The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-05-11
He LAID CABLE.
Aged Kansan Recalls How He
Helped in Last Attempt.
Scotch Boy Hired by the Cme1
Operator on Boat.
SANG AS HE WORKED.
Month Required to Lay CaDie
SANG AS HE WORKED.
Month Required to Lay cable
in Hold of Ship.
Twenty Men on Guard to Pre-
vent Malicious Cutting.

Fmporia. Kan, May lin the OUT
s1-i-+s of This city lives William Thomp-
son a Gardener. His chief claim 10 US
| tinction lies in the fact that ne "o9 -
member and possibly now Is lne go
survivor, of the crew OF the s!-4
Great Eastern, which laid the Ilrsl e4 w
| cessful Atlantic cable Loc
| Field in the summer OF 1000 e+
| sJ was lust a country boy IN sou.
land - said Mr. Thompson, Dut was u
an adventurous turn, anu IOoN
notion that I wanted to leave nolne.
was about 20 years old, put hau ~ ,an+
son for leaving other than that WALL van
! ed TO see the world, so ran away rom
home. I had an idea to come TO AI1eI
lea. where I already had prolher:
went to London with this plan IN Inl l't
when got to London nedIu ILL.,
about the voyage OF the Great E.s-0 1,Ia, ~,
and the laying of the caple, anu ~
ont to the Sheerness harbor, Where IILe
shin was living. That was great naVaI
| s. ltion, and there were nunDSr u
men-of-war lying there, ana tne vi a.
Eastern was among them TAXING ~
cable. I went aboard ana asAe 70, "a q
chief operator for a job: are you q
sailor?' he asked, and told MIN NO,
but he seemed to think I'd do, ana took
me in. That started my work
Cable Carried in Tanks.
..rrhe ship was divided into three
great tanks, about seventy Ieet ~
diameter, and about sixty or seventy
feet deep. In these we STORED .ne S a. IN
The cable was brought alongside III
| barges. and run into the tanks, Where
| it was wound up like a spool OF rope. IN
the tank were thirty or forty met
keeping the coils in place. Part OF US
seized the cable as 1t came oown e III
ran round and round with it, while the
rest showed it into place. Then we
changed jobs for the running was not
work and we always sang as we
worked.
II wish had a piece of the cable to
show you. 1 had one, but thought so
little of it that 1 was careless, and the
children lost 1t playing. But 1t was
about the size of ordinary tWo-1ncn
rope The strands were hemp, inter-
woven with wire, and in the center
we're seven copper wires, covered Win
gutta percha. We were two or three
weeks coiling. as I remember, and when
done we had 5000 or 5000 miles OF the
cable on board.
..The cable was fed from the tanks
| through the hatchway and down a
chute, on rollers, to the stern. 1t sank
by it's own weight as we steamed along
| at from five to six knots an hour. The
cable was closely watched. 1t was said
that the cable of 1865 had been mal1ci-
ously cut, so to prevent a repetition OF
that, possibly twenty men were sta
toned on deck along its course, and 1t
was guarded day and night. We had
an operator on board, and received and
sent messages. Bulletins were hung up
from the messages and we could read
every day what people were saying
about US.
Finally Land Gable.
"After a voyage Of less than a month,
We landed in Trinity Bay, Newfound-
land The little fishing village where
we struck was Hearts Content. think
governors in the yachts and other high
officials to met US We laid the shore
end of the cable, which was wire-cov-
cred and as thick as your leg, and then
had big celebration.
Cyrus Field was on board all the
time, and was noticeable for his black
Prince Albert coat and crushed hat. He
was a free, nice gentlemanly fellow,
and I liked him especially for his cor
dial manner. He was a great contrast
to the British officers, who were aristo-
cratic and very harsh"
Mr.. Thompson worked several years
in London after his voyage, and later
went back home. He was married in
England, and in 1880 came to the United
States. He settled two miles west of
Madison, in Greenwood county, where
he lived until 1887, then coming to En-
poria, where he has since lived. He is
the father of seven daughters and three
sons. Mrs. Thompson is dead, but a
daughter. Mrs. John Hoover, makes her
home with her father and cares for
| him. He is 65 years old now, but is
strong and hearty, and does a, big days
work every day.