, 1862-04-28
S UP PL E III E N T
INTERESTING ACCOUNT OF hR. FIELD,S
RETISED PROJECT.

INTERESTING ACCOUNT OF hR. FIELD,s !
RET1StD PROJECT.
IFrom the PHILADELPHIA North American, :z.h,l |
Amid the din Of war and civil st1if- we are !
apt 10 lose sight Of thc peaceful acc; enterprises
Of commerce ard SCIENCE. We haze l1u1est |
forgotten ILe A:llniic Telegraph, Which thrcc
ycars $50 was the common topic of eon7ersa-
lion; Tic message flashed across the sel from
Queen Victoria to President Buchanan lies in
with the wires which conveyed It; the nlystari-
Gus De San1y hss va1nosed; ;he Niagara and the
A@amtmron. those friendly rivals, then looked
upon as model ships Of war, age nav con
sidercd lumber, fit for trading vessels OF trans
l'orts, Or hosrltal ships, perhaps, but useless
3ir. Cyrus Field still survives; 50 docs Sir
Charles Bright, the much abused engineer,
who got his knighthood for not laying the
cable; 50 do AessTs. Glass AID Elliott, til:
great cable makers And what Is nlo:e. they
are all at This moment actively promoting aG-
other attempt at establishing submarine tel=-
graphic communication between England auI
A1ncrica- Mr.. Field went over 10 England 3
little time ago and submitted the following
propositions 10 Earl Russell
l. That a capital Of $500 900 wclld be re-
quirrd to carry cut the sctcnlc in IL efficient
and permanent manner. .. That tie English
and Federal Governments should justly con-
mbIte one-thi-d Of the entire amount, leaving
the rtnaiGecr to he taken up in shares on both
sides oftAc Atlantic in tho usual 1lE.nntr-the
two governments having certain rights and
privileges IN rc:u1n for Their money, II the
English government were unwilling to agrec
TO lhi~> then g. That it znd the FEDERAL .oy-
cznmcnt should guarantee II Per cent. inter.
est each upon the capital raised T. Tnat it
thc French government were willing to Join
in the l'laa then that the three =oyernneuts
should each guarantee per cent. per ann uul.
S, Thst this Guarantee should he for thirty
years ans: totally unconditional Us to whether
The line o:ked CT not. Af3er mature consider
alton with bis colleagues, Earl Russtl wrote
to Mr. Field to say tia: = present the English
Government WIS not prepared to take II y
STEPS III the ua:.er- Whether Mr.. Ficld made
similar propositions to our Government VIC
caDnot say, l,l:t if hc did he certainly chose 4
bad time !or doing it We have more i1nule-
6iatc use for sGQ0, ,GtN: and is :oT guaranteeing
inteTett fir thirty years to any company
1heth,r II shall continue. in actiEc operation
or EGt, il Is weakness which IL Yankees" are
not troubled with. I've can tmagiuc Mr..
Field ]au.G;ng in his eleeyc rs he made TIC
propcs;l; u il= British Government, hoping
that 1JeLa Bull would be generous and supply
1he cab, Us he did in the former attcmnt.
The old gentleman, however, was not to be
caught this time: he remembered having sunk
Some = ,Q0e, Geo &c 10 purpose under SONY
such guarantee, and had learned wisdom from
experience
Afr. Field appears to have tried anothc,
tack, viz: to ir1u2e Me=srs. GEss and Elliott
TO manufacture and lay tic cable at tncir oTu
risk. But here, again, his modest Suggestions
were not appreciated, for that firm replied
that ''thcr would nlt be willing to ,nanutec
ture aud lay submarine telegraph eaels
across the Atlantic from ireland 10 NcE
1uuLdland, assuming The entire risk. as the,
consider that that would be tuo great re
eponsiaill1y Tor any single firm ~ undertake
Inf they were SO confident that these point
can be CONNECTED By good and durable cable
that they wtlt wiling to contract to do tnt
work and stake large SUM upon its SUCCESS
what further progress Mr.. Field has made, b1
Te fcd tlat tie hss two competitors in III
race: ore is the cid original Atlantic Tclc
graph Company; The other is 8Thc Nort]
Atlantic Telegraph Company; The frs
Of these companies is trying 10 ragain its foot
ing before the public, and to inspire it wit
cop6dtncc both in the scientific prac:icablIit
ana the commercial success ofan Atlantic cl5l
and considering the rnlnous failure Of this com
rany thrue ye;5s ago the attempt shows cor
Siderable }luek. The second Company ~
formed aticr Ihe failure OF the first, TO efcc
telegrap'hic communication by another roe:
that suggested by Col Shaefner, Of ken
tucky-thTou=h Labrador to Greenland
thence to Iceland, and thence through til
Fdoc 1siaGos to ENGLAND, which would II
quire submergence Of not more than 100 c
$50 miles, instead Of 5000, IS the old rout
would The British Government appears il
eIued 10 favor Col. Saaetfnes's plan, for !
the request Of the company it caused !: serit
IF deep sea souudiDgs 10 be taken alon
The proposed line, and commissioned tt
great Arctic navigator, Sir Leopold MvCi,
tock, to execute the task. That officer has r
ported must fayorably, not only upon Il
ocean bed along the line, but upon the ieasihj
ity cf lassi1y the cable ii spite Of irebsrgs al
driit ice 50 tha7 It is most probable that til
"North At]an1lc Telegraph Company will g
ahead Of its eoMI@+lto. by several lengths
The two arr. howefrr, likely to come into co
1lsion, for the old Atlantic las the coucs:>sio
foundlaud. while the North Atlsnsie has
concession from the Danish government #
landing il in Iceland and Greenland. SO that t.
former has it in It's power to THROW ugly Q
stacles in the way Of the latter.
There are =rn1ry Interesting pieces Of /
formation to b. met With il the papers CO
ncc1ed with this subject, which may possib
furnish liuts TO Oil: enterpriSiug countrgn;.
ever OIL the alert TO Lele1op their ing2nuit
We will mcnt;ca few. McEsrs- Glas5 and Ef
ot,who have had considerable. experience
submarine cables, and laid that bet wcen Fran
and Algeria, say that the only accidents til
have ll:.45pcl,ed to any Of the cables th
have laid ha,c been caused by ships uucho1
aud that hone Of those laid out uf ancho1a
ground have ever cost q shilling for repair
Any enc, tE.rcfo-c, who will invent mo-
of shielding cables from this dlnger, TiI1
public bene!actor. Tie difficulty Of wor
ing through long circuits, owing to the retar
ing elects If iEdustiye electricity, increases
about the SQUIRE Of the length Of the Iii
Rlec long insulated wires are1aid either in t
earth or under the Wa:er; this Is no: the ca
with land lines carried through the air, as t
natural humidity cf tue atmosphere ind t
loss OF electricity over the many points OF 6u
port prevent any strong manifestation Of
ductive inEaence; but q long line OF wire ?
ftctly insulated thToughou: its length,
comes, in fact . Leyden jar, snd in props
tion TO its length SO is the difficulty Of d
charEiug IL SO Us to produce distinct sign
ut the further end increased. Thus, if +
lines at the same dimensions and cost,
regards copper and Insulation, were Ii
on. lor 500 miles and the other loc 800, I
'.rmer ccu1d bc workcd through for m
rares ii nearly niue tilnes the speed Of I
laittr Henrv . line 1aid in sections posses
immense advantages over 1onE, uubrohen
cults: and here again is a field Of eNp:rm
til labor suggested for t1sc discovery OF so
means OF increasing. the powers Of long liz
The greatest drpth Of water bet secn The Nc
Of fEusla1:d, the Faruc islaud5 1ud Iceland d
not exceed t1'o fstAoins, and the average del
is aboE; go. Between Iceland and Gre
land the ayerasc deita is 1900 faihou1=, q
bstweeD Greenland AM: Labr dor tae geeae
depth il 1000, The shores Of Icelaud arc
It'd Is drift ivr cpls about seven or ii!
Il
records extending back 10 the uiutn ccntu1
:.rd il il culy Dpr:: two or three ct these oc
eions .hat tie diff Ice is sufficiently ext
i've 10 reach 1.c south side, and surrur
the whole island. Large fcebergs arr ne
eeen The heavy !tl;lsscs so called arc SCI
enough to ioas freely in comparatively st
Tow vatrr- FAKE Bay never freez=s over
ei1 g11lar sacf in 20 };iga ialitude-b;st
lsnG is q lard Of wonders. Tuese arr a tea
the Raii.a which Science las received #
the hives; igatous Of Shactfncr, ScC!in:o
AID their ca-labo:cre. They arc but Il tith
what will to!luN il the wake Of the entcrp
tFBucceeE;ul- Who knows hat that direct m
nctic influence may be obtained from the
cion Of tho ma:nvtic rcie: or that uIcaus
tt found for coGycy i'll, Light and heat to i
elerH in the polar circle?
It viii fe4n:rc more than ont tt1cgr1s
siise to su:ply the wants Of America an:
Europe. AID as far as this country is {
cc1ned it will most certainly be desirable I
We should not be dependant upon lines
ming wholly through the -dofninious Of
Power. Il VIC arc TO have iac from
York to Valcntia, we ought al:o to hare
direct to Hayre OF Bordeaux Aud If Eng
and France should ccmhine against ua
. would he 4 crest advantage to have 81 i
pcndert line from some point on our touti
coast to Ep4in. 4 submarine lint from
mouth Of the San Juan River to Rus
America, and thence overland to Ut. pe
burg, might be useful also.