The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1858-08-11
7 II f AT l. An TIC CABLE
From the Boston DdiLy Cour;er1
HISTORY OF THE ENTERPR1sE

bridge, in this Statc. David Dudley Field, LII.
d., prominent lawyer in New York city, Mr.. John
athan E. Field, of Stockbridge, well-known law
yer of Western Massachusetts,, and last fall the Dem
ocratic candidate for Secretary of the Common
wealth, and Mr.. Stephen Field, of the Judges
of the Supreme Court of California, are his broth
ers. Whatever others may claim as their due when
the honors come to be divided, he certainly, is en-
titled to the largest share. To be the skilfu
engineers and naval commanders who worked with
hlm should be forgotten but he is entitled to the
first place and highest merit.
1t is stated matter of lust pride to the people
OF this State, that Franklin the great electrician,
Morse, the inventor of the electric telegraph, and
Cyrus w. Field, the man who said the Atlantic ca
Bile shall be laid, are all natives of Massachusetts,
But let us hurry on with sketch. About six
years ago. Mr.. Field, with Others began to stir in
the matter of the Ocean Telegraph. He however,
1t was that inspired few of his fellow merchants
in New York with confidence in the practicability
OF the scheme He succeeded in forming the New
York, Newfoundland and London Telegraph Com
pany, of which Mr.. Peter Cooper was President,
Mr. Field, Vice President; Moses Taylor, Treasurer,
and Prof. Morse, Electrician.
The specific object for which this Company was
organized, was the laying of telegraphic cable
across the Atlantic, between Yalentia Bay in the
southwest part of ireland, and Trinity Bay, New
toundand. The distance between these two points
is l,650 miles. Surveys of the ocean bed were au-
thorized and carried out by the United States and
English governments, and the results arrived at by
the different surveying officers though differing as to
uetdilo,
of water the plateau, and of the character of the
bottom as affecting the stability of the cable when
laid. 1t was found that at no point was the
water more than 1000 tathOms deep, and that
the average depth was some two hundred fathoms
less The bed of the was found uniformly
smooth, and favorable to the undisturbed location
OF a cable; and it was thought, from experiments
tried, there were no undercurrents of perceptible
lorce to interfere with the wire either before or
after it reached its resting-place. The selected
landing places on either shore of the Atlantic were
believed to be the most suitable in their respective
locations.
The capital stock of the New York Company was
fixed at S1,750,000, and the whole was subscribed
tor,-one hundred and one shares in London eighty
eight in America, eighty-six in Liverpool, thirty
seven In glasgow, twenty-eight in Manchester, and
the remainder in other ports of England. The capi-
tai, however, had to be subsequently increased to
S2,50OOO to meet the failures that occurred in the
various attempts to submerge the cable.
during last Congress subsidy of 900 per
annum Tor twenty-five years granted to the At
lantic Telegraph Company; and the Secretary of
the Navy was also directed to supply two national
vessels to as ist in laying the cable. The British
parliament gave like subsidy and an equal num-
Der OF national vessels to assist in the work. In
compliance with the instructions of Congress- the
Niagara and Susquehanna were deputed to assist in
the undertakings but after the first failure last year.
the latter vessel was withdrawn and was not able to
assist tins year. on accOunto the yellow fever which
attacked her officers and crew while she was on the
w est India station in the spring.
The company also obtained a charter from the
colonial Government of Newfoundland, granting
them the exclusive privilege for fifty years of run
nlng telegraph across that island and through any
OF the adjacent waters; also an appropriation of
twenty-five thousand dollars for the construction of
bride path over the southern portion of the coun-
try, which was considered ndispensabefor the reg
ulaton and repair of the telegraph; the interest
on two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for TWEEN
ty years, and present of fifty square miles of land
| island IN oh hoJ
been previously granted by the colonial government
of Prince Edward Island.
Prelimilaries being settled, the company pro-
ceeded to contract for the necessary cable and by
July, 1857, Messrs. Glass, Elliott l. Co., the CON
tractors had completed $500 miles of tested cable
ready for the vessels which were to Law it. The ca
Die consisted of seven copper telegraphic wires,
covered by three coats of gutta percha those in
turn by six strands of yarn, and upon the outside
eighteen strands composed of seven of the best of
charcoal iron wires. The whole was Il-I6th of an
inch in diameter, weighed 1850 pounds to the mile
and was capable of sustaining six miles of its own
length, if suspended vertically. The aggregate
length of the smaller wires required in the manu-
| tacture of one mile Of cable was 126 miles so that
| 3ISOOO miles were used in the composition of the
1000 miles of cable prepared for the attempt of the
| present year.
The U. S. steam frigate Niagara and II. B. NJ.
steamer Agamemnon were fitted up especially for
the service upon which they were detailed, the
character OF their interior arrangements beinU ne
| cessarily changed almost entirely. The cable was
| laid in between decks, in coils Constant expert
ments were made by the electricians of the Compa-
ny, as to the practicabiity Of transmitting electric
currents through so great length of wire, and
their results were satisfactory.
The hrst attempt to lay the cable was made in
August, 1857. 1t had previously been resolved, after
much debate that the laying should begin at Va
| lentia Bay, from thence to mid-ocean paying out
the cable on board the Niagara and paying out the
| Agamemnon's share on the American side. The
| fleet was composed as follows:
l. The U. S. steam frigate Niagara, Captain Hud-
! son, to lay the half of the cable from Ireland
2. The U. 5. steam frigate Susquehanna, Captain
Sands, to attend upon the Niagara.
3. The U. S. steamer Arctic, Captain Bergman,
to make further soundings on the coast of New
ioundland.
4. The Telegraph Companvs steamer Victoria,
Newfoundland.
5; IL. M. steamer Agamemnon, Captain Nod
dali, to lay the half of the cable on the American
side.
6. H. NJ. steamer Leopard, Captain Wainwright
to attend upon the Agamemnon.
Z. Ii. Nj. steamer CyclOps, Captain Dayman, to
go ahead of the steamers and keep the course
s. The steamer Advice, Captain Raymond, to
assist in the landing of the cable at Yalentia.
The engineers and electricians of the Company,
Prof. Morse, Mr.. Bright Prof. Thompson, Mr.. j.
G. Laws, Mr. Appold, Mr.. Amos Mr.. Woodhouse,
Prof. Whitehouse, Mr.. Canning, Mr.. De SANITY and
Mr. Clifford, were divided between the two princi
pal steamers, for the purpose of conducting the
paying out and directing the operation of the
plicated machinery. The force on board the Mag
ara consisted of 2S7 officers and men, 81 men in the
Engineer corps, and so in the Marine guard, making
total of 4O4. The force on the Agamemnon
slightly larger.
All being in readiness, the fleet sailed from Ply
mouth, England, about the lSt of August and on
the evening of the 9Th the shore end for Valenta
Bay was landed with formal ceremonies, in which
the Lord Lieutenant the church dgnitaries, nobil-
ity and gentry of Ireland, in large numbers parti-
cipated. On the morning of the 7th the fleet set
sail, and everything went on well till the fifth day
out the llth, when, blythe application of the brakes
at the wrong time, great strain was put on the
cable that it broke.
1t was found that 1884 miles of cable had been
paid out, leaving on board the vessels 1,S47 miles,
or surplus of 207 miles over the distance between
the terminus at ireland and Newfoundland; but
this was deemed an insufficient quantity with which
to proceed to second trial at once; and the fleet
returned to Plymouth, where the cable was un-
shipped and packed away in tar, pitch, linseed oil
and beeswax.
At this time, the Company was of course much
disheartened, but Mr.. Field infused into it some of
the sanguine hope which he himself felt and it was
resolved to order the manufacture of 1000 miles
more cable, with view of proceeding to make a
second trial in 1853 Mr.. Field, during the winter,
was made manager and general agent ofthe compa-
ny. He procured, by the consent of the U. S. Gov
ernment for his Chief Engineer, Mr.. NJ. E. Everett
of the U. s. Corps of Beginners, who proceeded to
make most valuable improvements in the paying
out machinery did the electricians in their appa
ratus. The Niagara and Agamemnon were again de-
tailed for the service, together with the British
steamers Valorous, Gorgon and Porcupine.
On the 10th of June, 1858, without any public de-
monstraton like that of last year, the fleet left Eng
land for the purpose of laying the cable, now aug
mented to a total length of 2 $40 miles, This time
too the plan of operations changed, so that the
feet was to proceed to mid-ocean there join the ca
Bile, and proceed with half to Valentia Bay and
with the other to Trinity Bay. The passage out
was very stormy, and the Agamemnon nearly foun-
dprpd INIT on he bon lime he cahl MI
and the paying out commenced. An accident
to the machinery on board the Niagara snapped the
cable before the vessels were two miles apart
About one ocecK on the morning oft Of the 27th about
forty miles having been paid out, the cable again
broke, and no explanation of the breakage has yet
been offered. Un the 28th the vessels again met
spliced the wire, proceeded on their ways and ev
ervthinor 1unrked zrnu till the night of the Doth