The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1866-11-20

soa. This accident kept us at work two weeks
W.! Es caught t. " had east the gEepnei thiTty
night that we hooked tho cable aud it was little
after midnight Sunday morning when We got it on
board. What was tho anxiety Of those tWenty-siI
tho strain on tho cablo itself. Whom finally it ap-
peared, it was midnight: tho lights Of tho ship,
and IN the boats around our bows, as they flashed
watching for tho 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 word was spoken, only the voices. of
the officers in command wcro heard giving
orders, ALI felt rs if life and death hung on tho
issue. It was only when it was brought over tho
bow and on to the deck that men dared to breathe.
Even then they hardly believed their eyes. Some
crept toward it to feel of it, to be it there.
Then we carried it along to tho electricians room
dead. A fow minutes of suspense, and q flash
told of the lightning current again sot free. Then
da the S% Gaa9 onag Pt burst horo
way stations between Ireland and Newfoundland,
where messages havo to DO repeated, and the
lightning never fingers moro than second in the
bottom of tho sea. 10 those who feared that they
might be used up or woar out, would say, for
their relief that tho old cablo works little better
than the new ono, but TINT is because it has boon
down longer, time improves tho quality of guttn
porcha. But tho new one is constantly growing
better. To show how delicate are these wonderful
c0ruS IL IL enough 10 Statc tnaC lcy can DC WOTKeu
with the smallest battery power. When tho first
cable laid in '5S, electricians thought that to
send current two thousand miles it must be almost
like q stroke of1ightning. 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 battery
formed III lady's thimboi And now Mir. Collett
writes me from Hearts Content: CT La 80 just sent
my compliments to DR.. Gould, Of Ca ulDridgo, who
is at Valentia with q battory composed of gun
cap, with strip Of zinc, excited by o drop Of
water, the simple bulk of tcari" 4 telegraph
that will do that, VIC think nearly perfect. 1t has
never failed for an hour minute.
A word about tho tariff. Complaint has been
made that it was high as to be very oppressive.
beg an to remember that it is only three months
and half since the cablo was laid. 1t was laid at
great cost and great risk Different companies
had sunk in their attempts twelve millions of dol
lars. 1t was still experiment, of which tho re-
suit was doubtful This, too might provo another
costly failure. Even if successful wo did not
know how lcng it would work. Evil prophets in
both countries predicted that it would not Inst n
month. If it did, We wcro not suro of having moro
than one cable; nor how much work that one could
do. Now these doubts are resolved. We have not
only one cable but two, both in working order;
and we find instead of five words minute, wo can
send fifteen. Now we arc free to reduce the tariff
Accordingly it has been cut down one-half, and
hope in few months wo can bring it down to one
quarter. am in favor of reducing it to the lowest
point ut which wo do the business, keeping the
lines working day and night. And then-if tho
work grows upon us 80 enormously that we cannot
do it-why we must go to work and lay moro cables.