The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-09-17

OF the Convention which has ruled them
out. That they viii support the State ticket
we have no doubt; but unless seasonably con-
ciliated in reference to county and Congress
sionai candidates, they may do considerable
mischief to the Bourbons. There are some per-
sonai animosities between these factions which
perhaps no terms Of accommodation can reach.
These, however, are mere trifies compared with
the unity Of the party upon the State ticket.
That unity, we think, Is matter Of necessity on
ali sides, and as it will rest upon the common
basis Of the federal administration, the demo-
crscy have the game Of our November election
In their hands.
An early meeting Of the Sachems Of Tammany
will be the next thing In order. The State
ticket and platform are plain sailing, but apart
from these the Old Wigwam has . Job Of work
before II Of come magnitude, and involving an
immense amount of spells.
Is the Atlantic Cable Brokcns-IIas the Con.
tinuity Stoppedl
There is general want of confidence in the
public mind regarding the condition Of the At
lansic telegraph cable, and there are very few
who do not believe that it ia either broken or
absolutely useless for the transmission Of mes
ssges. 1t ia now nearly elk weeks, they say,
since the cable was laid, and the last despatch
received through it was that read by Mr. Cyrus
W. Field on the day Of the great celebration at
the Crystal Palace. With the public at large
the long and tedious delay in the practical
working Of the line is certainly calculated to
create feeling Of uneasiness, if not want of
confidence in the complete success Of the under
taking. The statement ola few facts, however,
will serve to remove this uneasiness, and show
that there is not only no just cause for their
fears, but that the cable is as perfect now as
when the Queens message was sent through it.
When the Atlantic Telegraph Company was
organized, DR.. Wildman Whitehouse was en-
ployed as the chief electrician, and by an agree
ment, subsequently, made, be was to receive on
the successful working Of the cable by his system,
and with his instruments, salary of ten
thousand pounds, or fifty thousand dollars
year. The payment of this amount was to
commence from the day on which the cable was
laid, and was Of course contingent on the per-
feet transmission of messages after IL should
have been submerged. Before this-that is,
from the organization Of the company to the
9Th of August last-he was in receipt Of yearly
salary of one thousand pounds, or five thous-
sand dollars. According to the further term
of the agreement, all his improvements, inven-
tons and discoveries were to accrue to the ex-
elusive benefit Of the company. This is
simple statement of the business relations which
existed between them. To the month of Jan
uary last it was believed that the chief cleo
trician would he able to fulfil the terms of his
contract with the company; and the directors, or
at least majority Of them entertained no
doubt Of his ability to send messages through
the whole length Of the cable. Their conf
dence was sustained by the report which DIR.
Whitehouse made TO the company on the 18th of
January last, in which he said be had at
that time attained the gratifying speed
of four words per minute aud that
by the aid of improvements which he
was then making, he believed he would
attain a still more satisfactory result. This
statement and the promise of still better things,
80 far from being supported by actual expert
ments and tests, were proved, however, to be
wholly incorrect and without foundation. One
Of the directors, DESTROYS Of satisfying himself
in regard to the rate of speed, went down from
London to Plymouth, where the cable then was
and where DR.. Whitehouse had been for several
months engaged in his experiments He told
the Doctor the object Of his visit, said that he
would remain in the Office for one hour, and as
he wished to report the number Of words that
could be sent through the cable in that time to
the company, he desired him to put his best
operators at work. The Doctor complied with
his desire, and at the end Of the specified time
succeeded In getting exactly sixtyone words
through the cable, or . little more than word
a minute. Subsequent experiments, however,
showed that there was very little reliance to be
put upon even this rate Of transmission, for 1t
not unfrequenily occurred that the electricians
were unable to send o single letter through cor
rectly.
IL became apparent that DR.. whitehouse
could not do what be was led to believe he
could do, rs be had stated in bis report, and
the company resolved that the cable should
be thrown open 10 other electricians, and
that they should be invited to test their
systems Among these were DR.. Thompson.
a gentleman OF high scientific reputation
in Great Britain, and Professor Hughes, the in
ventor Of the American printing telegraph
DIR. Thompson tried his system, and after re-
pcsted attempts, failed II now came to Pro-
festor Hughes turn, and although he had
never tried his instruments on 20 great length
of wire, and be had no means at that time Of
adjusting them, he actually succeeded In attain
ing speed Of three words minute.
This was more than had ever been accom-
plished and proved satisfactorily to the minds
Of all unprejudiced observers that the instru-
ment Of Professor Hughes was the bes, adapted
to the working Of the line. But Dr. White