The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-07-27
SEMI-CENTENARY
 OF THE CABLE

That we may read the details-or as much of them as the censor will permit-of an European battle on the day that it is fought is now accepted as al matter of course, and 1t is d1h- cult for us to realize the wonder and
 awe inspired by this possibility in the minds of our fathers. To them the transatlantic cable loomed as one of the most marvellous achievements or an age of marvels. The wireless tel egraph of the twentieth century pro- voked much less comment, because 1t only provided a new way of accom- plishing what was already possible by other means.
 Today is the semi-centenary of the completion of the first permanent Att lantfc telegraph. Since July 27, 1866, the. New World has been in continu- ! ous and uninterruAted communities tion with the Old World by means of the submarine cable. The final sue cess was achieved only after several disheartening failures. As early as |1843 Prof. Samuel F. B. Morse sug- gested the possibility of an Atlantic telegraph line. Just a decade later Cyrus W. Field, wealthy merchant, became interested in a plan for laying an underground telegraphicf cable across Newfoundland, and in the fol- lowing year, 1854, he secured the CO., operation of Peter Cooper, Moses Fay Tor and others in a scheme for transatlantic cable. The manufacture of 2,599 miles of wire was completed in 1857, and the task of laying 1t was commenced at Valentia, Ireland, in August oS that year, two American and two British vessels being engag- ed. After a few miles had been laid the cable snapped. This was repair ed but after 300 miles of wire had been put down it snapped again, and the vessels returned to Plymouth. A
 storm caused the failure of a second attempt, but the third voyage, in l185S, was successful, and the juno ton between the two continents was effected by 2,059 miles of wire stretching from the Irish coast to Newfoundland. Messages were ex-
 changed between Queen Victoria and President Buchanan, and there was great rejoicing on both sides of the ocean. All over the United States and Canada and in Great Britain and 1re- land bonflres and illuminations com memorated the completion of the ca ble, which Queen Victoria hoped
 would prove an additional link be- tween the nations, whose friendship is founded upon their common interest and reciprocal esteem" The London
 Times pertinently remarked that
 ssince the discovery of Columbus, nothing has been done in any degree f0 1o cf nf which has thus been given to the sphere of human activity"
 The jubilation proved premature, however, for in short time the cable ceased to work and was branded failure. The faith of Field did not 1 waver, and, although the Civil War prevented an early revival of the pro- | feet, but in 1865'a a new company be- gan the laying of another cable. The famous vessel, the Great Eastern, was dispatched to Ireland with the wire, but again the project ended in
 failure. MT. Field then launched the | Anglo American Telegraph Company, and in July, 1866, the Great Eastern
 steamed away from Valentia laying another cable. On July 27 the cable was completely laid at Hearts Con tent, Newfoundland, and the Queen and the President again exchanged greetings. Soon after this happy
 event the lost cable of 1865 was recov-
 cred and placed in service. Thanks 1 to the indomitable perseverance of Cyrus Field, "a fool with one idea, and that impossible'A-as an American
 paper had said few years before
 the great project was carried to suc- cess.
 1 In addition to the cabless between valentia and Hearts Content. New
 foundland, there are now cable lines
 between Waterville, Ireland, and
 Canao, N. s.; New York and Rock | port, Mass; Penzance, England, and l Bay Roberts, N. F.; Canso, N. s., and
 New York; Ba11inakellig's Bay, Ire l land, and Halifax. N. S.; Rye Beach,
 N. H. and Brest, France, and Cape Cod, Mass.