The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1865-09-08
Ta@ cABrE-pR. RUssELL's STORY.

Lord Cranston's goblin page, accorunS 10 tne
Lay uI the Last Minstrel ran about ctShS ts,
Atlantic cahic are given to like melancholy utter
onrcs vet as the goblin lived long enough 10
change his refrain into found, found, found, so
we trust that the luckless wire Ilch Is IS no" no. StS,
he'd viii ere long be enabled to indulge IN like
cbon1oo of tnne ssfound, found, found.
o Dr. Russelrs official account Of The Great East
.erns yoynge, and the abortiTc attempt TO lay inc
cable has found its way INTO !ne ncognre an
t;cinnted by the record OF results previously pup
Iished. The Doctor, however, brings MS clc?Gr sa
non into play, and he tells the whole story with
the yvidnoss Of real artls. "io hoTn ;ns o 'n
= melo-dramatic attractiveness that IL certain 10
arrest the public attention. Take for example his
description of the swapping OF the cable, ana ls Is
disappearance from mortal eye In 'ne WIVES "
the Atlantic: -, :
at is not possible for any words to portray In the
dismay with which the sight was witnessed anu the
news heard 1t was enough TO move 10 teai .! my
when @ man came aft with piece OF inc inner el9 y
lashed still TO the chain, and one saw the
stronds-torn wires-the lacerated cere-it Is no
cxaggeration to say that strange 1eenne oi Ply,
as though for some sentlent creature, n".naSo oJ
and dragged asunder by brutal 1o[ce, pessseu
through the hearts OF the spectators But ol Wh.i'
use sentimental abstraction, when nstant, S,Ien TI
mons action was demanded? Alas action 1here
around lay the placid Atlantic, smlnh6 III .9 Sun
and not dlnple to show where lay 30 nluny nuiuo @
bnr-ed fif cables be as men) Ill the sea gives up
her dead. But there was no blank despair, ana L
pnv felt it thew suppressed the expression OF II,
whilst hy far the greatest number OF those on
board we're actually animated, not by tne loss IL
SELF but by the accidental nature OF tne M
and felt greater eonndenc" 'han ever IL '--'
Confidence. under these disheartenlng crcum-
stances. IL seems to us was heroisrn itself, and
this heroism was not OF the abstract, sentlmen'ai
kind, for straightway- -, o. ,,to,o
presence of mind and self-possession never left
him, decided (an but egregious Jolly 1t seemed! 70
seek for the cable in the bottom OF the Atantlc5
to get out the grapnels and crop d9%n =? ~ anu hna
pick it up again. Never had alchemlst less
Chance Of finding gold buttons in the dross nom
which he was seeking dur,un potdble, or Pnnoso-
pher's stone. But, then, what woulo they say III
England if not even an attempt, however etspeI,
nte, had been made? There were men on nosGu
full 1900 fathoms down. The weather was peautl-
full. and if even there were no so1ndlngs, ana the
depth beneath us was matter OF connoence; Mss
settled at last that the Great Eastern shoad sseih
ten or twelve miles to winlward, eastward OF the
position in Which she was when the caDle ~ehl
down-out with the grapnels and WIRE rope, ene
drift down across the course OF the track III winch
the cable was supposed to be lying: Although al
utterance Of hope suppressed, ana no Woru
of confidence escaped the lips the mociting shad.
nyrs Of both were treasured in scmU quiet nook q
the fancy The doctrine OF CHANCE could MOI
touch such contingency al We had to sPacaIate
npon. And now they came forth-the sTaPnes'
two tive-armed anchors, with tukes s:arp!y cuIV-
ed and tapcring to an obliCuc toothlike cnd-tne
hooks with which the Giant Despair was gong TO
fish from the Great Eastern tor take worth, with
all it's belongings, more than m;iAoi;
But it was Gull, drowsy work, and, after al,
there seems TO lave been but little real heart III
it, for the Doctor goes on to say: ~.
frct no
momentum of descent increased, 30 as to Ia: great
stress on the picking-up machinery wa!cn was
rendered available to lowering the !oVe! !ncsSen-
ger, with warrant OF search Tor the might've nio-
den in mysterious caverns beneath. Length Lew
after length, over cog-whecl and drum, till the
iron warming with work, heated AZ last 80 a5 10
convert the water thrown upon the machinery nl1o
ciouils of steam The time passed heavily indeed
ali life had died out in the vessel, and no noise
was heard except the dull grating OF the wire ce-
bic over the wheels at the bow. The most apS-
thetic and Indifferent would have sacrihced mucii
to have heard the rumble OF the cable again, anG
have Thought and esteemed it the most grateful
mueic in the world. The electricians room was
closed-aI their subtle apparatus STOOD 1uhc,ioh-
lcss and cell. zinc and copper threw on superpous
currents in the darkened chamber. me Jocheys
had rnn their race and reposed in their iron sad
dles-the drums beat no more-.helr long rcTelle
was ended at last in the mutfled roll OF deeththat
which had been broken could give no troupie 10
brakes and man Stunned the region wEere al these
human wishes. Away few the wire strands
length after length ocean was indeed Unsuitable
ssmore" and 'more, cried the daughter OF horse
leech from the black night OF waters, and stii the
rope descended. One thoasand fathoms, hlteen
hundred fnthons, two thousand fsthoms, hun
Glreds again mounting up, till at las: al 30 I. NJ.
the strain was diminished, and at ZtUU lannon's OF
IS 600 feet the grapnel reached the bed OF the AT
lantic, and set to its task OF finding and boiunS
the cable. Where that lay was Of course Deyond
human knowledge but as the s.p @ arlt'e1 s0d u0~l
shaking surmse that the grapnel might eaten
it-that the ship might feel it-that the IRON rope
might be brought up again, and the cable across
it miglt-here was the most hazardous hitcn od 0I
aI-night come up without breaking. But 2Soo
fathoms! Alas! and 90 in the darkness OF the
night-not more gloomy than her errand.-the
Great Eastern having cleared away one OF the
great buoys and got it over her bows was lett as
sport to the wind and drfted at the rate OF seventy
feet minute down upon the imaginary me
beneath which the cable had sunk to useless rest.
Nevertheless, as the reader already knows, the
cable was really ''cutched," once, twice, thrice
but the 'clutch" did not hold-the strain was too
great-aud 80 the great ship had to give 1t up ana
return to England, with Mr. Field snd an 5ne stan, an
conviction that but for the faults in the cable the
Old World and the New World would have been
ere this united by the Atlantic Telegraph, and anl.
mated by the tirmest belief in ultimate success.
The faults alluded to, it is nsinuated, were the
doings of some malicious enlployee-but the IN
sinnation does not seem to be supported by any
coloring OF facts.
THE ERA OF GREAT FRAUps.-At no time within
our recollection has there been such a succession
of great frauds as during the past three or four
months. Following each other so rapidly that
their extent and audacity have severely shaken
the public sense Of security the wonder is that no
serious financial revolution has followed IN their