The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1866-11-30

shipped on the Great Eastern, stretcll
ed across the Atlantic, and was send
ing messages, literally swift as light.
ming, from continent to continent.
The next effect was recovery Of the
old cable with the deep-sea grapnels:
At first it was little awkward to
fish in such deep water, but our men
got used to it, and soon could cast a
grapnel almost as straigh ght as an old
whaler throws a harpoon. Our fish
ing line was of formidable size. II
was made of rope, twisted with wires
of steel, so as to bear strain of thirty
tons. 1t took about two hours for the
grapnel to reach bottom, but VIC could
tell when. it struck. 49, I often went to
the bow and sat on-the rope, and could
feel by the quiver that the grapnel
was dragging on the bottom two miles
under US. But it was very slow busi-
ness. We had storms and calms, and
fogs and squalls. Still We worked on
day after day. Once, on the 17th Of
August, We got the cable up and had
it in full sight for five minutes, long,
Shiny monster, fresh from the ooze Of
the oceans bed, but our men began
to cheer so wildly that it seemed to
be frightened, and suddenly broke
away and went down into the sea-
This accident kept us at work two
weeks longer; but finally, on the last
night of August, we caught it. We
had cast the grapnel thirty times. It
was little before midnight on Fri
day night that we hooked the cable,
and it was a little after midnight Sum
day morning when we got it on board.
What was the anxiety of those twcn-
ty-six hours? The strain or every
mans life was like the strain on the
cable itself. When finally itappeared,
it was midnight; the lights of the ship,
and in the boats around our bows, as
they flashed in the faces of the men,
Showed them eagerly watching for
the cable to appear on the water. At
length it was brought to the surface.
All who were allowed to approach
crowded forward to see it. Yet not
a word was spoken, only the voices Of
the officers in command were heard
giving orders. AL felt as-if life and
deutlH'hung on the issue. Itwas only
when it was brought over the bow and
on to the deck that men Cared to
breathe. Even then they hardly be-
lieved their eyes. Some crcpt toward
it to feel of it, to be sure it was there.
Then we carried it along to the cleo
trician' s room, to see flour long sought
for treasure was alive or dead. A
few minutes of suspense, and a flash
told of the lightning current again
set free. Then did the feeling long
pent up burst forth.
Our two cables do their part we'll.
There are no way stations between
Ireland and Newfoundland, where
messages have to berepeated, and the
lightning never fingers more then a
second in the bottom of the sea. To
those who feared that they might be
used up OF wear out, I would say, for
their relief, that the old cable works
a little better then the new one, but
that is because it has been down lon
ger, as time improves the quality
Of gutta pcrcha. But the new one is
constantly growing better. TO show
how delicate are these wonderful cords,
it is enough to state that they can be
worked with the smallest battery
power. When the first cable was
laid in '5S, electricians thought that
to send current two thousand miles
it must be almost like a stroke of
lightning. But God was not in the
earthquake, but in the still small
voice. The other day Mr.. Latimer
Clark telegraphed from Ireland across
the ocean and back again, with a bat
terry formed in a lady's thimble! And
now Mr.. Collett writes me from
Hearts Content: II have just sent
my compliments to DR.. Gould, Of
Cambridge, who is at Valentia, with
battery composed of gun cap,
with strip of zinc, excited by drop
of water, the simple bulk of a tear!'
A telegraph that will do that, we
think nearly perfect. 1t has never
failed for an hour or a minute.
A word about the tariff. Com
plant has been made that it was so
high as to be very oppressive. 1 beg
all to remember that it is only three
months and a half since the cable was
laid. 1t was laid at a great cost and
a great risk. Different companies