Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1858-08-13
History Of the Atlantic Telegraph.

II
the 9Th Of August. IL appears that the
idea Of connecting the two continents was
Grs, conceived by an English operator, +.
N. Gisbournc, in the telegraph ofhca at
Montreal in 1851. Having made himself
familiar with the subjec, Of telegraphic COM
munica,ion he repaired to Halifax. He
there succeeded in interesting membOrs OF
the Provincial government, and line was
built across the Province. lie then sue
coeded in getting submarine cable TO Prince
Edwards Island, which worked perfectly.
lie then came TO New York and formed n
company to carry tho line to Newfoundland.
With gang OF lsborers he commenced the
work Of cutting through the forests across
the island. His company failed, however,
aud he was thrown into prison. lie was
released, and the Colonial Government, nd.
vanocd funds 10 pay some OF the laborors
who were suffering. In the meantime, he
had succeeded in forming new company
who assumed all the liabilities OF the old.
and the line was completed across New
foundland. and cable laid to Nova Scotia.
making a continuous line from the U. ).
to the extremity Of Newfoundland. At this
poin, he demanded $4,000, salary, which
was no, aeccdcd to. aud he lol, the service
OF the company. His idea Of stretching the
/ line across the Atlantic was then taken up
by Mr.. Cyrus W. Field, whose labOrs IN the
enterprise are shown in the following e1.
tract
In the year 1856 Cyrus W. Field visited
England. The Of hls visit was the lorna
I ton of the Atlantic Telegraph Company.
with a capital Of ESQ 900. for tho purpose
OF connecting Europe with America by n
submarine Geographic cable. In August
1857, an attempt was made 10 lay down the
! Atlantic Submarine Cable, resulting IN a
dislstrou. failure. The cable was 900
mile- in length weighing nearly one ton
pr mile. capable OF bearing direct strain
of over five ,ans without fracture. The
centre Of the cable was formed by seven hnc
copper wires twisted into cord Ito Of an
I inch thick. This strand was coated with
gutta percha forming y small rope 3-S Of an
inch thick then coated with hcmpen twlne
twice soaked in pitch and tar lastly an eI'
ternal shcaihing OF II virus. each wire bc-
ing n strand Of seven fner wires, making in
all l2j wires.
Tho submcrsinn was commenced on the
I 9th August, 1857. There were present the
Fix steamers, Niagara. Agamemnon, Leo
rard. Susquehans,h. Willing and Mind. ~
tended 10 assist in various parts Of the oper-
alton. The cable came up from the bold Of
the ship, around central block, ~ 20
the open space above decks 10 was there
wound round grooNed shcaths, gcared %.
re,her hy cos., aud firmly planted on cir.
der.. Thence IL passed over a tiih sheath,
out over the stern into the sea, sinking by
it, own weight. 4 iritllns accident hap.
pencd on the 9th: this was repaired, and %
the ilih, $50 miles (.tatue) had been sub.
merged Tho engineer hero concluded that
there was too much "s slack y m the cable =
cour-e, aud sOmc modification in the ma
chinery was Consequently made. This up.
p,ar. 20 have badly attended 90 by sub
ordinate. The cable snapped, and thus en-
dsd the attempt Of 1857.
\ IL having been concluded from Lieut..
Lieut. Maury's calculations that the aver.
age state Of the weather was much better on
ihe Atlantic In the early part Of summer,
il was decided this year ~ make the attempt
of laying the cable in June. II was also
thought best to begin the submorsiOn IN
mid.Oc,an and pay out towards either shore
Accordingly the telegraph acct, consisting
OF the United States steam irlgaic Nagan.
and her Majos,ys steamer, Asimemnon.
valOruus and Gorgon. LETT Plymouth on
THURSDAY, June 10. 1858. Tue Niagara
had $50 tuns. and the Agamemnon $50 tun-
coal, and each about l2JO nautical. or a
little les than 1900 statu. miles OF cable on
board. The weather, at first favorable, be-
came unusually boisterOus. 30 tina, the
fleet were no, ready 10 commence operations
until late on the 18th OF June.
The Grsi splice was made between the
Niagara and Asamemnon on the morning
of Saturday, tho Goth Of June, and after
each ship had psyed out about three miles
the ca BILE broke on board the Niagara, ow-
ing Ia its overriding and getting III the pull
Icy leading on 10 the machine. Both vessels
pot about and returned, fresh splice was
made and again lowered over at half past
seven. Ths paying out proceeded beauii.
fully until early on Sunday morning. when
: the signals suddenly ceased The cable was
cut, and the Niagara repaired TO the rem.
deTyous. The cause Of the rupture was
equally mysterious TO those on board the
| Agsmemnon, and no satisfactory conjecture
has since been made.
The cable was spliecd on tho 2sth, and
the steamers parted. Everything worked
beautifully during that night and the next
day. But At . o'clock =. VI. on the Goth.
the announcement Of "no signals" was
made on board the Niagara. At the time
\ l42 miles Of the cable had been paved out
/ IL was subsequently, ascertained that the ca.
! bic parted, for some reasons unknown.
about six iatboms from the stern OF the Ag-
amemnon. About 100 miles Of cable were
lost during these trials, the eaec, Of which
upon the public confidence in the inal sue
cess OF the undertaking was most depressing.
But the managers continued indoiatIga.
bio. The fleet sailed n second limo from
Queenstown on the the 18th OF July. joined
the cable on the 29th, aud on the 9th U,
August the world had news Of SUCCESS.
The cost OF the telegraph cable has been
put down rs follows:
p,;ce J.,r-... wire rer mile $500
/ Price .pun yard aud irOn wire per m'Ie 265
Price outside tar per mile 10
! Total per mile stos
For $500 mile. si,2i2, 100
For 10 mile. deep-sea cable, at sii5o
per mile li'ooo
Foe IS mile. shore ends, at $3.50 per