The Elbert County tribune., 1908-07-23

1t was a 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 300
miles behind, 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 littN|
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
it 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 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 CT the Niagara with
that of the Agamemnon, the two yes
sells parted. A terrible storm came
up soon afterward. and after 142 miles
and 2S0 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
despondent, 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 2S, and
after making the splice with some
ceremony, separated. Anxiety was
keen, as a kink in the cable, or a.
hole running through the gutta percha
through which not even a hair could
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.
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
1863. This was the first cable to
stretch actually from the shore of
America to the shore of Europe.