Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1896-12-24
FOR A GIRDLe.

4sst thS
Pc .~rsph and the Atlantic cnD,e'
ooeourse was between the Old
tue d, AM and the New. The racers we're
l ,sr,aob companies. One was called
fFslor overland" the other was
n Atlantic Cable"
e rack of the Russian lay be-
i% Now Westminster in British
N ,'Ihia and Moscow in Russia. Up
.snab tbe u%nexplored Fraser River
lwu 4 was TO run, then on through
aDr 1Dtrocked wilderness of Alaska,
s,,a Rqring Strait, over the timber
iU stonpes of Arctic Siberia, and
e., thp dreary coast of the Okhotsk
;, the mouth of the Amoor. There
,marican racers, called western
rs,,nn were to give over the race to
~" russian telegraph department,
s,,h was to make its best time in
eaching Moscow.
western Union said it would cover
M ground in about two years. The
=. would he about five millions of
ollorS. but what wa" five millions of
ollors if the prize could be woman
,ptrc girdle of the earth!
Tho natb of the Atlantic" cable
r,s IN he on a tableland some two
,nos deem in the ocean, reaching from
N Ireland to Newfoundland.
Tho summer of 1865 found the world
rotcbing this a c with great inter-
d # Opened when the fleet of the
Russian expedition set sail from San
E~oucisco. northward bound. The
Atlantic" people at the same time
tpn slowing away gigantic coils of
able into the capacious hold of the
Great Eastern"-a new cable some
loo miles long.
The Western Union directors were
hpwd business men. Five millions
dollars was little in comparison with
he benefit they could receive could
bey yet telcgraphic communication
nm Europe, and they then believed
bat the only way was by land. The
buEHC agreed with them nearly unani-
tOuSly. And so the two projects-the
Terland and the Submarine-Were
lifted against each other.
Avery unequal race it seemed at the
butset. The Overland was strong and
igOrOuS. The Atlantic was broken
y former failures. The Overland was
popular, and had plenty of money
hack of it; the Atlantic was derided,
nd "Only FOOLS" i was said, would
invest in it."
The feet of the Russian expedition
Fhich sailed from San Francisco in
be summer of 1865 was quite n navy,
here were ocean steamers, sailing
fSselS, coast and river boats, and
RusSian and American ships of The
IDe, with a promise Of n vessel from
Ter Maiesty's navy. The expedition
nS well Differed, and about 100 mel
Fae enliSted-men of superior ability
every department. The supplies
fmbraced everything that could be
l@ded. Thousands of tons of wire
pine 800 miles of cable, %insulators
FagOns, etc.
August 2G, 1866, the Great Easter!
alded its cable at Trinity Bay ant
be whole world was electrified 10y
pc news that it worked perfectly
pat the victory had been won. More
Dan that. The Great Eastern no
png afterward picked up the cable los
ae year before, and that, too, wal
pom in working order. Two electri,
FNles had been clasped around uh,
kth.
lle success Of the atlantic wa
great for the Russian" An overlan,
Feegraph line could never compel,
no the submarine cables. The frs
fomphant "click, click" at Trinit,
Ny was therefore the death-blow o
" Russian scheme, and all work cor
Ned with that project was at one
flandOned.
ou' The workers-the brave men fac
! famine among the wild Ch0oli
Aes-Ouried in their lonely huts wait
lOr some news from their COR
suvS' or straining every nerve to con
we've lhelr share of the great work
pathetic that 50 many of thcr
nOt hear what had happened, i
sut cases for more than n year afte
success of the cable!-Jane Mars
~Aer in st. Nicholas.
40, scientific Opinion.
Nv DflII ~