Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-08-16
ATLANTIC CABLE So,
AMAZED THE WORLD
New York Was Stirred to Highest
Pitch When Line Was Com
pleted. August 10, 1883.

Gn wears ago today. FROM TRINITY bav.
cwfnundland. To NalentIa, Ireland, the
first words shot through the ocean were:
Europe and America are united by
tccgraphy Glory to God IN the highest;
ON earth peaCc good will toward men.
-Four attempts had been made to con-
meet the two continents. but on each oc-
casion the cable had parted. Ii was the
high courage of Cyrus W. kield, Peter
Cooper. David Dudley Field, and Others
that carried the project through, Even
then the full measure of dIscouragemcnt
had not been reached, for after SIX weeks
,f cxperimenting. IN which the inc WIS
never opencd to the public, II broke down,
and nj the end of two months the operators
were dismissed and tclegraphlc communi-
cation between the United States and
England was pronounced dead.
PROBLEM GREAT ONE.
The problems to be solved were num-
erous. but chief among them was the
necessity of constructing CAME 'hat
vould he strong enough to resist the
strain placed upon il and at the same tlihe
he flexible and slender enough to he car,
RED on a ship. Then an apparatus hiid
10 be devised to pay out the cable Every
known device was tried, the genius OF m
yentors was taxed To the utmost, but IL
was only on the fourth trial that the task
WAS accomplished The Niagara, inc
largest ship in the United states Navy
and the AgamemnOn, an English warShlp
xhich had been active III the 1rImean
Nar met in the middle of the ocean on
.l,lv %. spliced their sections OF the cable,
and then started slowly for home the
Niagara arriving at Trinity BAY on august
4 and the Agamcmnon reaching alentia
the next dav Bv August l6, the line was
IN working order.
The cah.,. was made up Of seven copper
wires cnrascd in gutta pcrcha, then wrap
ned in wax hemp, and tins covered ~ an
outer sheath OF l26 braided wires. II WAS
300 miles long. weighed ton q III e
mile. and cost : .256. $50. The total cost
oi the project was Sl,S3f,3oO
QUEEN SENDS MESSAGE
Instead Of cementing moro securely the
friendship of Great Britain and this
country. the opening Of the line seemed Tor
!, short time to threaten the Entente
,or,iiae then existing. The queen ;
message to the President came without
date or place of sending, or signature ana
was irritatinglv brief II read nc
Queen desires TO congratulate the treSi-
dent ,pon the successful completion OF
this great international work. IN winch
the Queen has taken the greatest inter
e>t This reported that for tive Or SIX
hours there was a positive feeling q dlS-
like and contempt for the sovereign 81
Great Britain, but this was removed
when it was learned that the telegraph
had stopped working at the end OF the
Incl sentence. and that the operator, not
knowing that there was more 10 come.
translated what he had received as the
he a
most cordial President Buchanan sent a
reItlv. the high hopes Of which are hardly
sustained at a time when the chet work
nj the cable Is 70 send Us news Of the
carnage ri the battlefield. His words
nere. MAY the Atlantic telegraph, under
the blessing of Heaven. prove 10 he a
bond of perpetual peace and friendship
between the nations; and an instrument
destined bv Divine Providence To diffuse
religion. civilization, liberty, and law
throughout the world.
NEW YORK BECAME DELIRIoUs.
When the news came that actual com
.munication had been established. the cltY
became delirious The formal celebration
lad been set for September /, but he
citizens could not wait In Central Park
1000 workmen asked Tor permission tc
celebrate and when they had received II
they organized q parade, and In Is min
ute- were marching, with their carts
tool wagons and implements down klghtt
avenue and Broadway 10 City Hall
according to a newspapers account
their appearance, In the most liberia
>euse If the word, 'beggars description.
They were in their everyday working
clothes. their hats and garments decorat
Cd with green twlgs; some marching tive
~~-e rtr
whose ribs were more plainly vIslb e thar
those of Don Quixote's Rosinante, or b,
InuI es more fieshy, but not more comely
some with spades shouldered and som'
Wit b spades IN hand.
The uorkmen were only rejecting th'
So irit OF the whole CITY The same &C
count continues. The enthusiasm tina
" as generated knew no bounds: henpeck
ed husbands and vlrago wives, whose lip>
had not met for years, gave way to tn,
excitement Of the occasion and saluted
each other as vigorously as the Scott Life
Guard saluted the day; men meeting in
the street. shook hands more heartily
At night the city was a blaze Of light
Every window was Illuminated.
NEW YORK CITY HALL SET AFIRE.
The Times claimed more brilhancy thar
was the good fortune Of the Others. 70
hundreds OF pretty women rushed il
and took possession Of The Times WIN
Cows. TO the utter obscuration of mer
tallow dips and the utter bewilderTnen
OF the Young men below who shaded theI
ewes when they looked up on our Spruc
street front In their bew lderment som
said that The Times had utterly neglecte
the tallow dips True the illumination va
no common one But TO every pane o
glass in our windows there were u dozel
pairs Of womens eyes flashing out upo
the night" The fireworks AZ City Hal
we're nothing short OF gorgeous. tn
comedy was provided by two OF the com
1nittee who could not agree ~ to who wa
to set off the centrepiece the tragedy b
which a fire threatened 70 destroy III
CITY Hall The sparks from the hrewOrk
had ignited the cupola and before tn
flames could be controlled the Who'll
upper story had been eaten away.
VERSES ON TRANS PAKENCIEs.
Many were the transparancies tha
adorned Broadway Texts were freel
drawn from the Bible The Astor Hous
selected verse from Job, who hath lai
he measure thereof, if thou knowest. 0
who hath stretched the line upon it,
Another from Psalms was: Let the fl ood
slap their hands A shop window ar
nounced "The old Cyrus and the new
The first conquered the land for himself
the second the ocean for the world
TO take an active part in the celebratio
one had to wear piece Of the caDl