The Opelousas patriot. [volume] (Opelousas, Parish of St. Landry, La.) 1855-1863, 1856-12-13

derivA fAN yythI g but him, while, he, on
the contrary her laperior, cats without re-
n Tho Atlantic Telegraph.
On both sides Of the Atlantic public curly
osity aud anxiety are on tip-toc for the COM
pletion Of the- telegraplic communication
which is to comet the two hemispheres, The
following article, from the London Times, on
the subject is so much to our mind that we
transfer it'll pleasure to our colnmqps:
The tors of the Atlantic Telegraph
COMPANY h % published all announcement OF
their anlicih ion !" that they will. have the CO.
bic complete. in tim, to lay it 5inl he ummer
Of 1857, and, under any circumstances, not
later thai spring oNis5s." aus, within
the space Of a twelvemonth Of .~thereabout, II
these hopes be reg ed, d merf ant in London
will be able to communicate with his cores
pondent at New Orleans nth the speed OF
lightning. Habit has so + miliarized US With
the marvellous triumphs off hysical scieEeathat
we have ceased to feel or Express astonishment
at results which, not so many years ago would
have been dismissed FROM the consideration OF
rational men as ttefvisibns of a fantastic mag
~ination. To run a railway train over the sur
face of q country OF the rate Of O mile a min
ute; to cross the Atlantic in a steamboat in
in eight or nine days to communicate with any
Of the principal towns Of Europe in less time
thar is required to put the words on paper, and
| other results of the like nature, have become so
completely part of our daily life that we have
ceased to regard them extraordinary. That
| which is really worthy Of note is tire rate OF
progression at which discoveries are made. One
miracle seems to bcget another. 1t is Wheat
stone and his electric telegraph one year-itis
the great glass palace the next one day we
have the monster steamship, another Bessemer's
discoveries in the method Of working iron.
This comes Of living in d scientific age. We
are as yet but stumbling at the threshold Of
tie cavern in which the secrets OF nature have
lain hidden for SO many years. AS yet the
human. race seem to have been mainly strug-
Cling with gloomy and mischievous s'pcrstl.
tions, Or contending against the tyranny and
violence Of their rulers ard the deyastations of
war. Even now, when we consider the spirit
ual and intellectual condition Of the great mass
of mankind when we look back at The bloody
trenches of Sebastopol when we see Europe
bristling with bayonets, and even the citizens
of the United States turning their tratricidal
hands agains each other, We cannot hope that
we have yet reed the last chronicles of darkness
and of slaughter. The inventions Of our
modern men Of science, however, givei,s reason
for hope. When the continent Of Europe and
the continent Of America are united by the
electric current, which is to pass to and from
tie British Isles as its head quarters, it seems
difficult to conceive that lie civ zed nations
Of the world will not become SO bound toge-
tier by community of interests that the era Of
Improbable warf J and of selfish tyrannies
will find its ma cal termination. Many q
problem in economic science and in the politi-
cal situation Of the western world, which now
see.,s to. present insuperab!e difficulties, will
then be easily solved by the mere force Of cir
cumstances and the progress Of human thought.
Many persons now living, and Of an age to
comprehend tie meaning Of what is passing
around them, will live to see the year 1900.
1t will be a changed world then!
The projectors Of the Atlantic telegraph
have published their prospectus. 1t is not our
custom to come forward as the advocates oil
joint stock companies, but surely this project
constitutes al exception. The interests Of this
nation and Of the civilized world are so closely
bound up with its success that we feel justified
in recommending it to the notice of our readers.
With the commercial conditions of the project
as they stand at present we have nothing to
do, but certainly the enterprise, must be badly
carried out indeed If the revenue arising from
the electric service between the two continents
is not sufficient to pay q handsome interest
upon the outlay. The feasibility Of the scheme
has been recognized by men who have devoted
their whole lives to the consideration Of such
subjects, and who have successfully handled
submarine wires in other directions. The only
feature Of novelty which the electric colmmuni-
ca!fou between America and England involves
is the length of the wire.
At first sight, it would not seem as though
this carried with it any real drawback, save
some extra difficulty in laying the wire i'll the
first instance, and the increased difficulty Of
repairing damage in case OF accident. Profess
sor Faraday had, however, thrown some doubt
phenomena of induction and rctarilation, but
This doubt has been completely set aside by
subsequent experiment on LIPS and Oh 1920
miles Of wire. The point is to connect the
coast Of Newfoundland with the coast of ire
land. Now, it is found that, between these
very points, there is a submarine ridge or .pla-
team, admirably adapted for the purpose.
Lieutenant Marry, in his " Physical Geogra-
ply of the Sea-, says: "Ehis plateau is not
too deep for the cable to sink down and rest
upon, and yet not so shallow that currents or
icebergs, or any abradiug force can dcrange
the wire after it is once lodged upon it,"
In the line Of tho Gnlf Stream there is {.
series of PERCEPTIONS hollows which would rem
der such q route impracticabIe but to the
northward Of the Great Banks these uhysscs
are no longer found. Between Valencia, on
the Irish coast, and st. Johns. Newfoundland,
We say, is the line Of nearly absolute rest for the
Atlantic waters. 1t has been carefully sounded
along its lcagth, and from the ocean depths
throughout there have been drawn up :" the
most minute microscopic shells, which, from
their delicate organism and The perfect slate in
which they are found, prove the utter absence
OF all motion in the water surrounding them
Now the successful slbmersion Of a t~rlcgrapl
cable depends upon tic absence Of currents, for
these wonld interfere with the descent Of the
line, and upon the existence of a level bottom
where it may lie undisturhcd. Between Va.