Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1896-12-31
A RACE FOR A D
inc Contest Between the Overland
telegraph and the Atlantic Cab c.

world and the New. The racers were
telegraph companies. One was called
the Russian Overland" the other was
tile Atlantic Cable
h track of the "RussiaI - law he.
tween New Westminster in British
Columbia, and Moscow in Russia. Up
through the UNEMPLOYED Fraser River
valley it was TO run. then on through
the untracked wilderness of Alaska,
across Boring Strait, over the timber
less SteppeS Of Arctic Siberia. and
along the dreary coaS of the Okhotsk
Sea to the mouth of the .Amoor. There
tbe American racers. called Western
Union,' were to give over the race TO
the Russian telegraph department,
Which was to make its best time in
reaching Moscow.
Western Union said It would cover
the ground in about two years. The
cost would be about five millions of
dollars; hut what wa five millions of
dollars If the prize could he woman
NiNN'lN SlIule VI lUe euGIu
The path of the "Atlantic'' cable
was to be on a tableland some two
miles deep in the ocean, reaching from
Ireland to Newfoundland.
The summer of 1865 found the world
watching this race with great inter-
est. 1t opened when the fleet Of the
Russian expedition set sail from San
Francisco, northward bound. The
Atlantic people at the same time
were slowing away gigantic coils of
cable into the capacious hold of the
Great Eastern"-a new cable some
1000 miles long.
The Western Union directors were
shrewd business men. Five millions
of dollars was little in comparison with
the benefit they could receive could
they get telegraphic communication
with Europe, and they then believed
that the only way was by land. The
public agreed with them nearly unanl-
mOusly. And so the two projects--the
overland and the submarine-were
pitted against each other.
A very unequal race 1t seemed at the
outset. The Overland was strong and
vigorous. The Atlantic was broken
by former failures. The Overland was
popular, and had plenty of money
back of it; the Atlantic was derided,
and only FOOLS" /. was said, would
invest in it,"
The feet of the Russian expedition
which sailed from San Francisco in
the summer Of 1865 was quite a navy.
There were ocean steamers, sailing
vessels, coast and river boats, and
Russian and American ships Of The
line, with a promise of a vessel from
her Majesty's navy. The expedition
was well Differed, and about 12O men
were e~nlisted-men of superior ability
in every department. The supplies
embraced everything that could be
needed. Thousands Of tons of wire,
some 300 miles of cable, insulatols,
wagons, etc.
August 20, 1866, the Great Eastern
landed it's cable at Trinity Bay and
the whole world was electrified by
the news that 1t worked perfectly
that the victory had been won. More
than that. The Great Eastern not
long afterward picked up the cable lost
the year before, and that, too, was
soon in working order. Two electric
girdles had been clasped around the
earth.
The success of the ATLANTIC" was
defeat for the Russian" An overland
telegraph line could compete
with the submarine cables. The first
triumphant click, click!" at Trinity
Raw was therefore the death-blow OF
the Russian scheme, and all work con
nected with that project was at n
abandoned.
Rut the Workers-the brave men fac
ing famine among the wild ChooK
rhees-buried in their lonely huts wait
ing for some news from their com
rades. or straining every nerve to com
plete their share of the great WORK.
how pathetic that so many of then
did not hear what had happened, IL
some cases for more than a year afteI
the success of the cable!-Jane Marsl
Parker in st. Nicholas.
Curlousiy Composed.
"Your honor" said a lawyer In a re
,ent trial in England, "the argumen
of my learned friend is lighter thai
vanity. 1t Is air: 1t is smoke. From
top to bottom it is absolutely nothing
And therefore, your honor, 1t falls t
the ground by its W weight.'-Ex
change.
~,Jinks-The greatest man to treasur
n orudre is my barber. The other da
an enemy of his died and he was Gale
N shave the corpse. Minks-What di
=. do2 Jinks-He cut him dead.-NeN