The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-07-10
TIE EAST INDIA TELEGR1PH
Letter from DIR. Macaownn.

| The following letter from DR. Macgowan gives
fndia account of the progress Oh tne
| lnulA Telegraph prOtect.-.
SHANeHAI, China, May l7.--N. MlclIles, ESQ,
/ Company-Dear siI;-since sending report OF OF
MY proceedings in the service OF the h SsSs anv a
1snan boS e visited ali ihe consular ports on
the river S@ At Nanking,l nopso 10 ,,,Y' nmve
an interview with Psan' ny Forstgn me A ffairS
but he was absent from the CITY, In anticipation
OF which had provided mysen TT.aited States
nication addressed TO him by UElyeVt, -, o.asss s
Consul. General Mangurn, conveying Epe Epua,, suT,
stance of what desired 70 communicate, Wutcn
was TO notify his excellency that "rhe East
India Telegraph Company" was about to con-
meet Shanghai, Hong Kong, and intermediate
ports by e. submarine cable, the WOosung
at Shanghai by land line (Of about eight
miles, over road constructed and owned by
/ am under great obligations 20 Captain shu-
feldt, commanding UniJed States steamer Wa
chusetts, VINO, on account OF the great interest
ne ieels In the undertaking Ofthe company, gave
me passage from Kinglking to Marking, and
accompanied me TO tue Yamun Of the Man
DARN OF the next in TaDK to the Commissioned
thereby, in the estimation of the Chinese,
giving importance of a seml-official character
20 my mission. The treasurer perused the
letter, and promised TO deliver it to the Com
missioner oi Foreign Affairs, on the arrival of
that iunctionary.
Since the announcement was made that you
mad decided TO connect the principal ports of
China by a submarine telegraphic cable, an in
creased interest in the company has been mani
rested by the foreign communities, bu6 an un-
precedented depression of trade, and the losses
that have been sustained by all the English
nrlns, Will not admit of an exhibition of that
interest to an extent Cat presently as TO cause an
immediate and extensive demand for stock
Inc enterprise is described by the public press
as one that must prove highly Ter1unerative, in
""i0i -. al the merchants Of the highest
intelligence concur.
You may be assured that there are no politi-
cal or physical distractions to the success OF
your enterprise Submarine telegraphy has
failed only in tropical seas where exposed TO
abrasion from corals. A soft ocean bed Is the
only condition that is Indispensable to success,
and this obtains in the China Sea from Hong
Kong nortnward. 1t has been sounded in every
part, and IL SO shallow that the expense OF sub
merging a cable will be inconsiderable, and the
cable being In short sections, extending from
port to port, a Steamer of ordinary dimensions
can lay II withoutrisk.
According to the customs returns the coast
wise trade is constantly increasing. The mer-
in the foreign trade Coastal intercommunica-
tion is now maintained almost wholly bv
foreign vessels, which are largely owned by
native Chinese merchants, who havin geagerly
embraced that means of facilitating trade, and
having also readily availe1 themselves of the
advantages OF insurance, VIII be no less prompt
TO include telegraphy among the appliances OF
domestic commerce.
The obstacles TO telegraphy in China, from
popular superstition, have been realty over
rated. II is true that their notions OF Fung'
shuey good luck), or Geomancy, Will be DIS
turbed by your poles and wires, but the rudest
of the people are amenable to reason: time
and patience will reconcile them to such inuo
posed. Messrs. Russell & 60. lately constructed
a line in this settlement extending from their
offices to the S eamboat landing, q considerable
distance. without exciting more than passing
remarks from the natives.
A recent communication from her Britannia
Majesty's Pleripotentiary at Pekin, Sir Ruther-
ford Alcock, assures me that If the East India
Telegraph Company proves TO be cosmopolitan
in character, the company shall have his hearty
co operation. Similar professions of interest in
your work have been made to me by the repre-
sentatives of all the treaty powers; and as the
los Qra IN mn q a m
suing year. you may confidently rely on pro-
curing then those additional privileges that
may perchance be withheld in the interim.
With these prospects before the company,
ca mot refrain from urging the prosecution oi
it's work with every energy. l have the honor
d. J. MAcGowAN,
Commissioners of East India Telegraph Co.
One Hundred ships Lost in the White Sea
The London papers publish dispatches from
ST. Petersburg, dated on the 2'th OF June, giving
| accounts from Archanget of the destruction ol
| shipping in the White sea by the breaking up
| OF the ice, from which IL has been inferred that
| the loss has been much greater than was pre-
| Viousy reported. More than one hundred ships
| position on the coast of LaplRnd, while some
were on the drifting tioes of Ice. Lord Stanley,
British Secretary OF State for Foreign Affairs
received despatch from Sir A. buchanan
| Minister at st. Petersburg, confirming the sac
news, and stating that he has requested the
Russian Government to render assistance x
the crews drifting on the ice, but it appear
there is only one small steamer available a
Archangel Orders have been despatched from
the Foreign Office to the British Consuls at Co
penhagen and Stockholm, and to st. Peters
bnrg, with instructions to put themselves IL
communication with the Government authori
ties of Sweden and other placeg northward, ii
order that all immediate assis stance should b
sent 10 the shipwrecked crews.
;