The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-08-20

Is Impossible To get signal tue cable. Still
there is not s'dead earth upon H. and all hope there
fore is not lost When dead earth, as it is termed a
the conductor them Indeed the difficulty Is beyond
remedy for 10 shows that the conductor must be broken
aud is thrown under the influence OF terrestrial magne
tsm. But the continuity 10 not gone and although with
darkening prospects we still safe while IL remans
imperfect it is The old adnge, that bad news
travels fst fully realized than in thl
instance The sad intelligence was known to every
board the ship about fifteen minutes after 1t an.
nounced TO Mr. Field, and those who predicted the fail.
ure of the expedition fell back upon their prophecy and
limited in a modest way ~ their own perception 1t
would be absurd 10 say that the occurrence was not dis
couaeiny ii lnfuy 80, for the hopes OF some Of
us had really gun to revive. and we were gaining con-
hdence every hour. Now nothing could be done We
must wait until the continuity should return lake
its final departure. And it did return and with
greater strength than At ton minutes past
nine D. M, the electrician duty observed It's fall.
ing and at III 80 he hsd the gratifying intelligence
for us that it ''all right again The machinery
once set in notion the cable was soon going
out at the rate of six miles hour, and the electrical
signals were passing between the ships regularly
nothing had occurred to interfere with or interrupt the
continuity, No explanation could be given as to the
of the accident that was to DC relied upon was
supposed however that 1T had broken GA board the Aga
menon and that the end secured and sced before
it could get out of tho ship. This - favored BY tho fact
that it would take an hour or so to make the splice
which about the time that elapsed from the moment
the continuity became impcrfecS till It was restored
Another reason though probably not good, given
that the cable was subjected to strAn to
the parting of the copper wire OF conductor al
though the insulation remained perfect and as soon
the strain released the broken wires came together
again. thus restoring the continuity. However it may
have BEEN by whatever scicntidc means it might be
explained, the fact evident the continuity
call right and we were satisfied. We were alarmed
by no more unpleasant reports this night and retired to
bed to sleep and some to spend restless night In
anxious fears about the safety of the cable and the fever
ish hopes of success.
Day succeeding day. and continuity remaining perfect
the hopes of all board the Niagara gave place to
certainty of and when the seventh day they
clme in sight of land their feelings better be I'M
agined than described Speaking of this cheerful
sight the sailor the special correspondent Of the Her
aid says:
At eleven o'clock land was reported from the main.
mast but the report was little premature for 1t
not really About eight, however, the cheering
cry of 'land-ho rang through the ship like clarion
of triumph Land ut Inst after six days OF such
anxiety and suspense few pass through-sx
days of weary Watching of eversh retcssness and end
ing In nights that brought repose Land at last
yes there it is defined boldly and distinctly against The
western horizon. Oh friends at home, who believed
we could not succeed and who trcbied they read
that fearful gale, and the dangers through which wo
passed. had you the glowing faces, and the tears
JOY that filled the eyes of all ns we gazcd upon the glad
sight for hours you too would have felt ~ we felt With
what deep earnestness thought then Of home, and
how we conured up before our mental vision the glad
faces that would welcome arrival Whata
scene Of wild excitement New York will present the
that the 'impraccable enterprise has succeeded
and that in little than week the Niagara will
make her appearance in its bay But the voice of
ton against too sanguine antcipations and re-
minds us of the truth Of the unwecome poverb which
everybody knows.
1t is now halfpast two o'clock and arc entering
Trinity Bay at speed of seven and half knots hour
paying the cable at very slight increase the
rate. The curve which 1t forms between the ship and
the water proves that there is little on strain upon IT.
and proves also another thing that it be out Of
eight nine and believe ten miles, with the greatest
safety. This however, have previously stated,
not be done with old cable that has been coed often
to have tendency to kink and there is has been
already insinuated some of this kind which We will be
Obliged to pay before landing signal signifyng
q all well has been received from the Agamemnon,
which must be ON the point of landing her cable in
Yacntia Bay, Ireland, which is about l,040 miles from
present position
There is as yet no sign of the Porcupine the steamer
which was sent out by the British government to await
arrival and render any assistance we might re-
quire; and fear she has gone round to st. Johns,
having abandoned all hope, after our failure in july OIL
ever seeing the Niagara. The only sign Of life have
yet is that presented by few fishing Smacks, whose
occupants to know who and what we are but who
with exception, have not exhibited the slightest en-
thusasm. This individual waved his hat three or four
times and gave other indications Of his pleasure at see
ng u.s. and that is the only demonstrate have yet
received of private or public character.
A few minutes after hyc steamer reported ar Ih
the bay and after she made out to DO the Po
cupne In half an hour her commander, Captain Otter,
came aboard and had consultation with Mr. Field and
Captain Hudson He had, he said, given up all hope Of
seeing the Niagara but had nevertheless posted lookous
on Bulls Island, which commands view of the bay
long distance out to The minute he heard of her
arrival ho sent Geographic despatch to ST. Johns to no.
tify the people there of the fact Mr. Field himself soon
after went up to the telegraph station, which is fifteen
miles from where ship is with dispatches for New
York. which will be received there tonight at least an
hour earlier than they sent.
The Gorgon hoisted the American flag some hours ago
at the FORE and the Niagara carries the English at the
FORE while the telegraph flag floats from her mzzen Our
progress up the bay is rather Slow account Of the cen
dton of the cable already alluded to; and 1t Is now set
tied that cannot get to landing place near the
station before tomorrow morning. We paying out
the cable at three miles hour and 1t Is dark o
Porcupne goes ahead and leads the way towards the bay
of Bulls Arm The bleak mountains loom up through
the night, and huge bonfire, which has been built up
in honor Of arrival neighborng hill, throws
out column of dense black smoke and great tongues
fame
After giving graphic description of the landing Of hs
cable, the Herald's correspondent adds
On the arrival of the procession the cable is brought
up to the house, and the end placed in connection with
the instrument. The detection of tho needle on Tue
gavanometer gives incontrovertibe evidence that the
electrical condition of the cable is satisfactory The qu
ton is, how shall properly celebrate the con
summation of the great EVENT. How, but by acknow
edgmcnt to that Providence without whose favor the en-
terprisc must have ended in disaster and defeat Ever
feels that this is oil that is sary to make u
celebration complete and to mark the undertaking as
work of two great Christian nations. When; therefor
they all gathered together before the telegraph station