The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-08-08
THE ATLANTIC 1ELEGRAPH TIE GRE.iT
AoAIEVEKENT or THE AGE 60,

u.sa dCflEt EAE@s a w LAE +ltL -afrItrf 3
From the time that the frat electric flash OF the sue
cessu laying of the cable received the whole Amer
lean nation has been alive with excitement GUNS have
been fred cheers have succeeded cheers and the widest
exultaon has been the order Of the day Every mail
conveys US fresh accounts Of the rejoicing Of the peo
pie and already the great achievement is being viewed In
all its practical bearings That it Is destined to work an
entire change and change COR the better in all great
commercial TRANSACTIONS and in all governmental negoa-
lions between the two continents there be doubt
Already arrangements have spoken Of for the pur
pose Of facilitating the transmission Of messages and
every help that science give will be taken advantage
of TO render the telegraph perfect possible
The magnitude Of the event. and the difficulties that
have been overcome cannot fail toawaken the sst OF
the in all that pertains to It, and desire he
fully informed OF all its particulars We therefore make
summary of the most important matters connected
with it.
Trinity Bay, Newfoundland and vaIenta Day, on
the western coast Of Ireland, selected the sites
for the telegraph stations of the peculiar aap
blity of the beach for landing the cable From past
perenco the company convinced that these points
presented superior advantages in consequence of the
sandy and muddy nature of the bottom of the ocean,
which secured the safety OF the cable whilst rocks
stones could not fail to be fatal to it, Another reason,
we are informed had some weight 1t has been deter
mined hereafter to lay cable from Pacena Bay to the
best point either in Nova Scotia Portland Maine,
and the short distance between tho two points will
greatly facilitate the design At present the connections
will BIO formed with the land running from ST. Johns the
capital city, Cape Ray the most extreme southwestern
point on the island where tho cable which spans the
| Gulf was laid in the month of July, 1856. AFtt
The telegraph house will be erected at the head of
Bulls Bay 1t will be spacious frame building
tanning in addition to the Office operators department.
sitting room kitchen, eight bedrooms and oil the
other eeeras of wellappointed household library
will be provided by the company for the of the opera
TORS and they will have everything that they could de-
sire for the purpose Of spending their time in agcea
BILE The force Of operators will number seyen
and these must have, among other qualifications per-
feet knowledge of French German, Italian and English
10 that they may be enabled receive and transmit mes
sages in all those languages In addition to the opera
t,s there will be Ave mechanics to repair the telegraph
ins tuments and to perform any other work that may
DO required of them in their particular trade, 81
The other end Of the line, Vaentia Bay does pre-
sent quite many advantages although it is the best
in many POINTS Of view that could have been selected
The Bay dc s not afford safe place Of anchorage during
storm and the population frequently suffer from famine
The small land the head Of the Bay has been Sc
lected a. the place for the landing OF the CABLE and
the telegraph house has been built about ndred
yards from the beach The junction with the cable will
be formed by land line running to Cork, from Cork to
Dublin thence across the channel to England and by
other connections with the great network of tclegraphs
which extends over the whole continent of Europe and
which has already embraced within it portions of Asia
and Africa.
Speaking of the soundngs between st. Johns, New
foundland, and Valentia Bay Ireland, the New York
Herald says saiiu i9s s 5l a8
Between those two points tho soundngs taken by
Lieut. Bergman In the United States surveying vessel
Arctic and BY Captain Dapman In her Majesty ship Cy
clops showed that the bottom of the possessed the
most favorable conditions for the successful laying and
working Of teegraphc cable
{" When the subject first proposed 1t was feared
that the Inequalities which supposed to exist in the
he'd CT the ocean between Ireland and Newfoundland
would present nsurmountable barrier to the
full completion Of the proect but has been proved by
Lieut. injury that there such inequalities In this
part of the Atlantic. In the OF 1853 and in the
fall Of 1856 Lieut. Bergman employed In making
deep-sea soundngs along the proposed route, These
soundngs proved the existence OF this plateau, which
pears to have been placed there especially for the pur
pose of holding submarine telegraph 1t will be
seen that the greatest depth does not exceed two
thousand and eighty fathoms. The cable passes to
the north of the Grand Banks, and rests on the
plateau and ut depth where the waters OF the sea,
Judging from the nature of the bottom when brought to
the surface quiet and completely At rest as the
bottom of mill pond There seems to be no percep
BILE currents and abradng agents at work on the sur
face of the plateau Lieut. Bergman brought mp with
the sounding apparatus specimens of the bottom, which,
when examined with the microscope, found to
sist of shells minute not to be pcrceple to the
eye These little shells Mt suggested the fct that
there currents at the bottom Of the from which
they taken that the spot where they were found
their burial place. and that after having lived and
died the surace they had sunk gradually to the bot
tom, whore they had lain undsturbed by currents fol-
If the plateau swept by currents they would doubt
less have been aradcd and mingled with the other mi
croscopc remains which lie at tho bottom of tho ocean,
such asnd gravel, and othcr matter but not par