Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1858-08-11
11o-. About the Atlantic Gable.

~
It appears by Mr.. Fields Journal in relation
to the IA,ntic Telegraph Expedition, that the
splice W. made in nid-ocean at p. NJ July
2sth, ses smooth, signals through the whole
length. of the cable on both ships perfect; depth
of wtsay $50 fathOms. The weather through
out tHiiix days and half employed IN laying
the cable was beautiful The distance trav-
ersed by the Niagara was sSs nautical miles
the amount Of cable payed out from her was
little over ,OI6 miles, about Is per cent more
than would have been required to connect the
two eHtremities in perfectly straight line
Each ship had l, 100 nautical miles Of cable on
board the Niagara therefore had only 81 miles
surplus, a pretty close fit in thousand miles
string. The Agamemnon Payed out l,OlO
miles. and had 60 miles less to lay than the
Niagara Twice during the trip the electric
current was lost. OF nearly so, on the Niagara
but was regained after some hours; IN one IL
stance by cutting out the obstacle in one Of the
clils on board the ship The Journal also shows
that after reaching comparatively shalio" wa
tsr-,he loss or waste of cable in paying out
fell off from forty-eight and twenty-three 10
six and even so low as four per cent other
wise the whole cable would have been dropped
before the vessels reached land.
A despatch from Mr.. Field eOnfers upon the
Niagara the honor Of having laid both ends Of
the cable lie says;
The end of the Atlantic Cable was landed on
the Irish shore from the Niagara on the 9th oi
| AUGUST. 1857 and the other end from the same
vessel on the 5lh of August, 1858. The heavy
shore end laid from Valentia by the Niagara
last year still remains, and was to be sPheed
on to the main Gable, so that both ends oi the
Gable have been actually laid by the Niagara
The Niagara payed out the cable at the av-
erage rate of about six and half statute miles
the hour, which Lieut. Maury regards 'hAP-
DIV hit, as this high speed greatly diminished
the strain upon the cable, and lessened its la
bility to the dangers of the sea. Lieut.. Maury
last year expressed the opinion that it would
not be wise for the steamers to join cables IN
til after the Goth Of July, and that between thst
time and the 10th of August the state of both
sea and air is usually in the most favorable con-
dition possible. The result shows that the
investigations of this devotee of science had en-
abled him to form a correct Judgment.
OF Mr.. Field. who is the Columbus Of the
Atlantic Telegraph, the Tribune remarks;
! Suecess-oiten seeming to be sheer luck
makes the difference between Alexander the
eoppersmith and Alexander the Great. Two
weeks ago, had almost any Of US who know and
respect Cyrus W. Field been asked by stran-
ger our opinion of him. the answer would have
run somewhat after this fashion: "A night
good fellow, certainly; but too sanguine-in
| fact, rather visionary. After he had made
pretty fortune by close attention to business,
he must Jump into this Atlantic Telegraph en-
terprise, and it has used him up. 1t has swamp
ed him peeuniarily. and damaged his reputa-
ton for business tact and sagacity; so l fear 1t
will 90 hard with him and his family hence
forth"
It is now some four or five years since Mr..
Field undertook the magnificent enterprise
which has rendered his name illustriOus. 1t
had been previously some four or Ave years IN
the hands of a company which made very lit
tie headway-had in fact accomplished little.
and were making no progress. That company
might by this time have achieved connection
with Newfoundland, but we doubt 1t. Mr..
| Field at once addressed himself to some of .Our
most liberal capitalists, and induced four of
them to units with him in the undertaking.
The moment the papers were signed, each of
the five drew his check for $4,000, making up
apurse of $4,000 to form the nest egg of the
enterprise From that hour to the present, Mr..
Field has given all his energies and means to
the Atlantic Telegraph He first visited New
foundland and obtained from its Government
the necessary concessions and privileges the
next step was to form a telegraph connection
with that island across the boisterOus Gulf of
/ St Lawrence; then to secure the cooperation
of English capitalists; finally, the support OF the
two Governments; and now he was ready to
commence the great work of preparing three
thousand miles of cable to be laid or lost be-
tween Newfoundland and Ireland. Step by
step, Mr. Field has proceeded in his great en-
terprise, ably seconded, Of course, on both sides
of the ocean; but he has been the undaunied,
lindefatigable, animating master-spirt OF the
work on both continents, on the ocean, and
/ from first TO last And the civilized world will
this time take care that no plausible Americus
shall despoil the Columbus Of ocesn telegraph
ing of his nobly and hardly won h0nors-