Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1858-08-20
Cyrus w. Field at Home.
Interesting Telegraphic Details


Mr.. Field is looking well, although nearly
worn out by the toll and excitement which
he has undergone. No doubt he will be over
whelmed with ovations and congratulations,
but he longs for quiet and repose He has
been absent now from his family for eight
months.
On his arrival at the Staten Island Land
ing, the fact soon became known, and an ca
ger crowd pressed toward the carriage to look
at the man whose name and fame have now
become "familiar as household words" He
reached home about nine clock, and imme-
diately applied himself 10 the completion of
his journal, for transmission to the telegraph
directors in London.
Mr.. Field describes the feeling which per-
vaded all on board the Niagara while the ca
BILE was being laid as one of the most intense
excitement. Every man exerted himself to
the utmost to achieve success in the work.
Throughout the six and half DAYS, the most
perfect silence and attention pervaded the
men, lest a single moment of negligence
should destroy the cable. On the first day af-
ter the paying out began, it was found that
the cable was being laid out at rate which
in proportion to the distance run, would, if
continued, have defeated the enterprise.
This was owing to the fact that the cable
On the NldgdEd udu GdubGu 80 uJuCu lOChl at
traction as to seriously derange the compasses,
rendering it impossible to steer the ship.
Next day the commander of the Gorgon, be-
ing apprised of the fact ran ahead of the Nj
agara, steering in the most direct course for
Trinity Bay. This he continued to do day
and night until they arrived, never leaving
the deck except for few moments, and veri-
flying his position by observations of the sun,
moon, and stars. To his agency therefore the
success of the achievement is greatly indebted.
MIR. Field landed near the telegraph station
Trinity Bay, at two o'clock in the morning,
and walked to the house, half mile distant,
through the wilderness, not a person being
visible on the beach. AT the telegraph house
he found the operators from London fast
asleep, not one Of them expecting that the
enterprise would succeed. Indeed, they had
not unpacked their trunks, anticipating that
in week or two they would be ordered back
to London.
The reason why signals and not words were
sent through the cable, as it was being laid,
is. that on the previous attempt the clerks
INDUCED in irrelevant conversation, which
distracted their attention from duty, at time
when the slightest obstruction might be fatal
to the work. Tie Directors therefore ordered
that signals only should be sent through the
GdDie run snip 10 Sill Up. DOM vessels 0aQ
Greenwich time, and the electric current
played to and fro between them for ten min
utes each way.
The signals showed that on the first day
the speed OF the Agamemnon slightly ex-
oeeded that of the Niagara, but on the sue
ceeding days they went at the same pace,
there never being more than twenty miles
difference between them. When the cable
was landed at both ends, Mr., Field applied
his tongue to the end and received the cheer
ing information that the insulation was per-
feet, in a shock that nearly threw him over
The reason why messages were not transmit
ted earlier was from the fact that all the APP
psratus at both ends was new and untried,
and required great deal of care and skill to
adjust.
Mr.. Field states that there is not the slight
est doubt that the cable is an entire success,
as great or greater than its most sanguine
friends looked forward to. By the Persia
Wednesday he writes to the Directors to pre-
pare another cable at once, as it is evident
that the present one, which will in short
time transmit messages as rapidly as an ariel
line, will be entirely insufficient for the bust
ness which will flow to it,
Until the first of September the line will
be closed to all messages, save those from the
governments of Great Britain and the United
States. During that time Mr.. Field will keep
the public advised Of all matters affecting the
success of the cable.-Neto York Tribune.