The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1908-07-25

1t was great day for all. Five
days the Niagara sailed, overcoming
great difficulties in the laying Of the
cable; then. on the sixth day, when
the Niagara had left the shore 800
miles behind. a mistaken order to put
on brakes resulted in a strain which
broke the cable.
There was nothing to do but return
to England The Niagara sailed for
New York the following November.
OF course great cry was raised
that the scheme had been fairly tried
once and failed. and that any further
attempt to achieve this impossibility
was madness and criminal waste of
the stockholders money. But in the
face of all this opposition. the little
band of resolute men. led still by the
indomitable Cyrus w. Field. deter
mined to make another attempt
They had learned by their expert
ence many valuable lessons. One that
1t would be better for the two vessels
carrying the cable to meet in mid
ocean make a splice, and then sail in
opposite directions. Other lessons re-
lated to improvements in the paying
out machinery-it was found impos-
sible to wind in the cable after it was
once out, as the very weight of the
line was sufficient to break it.
The telegraph squadron arrived at
Plymouth England, June 3, and after
an experimental trip of three days.
having received a fresh supply Of coal.
started for midocean on the 10th, the
point of rendezvous having been de-
cided
When the splice was finished, con-
Meeting the cable of the Niagara with
that Of the Agamemnon, the two yes
sells parted. A terrible storm came
up soon afterward, and after 142 miles
and $50 fathoms of cable had been
paid out the line broke. 1t was only
| by good fortune that the vessels re-
turned to land in safety.
While the squadron was lying in
the harbor of Queenstown, meetings
were held by the board of directors
in London. 1t was proposed to aban-
don the enterprise and sell the cable.
When the news of this reached Mr.
Field. he started in great haste for
London. He demonstrated with the
Respondent, upheld the wavering. and
finally, by his will and courage, OBJ
tanned consent to make another at
tempt.
| The vessels, accordingly. met again
at the rendezvous, on July %, and
after making the splice with some
ceremony, separated. Anxiety was
keen. as a kink in the cable, or
hole running through the gutta percha
| thrnuph which hot
be forced, would render all the work
unavailing.
On the 9Th of August, 1858, the
eastern end of the cable was landed in
| Trinity bay, Newfoundland and the
| press of the country sounded loud
praises in honor of the triumph On
The 18th of August, the famous mes
sages were sent and received by
| cable between Victoria and President
| Buchanan.
! Concerning the message one of the
electricians on board the Niagara is
| reported to have made the statement
that it was cooked up" for CONNER
cial purposes, his ground being that
the cable had ceased to test out long
before reaching Newfoundland, and
that on several occasions in paying
| it out accidents had occurred that had
| destroyed the insulation of the cable.
In 1865 another unsuccessful at
tempt was made to lay an Atlantic
cable. The first operative cable was
not laid until 1866.
| A part of transcontinental cable his
tory that possesses special local in
| terest is the landing of the French
Atlantic cable at Duxbury,, in the year
| 1868. This was the first cable to
stretch actually from the shore OF
America to the shore of Europe.