Government in behalf of the Company for a second
expedition.
The request was granted, and the Arctic, under command of the same
gallant Lieutenant Berryman, was assigned to this service. He sailed
from New York on the eighteenth of July, 1856, and the very next day Mr.
Field left on the Baltic for England, to organize the Atlantic Telegraph
Company. The Arctic proceeded to St. John's, and thence with a clear eye
and a steady hand, this true sailor went "sounding on his dim and
perilous way" across the deep. In about three weeks he made the coast of
Ireland, having carried his survey along the great circle arc, which the
telegraph was to follow as the nearest path from the old world to the
new. The result fully confirmed his belief of the existence of a great
plateau underneath the ocean, extending all the way from one hemisphere
to the other.
I cannot take leave of the name of this gallant officer, who rendered
such services to science and to his country, without a word of tribute
to his memory. Lieutenant Berryman is in his grave. He died in the navy
of his country, worn out by his devotion to her service. When the great
civil war broke out, he was placed in a position most painful to a man
of large heart, who loved at once his country and the state in which he
was born. He was a Southerner, a native of Winchester, Va., and was
assigned to duty in the South. At the first attack on Southern forts and
arsenals, he was in command of the Wyandotte, in the harbor of
Pensacola, in Florida. His officers, who were nearly all Southerners,
were in secret sympathy with the rebellion. All the influences around
him, both on ship and on shore, were such as might have seduced a weaker
man from his loyalty. But, to his honor, he never hesitated for a
moment. He stood firm and loyal to his flag. Not knowing whom to trust,
he had to keep watch day and night against surprise and treachery. It
was the testimony of Lieutenant Slemmer, then in command of Fort
Pickens, that but for the ceaseless exertions of Lieutenant Berryman not
only the ship but the fort would have been lost. But this service to his
country cost him his life. His constant exertions brought on a brain
fever, of which he died. His wife, also a native of Winchester, when the
war came near her early home, removed to Baltimore, saying that "she
would not live under any other flag than that under which her husband
had lived and died."
It was to the honor of the American navy, to have led the way in these
deep-sea soundings. But after this second voyage of exploration, Mr.
Field applied to the British Admiralty, "to make what further soundings
might be necessary between Ireland and Newfoundland, and to verify those
made by Lieutenant Berryman." It was in response to this application
that the Government sent out the following year a vessel to make still
another survey of the same ocean-path. This was the steamer Cyclops,
which was placed under Lieutenant Commander Joseph Dayman, of the
British navy, an officer who had been with Captain Sir James Ross when
he made his deep-sea soundings in the South Atlantic in 1840, where he
attained a depth of twenty-six hundred and sixty-seven fathoms; and who
by his intelligence and zeal, was admirably fitted for the work. To
speak now of this _third_ survey, is anticipating in time. But it will
serve the purpose of unity and clearness in the narrative, to include
all these deep-sea soundings in one chapter. He was directed to proceed
to the harbor of Valentia in Ireland, and thence to follow, as nearly as
possible, along the arc of a great circle to Newfoundland. "The
soundings for the first few miles from the coast should be frequent,
decreasing as you draw off shore."
These orders were thoroughly executed. Every pains was taken to make the
information obtained precise and exact. Whenever a sounding was to be
taken, the ship was hove to, and the bow kept as nearly as possible in
the same spot, so that the line might descend perpendicularly. This was
repeated every few miles until they had got far out into the Atlantic,
where the general equality of the depths rendered it necessary to cast
the line only every twenty or thirty miles. Thus the survey was made
complete, and the results obtained were of the greatest value in
determining the physical geography of the sea.
The conclusions of Commander Dayman confirmed in general those of
Lieutenant Berryman, though in comparing the charts prepared by the two,
we observe some differences which ought to be noticed. Both agree as to
the general character of the bottom of the ocean along this
latitude--that it is a vast plain, like the steppes of Siberia. Yet on
the chart of Dayman the floor of the sea seems _not such a dead level_
as on that of Berryman. (This may be partly owing to a difference of
route, as Dayman passed a little to the north of the track of Berryman.)
There are more unequal depths, which in the small space of a chart,
appear like hills and valleys. Yet when we consider the wide distances
passed over, these inequalities seem not greater than the undulations on
our Western prairies. "This space," says Dayman, "has been named by
Maury the telegraphic plateau, and although by multiplying the soundings
upon it, we have depths ranging from fourteen hundred and fifty to
twenty-four hundred fathoms, these are comparatively small inequalities
in its surface, and present no new difficulty to the project of laying
the cable across the ocean. Their importance vanishes when the extent of
the space over which they are distributed (thirty degrees of longitude)
is considered."
[Illustration: BED OF THE ATLANTIC, NORTH AND SOUTH, THROUGH THE CAPE DE
VERDS, AZORES, AND TELEGRAPH PLATEAU.]
According to Berryman and Dayman both, the ocean in its deepest part on
this plateau, measured but two thousand and three or four hundred
fathoms, or about fourteen thousand feet--a depth of but little over
two and a half miles. This is not great, compared with the enormous
depths in other parts of the Atlantic;[A] yet that it is _something_ may
be realized from the fact that if the Peak of Teneriffe were here "cast
into the sea," it would sink out of sight, island, mountain and all,
while even the lofty head of Mont Blanc would be lifted but a few
hundred feet above the waves.
The only exception to this uniform depth, lies about two hundred miles
off the coast of Ireland, where within a space of about a dozen miles,
the depth sinks from five hundred and fifty to seventeen hundred and
fifty fathoms! "In 14 deg. 48' west," says Dayman, "we have five hundred
and fifty fathoms rock, and in 15 deg. 6' west we have seventeen hundred
and fifty fathoms ooze. This is the greatest dip in the whole ocean."
"In little more than ten miles of distance a change of depth occurs,
amounting to seventy-two hundred feet." This is indeed a tremendous
plunge from the hard rock into the slime of the sea.
The same sharp declivity was noticed by Berryman, and has been observed
in the several attempts to lay the cable. Thus in the second expedition
of 1858, as the Agamemnon was approaching the coast of Ireland, we read
in the report of her voyage: "About five o'clock in the evening, the
steep submarine mountain which divides the telegraphic plateau from the
Irish coast, was reached; and the sudden shallowing of the water had a
very marked effect on the cable, causing the strain on, and the speed of
it, to lessen every minute. A great deal of slack was paid out to allow
for inequalities which might exist, though undiscovered by the
sounding-line."
This submarine mountain was then regarded as the chief point of danger
in the whole bed of the Atlantic, and as the principal source of anxiety
in laying a cable across the ocean. Yet, after all, the ascent or
descent of less than a mile and a half in ten miles, is not an
impassable grade. More recent soundings reduce this still farther.
Captain Hoskins, of the Royal Navy, afterwards made a more careful
survey of this precipitous sea bottom, and with results much more
favorable. The side of the mountain, it is now said, is not very much
steeper than Holborn Hill in London, or Murray Hill in New York.[B] But
the best answer to fears on this point, is the fact that in 1857, 1858,
and 1865, the cable passed over it without difficulty. In 1857 the
Niagara was a hundred miles farther to sea, when the cable broke. In
1865 the strain was not increased more than a hundred pounds. In the
final expedition, that of 1866, this declivity was passed over without
difficulty or danger.
Next to the depth of the ocean, it was important to ascertain the nature
of its bottom. What was it--a vast bed of rock, the iron-bound crust of
the globe, hardened by internal fires, and which, bending as a vault
over the still glowing centre of the earth, bore up on its mighty arches
the weight of all the oceans? or was it mere sand like the sea-shore? or
ooze as soft as that of a mill-pond? The pressure of a column of water
two miles high would be equal to that of four hundred atmospheres. Would
not this weight alone be enough to crush any substance that could reach
that tremendous depth? These were questions which remained to be
answered, but on which depended the possibility of laying a cable at the
bottom of the Atlantic.
By the ingenious contrivance of Lieutenant Brooke, the problem was
solved, for we got hold of fragments of the under-coating of the sea;
and to our amazement, instead of finding the ocean bound round with
thick ribs of granite, its inner lining was found to be soft as a silken
vest. The soil brought up from the bottom was not even of the hardness
of sand or gravel. It was mere ooze, like that of our rivers, and was as
soft as the moss that clings to old, damp stones on the river's brink.
At first it was thought by Lieutenant Berryman to be common clay, but
being carefully preserved, and subjected to a powerful microscope, it
was found to be composed of shells, too small to be discovered by the
naked eye!
This was a revelation of the myriad forms of animated existence which
fill the sea: a plenitude of life that is more wonderful by contrast. As
Maury well puts it: "The ocean teems with life, we know. Of the four
elements of the old philosophers--fire, earth, air, and water--perhaps
the sea most of all abounds with living creatures. The space occupied on
the surface of our planet by the different families of animals and their
remains are inversely as the size of the individual. The smaller the
animal, the greater the space occupied by his remains. Take the elephant
and his remains, or a microscopic animal and his, and compare them. The
contrast, as to space occupied, is as striking as that of the coral reef
or island with the dimensions of the whale. The graveyard that would
hold the corallines is larger than the graveyard that would hold the
elephants."[C]
These little creatures, whose remains were thus found at the bottom of
the ocean, probably did not live there, for there all is dark, and
shells, like flowers, need the light and warmth of the all-reviving sun.
It was their sepulchre, but not their dwelling-place. Probably they
lived near the surface of the ocean, and after their short life, sunk to
the tranquil waters below. What a work of life and death had been going
on for ages in the depths of the sea! Myriads upon myriads, ever since
the morning of creation, had been falling like snow-flakes, till their
remains literally covered the bottom of the deep.
Equally significant was the fact that these shells were _unbroken_. Not
only were they there, but preserved in a perfect form. Organisms the
most minute and delicate, fragile as drooping flowers, had yet sunk and
slept uninjured. The same power which watches over the fall of a sparrow
had kept these frail and tender things, and after their brief existence,
had laid them gently on the bosom of the mighty mother for their eternal
rest.
The bearing of this discovery on the problem of a submarine telegraph
was obvious. For it too was to lie on the ocean-bed, beside and among
these relics that had so long been drifting down upon the watery plain.
And if these tiny shells slept there unharmed, surely an iron chord
might rest there in safety. There were no swift currents down there; no
rushing waves agitated that sunless sea. There the waters moved not; and
there might rest the great nerve that was to pass from continent to
continent. And so far as injury from the surrounding elements was
concerned, there it might remain, whispering the thoughts of successive
generations of men, till the sea should give up its dead.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] "The ocean bed of the North Atlantic is a curious study; in some
parts furrowed by currents, in others presenting banks, the
accumulations perhaps of the debris of these ocean rivers during
countless ages. To the west, the Gulf Stream pours along in a bed from
one mile to a mile and a half in depth. To the east of this, and south
of the Great Banks, is a basin, eight or ten degrees square, where the
bottom attains a greater depression than perhaps the highest peaks of
the Andes or Himalayas--six miles of line have failed to reach the
bottom! Taking a profile of the Atlantic basin in our own latitude, we
find a far greater depression than any mountain elevation on our own
continent. Four or five Alleghanies would have to be piled on each
other, and on them added Fremont's Peak, before their point would show
itself above the surface. Between the Azores and the mouth of the Tagus
this decreases to about three miles."
[B] The results obtained are thus summed up in the London Times:
"The dangerous part of this course has hitherto been supposed to be the
sudden dip or bank which occurs off the west coast of Ireland, where the
water was supposed to deepen in the course of a few miles from about
three hundred fathoms to nearly two thousand. Such a rapid descent has
naturally been regarded with alarm by telegraphic engineers, and this
alarm has led to a most careful sounding survey of the whole supposed
bank by Captain Dayman, acting under the instructions of the Admiralty.
The result of this shows that the supposed precipitous bank, or
submarine cliff, is a gradual slope of nearly sixty miles. Over this
long slope the difference between its greatest height and greatest depth
is only eighty-seven hundred and sixty feet; so that the average incline
is, in round numbers, about one hundred and forty-five feet per mile. A
good gradient on a railway is now generally considered to be one in one
hundred feet, or about fifty-three in a mile; so that the incline on
this supposed bank is only about three times that of an ordinary
railway. In fact, as far as soundings can demonstrate any thing, there
are few slopes in the bed of the Atlantic as steep as that of Holborn
Hill. In no part is the bottom rocky, and with the exception of a few
miles, which are shingly, only ooze, mud, or sand is to be found."
[C] Physical Geography of the Sea.
CHAPTER VI.
THE WORK BEGUN IN ENGLAND.
Up to this time the Telegraph, which was destined to pass the sea, had
been purely an American enterprise. It had been begun, and for over two
years had been carried on, wholly by American capital. "Our little
company," said Mr. Field ten years after, "raised and expended over a
million and a quarter of dollars before an Englishman paid a single
pound sterling." Mr. Brett was the first one to take a few shares. But
this was not to the discredit of England, for the American public had
done no better. Not a dollar had been raised this side the Atlantic,
outside of the little circle in which the scheme had its origin. No
stock or bonds were put upon the market; no man was asked for a
subscription. If they wanted money, they drew their checks for it. At
one time, indeed, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars of bonds were
issued, but they were at once taken wholly by themselves. But, as the
time was now come when the long-meditated attempt was to be made to
carry the Telegraph across the ocean, it was fitting that Great Britain,
whose shores it was to touch, should join in the work. Accordingly, in
the summer of 1856, after finishing all that he could do in America, Mr.
Field sailed with his family for England. The very day before he
embarked, he had the pleasure to see his friend, Lieutenant Berryman,
off on his second voyage to make soundings across the Atlantic.
In London he sought at once Mr. Brett, with whom in his two former
visits to England he had already discussed his project, and found in him
a hearty cooperator. As we go on with our story, it is a melancholy
satisfaction to refer to one and another worker in this enterprise, who
lived not to see its last and greatest triumph. Mr. Brett, like
Berryman, is dead. But he did not go to his grave till after a life of
usefulness and honor. He was one of the men of the new era--of the
school of Stephenson and Brunel--who believed in the marvellous
achievements yet to be wrought by human invention, turning to the
service of man the wonders of scientific discovery. He was one of the
first to see the boundless possibilities of the telegraph, and to
believe that what had passed over the land might pass under the sea. He
was the first to lay a cable across the British Channel, and thus to
bring into instantaneous communication the two great capitals of
Europe--an achievement which, though small compared with what has since
been done, was then so marvellous, that the intelligence of its success
was received with surprise and incredulity. Many could not and would
not believe it. Even after messages were received in London from Paris,
there were those who declared that it was an imposition on the public,
with as much proud scorn as some a few years later scouted the very idea
that a message had ever passed over the Atlantic Telegraph!
This friendship of Mr. Brett--both to the enterprise and to Mr. Field
personally--remained to the last. In every voyage to England the latter
found--however others doubted or despaired--that Mr. Brett was always
the same--full of hope and confidence. In 1864, when they met in London,
he was unshaken in faith, and urgent to have the great enterprise
renewed. The triumph was not far off, but he was not to live to see it.
But, though he passed away before the final victory, he did his part
toward bringing it on, and no history of this great enterprise can
overlook his eminent services.
To Mr. Brett, therefore, Mr. Field went first to consult in regard to
his project of a telegraph across the ocean. This was a part of the
design embraced in the original organization of the New York,
Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company; and when Mr. Field went to
England, he was empowered to receive subscriptions to that Company, so
as to enlarge its capital, and thus include in one corporation the whole
line from New York to London; or to organize a new company, which
should lay a cable across the Atlantic, and there join the Newfoundland
line.
But before an enterprise so vast and so new could be commended to the
commercial public of Great Britain, there were many details to be
settled. The mechanical and scientific problems already referred to,
whether a cable could be laid across the ocean; and if so, whether it
could be worked, were to be considered anew. The opinions of Lieutenant
Maury and of Professor Morse were published in England, and arrested the
attention of scientific men. But John Bull is slow of belief, and asked
for more evidence. The thing was too vast to be undertaken rashly. As
yet there was no experience to decide the possibility of a telegraph
across the ocean. The longest line which had been laid was three hundred
miles. This caution, which is a national trait of Englishmen, will not
be regarded as a fault by those who consider that in proportion as they
are slow to embark in any new enterprise, are they resolute and
determined in carrying it out.
To resolve these difficult problems, Mr. Field sought counsel of the
highest engineering authorities of Great Britain, and of her most
eminent scientific men. To their honor, all showed the deepest interest
in the project, and gave it freely the benefit of their knowledge.
First, as to the possibility of laying a cable in the deep sea, Mr.
Field had witnessed one attempt of the kind--that in the Gulf of St.
Lawrence the year before--an attempt which had failed. His experience,
therefore, was not encouraging. If they found so much difficulty in
laying a cable seventy miles long, how could they hope to lay one of two
thousand miles across the stormy Atlantic?
This was a question for the engineers. To solve the problem, required
experiments almost without number. It was now that the most important
services were rendered by Glass, Elliot & Co., of London, a firm which
had begun within a few years the manufacture of sea-cables, and was to
write its name in all the waters of the world. Aided by the skill of
their admirable engineer, Mr. Canning, they now manufactured cables
almost without end, applying to them every possible test. At the same
time, Mr. Field took counsel of Robert Stephenson and George Parker
Bidder, both of whom manifested a deep interest in the success of the
enterprise.
Not less cordial was Mr. Brunel, who made many suggestions in regard to
the form of the cable, and the manner in which it should be laid. He was
then building the Great Eastern; and one day he took Mr. Field down to
Blackwall to see it, and, pointing to the monstrous hull which was
rising on the banks of the Thames, said: "There is the ship to lay the
Atlantic cable!" Little did he think that ten years after, that ship
would be employed in this service; and in this final victory over the
sea, would redeem all the misfortunes of her earlier career.
Among the difficulties to be encountered, was that of finding a perfect
insulator. Without insulation, telegraphic communication by electricity
is impossible. On land, where wires are carried on the tops of poles,
the air itself is a sufficient insulator. A few glass rings at the
points where the wire passes through the iron staples by which it is
supported, and the insulation is complete. But in the sea the
electricity would be instantly dissipated, unless some material could be
found which should insulate a conductor sunk in water, as completely as
if it were raised in air. But what could thus inclose the lightning, and
keep it fast while flying from one continent to the other?
Here again it seemed as if Divine wisdom had anticipated the coming of
this great enterprise, and provided in the realm of nature every
material needed for its success. It was at least a happy coincidence
that only a few years before there had been found, in the forests of the
Malayan archipelago, a substance till then unknown to the world, but
which answered completely this new demand. This was gutta-percha, which
is impenetrable by water, and at the same time a bad conductor of
electricity; so that it forms at once a perfect protection and
insulation to a telegraph passing through the sea. In the experiments
that were made to test the value of this material in the grander use to
which it was to be applied, no man rendered greater service than Mr.
Samuel Statham, of the London Gutta-Percha Works--a name to be
gratefully remembered in the early history of the Atlantic Telegraph.
The mechanical difficulties removed, and the insulation provided, there
remained yet the great scientific problem: Could a message be sent two
thousand miles under the Atlantic? The ingenuity of man might devise
some method of laying a cable across the sea, but of what use were it,
if the electric current should shrink from the dark abyss?
It was in prosecuting inquiries to resolve this problem, that Mr. Field
became acquainted with two gentlemen who were to be soon after
associated with him in the organization of the Atlantic Telegraph
Company. These were Mr. Charles T. Bright, afterward knighted for his
part in laying the Atlantic cable in 1858, and Dr. Edward O. Whitehouse,
both well known in England, the former as an engineer, and the latter
for his experiments in electro-magnetism, as applied to the business of
telegraphing. He had invented an instrument by which to ascertain and
register the velocity of electric currents through submarine cables.
Both these gentlemen were full of the ardor of science, and entered on
this new project with the zeal which the prospect of so great a triumph
might inspire. With them was now to be associated our distinguished
countryman, Professor Morse. Fortunately he was at this time in London,
and gave his invaluable aid to the experiments which were made to
determine the possibility of telegraphic communication at great
distances under the sea. The result of his experiments he communicates
in a letter to Mr. Field:
"London, Five o'clock A.M.,
"October 3, 1856.
"My dear Sir: As the electrician of the New York, Newfoundland,
and London Telegraph Company, it is with the highest
gratification that I have to apprise you of the result of our
experiments of this morning upon a single continuous conductor
of more than two thousand miles in extent, a distance you will
perceive sufficient to cross the Atlantic Ocean, from
Newfoundland to Ireland.
"The admirable arrangements made at the Magnetic Telegraph
Office in Old Broad street, for connecting ten subterranean
gutta-percha insulated conductors, of over two hundred miles
each, so as to give one continuous length of more than two
thousand miles during the hours of the night, when the
telegraph is not commercially employed, furnished us the means
of conclusively settling, by actual experiment, the question of
the practicability as well as the practicality[A] of
telegraphing through our proposed Atlantic cable.
"This result had been thrown into some doubt by the discovery,
more than two years since, of certain phenomena upon
subterranean and submarine conductors, and had attracted the
attention of electricians, particularly of that most eminent
philosopher, Professor Faraday, and that clear-sighted
investigator of electrical phenomena, Dr. Whitehouse; and one
of these phenomena, to wit, the perceptible retardation of the
electric current, threatened to perplex our operations, and
required careful investigation before we could pronounce with
certainty the commercial practicability of the Ocean Telegraph.
"I am most happy to inform you that, as a crowning result of a
long series of experimental investigation and inductive
reasoning upon this subject, the experiments under the
direction of Dr. Whitehouse and Mr. Bright, which I witnessed
this morning--in which the induction coils and receiving
magnets, as modified by these gentlemen, were made to actuate
one of my recording instruments--have most satisfactorily
resolved all doubts of the practicability as well as
practicality of operating the telegraph from Newfoundland to
Ireland.
"Although we telegraphed signals at the rate of two hundred and
ten, two hundred and forty-one, and, according to the count at
one time, even of two hundred and seventy per minute upon my
telegraphic register, (which speed, you will perceive, is at a
rate commercially advantageous,) these results were
accomplished notwithstanding many disadvantages in our
arrangements of a temporary and local character--disadvantages
which will not occur in the use of our submarine cable.
"Having passed the whole night with my active and agreeable
collaborators, Dr. Whitehouse and Mr. Bright, without sleep,
you will excuse the hurried and brief character of this note,
which I could not refrain from sending you, since our
experiments this morning settle the scientific and commercial
points of our enterprise satisfactorily.
"With respect and esteem, your obedient servant,
"Samuel F. B. Morse."
A week later, he wrote again, confirming his former impressions, thus:
"London, October 10, 1856.
"My dear Sir: After having given the deepest consideration to
the subject of our successful experiments the other night, when
we signalled clearly and rapidly through an unbroken circuit of
subterranean conducting wire, over two thousand miles in
length, I sit down to give you the result of my reflections and
calculations.
"There can be no question but that, with a cable containing a
single conducting wire, of a size not exceeding that through
which we worked, and with equal insulation, it would be easy to
telegraph from Ireland to Newfoundland at a speed of at least
from eight to ten words per minute; nay, more: the varying
rates of speed at which we worked, depending as they did upon
differences in the arrangement of the apparatus employed, do of
themselves prove that even a higher rate than this is
attainable. Take it, however, at ten words in the minute, and
allowing ten words for name and address, we can safely
calculate upon the transmission of a twenty-word message in
three minutes;
"Twenty such messages in the hour;
"Four hundred and eighty in the twenty-four hours, or fourteen
thousand four hundred words per day.
"Such are the capabilities of a single wire cable fairly and
moderately computed.
"It is, however, evident to me, that by improvements in the
arrangement of the signals themselves, aided by the adoption of
a code or system constructed upon the principles of the best
nautical code, as suggested by Dr. Whitehouse, we may at least
double the speed in the transmission of our messages.
"As to the structure of the cable itself, the last specimen
which I examined with you seemed to combine so admirably the
necessary qualities of strength, flexibility, and lightness,
with perfect insulation, that I can no longer have any
misgivings about the ease and safety with which it will be
submerged.
"In one word, the doubts are resolved, the difficulties
overcome, success is within our reach, and the great feat of
the century must shortly be accomplished.
"I would urge you, if the manufacture can be completed within
the time, (and all things are possible now,) to press forward
the good work, and not to lose the chance of laying it during
the ensuing summer.
"Before the close of the present month, I hope to be again
landed safely on the other side of the water, and I full well
know, that on all hands the inquiries of most interest with
which I shall be met, will be about the Ocean Telegraph.
"Much as I have enjoyed my European trip this year, it would
have enhanced the gratification which I have derived from it
more than I can describe to you, if on my return to America, I
could be the first bearer to my friends of the welcome
intelligence that the great work had been begun, by the
commencement of the manufacture of the cable to connect Ireland
with the line of the New York, Newfoundland, and London
Telegraph Company, now so successfully completed to St. John's.
"Respectfully, your obedient servant,
"Samuel F. B. Morse."
These experiments and others removed the doubts of scientific men.
Professor Faraday, in spite of the law of the retardation of electricity
on long circuits, which it was said he had discovered, and which would
render it impossible to work a line of such length as from Ireland to
Newfoundland, now declared his full conviction that it was within the
bounds of possibility. The passage of electricity might not be
absolutely instantaneous, or have the swiftness of the solar beam, yet
it would be rapid enough for all practical purposes. When Mr. Field
asked him how long it would take for the electricity to pass from London
to New York, he answered: "Possibly one second!"
Thus fortified by the highest scientific and engineering authorities,
the projectors of an ocean telegraph were now ready to bring it before
the British public, and to see what support could be found from the
English Government and the English people.
Mr. Field first addressed himself to the Government. Without waiting for
the Company to be fully organized, with true American eagerness and
impatience, he wrote a letter to the Admiralty asking for a fresh survey
of the route to be traversed, and for the aid of Government ships to lay
the cable. He also addressed a letter to Lord Clarendon, stating the
large design which they had conceived, and asking for it the aid which
was due to what concerned the honor and interest of England. The reply
was prompt and courteous, inviting him to an interview for the purpose
of a fuller explanation. Accordingly, Mr. Field, with Professor Morse,
called upon him at the Foreign Office, and spent an hour in conversation
on the proposed undertaking. Lord Clarendon showed great interest, and
made many inquiries. He was a little startled at the magnitude of the
scheme, and the confident tone of the projectors, and asked pleasantly:
"But, suppose you _don't_ succeed? Suppose you make the attempt and
fail--your cable is lost in the sea--then what will you do?" "Charge it
to profit and loss, and go to work to lay another," was the quick answer
of Mr. Field, which amused him as a truly American reply. In conclusion,
he desired him to put his request in writing, and, without committing
the Government, encouraged him to hope that Britain would do all that
might justly be expected in aid of this great international work. How
nobly this promise was kept, time will show.
While engaged in these negotiations, Mr. Field took his family to Paris,
and there met with a great loss in the sudden death of a favorite
sister, who had accompanied them abroad. Full of the sorrow of this
event, and unfitted for business of any kind, he returned to London to
find an invitation to go into the country and spend a few days with Mr.
James Wilson, then Secretary to the Treasury, a man of great influence
in the Government, at his residence near Bath; there to discuss quietly
and at length the proposed aid to the Atlantic Telegraph. Though he had
but little spirit to go among strangers, he felt it his duty not to miss
an opportunity to advance the cause he had so much at heart. The result
of this visit was the following letter, received a few days later:
"Treasury Chambers. Nov. 20, 1856.
"Sir: Having laid before the Lords Commissioners of her
Majesty's Treasury your letter of the 13th ultimo, addressed to
the Earl of Clarendon, requesting, on behalf of the New York,
Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company, certain privileges
and protection in regard to the line of telegraph which it is
proposed to establish between Newfoundland and Ireland, I am
directed by their lordships to acquaint you that they are
prepared to enter into a contract with the said Telegraph
Company, based upon the following conditions, namely:
"1. It is understood that the capital required to lay down the
line will be three hundred and fifty thousand pounds.
"2. Her Majesty's Government engage to furnish the aid of ships
to take what soundings may still be considered needful, or to
verify those already taken, and favorably to consider any
request that may be made to furnish aid by their vessels in
laying down the cable.
"3. The British Government, from the time of the completion of
the line, and so long as it shall continue in working order,
undertakes to pay at the rate of fourteen thousand pounds a
year, being at the rate of four per cent. on the assumed
capital, as a fixed remuneration for the work done on behalf of
the Government, in the conveyance outward and homeward of their
messages. This payment to continue until the net profits of the
Company are equal to a dividend of six per cent., when the
payment shall be reduced to ten thousand pounds a year, for a
period of twenty-five years.
"It is, however, understood that if the Government messages in
any year shall, at the usual tariff-rate charged to the public,
amount to a larger sum, such additional payment shall be made
as is equivalent thereto.
"4. That the British Government shall have a priority in the
conveyance of their messages over all others, subject to the
exception only of the Government of the United States, in the
event of their entering into an arrangement with the Telegraph
Company similar in principle to that of the British Government,
in which case the messages of the two Governments shall have
priority in the order in which they arrive at the stations.
"5. That the tariff of charges shall be fixed with the consent
of the Treasury, and shall not be increased, without such
consent being obtained, as long as this contract lasts.
"I am, sir, your obedient servant,
"James Wilson.
"Cyrus W. Field, Esq., 37 Jermyn street."
With this encouragement and promise of aid, the projectors of a
telegraph across the ocean now went forward to organize a company to
carry out their design. Mr. Field, on arriving in England, had entered
into an agreement with Mr. Brett to join their efforts for this
purpose. With them were afterward united two others--Sir Charles Bright,
as engineer, and Dr. Whitehouse, as electrician. These four gentlemen
agreed to form a new company, to be called The Atlantic Telegraph
Company, the object of which should be "to continue the existing line of
the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company to Ireland, by
making or causing to be made a submarine telegraph cable for the
Atlantic."
As they were now ready to introduce the enterprise to the British
public, Mr. Field issued a circular in the name of the Newfoundland
Company, and as its Vice-President, setting forth the great importance
of telegraphic communication between the two hemispheres.
The next step was to raise the capital. After the most careful
estimates, it was thought that a cable could be made and laid across the
Atlantic for L350,000. This was a large sum to ask from a public slow to
move, and that lends a dull ear to all new schemes. But armed with facts
and figures, with maps and estimates, with the opinions of engineers and
scientific men, they went to work, not only in London, but in other
parts of the kingdom. Mr. Field, in company with Mr. Brett, made a visit
to Liverpool and Manchester, to address their Chambers of Commerce. I
have now before me the papers of those cities, with reports of the
meetings held and the speeches made, which show the vigor with which
they pushed their enterprise. This energy was rewarded with success. The
result justified their confidence. In a few weeks the whole capital was
subscribed. It had been divided into three hundred and fifty shares of a
thousand pounds each. Of these, a hundred and one were taken in London,
eighty-six in Liverpool, thirty-seven in Glasgow, twenty-eight in
Manchester, and a few in other parts of England. The grandeur of the
design attracted public attention, and some subscribed solely from a
noble wish to take part in such a work. Among these were Mr. Thackeray
and Lady Byron. Mr. Field subscribed L100,000, and Mr. Brett L25,000.
But when the books were closed, it was found that they had more money
subscribed than they required, so that in the final division of shares,
there were allotted to Mr. Field eighty-eight, and to Mr. Brett twelve.
Mr. Field's interest was thus one-fourth of the whole capital of the
Company.
In taking so large a share, it was not his intention to carry this heavy
load alone. It was too large a proportion for one man. But he took it
for his countrymen. He thought one fourth of the stock should be held in
this country, and did not doubt, from the eagerness with which three
fourths had been taken in England, that the remainder would be at once
subscribed in America. Had he been able, on his return, to attend to his
own interests in the matter, this expectation might have been realized;
but, as we shall see, hardly did he set foot in New York, before he was
obliged to hurry off to Newfoundland on the business of the Company, and
when he returned the interest had subsided, so that it required very
great exertions, continued through many months, to dispose of
twenty-seven shares. Thus he was by far the largest stockholder in
England or America--his interest being over seven times that of Mr.
Brett, who was the largest next to himself--and being more than double
the amount held by all the other American shareholders put together.
This was at least giving substantial proof of his own faith in the
undertaking.
But some may imagine that after all this burden was not so great as it
seemed. In many stock companies the custom obtains of assigning to the
projectors a certain portion of the stock as a bonus for getting up the
company, which amount appears among the subscriptions to swell the
capital. It is indeed subscribed, _but not paid_. So some have asked
whether this large subscription of Mr. Field was not in part at least
merely nominal? To this we answer, that a consideration _was_ granted to
Mr. Field and his associates for their services in getting up the
Company, and for their exclusive rights, but this was a contingent
interest in the profits of the enterprise, _to be allowed only after the
cable was laid_. So that the whole amount here subscribed was a
_bona-fide_ subscription, and paid in solid English gold. We have now
before us the receipts of the bankers of the Company for the whole
amount, eighty-eight thousand pounds sterling.
The capital being thus raised, it only remained to complete the
organization of the Company by the choice of a Board of Directors, and
to make a contract for the cable. The Company was organized in December,
1856, by the choice of Directors chiefly from the leading bankers and
merchants of London and Liverpool. The list included such honored names
as Samuel Gurney, T. H. Brooking, John W. Brett, and T. A. Hankey, of
London; Sir William Brown, Henry Harrison, Edward Johnston, Robert
Crosbie, George Maxwell, and C. W. H. Pickering, of Liverpool; John
Pender and James Dugdale, of Manchester; and Professor William Thomson,
LL.D., of Glasgow. With these English Directors were two of our
countrymen, Mr. George Peabody and Mr. C. M. Lampson, who, residing
abroad for more than a third of a century, did much in the commercial
capital of the world to support the honor of the American name. Mr.
Peabody's firm subscribed L10,000, and Mr. Lampson L2,000. The latter
gave more time than any other Director in London, except Mr. Brooking,
the second Vice-Chairman, who, however, retired from the Company after
the first failure in 1858, when Mr. Lampson was chosen to fill his
place. The whole Board was full of zeal and energy. All gave their
services without compensation.
It was the good fortune of the Company to have, from the beginning, in
the important position of Secretary, a gentleman admirably qualified for
the post. This was Mr. George Saward--a name familiar to all who have
followed the fortunes of the telegraph, in England or America, since he
has been the organ of communication with the press and the public; and
with whom none ever had occasion to transact business without
recognizing his intelligence and courtesy.
The Company being thus in working order, proceeded to make a contract
for the manufacture of a cable to be laid across the Atlantic. For many
months the proper form and size of the cable had been the subject of
constant experiments. The conditions were: to combine the greatest
degree of strength with lightness and flexibility. It must be strong, or
it would snap in the process of laying. Yet it would not do to have it
too large, for it would be unmanageable. Mr. Brett had already lost a
cable in the Mediterranean chiefly from its bulk. Its size and stiffness
made it hard to unwind it, while its enormous weight, when once it broke
loose, caused it to run out with fearful velocity, till it was soon lost
in the sea. It was only the year before, in September, 1855, that this
accident had occurred in laying the cable from Sardinia to Algeria. All
was going on well, until suddenly, "about two miles, weighing sixteen
tons, flew out with the greatest violence in four or five minutes,
flying round even when the drums were brought to a dead stop, creating
the greatest alarm for the safety of the men in the hold and for the
vessel." This was partly owing to the character of the submarine surface
over which they were passing. The bottom of the Mediterranean is
volcanic, and is broken up into mountains and valleys. The cable,
doubtless, had just passed over some Alpine height, and was descending
into some fearful depth below; but chiefly it was owing to the great
size and bulk of the cable. This was a warning to the Atlantic Company.
The point to be aimed at was to combine the flexibility of a common
ship's rope with the tenacity of iron. These conditions were thought to
be united in the form that was adopted.[B] A contract was at once made
for the manufacture of the cable, one half being given to Messrs. Glass,
Elliot & Co., of London, and the other to Messrs. R. S. Newall & Co., of
Liverpool. The whole was to be completed by the first of June, ready to
be submerged in the sea. The company was organized on the ninth of
December, and the very next day Mr. Field sailed for America, reaching
New York on the twenty-fifth of December, after an absence of more than
five months.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] Professor Morse was fond of the distinction between the words
practical and practicable. A thing might be practicable, that is,
possible of accomplishment, when it was not a practical enterprise, that
is, one which could be worked to advantage. He here argues that the
Atlantic Telegraph is both practicable, (or possible,) and at the same
time a wise, practical undertaking.
[B] On his return to America, many inquiries were addressed to Mr. Field
in regard to the form and structure of the cable, in answer to which he
wrote a letter of explanation in which he said:
"No particular connected with this great project has been the subject of
so much comment through the press as the form and structure of the
telegraph cable. It may be well believed that the Directors have not
decided upon a matter so all-important to success, without availing
themselves of the most eminent talent and experience which could be
commanded. The practical history of submarine telegraphs dates from the
successful submersion of the cable between Dover and Calais in 1851, and
advantage has been taken of whatever instruction this history could
furnish or suggest. Of the submarine cables heretofore laid down,
without enumerating others, the one between Dover and Calais weighs six
tons to the mile; that between Spezzia and Corsica, eight tons to the
mile; that laid from Varna to Balaklava, and used during the war in the
Crimea, less than three hundred pounds to the mile; while the weight of
the cable for the Atlantic Telegraph is between nineteen hundred pounds
and one ton to the mile. This cable, to use the words of Dr. Whitehouse,
'is the result of many months thought, experiment, and trial. Hundreds
of specimens have been made, comprising every variety of form, size, and
structure, and most severely tested as to their powers and capabilities;
and the result has been the adoption of this, which we know to possess
all the properties required, and in a far higher degree than any cable
that has yet been laid. Its flexibility is such as to make it as
manageable as a small line, and its strength such that it will bear, in
water, over six miles of its own weight suspended vertically.' The
conducting medium consists not of one single straight copper-wire, but
of seven wires of copper of the best quality, twisted round each other
spirally, and capable of undergoing great tension without injury. This
conductor is then enveloped in three separate coverings of gutta-percha,
of the best quality, forming the core of the cable, round which tarred
hemp is wrapped, and over this, the outside covering, consisting of
eighteen strands of the best quality of iron-wire; each strand composed
of seven distinct wires, twisted spirally, in the most approved manner,
by machinery specially adapted to the purpose. The attempt to insulate
more than one conducting-wire or medium would not only have increased
the chances of failure of all of them, but would have necessitated the
adoption of a proportionably heavier and more cumbrous cable. The
tensile power of the outer or wire covering of the cable, being very
much less than that of the conductor within it, the latter is protected
from any such strain as can possibly rupture it or endanger its
insulation without an entire fracture of the cable."
CHAPTER VII.
SEEKING AID FROM CONGRESS.
When Mr. Field reached home from abroad, he hoped for a brief respite.
He had had a pretty hard campaign during the summer and autumn in
England, and needed at least a few weeks of rest; but that was denied
him. He landed in New York on Christmas Day, and was not allowed even to
spend the New Year with his family. There were interests of the Company
in Newfoundland which required immediate attention, and it was important
that one of the Directors should go there without delay. As usual, it
devolved upon him. He left at once for Boston, where he took the steamer
to Halifax, and thence to St. John's. Such a voyage may be very
agreeable in summer, but in mid-winter it is not a pleasant thing to
face the storms of those northern latitudes. The passage was unusually
tempestuous. At St. John's he broke down, and was put under the care of
a physician. But he did not stop to think of himself. The work for which
he came was done; and though the physician warned him that it was a
great risk to leave his bed, he took the steamer on her return, and was
again in New York after a month's absence--a month of hardship, of
exposure, and of suffering, such as he had long occasion to remember.
The mention of this voyage came up a year afterward at a meeting of the
Atlantic Telegraph Company in London, when a resolution was offered,
tendering Mr. Field a vote of thanks for "the great services he had
rendered to the Company by his untiring zeal, energy, and devotion." Mr.
Brooking, the Vice-Chairman, had spent a large part of his life in
Newfoundland, and knew the dangers of that inhospitable coast, and in
seconding the resolution he said:
"It is now about a year and a half ago since I had the pleasure
of making the acquaintance of my friend Mr. Field. It was he
who initiated me into this Company, and induced me to take an
interest in it from its earliest stage. From that period to the
present I have observed in Mr. Field the most determined
perseverance, and the exercise of great talent, extraordinary
assiduity and diligence, coupled with an amount of fortitude
which has seldom been equalled. I have known him cross the
Atlantic in the depth of winter, and, within twenty-four hours
after his arrival in New York, having ascertained that his
presence was necessary in a distant British colony, he has not
hesitated at once to direct his course thitherward. That colony
is one with which I am intimately acquainted, having resided in
it for upward of twenty years, and am enabled to speak of the
hazards and danger which attend a voyage to it in winter. Mr.
Field no sooner arrived at New York, in the latter part of
December, than he got aboard a steamer for Halifax, and
proceeded to St. John's, Newfoundland. In three weeks he
accomplished there a very great object for this Company. He
procured the passage of an Act of the Legislature which has
given to our Company the right of establishing a footing on
those shores. [The rights before conferred, it would seem,
applied only to the Newfoundland Company.] That is only one of
the acts which he has performed with a desire to promote the
interests of this great enterprise."
The very next day after his return from Newfoundland, Mr. Field was
called to Washington, to seek the aid of his own Government to the
Atlantic Telegraph. The English Government had proffered the most
generous aid, both in ships to lay the cable, and in an annual subsidy
of L14,000. It was on every account desirable that this should be met by
corresponding liberality on the part of the American Government. Before
he left England, he had sent home the letter received from the Lords
Commissioners of the Treasury; and thereupon the Directors of the New
York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company had inclosed a copy to
the President, with a letter asking for the same aid in ships, and in an
annual sum of $70,000, [equivalent to L14,000,] to be paid for the
government messages, the latter to be conditioned on the success of the
telegraph, and to be continued only so long as it was in full operation.
They urged with reason that the English Government had acted with great
liberality--not only toward the enterprise, but toward our own
Government. Although both ends of the line were in the British
possessions, it had claimed no exclusive privileges, but had stipulated
for perfect equality between the United States and Great Britain. The
agreement expressly provided "that the British Government shall have a
priority in the conveyance of their messages over all others, _subject
to the exception only of the Government of the United States_, in the
event of their entering into an arrangement with the Telegraph Company
similar in principle to that of the British Government, in which case
the messages of the two governments shall have priority in the order in
which they arrive at the stations."
The letter to the President called attention to this generous offer--an
offer which it was manifestly to the advantage of our Government to
accept--and added: "The Company will enter into a contract with the
Government of the United States on the same terms and conditions as it
has made with the British Government." They asked only for the same
recognition and aid which they had received in England. This surely was
not a very bold request. It was natural that American citizens should
think that in a work begun by Americans, and of which, if successful,
their country would reap largely the honor and the advantage, they might
expect the aid from their own Government which they had already received
from a foreign power. It was, therefore, not without a mixture of
surprise and mortification that they learned that the proposal in
Congress had provoked a violent opposition, and that the bill was likely
to be defeated. Such was the attitude of affairs when Mr. Field returned
from Newfoundland, and which led him to hasten to Washington.
He now found that it was much easier to deal with the English than with
the American Government. Whatever may be said of the respective methods
of administration, it must be confessed that the forms of English
procedure furnish greater facility in the despatch of business. A
contract can be made by the Lords of the Treasury without waiting the
action of Parliament. The proposal is referred to two or three
intelligent officers of the Government--perhaps even to a single
individual--on whose report it takes action without further delay. Thus
it is probable that the action of the British Government was decided
wholly by the recommendation of Mr. Wilson, formed after the visit of
Mr. Field.
But in our country we do things differently. Here it would be considered
a stretch of power for any administration to enter into a contract with
a private company--a contract binding the Government for a period of
twenty-five years, and involving an annual appropriation of
money--without the action of Congress. This is a safeguard against
reckless and extravagant expenditure, but, as one of the penalties we
pay for our more popular form of government, in which every thing has
to be referred to the people, it involves delay, and sometimes the
defeat of wise and important public measures.
Besides--shall we confess it to our shame--another secret influence
often appears in American legislation, which has defeated many an act
demanded by the public good--the influence of the Lobby! This now began
to show itself in opposition. It had been whispered in Washington that
the gentlemen in New York who were at the head of this enterprise were
very rich; and a measure coming from such a source surely ought to be
made to pay tribute before it was allowed to pass. This was a new
experience. Those few weeks in Washington were worse than being among
the icebergs off the coast of Newfoundland. The Atlantic Cable has had
many a kink since, but never did it seem to be entangled in such a
hopeless twist as when it got among the politicians.
But it would be very unjust to suppose that there were no better
influences in our Halls of Congress. There were then--as there have
always been in our history--some men of large wisdom and of a noble
patriotic pride, who in such a measure thought only of the good of their
country and of the triumph of science and of civilization.
Two years after--in August, 1858--when the Atlantic Telegraph proved at
last a reality, and the New World was full of its fame, Mr. Seward, in
a speech at Auburn, thus referred to the ordeal it had to pass through
in Congress:
"The two great countries of which I have spoken, [England and
America,] are now ringing with the praises of Cyrus W. Field,
who chiefly has brought this great enterprise to its glorious
and beneficent consummation. You have never heard his story;
let me give you a few points in it, as a lesson that there is
no condition of life in which a man, endowed with native
genius, a benevolent spirit, and a courageous patience, may not
become a benefactor of nations and of mankind."
After speaking of the efforts by which this New York merchant "brought
into being an association of Americans and Englishmen, which contributed
from surplus wealth the capital necessary as a basis for the
enterprise"; he adds:
"It remained to engage the consent and the activity of the
Governments of Great Britain and the United States. That was
all that remained. Such consent and activity on the part of
some one great nation of Europe was all that remained needful
for Columbus when he stood ready to bring a new continent
forward as a theatre of the world's civilization. But in each
case that effort was the most difficult of all. Cyrus W. Field,
by assiduity and patience, first secured consent and
conditional engagement on the part of Great Britain, and then,
less than two years ago, he repaired to Washington. The
President and Secretary of State individually favored his
proposition; but the jealousies of parties and sections in
Congress forbade them to lend it their official sanction and
patronage. He appealed to me. I drew the necessary bill. With
the generous aid of others, Northern Representatives, and the
indispensable aid of the late Thomas J. Rusk, a Senator from
Texas, that bill, after a severe contest and long delay, was
carried through the Senate of the United States by the
majority, if I remember rightly, of one vote, and escaped
defeat in the House of Representatives with equal difficulty. I
have said the aid of Mr. Rusk was indispensable. If any one has
wondered why I, an extreme Northern man, loved and lamented
Thomas J. Rusk, an equally extreme Southern man, he has here an
explanation. There was no good thing which, as it seemed to me,
I could not do in Congress with his aid. When he died, it
seemed to me that no good thing could be done by any one. Such
was the position of Cyrus W. Field at that stage of the great
enterprise. But, thus at last fortified with capital derived
from New York and London, and with the navies of Great Britain
and the United States at his command, he has, after trials that
would have discouraged any other than a true discoverer,
brought the great work to a felicitous consummation. And now
the Queen of Great Britain and the President of the United
States stand waiting his permission to speak, and ready to
speak at his bidding; and the people of these two great
countries await only the signal from him to rush into a
fraternal embrace which will prove the oblivion of ages of
suspicion, of jealousies and of anger."
Mr. Seward might well refer with pride to the part he took in sustaining
this enterprise. He was from the beginning its firmest supporter. The
bill was introduced into the Senate by him, and was carried through
mainly by his influence, seconded by Mr. Rusk, Mr. Douglas, and one or
two others. It was introduced on the ninth of January, and came up for
consideration on the twenty-first. Its friends had hoped that it might
pass with entire unanimity. But such was the opposition, that the
discussion lasted two days. The report shows that it was a subject of
animated and almost angry debate, which brought out the secret of the
opposition to aid being given by the Government.
Probably no measure was ever introduced in Congress for the help of any
commercial enterprise, that some member, imagining that it was to
benefit a particular section, did not object that it was
"unconstitutional"! This objection was well answered in this case by Mr.
Benjamin, of Louisiana, who asked:
"If we have a right to hire a warehouse at Port Mahon, in the
Mediterranean, for storing naval stores, have we not a right to
hire a company to carry our messages? I should as soon think of
questioning the constitutional power of the Government to pay
freight to a vessel for carrying its mail-bags across the
ocean, as to pay a telegraph company a certain sum per annum
for conveying its messages by the use of the electric
telegraph."
This touched the precise ground on which the appropriation was asked. In
their memorial to the President, the Company had said: "Such a contract
will, we suppose, fall within the provisions of the Constitution in
regard to postal arrangements, of which this is only a new and improved
form."
Mr. Bayard, of Delaware, explained in the same terms the nature of the
proposed agreement:
"It is a mail operation. It is a Post-Office arrangement. It is
for the transmission of intelligence, and that is what I
understood to be the function of the Post-Office Department. I
hold it, therefore, to be as legitimately within the proper
powers of the Government, as the employing of a stage-coach, or
a steam-car, or a ship, to transport the mails, either to
foreign countries, or to different portions of our own
country."
Of course, as in all appropriations of money, the question of expense
had to be considered, and here there were not wanting some to cry out
against the extravagance of paying seventy thousand dollars a year! We
had not then got used to the colossal expenditures of war, when we grew
familiar with paying three millions a day! Seventy thousand dollars
seemed a great sum; but Mr. Bayard in reply reminded them that England
then paid nine hundred thousand dollars a year for the transportation of
the mails between the United States and England; and argued that it was
a very small amount for the great service rendered. He said:
"We have sent out ships to make explorations and observations
in the Red Sea and in South America; we sent one or two
expensive expeditions to Japan, and published at great cost
some elegant books narrating their exploits. The expense even
in ships alone, in that instance, was at the rate of twenty to
one here, but no cry of economy was then raised." "I look upon
this proposition solely as a business measure; in that point of
view I believe the Government will obtain more service for the
amount of money, than by any other contract that we have ever
made, or now can make, for the transmission of intelligence."
As to the expense of furnishing a ship of war to assist in laying the
cable, Mr. Douglas asked:
"Will it cost anything to furnish the use of one of our
steamships? They are idle. We have no practical use for them at
present. They are in commission. They have their coal on board,
and their full armament. They will be rendering no service to
us if they are not engaged in this work. If there was nothing
more than a question of national pride involved, I would gladly
furnish the use of an American ship for that purpose. England
tenders one of her national vessels, and why should we not
tender one also? It costs England nothing, and it costs us
nothing."
Mr. Rusk made the same point, in arguing that ships might be sent to
assist in laying the cable, giving this homely but sufficient reason: "I
think that is better than to keep them rotting at the navy-yards, with
the officers frollicking on shore."
Mr. Douglas urged still further:
"American citizens have commenced this enterprise. The honor
and the glory of the achievement, if successful, will be due
to American genius and American daring. Why should the American
Government be so penurious--I do not know that that is the
proper word, for it costs nothing--why should we be actuated by
so illiberal a spirit as to refuse the use of one of our
steamships to convey the wire when it does not cost one
farthing to the Treasury of the United States?"
But behind all these objections of expense and of want of constitutional
power, was one greater than all, and that was England! The real animus
of the opposition was a fear of giving some advantage to Great Britain.
This has always been sufficient to excite the hostility of a certain
class of politicians. No matter what the subject of the proposed
cooperation, if it were purely a scientific expedition, they were sure
England was going to profit by it to our injury. So now there were those
who felt that in this submarine cable England was literally crawling
under the sea to get some advantage of the United States!
This jealousy and hostility spoke loudest from the mouths of
Southerners. It is noteworthy that men who, in less than five years
after, were figuring abroad, courting foreign influence against their
own country, were then fiercest in denunciation of England. Mason and
Slidell voted together against the bill. Butler, of South Carolina, was
very bitter in his opposition--saying, with a sneer, that "this was
simply a mail service under the surveillance of Great Britain"--and so
was Hunter, of Virginia; while Jones, of Tennessee, bursting with
patriotism, found a sufficient reason for his opposition, in that "he
did not want anything to do with England or Englishmen!"
But it should be said in justice, that to this general hostility of the
South there were some exceptions. Benjamin, of Louisiana, gave the bill
an earnest support; so did Mallory, of Florida, Chairman of the Naval
Committee; and especially that noble Southerner, Rusk, of Texas, "with
whose aid," as Mr. Seward said, "it seemed that there was no good thing
which he could not do in Congress." Mr. Rusk declared that he regarded
it as "the great enterprise of the age," and expressed his surprise at
the very moderate subsidy asked for, only seventy thousand dollars a
year, saying that, "with a reasonable prospect of success in an
enterprise, calculated to produce such beneficial results, he should be
willing to vote two hundred thousand dollars."
But with the majority of Southern Senators, there was a repugnance to
acting in concert with England, which could not be overcome. They argued
that this was not truly a line between England and the United States,
but between England and her own colonies--a line of which she alone was
to reap the benefit. _Both its termini were in the British possessions._
In the event of war this would give a tremendous advantage to the power
holding both ends of the line. All the speakers harped on this string;
and it may be worth a page or two to see how this was met and answered.
When Mr. Hunter, of Virginia, asked, "What security are we to have that
in time of war we shall have the use of the telegraph as well as the
British Government?" Mr. Seward answered:
"It appears not to have been contemplated by the British
Government that there would ever be any interruption of the
amicable relations between the two countries. Therefore nothing
was proposed in their contract for the contingency of war.
"That the two termini are both in the British dominions is
true; but it is equally true that there is no other terminus on
this continent where it is practicable to make that
communication except in the British dominions. We have no
dominions on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. There is no
other route known on which the telegraphic wire could be drawn
through the ocean so as to find a proper resting-place or
anchorage except this. The distance on this route is seventeen
hundred miles. It is not even known that the telegraphic wire
will carry the fluid with sufficient strength to communicate
across those seventeen hundred miles. That is yet a scientific
experiment, and the Company are prepared to make it.
"In regard to war, all the danger is this: There is a hazard of
war at some future time, and whatever arrangements we might
make, war would break them up. No treaty would save us. My own
hope is, that after the telegraphic wire is once laid, there
will be no more war between the United States and Great
Britain. I believe that whenever such a connection as this
shall be made, we diminish the chances of war, and diminish
them in such a degree, that it is not necessary to take them
into consideration at the present moment.
"Let us see where we are. What shall we gain by refusing to
enter into this agreement? If we do not make it, the British
Government has only to add ten thousand pounds sterling more
annually, and they have the whole monopoly of this wire,
without any stipulation whatever--not only in war but in peace.
If we make this contract with the Company, we at least secure
the benefit of it in time of peace, and we postpone and delay
the dangers of war. If there shall ever be war, it would
abrogate all treaties that can be made in regard to this
subject, unless it be true, as the honorable Senator from
Virginia thinks, that treaties can be made which will be
regarded as obligatory by nations in time of war. If so, we
have all the advantages in time of peace, for the purpose of
making such treaties hereafter, without the least reason to
infer that there would be any reluctance on the part of the
British Government to enter into that negotiation with us, if
we should desire to do so. The British Government, if it had
such a disposition as the honorable Senator supposes, would
certainly have proposed to monopolize all this telegraphic
line, instead of proposing to divide it."[A]
Mr. Hale spoke in the same strain:
"It seems to me that the war spirit and the contingencies of
war are brought in a little too often upon matters of
legislation which have no necessary connection with them. If we
are to be governed by considerations of that sort, they would
paralyze all improvements; they would stop the great
appropriations for commerce; they would at once neutralize that
policy which sets our ocean steamers afloat. Nobody pretends
that the intercourse which is kept up between Great Britain and
this country by our ocean steamers would be continued in time
of war; nor the communication with France or other nations.
"If we are deterred for that reason, we shall be pursuing a
policy that will paralyze improvements on those parts of the
coast which lie contiguous to the lakes. The city of Detroit
will have to be abandoned, beautiful and progressive as it is,
because in time of war the mansions of her citizens there lie
within the range of British guns.
"What will the suspension bridge at Niagara be good for in a
time of war? If the British cut off their end of it, our end
will not be worth much. I believe that among the things which
will bind us together in peace, this telegraphic wire will be
one of the most potent. It will bind the two countries together
literally with cords of iron that will hold us in the bonds of
peace. I repudiate entirely the policy which refuses to adopt
it, because in time of war it may be interrupted. Such a policy
as that would drive us back to a state of barbarism. It would
destroy the spirit of progress; it would retard improvement; it
would paralyze all the advances which are making us a more
civilized, and a more informed and a better people than the one
which preceded us."
Mr. Douglas cut the matter short by saying:
"I am willing to vote for this bill as a peace measure, as a
commercial measure--but not as a war measure; and when war
comes, let us rely on our power and ability to take this end of
the wire, and keep it."
Mr. Benjamin said:
"The sum of money that this Government proposes to give for the
use of this telegraph will amount, in the twenty-five years, to
something between L300,000 and L400,000. Now, if this be a
matter of such immense importance to Great Britain--if this be
the golden opportunity--and if, indeed, her control of this
line be such a powerful engine, whether in war or in peace, is
it not most extraordinary that she proposes to us a full share
in its benefits and in its control, and allows to our
Government equal rights with herself in the transmission of
communications for the sum of about L300,000, to be paid in
annual instalments through twenty-five years? If this be,
indeed, a very important instrumentality in behalf of Great
Britain for the conduct of her commerce, the government of her
possessions, or the efficient action of her troops in time of
war, the L300,000 expended upon it are but as a drop in the
bucket when compared with the immense resources of that empire.
I think, therefore, we may as well discard from our
consideration of this subject all these visions about the
immense importance of the governmental aid in this matter, to
be rendered under the provisions of this bill.
"Mr. President, let us not always be thinking of war; let us be
using means to preserve peace. The amount that would be
expended by this Government in six months' war with Great
Britain, would far exceed every thing that we shall have to pay
for the use of this telegraphic line for the entire twenty-five
years of the contract; and do you not believe that this
instrumentality will be sufficiently efficient to bind together
the peace, the commerce, and the interests of the two
countries, so as even to defer a war for six months or twelve
months, if one should ever become inevitable, beyond the period
at which it would otherwise occur? If it does that, it will in
six or eight or nine months repay the expenditures of
twenty-five years.
"Again, Sir, I say, if Great Britain wants it for war, she will
put it there at her own expense. It is not three hundred
thousand pounds, or four hundred thousand pounds, that will
arrest her. If, on the contrary, this be useful to
commerce--useful in an eminent degree--useful for the
preservation of peace, then I confess I feel some pride that my
country should aid in establishing it. I confess I feel a glow
of something like pride that I belong to the great human family
when I see these triumphs of science, by which mind is brought
into instant communication with mind across the intervening
oceans, which, to our unenlightened forefathers, seemed placed
there by Providence as an eternal barrier to communication
between man and man. Now, Sir, we speak from minute to minute.
Scarcely can a gun be fired in war on the European shore ere
its echoes will reverberate among our own mountains, and be
heard by every citizen in the land. All this is a triumph of
science--of American genius, and I for one feel proud of it,
and feel desirous of sustaining and promoting it."
Mr. Douglas said:
"Our policy is essentially a policy of peace. We want peace
with the whole world, above all other considerations. There
never has been a time in the history of this Republic, when
peace was more essential to our prosperity, to our advancement,
and to our progress, than it is now. We have made great
progress in time of peace--an almost inconceivable progress
since the last war with Great Britain. Twenty-five years more
of peace will put us far in advance of any other nation on
earth."
It was fit that Mr. Seward, who introduced the bill, and opened the
debate, should close in words that now seem prophetic, and show the
large wisdom, looking before and after, of this eminent statesman:
"There was an American citizen who, in the year 1770, or
thereabout, indicated to this country, to Great Britain, and to
the world, the use of the lightning for the purposes of
communication of intelligence, and that was Dr. Franklin. I am
sure that there is not only no member of the Senate, but no
American citizen, however humble, who would be willing to have
struck out from the achievements of American invention this
great discovery of the lightning as an agent for the uses of
human society.
"The suggestion made by that distinguished and illustrious
American was followed up some fifty years afterward by another
suggestion and another indication from another American, and
that was Mr. Samuel F. B. Morse, who indicated to the American
Government the means by which the lightning could be made to
write, and by which the telegraphic wires could be made to
supply the place of wind and steam for carrying intelligence.
"We have followed out the suggestions of these eminent
Americans hitherto, and I am sure at a very small cost. The
Government of the United States appropriated $40,000 to test
the practicability of Morse's suggestion; the $40,000 thus
expended established its practicability and its use. Now, there
is no person on the face of the globe who can measure the price
at which, if a reasonable man, he would be willing to strike
from the world the use of the magnetic telegraph as a means of
communication between different portions of the same country.
This great invention is now to be brought into its further,
wider, and broader use--the use by the general society of
nations, international use, the use of the society of mankind.
Its benefits are large--just in proportion to the extent and
scope of its operation. They are not merely benefits to the
Government, but they are benefits to the citizens and subjects
of all nations and of all States.
"I might enlarge further on this subject, but I forbear to do
so, because I know that at some future time I shall come across
the record of what I have said to-day. I know that then what I
have said to-day, by way of anticipation, will fall so far
short of the reality of benefits which individuals, States, and
nations will have derived from this great enterprise, that I
shall not reflect upon it without disappointment and
mortification."
After such arguments, it should seem that there could be but one
opinion, and yet the bill passed the Senate by only _one_ majority! It
also had to run the gauntlet of the House of Representatives, where it
encountered the same hostility. But at length it got through, and was
signed by President Pierce on the third of March, the day before he went
out of office. Thus it became a law.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] It is worthy of notice, that when the Bill granting a charter to the
Atlantic Telegraph Company was offered in the British Parliament, at
least one nobleman found fault with it on this very ground, that it gave
away important advantages which properly belonged to England, and which
she ought to reserve to herself:
"In the House of Lords, on the twentieth of July, 1857, on the motion
for the third reading of the Telegraph Company's bill,
"Lord Redesdale called attention to the fact that, although the termini
of the proposed telegraph were both in her Majesty's dominions, namely,
in Ireland and Newfoundland, the American Government were to enjoy the
same priority as the British Government with regard to the transmission
of messages. It was said that this equal right was owing to the fact
that a joint guarantee had been given by the two Governments. _He
thought, however, it would have been far better policy on the part of
her Majesty's Government if they had either undertaken the whole
guarantee themselves, and thus had obtained free and sole control over
the connecting line of telegraph, or had invited our own colonies to
participate in that guarantee, rather than have allowed a foreign
government to join in making it._ At the same time, if the clause in
question had the sanction of her Majesty's ministry, it was not his
intention to object to it.
"Earl Granville said this telegraph was intended to connect two great
countries, and, as the two Governments had gone hand in hand with regard
to the guarantee, it seemed only reasonable that both should have the
same rights as to transmitting messages.
"The bill was then read a third time and passed."
CHAPTER VIII.
THE EXPEDITION OF 1857.
Scarcely was the business with the American Government completed, before
Mr. Field was recalled to England. Once more upon the waves, he forgot
the long delay and the vexatious opposition which he left behind--the
fogs of Newfoundland, and the denser fogs of Washington. He was bound
for England, and there at least the work did not stand still. All winter
long the wheels of the machinery had kept in motion. The cable was
uncoiling its mighty folds to a length sufficient to span the Atlantic,
and at last there was hope of victory.
Although the United States Government had seemed a little ungracious in
its delay, it yet rendered, this year and the next, most important
service. Already it had prepared the way, by the deep-sea soundings,
which it was the first to take across the Atlantic. It now rendered
additional and substantial aid in lending to this enterprise the two
finest ships in the American navy--the Niagara and the Susquehanna. The
former was built some dozen years before by George Steers--a name
celebrated among our marine architects as the constructor of the famous
yacht America, that "racehorse of the sea," which had crossed the
Atlantic, and carried off the prize in the British Channel from the
yachts of England--and was designed to be a model of naval architecture.
She was the largest steam-frigate in the world, exceeding in tonnage the
heaviest line-of-battle ship in the English navy, and yet so finely
modelled that, propelled only by a screw, she could make ten or twelve
miles an hour. Notwithstanding her bulk, she was intended to carry but
twelve guns--being one of the first ships in our navy to substitute a
few heavy Dahlgrens for half a dozen times as many fifty-six-pounders.
This was the beginning of that revolution in naval warfare, which was
carried to such extent in the Monitors and other ironclads introduced in
our civil war. Each gun weighed fourteen tons--requiring a crew of
twenty-five men to wield it--and threw a shell of one hundred and thirty
pounds a distance of three miles. One or two broadsides from such a deck
would sink an old-fashioned seventy-four, or even a ninety or
hundred-gun ship.
But as the Niagara was now to go on an errand of peace, this formidable
armament was not taken on board. She was built with what is known as a
flush deck, clear from stem to stern, and being without her guns, was
left free for the more peaceful burden that she was to bear. When the
orders were received from Washington, she was lying at the Brooklyn
Navy-Yard, but began immediately to prepare for her expedition.
Bulkheads were knocked down, above and below, to make room for the huge
monster of the deep that was to be coiled within her sides. These
preparations occupied four or five weeks. On the twenty-second of April,
she made a trial trip down the bay, and two days after sailed for
England, in command of Captain William L. Hudson, one of the oldest and
best officers in our navy, who, to his past services to his country, was
now to add another in the expeditions of this and the following year. He
had with him as Chief Engineer Mr. William E. Everett, whose mechanical
genius proved so important in constructing the paying-out machinery.
Besides the regular ship's crew, no one was received on board except Mr.
Field and Professor Morse, who went as the electrician of the
Newfoundland Company; and two officers of the Russian navy--Captain
Schwartz and Lieutenant Kolobnin--who were permitted by our Government,
as an act of national courtesy, to go out to witness the great
experiment. The regulations of the navy did not admit correspondents of
the press; but Professor Morse was permitted to take a secretary, and
chose Mr. Mullaly, who reported for the New York Herald, and who had
thus an opportunity to witness all the preparations on land and sea, and
to furnish those minute and detailed accounts of the several
expeditions, which contribute some important chapters in the history of
this enterprise.
The Niagara arrived out on the fourteenth of May, and cast anchor off
Gravesend, about twenty-five miles below London. As it was the first
time--at least for many years--that an American ship of war had appeared
in the Thames, this fact, with her fine proportions and the object for
which she came, attracted a crowd of visitors. Every day, from morning
to night, a fleet of boats was around her, and men and women thronged
over her sides. Everybody was welcome. All were received with the utmost
courtesy, and allowed access to all parts of the ship. Among these were
many visitors of distinction. Here came Lady Franklin to thank the
generous nation that had sent two expeditions to recover her husband
lost amid Polar seas. She was, of course, the object of general
attention and respectful sympathy.
While lying in the Thames, the Agamemnon, that was to take the other
half of the cable, passed up the river. This was a historical ship,
having borne the flag of the British admiral at the bombardment of
Sebastopol, and distinguished herself by steaming up within a few
hundred yards of the guns of the fortress. After passing through the
fires of that terrible day, she was justly an object of pride to
Britons, whose hearts swelled as they saw this oak-ribbed leviathan,
that had come "out of the gates of death, out of the jaws of hell," now
preparing to take part in achievements of peace, not less glorious than
those of war. She was under command of Captain Noddal, of the Royal
Navy.
As the Agamemnon came up the river in grand style, she recognized the
Niagara lying off Gravesend, and manning her yards, gave her a
succession of those English hurras so stirring to the blood, when heard
on land or sea, to which our tars replied with lusty American cheers. It
was pleasant to observe, from this time, the hearty good-will that
existed between the officers and crews of the two ships, who in their
exertions for the common object, were animated only by a generous
rivalry.
A few days after, the Niagara was joined by the Susquehanna, Captain
Sands, which had been ordered from the Mediterranean to take part also
in the expedition. She was a fit companion ship, being the largest
side-wheel steamer in our navy, as the other was the largest propeller.
Both together, they were worthy representatives of the American navy.
When the Niagara arrived in the Thames, it was supposed she would take
on board her half of the cable from the manufactory of Glass, Elliot &
Co., at Greenwich; but on account of her great length, it was difficult
to bring her up alongside the wharf in front of the works. This was
therefore left to the Agamemnon, while the Niagara was ordered around
to Liverpool, to take the other half from the works of Newall & Co., at
Birkenhead, opposite that city. Accordingly she left Gravesend on the
fifth of June, and reached Portsmouth the next day, where she remained a
fortnight, to have some further alterations to fit her to receive the
cable. Although she had been already pretty well "scooped out," fore and
aft, the cry was still for room. Officers had to shift for themselves,
as their quarters were swept away to make a wider berth for their iron
guest. But all submitted with excellent grace. Like true sailors, they
took it gayly as if they were only clearing the decks for battle. Among
other alterations for safety, was a framework or cage of iron, which was
put over the stern of the ship, to keep the cable from getting entangled
in the screw. As soon as these were completed, the Niagara left for
Liverpool, and on the twenty-second of June cast anchor in the Mersey.
Here she attracted as much attention as in the Thames, being crowded
with visitors during the week; and on Sundays, when none were received
on board, the river-boats sought to gratify public curiosity by sailing
round her. The officers of the ship were objects of constant
hospitality, both from private citizens and from the public authorities.
The Mayor of Liverpool gave them a dinner, the Chamber of Commerce
another, while the Americans in Liverpool entertained them on the fourth
of July--the first public celebration of our national anniversary ever
had in that city.
But while these festivities were kept up on shore, hard work was done on
board the ship. To coil thirteen hundred miles of cable was an immense
undertaking. Yet it was all done by the sailors themselves. No
compulsion was used, and none was needed. No sooner was there a call for
volunteers, than men stepped forward in greater numbers than could be
employed. Out of these were chosen one hundred and twenty stalwart
fellows, who were divided into two gangs of sixty men, and each gang
into watches of thirty, which relieved each other, and all went to work
with such enthusiasm, that in three weeks the herculean task was
completed. The event was celebrated by a final dinner given by the
shareholders of the Atlantic Telegraph Company in Liverpool to Captain
Hudson and Captain Sands of the Susquehanna, whose arrival in the Mersey
enabled them to extend their hospitalities to the officers of both
ships.
While the Niagara was thus doing her part, the same scene was repeated
on board the Agamemnon, which was still lying in the Thames. There the
work was completed about the same day, and the occasion duly honored by
a scene as unique as it was beautiful. Says the London Times of July
twenty-fourth:
"All the details connected with the manufacture and stowage of
the cable are now completed, and the conclusion of the arduous
labor was celebrated yesterday with high festivity and
rejoicing. All the artisans who have been engaged upon the
great work, with their wives and families, a large party of the
officers, with the sailors from the Agamemnon, and a number of
distinguished scientific visitors, were entertained upon this
occasion at a kind of _fete champetre_ at Belvidere House, the
seat of Sir Culling Eardley, near Erith. The festival was held
in the beautiful park which had been obligingly opened by Sir
Culling Eardley for the purpose. Although in no way personally
interested in the project, the honorable baronet has all along
evinced the liveliest sympathy with the undertaking, and
himself proposed to have the completion of the work celebrated
in his picturesque grounds. The manufacturers, fired with
generous emulation, erected spacious tents on the lawn, and
provided a magnificent banquet for the guests, and a
substantial one for the sailors of the Agamemnon and the
artificers who had been employed in the construction of the
cable. By an admirable arrangement, the guests were
accommodated at a vast semi-circular table, which ran round the
whole pavilion, while the sailors and workmen sat at a number
of long tables arranged at right angles with the chord, so that
the general effect was that all dined together, while at the
same time sufficient distinction was preserved to satisfy the
most fastidious. The three centre tables were occupied by the
crew of the Agamemnon, a fine, active body of young men, who
paid the greatest attention to the speeches, and drank all the
toasts with an admirable punctuality, at least so long as their
three pints of beer per man lasted; but we regret to add that,
what with the heat of the day and the enthusiasm of Jack in the
cause of science, the mugs were all empty long before the
chairman's list of toasts had been gone through. Next in
interest to the sailors were the workmen and their wives and
babies, all being permitted to assist at the great occasion.
The latter, it is true, sometimes squalled at an affecting
peroration, but that rather improved the effect than otherwise,
and the presence of these little ones only marked the genuine
good feeling of the employers, who had thus invited not only
their workmen, but their workmen's families to the feast. It
was a momentary return to the old patriarchal times, and every
one present seemed delighted with the experiment."
Speeches were made by Sir Culling Eardley, by Mr. Cardwell, of the House
of Commons, Mr. Brooking, one of the Directors, by Professor Morse, and
others. Mr. Field read a letter from President Buchanan, saying that he
should feel honored if the first message should be one from Queen
Victoria to himself, and that he "would endeavor to answer it in a
spirit and manner becoming a great occasion."
Thus, labor and feasting being ended, the Niagara and the Susquehanna
left Liverpool the latter part of July and steamed down St. George's
Channel to Queenstown, which was to be the rendezvous of the telegraphic
squadron, where they were joined by the Agamemnon and the Leopard, which
was to be her consort. The former, as she entered the harbor, came to
anchor about a third of a mile from the Niagara. The presence of the two
ships which had the cable on board, gave an opportunity which the
electricians had desired to test its integrity. Accordingly one end of
each cable was carried to the opposite ship, and so joined as to form a
continuous length of twenty-five hundred miles, both ends of which were
on board the Agamemnon. One end was then connected with the apparatus
for transmitting the electric current, and on a sensitive galvanometer
being attached to the other end, the whole cable was tested from end to
end, and found to be perfect. These experiments were continued for two
days with the same result. This inspired fresh hopes for the success of
the expedition, and in high spirits they bore away for the harbor of
Valentia.
It had been for some time a matter of discussion, where they should
begin to lay the cable, whether from the coast of Ireland, or in
mid-ocean, the two ships making the junction there, and dropping it to
the bottom of the sea, and then parting, one to the east and the other
to the west, till they landed their ends on the opposite shores of the
Atlantic. This was the plan adopted the following year, and which
finally proved successful. It was the one preferred by the engineers
now, but the electricians favored the other course, and their counsel
prevailed. It was therefore decided to submerge the whole cable in a
continuous line from Valentia Bay to Newfoundland. The Niagara was to
lay the first half from Ireland to the middle of the Atlantic; the end
would then be joined to the other half on board the Agamemnon, which
would take it on to the coast of Newfoundland. During the whole process
the four vessels were to remain together and give whatever assistance
was required. While it was being laid down, messages were to be sent
back to Valentia, reporting each day of progress.
As might be supposed, the mustering of such a fleet of ships, and the
busy note of preparation which had been heard for weeks, produced a
great sensation in this remote part of Ireland. The people from far and
near, gathered on the hills and looked on in silent wonder.
To add to the dignity of the occasion, the Lord Lieutenant came down
from Dublin to witness the departure of the expedition. No one could
have been better fitted to represent his own country, and to command
audience from ours. The Earl of Carlisle--better known among us as Lord
Morpeth--had travelled in the United States a few years before, and
shown himself one of the most intelligent and liberal foreigners that
have visited America. No representative of England could on that day
have stood upon the shores of Ireland, and stretched out his hand to his
kindred beyond the sea with more assurance that his greeting would be
warmly responded to. And never did one speak more aptly words of wisdom
and of peace. We read them still with admiration for their beauty and
their eloquence, and with an interest more tender but more sad, that
this great and good man--the true friend of his own country and of
ours--has gone to his grave. To quote his own words is the best tribute
to his memory, and will do more than any eulogy to keep it fresh and
green in the hearts of Americans. On his arrival at Valentia, he was
entertained by the Knight of Kerry at one of those public breakfasts so
much in fashion in England, at which in response to a toast in his
honor, after making his personal acknowledgments, he said:
"I believe, as your worthy chairman has already hinted, that I
am probably the first Lieutenant of Ireland who ever appeared
upon this lovely strand. At all events, no Lord Lieutenant
could have come amongst you on an occasion like the present.
Amidst all the pride and the stirring hopes which cluster
around the work of this week, we ought still to remember that
we must speak with the modesty of those who begin and not of
those who close an experiment, and it behooves us to remember
that the pathway to great achievements has frequently to be
hewn out amidst risks and difficulties, and that preliminary
failure is even the law and condition of the ultimate success.
Therefore, whatever disappointments may possibly be in store, I
must yet insinuate to you that in a cause like this it would be
criminal to feel discouragement. In the very design and
endeavor to establish the Atlantic Telegraph there is almost
enough of glory. It is true if it be only an attempt there
would not be quite enough of profit. I hope that will come,
too; but there is enough of public spirit, of love for science,
for our country, for the human race, almost to suffice in
themselves. However, upon this rocky frontlet of Ireland, at
all events, to-day we will presume upon success. We are about,
either by this sundown or by to-morrow's dawn, to establish a
new material link between the Old World and the New. Moral
links there have been--links of race, links of commerce, links
of friendship, links of literature, links of glory; but this,
our new link, instead of superseding and supplanting the old
ones, is to give a life and an intensity which they never had
before. Highly as I value the reputations of those who have
conceived, and those who have contributed to carry out this
bright design--and I wish that so many of them had not been
unavoidably prevented from being amongst us at this
moment[A]--highly as I estimate their reputation, yet I do not
compliment them with the idea that they are to efface or dim
the glory of that Columbus, who, when the large vessels in the
harbor of Cork yesterday weighed their anchors, did so on that
very day three hundred and sixty-five years ago--it would have
been called in Hebrew writ a year of years--and set sail upon
his glorious enterprise of discovery. They, I say, will not dim
or efface his glory, but they are now giving the last finish
and consummation to his work. Hitherto the inhabitants of the
two worlds have associated perhaps in the chilling atmosphere
of distance with each other--a sort of bowing distance; but now
we can be hand to hand, grasp to grasp, pulse to pulse. The
link, which is now to connect us, like the insect in the
immortal couplet of our poet:
While exquisitely fine,
Feels at each thread and lives along the line.
And we may feel, gentlemen of Ireland, of England, and of
America, that we may take our stand here upon the extreme
rocky edge of our beloved Ireland; we may, as it were, leave
in our rear behind us the wars, the strifes, and the bloodshed
of the elder Europe, and of the elder Asia; and we may pledge
ourselves, weak as our agency may be, imperfect as our powers
may be, inadequate in strict diplomatic form as our credentials
may be, yet, in the face of the unparalleled circumstances, of
the place and the hour, in the immediate neighborhood of the
mighty vessels whose appearance may be beautiful upon the
waters, even as are the feet upon the mountains of those who
preach the Gospel of peace--as an homage due to that serene
science which often affords higher and holier lessons of
harmony and good will than the wayward passions of man are
always apt to learn--in the face and in the strength of such
circumstances, let us pledge ourselves to eternal peace between
the Old World and the New."
While these greetings were exchanged on shore, only the smaller vessels
of the squadron had arrived. But in a few hours the great hulls of the
Niagara and the Agamemnon, followed by the Leopard and the Susquehanna,
were seen in the horizon, and soon they all cast anchor in the bay. As
the sun went down in the west, shining still on the other hemisphere
which they were going to seek, its last rays fell on an expedition more
suggestive and hopeful than any since that of Columbus from the shores
of Spain, and upon navigators not unworthy to be his followers.
The whole squadron was now assembled, and made gallant array. There were
present in the little harbor of Valentia seven ships--the stately
Niagara, which was to lay the half of the cable from Ireland, and her
consort, the Susquehanna, riding by her side; while floating the flag of
England, were the Agamemnon, which was appointed to lay the cable on the
American side, and her consort, the Leopard. Beside these high-decked
ships of war, the steamer Advice had come round to give, not merely
advice but lusty help in landing the cable at Valentia; and the little
steamer Willing Mind, with a zeal worthy of her name, was flying back
and forth between ship and shore, lending a hand wherever there was work
to be done; and the Cyclops, under the experienced command of Captain
Dayman, who had made the deep-sea soundings across the Atlantic only the
month before, here joined the squadron to lead the way across the deep.
This made five English ships, with but two American; but to keep up our
part, there were two more steamers on the other side of the sea, the
Arctic, under Lieutenant Berryman, and the Company's steamer Victoria,
to watch for the coming of the fleet off the coast of Newfoundland, and
help in landing the cable on the shores of the New World.
It was now Tuesday evening, the fourth of August, too late to undertake
the landing that night, but prepara
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