The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1859-02-22
Was the Atlantic Cable a Humbuer

4
Attempts have been made at various
times to prove that no messages were trans
mitted by the Atlantic Gable, but that
they were all sent by steamships, and
f'audulently announced MS passing by the
cable. The discussion has recently been
revived in Boston. The Springfield Re
publican sets forth both sides of the mat.
ter.
A writer in the Boston Courier argues
that there is no evidence that n single ~
telligible sentence has ever passed over the
cable. He makes out, at least, that con.
cealmcnt and prevarication, il not absolute
falsebood and deception, haze clraractorizef
the management Of the cable ever since il
was laid. Two motives are alleged for The
deception: tho securing of bonuses in stock
to the amount Of $4,000, promised to
those concerned in ~lsSiqnu'isa.s-Slno IN
that stock after it was procured,
The statements made as 10 the working
of the cable on the two sides of the Allan
tic, arc found to be generally inconsistent
with each other Tho news Of the ,coilia
ion between the Europa and Arabia, Of
which 30 much has been said, was not re-
ceivcd in London until seven days after it
occurred, which gives sufficient time For a
steamer to have made the voyage from
Newfoundland to the coast Of Ireland.
The Trinity Bay account Of the landing
of the cable at Valentia was, that it oc-
cured on the 4th of August: the fact as
afterwards reported by steamer was, that it
occurred on the 5th. Everybody recollects
the confusion about the Queens and the
Presdents messages. On tho f7th Of
August the manager at Valentia Bay tee
graphcd to London that on the 10th tho
message Of the Queen was transmitted in
35 minutes, and then repeated back agan
to ensure its accuracy. The fact on this
side was, that only the fist sentence wac
received, and it was not till the 18th that e
was completed, showing that the statement
sent to the London papers was an inten-
tional deception. AT the same ti,no TIE
President had in his possession copy of
the Queens message forwarded in advance
by steamer, to guard against accidents.
The China news, which was considered
the great triun phi Of the cable, looks near
ly as bad when the dates are compared
That news was received at Trinity Bay on
the Goth of August, but it was published
in the London Morning Chronicle Of the
goth as received the previous day, and was
thus nearly a-week old in London when
transmitted over the cable. There was time
enough to have sent it by steamer to
Newfoundland.
All this does not prove that the cable
did not work, and did not transmit these
dispatches, bnt only that it is possibility
that aas thsy na might nv have come some other other
did work, very slowly and very hard, in
deed, but that, just little, it did work.
We cannot therefore adopt the theory that
tie cable was a humbug, although many
of its managers arc doubtless worthy Of
that title. Nor can We believe that Lieu
tenant Higginson Of the British Navy is
able to prove, as lie says he can by eye
witness, on oath, that, "the cable was bro
ken in the attempt to submerge it on the
Goth Of July at o 3-4 p. NJ, between tlro
Agamemmon ani Niagara, when electric
signals Immediately and finally ceased; nor
were the broken erds Of the cable over al
terwards recovered and repaired. It is
therefore needless to say, that no message
of any kind whatever, public or private,
ever could have been actually passed along
the telegraph wire rope, between Ireland
and Newfoundland"