, 1866-08-24

nd after the books wcro extracted he Z
covered only To fail mad again when he | 7
rcnn,cd out his s'Religion Of Humanity"
lot to spend time talking about the ideal
irths of the more remote past. here is New
-ork merchant who In 1854 began to be
roub!cd with sca-scrpcut twenty fire hnu.
red miles long on the brain !; and the thing
ad been born and maturcd and was nctually
'orking on The 9Th Of July, 1866; and the
reator of 1t yet llvcs, Ills head Is not cracked,
nd his brother reports fayorably Of his con-
lltion.
In 1913 Professor Morse thus prophesfcd:
"A tcleg1nphic communication on the cleo
ro.magnetic plan may, with certainty, be CO.
ab}lshed across tho Atlantic Ocean Startling
u this may seem, Tam eo9tadtnt tho time toiu
oue schen kAu pre'tt solN be realized" So 1t
.ppcnsa 3lr. Field did not originate this idea.
There Is Just one plain thing to say about
Ibis. He who puts most work into an ideal
project and brings Its results nearest to the
peoplc. is tho man who carries away the
honor. Franklin WAS not the first man that
dreamed Of the identity Of electricity aud
lightning. Newton did not first suggest
that apples and worlds attract each other.
Fulton did not first apply steam to
navigation. Field did not pre-
ccdc all other men In fancying that the two
continents might be married by the bapns of
electricity /; but In him seed fell upon the
most fertile ground, and he brought forth the
fruit. The upshot Is, that ideas begin In tho
pass the ordeal Of sitting IN the
intellect, and work their way out Of the
hands into things. to bc handled and used Of
men. As to fnme, It must lie left to poster
IA. - 1rIN.t &c .Sun
Amer Mr. Gisborne's visit to in1nee Mr. |
Field to form company to connect New
foundland with the mainland, the latter first |
began 10 think seriously Of uniting the two |
continents. lie wrotc to Professor Morse to
learn Of Its possibility and thus these two
great men came togetlcr-the man Of
thought and the man Of action-iu friend
ship which will be written among the bcau-
tiful ones Of history. The Professor said
yea with that sort of affirmation which gives
real faith. But the practical and mechani
cal difficulties. Arc there not mountains in
the Atlantic as high rs the Andes or Hima-
lchs with prcclpitous bluffs and craggy
rocks? There arc. But Professor Bailey, OF
West Point, saia that between Sewfound-
lind and ireland there lay Il level plateau
with soft muddy bottom unaffected By
currents. Let, lis see how the Professor
found out this idea Of no currents: Some
dirt from the bottom Of the Atlantic was
cent him. BY analysis he fouud that it was
composed Of nothing but deposits Of shell,
without 4 single grain Of sand. Therefore,
no currents. For, If they existed, the shells
would be disturbed in sinking and sand
would be mixed with the deposit. And
wherefore confidence In q non-cnrrent, oozy
! bottom. This Is the kind Of faith which
rnndc the leading capitalists Of London sub
scribe two hundred thousand pounds in q
day after NIL the failures and before the sub
scsiptiou was opened to'thc public for the
last time. These are days Of ideas.
On Alonduy morning, May S, 1854, Ar.
Peter Cooper, Mr.. Moses Taylor, Mr.. Mar
slall Roberts, Mr.. Chandler White and the
hero Of tue book before us, met together and
organized company that was chartered to
put in operation line Of Telegraph to ST..
Johns, more thnn thousand miles from
New York, and then to span the ocean gulf
to London. A million nnl tsall Was sub
scril,ca that morning before breakfast. Lit
Tic did they think that twelve long tedious
years Of delay would follow. How many
great deeds would never be realized were tho
| huOWH IL us 4uEA 1lLklN DIHu
were quite as truly missionaries ol
civilization as ever sectarian society sent tG
so-callca llcathens. But the work. Fou,
hundred miles Of bridle-road, eight feet wide
with telegrapllic lines, was put through tht
dense forest Of Newfoundland, through bog
IT mosasscs, over crnggy hills and along
clitry coaats. Two years thus passed away
The first attempt to lay O cable across the st
Lawrence Vas failure on account Of vio
lent storm. The cable was cut to save tht
bark. THIS postponed the enterprise |
whole year. But the experience was ynlua
bio. The cable could not be paid out By
sailing vessel, because the speed must b.
carefully regulated to meet tue slack
cnlng md tightening of the wire
It was now 1856, and million Of dollar
had been paid out without much to show 10
it. Two hundred thousand Of this none,
was handed out by MIR. Field himself. Blu
the Gnlf Cable was now laid and In working
order, and so 1t remained for nine years. !
linc was now complete from New York Il
the tar-out cliffs Of Newfoundland, and th
workmen looked of upon the billowy surf 0
r the Atlantic in much doubt that the wor
| would ever proceed farther.
: Mr. Field went TO Washington and askc
! for q new sounding enterprise to confirm II,
, partial survey Of 1853 In that year The ea
!, liant Lieutenant Bergman first applied til
new method Of sounding hy the Invention
Lieutenant J. II. Brooke Of the United State
Navy. And now he vas sent out again
command Of the Arctic In midsummer, 1851
: and lie spent three weeks in *'sounding h
y dim anl perilous way" across the decp- The
j. Nr. Field went to England and procured
conllrmatory expedition from the British Al
!: miraltv. Lieutenant Commander Josep
= Dayman, who had been with Captain S
!. flames Ross In tho South Sea soundfngs
y 1910, was sent out. Il comparison Of Beer,
= mans and Dayman,s ,~esnarts .uuuc.
- inc conclusion that the Atlantic bo
J tom from tho st. Lawrence
u ireland was about rs level as Wcstc
= prairie. One notable exception occurred
- approaching the Irish coast, where all agree
- In considering the rast accliyity from
~ muddy bottom Of two miles deep to q Goa
N bank Of less than ono mile, to be an ol,stac
~ ofgreat importance. Bat Il careful caleu1
III tion showed this submarine hillside to be
y gradual slope Of sixty miIes. The great'
difference Of depth being about $500 fe
% o. gives gradient OF say ITO feet per MI
~ which is only about three times asstccp as
s ordinary railroad gradient. However,
~ 1857 and 1883 md 1865 the cable met will,
~. ~ disaster nt this bank. In 1857 the Mag
~ ~ wns hundred miles west Of this place wh
~ the cable parted. And in 1866 the strain Y
w not increased more than 100 pounds.
~, To the tpcculations of ctaury and Mo
nv which were published In England, il
W Bull listened with incrcdulfty, aud conc
y" sirc!y replied by citing the fact that
Ut longest line which had ever been sunk
'"t watcr YVES but three hundred miles. Not
w Brett, and Stephenson, and Brunei, q
ose Canning. They wcro enthusiastic In aid
." Mr.. Field. But IL WAS admitted that
: :,e. mechanical difficulties Wcro very gr'
s"e None saw such obstacles more clearly II
1tl1- Brunei, who, In morning walk, took
rii1e.,l down to tho docks and showed him
81, A. Great Eastern, which he was then builll
lhc T'llc man Of Iron said, "Therc Is the slll
.'a' ~. lay the Atlantic cab1c;' but little did
lth. guest think that In 1861 the grcat ship vi
'fs be the only vessel III the world that coult
L. tic work. Tho enthusiastic American ca
~. y. on Lord Clarendon, Of the Foreign
""n flee. and was asked, "Sunl
rcat ~ .nas.t,,o,, .,h,t r;tt ...,r =, s.,
pIst ..,,,,r .+..,,,1 ,,,,a s.fta.,.o;, u, ,,-,at
ae. lose, unl 70 10 work to lny another" A
M. company was formed, with million
II! tl,rec.quartcrs Of rapitnl, almost half
""o lion Of which wns subscribed by Mr.. Fl
'vus and nctu0tly pntd over In British gold.
III ortite ~, o-,,si,, ,ro. ,ot . villa f,rcttc
pay ho,l mi linn, IA losr. IA thc ,,rcscnt {
tho -,an, NJ 1,,o,t .ros ,rxo1uoh,n ,,,v rr,,,
IT. {,sk Ain %fu.1i Hr,,n ncnr tfC