St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1858-09-09
From the Boston Journal Aud. &

~-~'''e'se A'VstogS ~Vu5W0s, duQ.O.,
We compile from different sources at
hand the following sketch of this great
undertaking, over whose success the civil.
zed world issnow rejoicing: Il s%,.# -:
In the year 1856, Cyrus W.: Field visit
ed England: The. result ofhis visit was
the formation, Of the Atlantic Telegraph
Company, with capital Of e35o, 900 for
the purpose Of connecting Europe with
America by q submarine telegraph cable.
In August, 1857, an attempt was made
to lay down the Atlantic Submarine Cable,
resulting in . disastrous failure. The cable
was 2'ooo miles in length, weighing near
y one tun Per mile, capable Of bearing a
direct q @ strain ef over five tuns without frac-
ture. The centre of the cable was formed
by seven fine copper wires, twisted into a
cord l-l6 Of an inch thick. This strand
was coated with guta percha, forming a
small rope Of of an inch thick; then coat %
ed with hempen twine twice soaked in
pitch and tar; lastly an external sheatine
OF IL lr'n wires, each wire being: a strand
OF seyeA finer wires, making in all l26
wires. g -..,....5it, 4,,.7 ,-.,. i. ,......
The submersion was commenced on the
5th' August, 1857: There were present
the six steamers, Nlagra, Aeamemnon,
Leopold, ,Susquehanna, Willing, and Mind.
'iTtendcd to assist in various parts of the
operation: The cable came up from the
hold Of the ship, around a central block,
to the open space above decks; it was there
wound round grooved sheaths, geared to-
agether BY cogs, and firmly planted on
:glrrd1eers?y Thence. it passed over a fifth
sheath, out over the stern into the sea-.
sinking BY its own weight. A trifing
accident happened on the 9Th; this was
repaired, and on the 11th, $50 miles (stat-
ute) had been submerged The engineer
here concluded that there was too much
''slack' in the cables course, and some
modification in the machinery was conse-
quently made. This appears to have been
badly attended to by a subordinate. The
cable snapped, and thus ended the attempt
Of 1857. so 7A&s u III
i 1t having been concluded from Lieut..
Maurys calculations that the average state
OF the weather was much better on the
Atlantic " in the early part Of summer, it
was decided this year to attempt laying
the cable in June: It was also though:
best to begin the submersion in mid-ocean
and pay out toward either shore. Accord
ingly the telegraph feet, consisting Of the
N2sS steam frigate Niagra and her Maj
esty's steamers Agamemnon, Ialorous,
and Gorgon, left Plymouth on Thursday
June 10th, 1858. The Niagla had $50
tans, and the Agamemnon $50 tuns coal,
and each about / 900 nauctical, or little
less than 1900 statute miles Of cable on
board. The weather, at first favorable,
became unusually boisterons, 60 that the
lieet were not ready to commence opera.
tions until late on the 18th Of June. Il
aIhe first splice was made between the
Nlaggra and Agamemnon on the morning
Of Saturday, the 10Th Of June, and after
each ship he'd paid out about three miles
the Gable broke on board the Niagra,
owing to an overriding anil getting Of
the pulley leading on 70 the machine =
Both vessels put about and retyrned, 4
Eresh splice was made, and again lowered
. oyer era. at 73. The paying out proceeded
beautifully until early on Sunday morning,
when the signals suddenly ceased. The |
cable was cut, and the Niiagra repaired to
me rendezvous. The cause Of the rupture
s%.S f. = =