, 1865-06-20

Tho Atlantic Telegraph.
England and America are soon to realize
again. should the enterprise be successful. the
ltng coveted tie Of an Atlantic Telegraph Ca
hlc- This ia the third attempt, and at present
writing, the cable Ia safely stored on the
Great Eastern steamer, sooa to be bound For
our shore8 On a mission for which apparently
bel huge bulk has waited, she wandering 8
dteconeolatc ocean mammoth until her yoca
ton should he declared. II through hei
agency the present undertaking shlll ind itt
"uy through narrow channels to success, the
Grt6t Eastern Will not have Lecn built IN
vain.
| A brief review Of the earlier stages of the
Atlantic Cable enterprise will be of interest,
Only brief one will be required, so fteah in
the minds Of American readers must be the
blaze Of excitement md clamorous welcome
that hailed the completion Of the enterp.ixe
In 1875, in the 1cjoicings when New York
macc burnt-o1lering Of her City Hall, and
We In Chicago "made night oft" The first
inception Of the enterprise was the procure
mcnt by Cyrus #. Field, In 1854, ofa charte.
ION tue Newfoundland Legislature to him
self, Peter Cooper. Moses Taylor and other
leading New Torkers under the name of the
New York, Newfoundland and London
Telegraph Company
Mr. Field had alrrady been actively co op-
Grating in the telegraph between St. Johns
n B. and Cap. Ray in Newfoundland, ont Of
which greater enterprise thus grew. In
1ss6 Mr.. Field Organized the Atlantic Tele.
gaph Company and gave himself entirely TO
the carrying out Of the project The first at-
fkt %r,Y Yar+ /.
poned the work another year. The Atlantic
Telegraph feet sailed from Queenstown On
Saturday July 17th, 1853. They reached mid
ocean On Wednesday, July asth, made the
splice ut p. m. ca Thursday Goth, then sep
aEated, the Agamemnon and ;Valorous bound
for Tslentia, Ireland, the Niagara and Geor-
gtan ior Trinity Bay, where they arrived on
August 9Th. The announcement Of the event
struck the country with surprise, for almost
inter lncrcdnlity had prevailed as to the DOS.
fibilsty Of such an achievement. Indeed the
sentiment of unbelief is firmly rooted In the
mirds Of many men, who, to this day, believe
shat "All right De sauty" was more than
myth, and that no metsage was ever tra.s-
mitted over the cable thus laid.
The circuit In the cattle o. 1858 was. from
the first, defective and the current weak,
With very variable conditions Of transmission,
Du,fnc tic time Of its operation, however,
there passed over It from August 18th to
septemb.r LIST, 129 messages from Vsleutia
to Newfoundland, md 2aa1 in the other direc-
ton, total Of 1,574 westward and aa,as5
eastward. Most memorable among these
were The cong.atulatc1y messages e1chans-
cd between Her Majesty and President Bu-
~,
irg and feeble kienals, when suffering znd
de-away message left Incomplete on Octo-
her 4th Was the last show Of vitality in the
cable. It was not within the strength Of the
liable to be lifted from the water without
breaking, and It was abandoned, save that at
the Newfoundland end postions Of it we.-
brought to the surface to ascertain the
edtct Of the deep sea pressure and the WI.
ter On It. Only few miles were raised
before the cable parted. Until then. AL
though its conducting properties we're OF
no avail, It had not broken, for feeble signals
were frequently tsanamitted from the Trinity
Bay end. The whole cost OF the entcsp:ise
was 81 ,S93 500. the total cost OF the cable be-
Ing 81 ,257 ESQ. The expense Of laying tho ca
bic vas ahddged By the feet that the feet
employed In the work contiatcd Of Govern.
ment vesse,s, furnithcd BY our own and the
B:ltlsh author1def-
From that time to the p-essns, the period
has been one Of waiting, and yet scarcely Of
expectancy among the general public, for the
confidence Of ultimate eucc. IS in the Atlan-
tic cable enterprise l'ls hsd only very limited
location But 1t isnoticeahle that the fstlure
predicted In advance, to the Atlantic scheme
has been the nurse Of a rival undertaking,
propoking to connect the heu,ispheres by =
line c, ossing Behring's Strait, aud we may
lave two separate lines of communication
no: many months hence. One at least will
succeed, for there are no such perils at
tepdant upon the last named enterprise as
await that which Is now being undertaken
a{resh-in the trip Of the Great Eastern.
Tie quality in which the cable of 1866
laned was incubation. The immense pressure
OF The water nj The depth Of submets:on.
found the weak points in the outer covering,
aud the probable fractures from kinks In lay-
ing the cable, and rapidly destroyed Its cleo
trio value. It WAS long ago discovered By
the electricians that submerged Insulated
wire. instesd Of Transmitting the fluid as sl1n-
n1c conductors. were OF the nature OF Leyden
Jars. and must be cha,ged throughout their
entire length before any effect can be pro
ducsd. This tells upon the question Of cx~
ptnse of charging the wire, and upon the rate
Of Transmission, which must, under The most
favorable results be very SLOW, and require
that the sicnals adopted shall be skil1ully
devised to mean q g:e4t deal. -, r
The present cable is stronger than tbs
first, while 1t is lighter It ia abou. 1000
miles in one continuous length, with seven
fine copper wires, as the central conductor,
wound with eleven s:out inclos:ug iron
wires, each Of the latter itself separately.
hemp*n found' complete Insulation being
skhhuJy secured TO all The wires ey lntes-
posed non n-csnductfng coverings. inc statls'
ucs, in oetml' orc copper "le' S''oo miles NE
IN length iron wire, aa'ooo miles, viii 9o0.-
GU miles OF aemp st1anas. Ine cable
was m5de by Mcssrs' GLASS q Elliott, At the
rste Ct II miles per DAY. Inc nfss cable Was
iDtued BY lying exposed 70 tho sun, Ihis
last cable .was submerged as soon as
made. The fret was only lightly tested.
This last has been the rigid and pa 'cnt study
Of electricians from the first. The new cable
has lig htness and strength to degree that
Will enable 1t 70 bear strain oi ~ Sons,
md support IL milcs Of It's length IN wascs
It wRs made mile by mile, Joined In
lengths Of 100 or 500 miles, and then cooled