more met in mid-ocean, and on the following morning spliced the Cable,
which was this time destined to tend so much towards solving the great
problem. On the 30th, 265 miles had been paid out. On the 31st, 540
miles. On the 1st August, 884 miles. On the 2nd, 1256 miles. On the 4th,
1854 miles; and on the 5th, 2022 miles. The Agamemnon now anchored in
Dowlas Bay, Valentia, and preparations were made to join the ocean and
shore ends. On the same day, at 1·45 a.m., the Niagara anchored in
Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, and in an hour after she received a signal
across the Atlantic that the Cable had been landed from the Agamemnon.
Mr. Field at once telegraphed the news to the New York press, and the
intelligence flew all over the Union, where it was received with the
most extraordinary manifestations of delight. The information was
received more equably in England.
On the 7th of August, many an anxious heart was lightened by reading in
the _Times_ the following telegram:--
“VALENTIA, _August 6th._
“End of Cable safely landed, close by pier, at Knightstown, being
carried on the paddle-boxes of the Valorous--expect to be open to
public in three weeks.”
Mr. Field’s dispatch to the Associated Press of New York was followed by
two to the President, to which Mr. Buchanan sent a suitable reply. A
message was sent to the Mayor of New York also, to which an answer was
returned next day.
On August the 9th the telegraphic wires reported that “Newfoundland
still answered, but only voltaic currents.”
On the 10th it was stated “Coil currents had been received--40 per
minute easily”--followed by the modest words, “Please send slower for
the present.”
On the 14th a message of 14 words was transmitted, and on the 18th the
Directors in England thus spoke to their brethren in the other
hemisphere: “Europe and America are united by telegraphic communication.
‘Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, goodwill towards men.’”
This message occupied 35 minutes in transmission. It was rapidly
followed by a message from the Queen of England to the President of
America, which occupied 67 minutes in transmission, and was repeated.
The text was as follows:--
“TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, WASHINGTON:
“The Queen desires to congratulate the President upon the
successful completion of this great international work, in which
the Queen has taken the deepest interest.
“The Queen is convinced that the President will join with her in
fervently hoping that the Electric Cable which now connects Great
Britain with the United States will prove an additional link
between the nations whose friendship is founded upon their common
interest and reciprocal esteem.
“The Queen has much pleasure in communicating with the President,
and renewing to him her wishes for the prosperity of the United
States.”
[Illustration: R.M. Bryson, lith from a drawing by R. Dudley
London, Day & Sons, Limited, Lith.
TRINITY BAY, NEWFOUNDLAND. EXTERIOR VIEW OF TELEGRAPH HOUSE IN
1857-1858.]
[Illustration: G. McCulloch, lith from a drawing by R. Dudley
London, Day & Sons, Limited, Lith.
TELEGRAPH HOUSE TRINITY BAY, NEWFOUNDLAND. INTERIOR OF “MESS ROOM”
1858]
THE REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.
_“Washington City, August 16, 1856._
“TO HER MAJESTY VICTORIA, QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN:
“The President cordially reciprocates the congratulations of Her
Majesty the Queen on the success of the great international
enterprise accomplished by the science, skill, and indomitable
energy of the two countries. It is a triumph more glorious, because
far more useful to mankind, than was ever won by conqueror on the
field of battle.
“May the Atlantic Telegraph, under the blessing of Heaven, prove to
be a bond of perpetual peace and friendship between the kindred
nations, and an instrument destined by Divine Providence to diffuse
religion, civilisation, liberty, and law throughout the world. In
this view will not all nations of Christendom spontaneously unite
in the declaration that it shall be for ever neutral, and that its
communications shall be held sacred in passing to their places of
destination, even in the midst of hostilities?
(Signed) “JAMES BUCHANAN.”
On the same day a message was received from Mr. C. Field, consisting of
38 words, which occupied 22 minutes in transmission.
The mighty agency which had been made subservient to the dictates of
man, had touched the hearts of two nations by expressing mutual esteem
and respect, but had not yet exercised its higher prerogatives. On the
21st of August it flashed tidings of great joy, and brought relief to
those who, but for it, would have languished in very weariness and
pining. The Europa and Arabia, each thickly freighted with human lives,
had come into collision in mid-ocean. So much was known, but there was
nothing to appease the anxiety of those whose friends and relatives were
on board. Fourteen days must elapse before the arrival of the next
steamer. Within fourteen hours, however, the Atlantic telegraph wires
allayed intense dread and anxious fears: “Newfoundland.--Europa and
Arabia have been in collision--one has put into St. John’s--no lives are
lost--all well.”
On the 25th of August it was announced that “the Cable works
splendidly,” and shortly after the New York journals recorded how the
entire continent had gone mad for very joy, how feasting was the order
of the day, and how American intellect had achieved the greatest
scientific triumph of the age.
On the 7th of September, 1858, the following letter appeared in the
_Times_, addressed to the editor:--
“_September 6th_, 1858.
“SIR,--I am instructed by the Directors to inform you that, owing
to some cause not at present ascertained, but believed to arise
from a fault existing in the Cable at a point hitherto
undiscovered, there have been no intelligible signals from
Newfoundland since one o’clock on Friday the 3rd inst. The
Directors are now in Valentia, and, aided by various scientific and
practical electricians, are investigating the cause of the
stoppage, with a view to remedying the existing difficulty. Under
these circumstances no time can be named at present for opening the
wire to the public.
“GEO. SAWARD.”
Such was the foreshadowing of the great calamity that was so soon to
follow. Public excitement became intense. The market value of the
Atlantic Telegraph Stock assumed a downward tendency, and fell rapidly.
But the projectors had not been idle. A rigid inquiry had been
immediately instituted by Professor Thomson, Mr. Varley, and Sir Charles
Bright, which enabled them to arrive at a conclusion that the fault must
lie on the Irish coast. Consequently the Cable was underrun for three
miles, cut and tested; but no defect being found, it was again spliced.
During all this period its electrical condition had become so much
deteriorated that such messages as passed required to be constantly
repeated.
So matters went, hope and fear alternating, until the insulation of the
wire became suddenly worse, and at last the signals ceased to be
intelligible at Newfoundland altogether. Scientific inquiry tended to
show that the fault lay about 270 miles from Valentia, at the mountain
range which divides the depths of the Atlantic from the shallow water on
the Irish shore. This steep range, or sloping bank, which, on being
sounded, showed a difference of 7,200 feet in elevation in a distance of
eight miles, had been crossed by the Agamemnon an hour before the
expected time, and it was said a sufficient quantity of slack had not
been thrown out, so that the Cable was suffered to hang suspended in the
water. But this was of course mere conjecture, and the failure most
probably was precipitated by injudicious attempts to overcome defective
insulation by increased battery power.
The conclusions finally arrived at by the Scientific Committee appointed
to report as to the causes of the failure of the Cable were, first, that
it had been manufactured too hastily; secondly, that a great and unequal
strain was brought on it by the machinery; and thirdly, that the
repeated coilings and uncoilings it underwent served to injure it. To
such causes was the failure to be attributed, not to any original defect
in the gutta percha.
Mr. Varley stated his opinion that there must have been a fault in the
Cable while on board the Agamemnon, and before it was submerged; but
none of the theories accounted for the destruction of a Cable on which
half a million of money had been expended, and which (if successful) two
governments had contracted to subsidise to the gross amount of
28,000_l_. yearly. Thus were annihilated, silently and mysteriously,
all those hopes which had survived so many disappointments, and which
for a moment had been so abundantly realised.
But in England, as no ebullitions of joy had been indulged in when
success seemed certain, neither was there now any yielding to despair.
In the month of April, 1860, the Directors of the Atlantic Telegraph
Company sent out Captain Kell and Mr. Varley to Newfoundland to
endeavour to recover some portion of the Cable; their efforts showed
that the survey which had been taken must have been very insufficient,
and the ground was much worse than was expected. They recovered five
miles of the Cable, and ascertained two facts, namely, that the gutta
percha was in no degree deteriorated, and that the electrical condition
of the core had been improved by three years’ submersion. In 1862
several attempts were also made to recover some of the Cable from the
Irish side, but with no practical advantage; and in consequence of
violent storms the attempt was abandoned.
The great Civil War in America stimulated capitalists to renew the
attempt; the public mind became alive to the importance of the project,
and to the increased facilities which promised a successful issue. Mr.
Field, who compassed land and sea incessantly, pressed his friends on
both sides of the Atlantic for aid, and agitated the question in London
and New York.
On the 20th of December, 1862, the Atlantic Company issued its
prospectus, setting forth the valuable privileges it had
acquired--amongst others, the exclusive right to land telegraph wires on
the Atlantic coast of Labrador, Newfoundland, Prince Edward’s Island,
and the State of Maine--and invited public subscriptions. The firm of
Glass, Elliot, & Co., sent in tenders to provide a Cable at a cost of
£700,000; a sum of £137,000, being 20 per cent. upon the capital of the
Company, to be paid to them in old unguaranteed shares of the Company,
provided they were successful.
On the 4th of March, 1863, a large number of the leading merchants in
New York assembled in the Chamber of Commerce in that city, for the
purpose of hearing some new and interesting facts relative to the
Atlantic Telegraph enterprise. The many advantages which would arise to
America were apparent, and, among others, was the improvement of the
agricultural position of the country by extending to it the facilities,
already enjoyed by England and France, of commanding the foreign grain
markets; as well as the avoidance of misunderstandings between America
and other countries.[2]
Since 1858, what was a mere experiment had become a practical reality.
The Gutta Percha Company had prepared no less than forty-four submarine
Cables, enclosing 9000 miles of conducting wire, which were in daily
use, and not one of which had required to be repaired, except at the
shore end, where they were exposed to ships’ anchors. At the meeting in
New York, Mr. Field read a letter from Glass, Elliot, & Co., in which
they offered to undertake to lay the Cable between Ireland and
Newfoundland on the most liberal conditions. The terms which they
proposed were,--First, that all actual disbursements for work and
material should be recouped each week: secondly, that when the Cable was
in full working order, 20 per cent. on the actual profits of the Company
should be paid in shares to be delivered monthly, while at the same time
they offered to subscribe £25,000 towards the ordinary capital of the
Company. The English Government also agreed to guarantee interest on the
capital at 8 per cent., during the operation and working of the Cable,
and to grant a yearly subsidy of £14,000. Mr. Field further directed the
attention of the meeting to the line to San Francisco (a single State),
as evidence of what business might be expected. The estimated power of
the Cable was a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 18 words per minute. If
it were to be worked for sixteen hours per day for 300 days in each
year, at a charge of 2_s._ 6_d._ per word, the income would amount to
£413,000 a year, which would be a return of 40 per cent. upon a single
Cable. After the failure of the last Cable a Commission of Inquiry,
consisting of nine members, had sat for two years, and, by their report,
afforded valuable information. The British Government had also
dispatched surveying expeditions, which reported most favourably as to
Newfoundland. In reference to the objection, that in case of war the
Cable would be under the sole control of the English Government, it was
to be remembered that it would be laid under treaty stipulations.
After a lengthened discussion on various matters connected with the
project, it was proposed by Mr. A. Low, and unanimously resolved, “That,
in the opinion of this meeting, a Cable can, in the present state of
telegraphic science, be laid between Newfoundland and Ireland with
almost absolute certainty of success, and will when laid prove the
greatest benefit to the people of the two hemispheres, and also
profitable to the shareholders. It is, therefore, recommended to the
public to aid the undertaking.”
[Illustration: R. M. Bryson, lith from a drawing by R. Dudley
London, Day & Sons, Limited, Lith.
H.M.S. “AGAMEMNON” LAYING THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLE IN 1858. A WHALE
CROSSES THE LINE.]
[Illustration: R. M. Bryson, lith from a drawing by R. Dudley
London, Day & Sons, Limited, Lith.
COILING THE CABLE IN THE LARGE TANKS AT THE WORKS AT GREENWICH.]
Messrs. Glass, Elliot, & Co. had long successfully manufactured Cables
in accordance with all the improvements that had taken place in
machinery, as well as in the manufacture of gutta percha, since the
laying of the Cable of 1858. Their experience as contractors in laying
lines might be estimated by the report of the Jurors of the Exhibition
of 1862. They had been identified with the history of submarine
telegraphy from its earliest existence, and now, having previously
incorporated the Gutta Percha Company, they accepted the offer made by
capitalists of influence and became absorbed in “The Telegraph
Construction and Maintenance Company,” of which Mr. Pender, M.P., was
chairman, and Mr. Glass managing director.
The British Government were willing to assist by subsidy and guarantee,
and there lay the Great Eastern, the only vessel in the world suited for
the undertaking, seeking for a purchaser. The huge ship, which cost
£640,000, was chartered by the Directors of the Telegraph Construction
and Maintenance Company, who seemed bent upon solving the problem of its
existence, and on showing what great things it was destined to
accomplish. Captain James Anderson, an accomplished officer of the
Cunard line, was asked to take the command, and received leave to do so,
and it was with satisfaction the Directors learned his willingness to
undertake the task.
In May, 1864, a contract previously entered into was ratified, providing
that all profit should be contingent on success, and that all payments
were to be made in unissued shares of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. A
resolution was also passed, authorising the raising of additional
capital by the issue of 8 per cent. guaranteed shares, of which Glass,
Elliot, & Co., were to receive 250,000_l._, and also 100,000_l._ in
debentures. The form of the Cable selected was similar in its component
parts to that of 1858, but widely different in the construction and
quality of the materials. It had been reported on most favourably by the
Committee of Selection, and was at once accepted by the contractors; the
Directors of the Company recognising the assiduity and skill of Mr.
Glass in the investigations as to the best description of Cable.
The following official account[3] states so minutely every particular
connected with the Cable during the process of formation, down to its
shipment on board the Great Eastern, that no better description can be
given:--
It differed from the Cable of 1857-8, as to its size, as to the weight
and method of application of the materials of which it was composed, as
to its specific gravity, and as to the mode adopted for its external
protection.
For the same reason as before, the copper conductor employed in the
Cable was not a solid rod, but a strand, composed of seven wires, each
of which gauged ·048 parts of an inch. It was found practically that
this form of conductor, in which six of the wires were laid in a spiral
direction around the seventh, was a most effectual protection against
the sudden or complete severance of the copper wire.
The severance, or “breach of continuity,” as it is usually called, is
one of the most serious accidents that can happen to a submerged Cable,
when unaccompanied by loss of insulation--owing to the great difficulty
in discovering the locality of such a fault. Even the best description
of copper wire can seldom be relied upon for equality of strength
throughout, and in some instances an inch or even a less portion of the
wire will prove to be slightly crystallised, and consequently incapable
of resisting the effects of coiling or paying out if brought to bear
upon the part, though no external difference be at all apparent between
the weak portion and the remainder of the sample. By proceeding,
however, as in the present case, the conductor was divided into seven
sections, and the risk of seven weak places occurring in the same spot
being exceedingly remote, the probability of a breach of continuity in a
strand conductor was almost _nil_.
The weight of the new conductor was nearly three times that of the
former one--being 300 pounds to the nautical mile against 107 pounds per
knot to the conductor of 1857. The adoption of this increased weight had
reference to the increase of commercial speed in the working of the new
Cable expected to accrue therefrom, and was founded upon the principles
of conduction and induction, now well understood, which consist in the
law that the conductivity of the conductor is as its sectional area,
while its inductive capacity (whereby speed of transmission is retarded)
is as its circumference only; and, as the maximum speed at which the
original Cable was ever worked did not exceed two and a-half words per
minute, it would follow by calculation, taking into account the
thickness of the dielectric surrounding the present conductor, that,
using the same instruments as in 1858, a speed of three and a-half to
four words per minute might be expected from the new Cable; but it was
stated by the electricians that owing to the improved modes of working
long Cables that have been discovered since 1858, an increase of speed
up to six or even more words per minute might be secured by the adoption
of suitable apparatus.
The purity of the copper employed, a very important item, affecting the
rate of transmission, had been carefully provided for. Every portion of
the conductor was submitted to a searching test, and all copper of a
lower conductivity than 85 per cent. of that of pure copper was
carefully rejected.
The covering of the conductor with its dielectric or insulating sheath
was effected as follows:--The centre wire of the copper strand was first
covered with a coating of gutta percha, reduced to a viscid state with
Stockholm tar, this being the preparation known as “Chatterton’s
Compound.” This coating must be so thick that, when the other six wires
forming the strand were laid spirally and tightly round it, every
interstice was completely filled up and all air excluded. The object of
this process was two-fold; first, to prevent any space for air between
the conductor and insulator, and thus exclude the increase of inductive
action attendant upon the absence of a perfect union of those two
agents, and, second, to secure mechanical solidity to the entire core;
the conductors of some earlier Cables having been found to be to some
extent loose within the gutta percha tube surrounding them, and thereby
much more liable to permanent extension, mechanical injury, and
imperfect centricity than those in which the preliminary precaution just
described had been made use of. The whole conductor next received a
coating of Chatterton’s Compound outside of it; this, when the core was
completed, quickly solidified, and became almost as hard as the
remainder of the subsequent insulation. It was then surrounded with a
first coating of the purest gutta percha, which being pressed around it
while in a plastic state by means of a very accurate die, formed a first
continuous tube along the whole conductor. Over this tube was laid by
the same process a thin covering of Chatterton’s Compound, for the
purpose of effectually closing up any possible pores or minute flaws
that might have escaped detection in the first gutta percha tube. To
this covering of Chatterton’s Compound succeeded a second tube of pure
gutta percha, then another coating of the compound, and so on
alternately until the conductor had received in all four coatings of
compound and four of gutta percha. The total weight of insulating
material thus applied was 400 pounds to the nautical mile, against 261
pounds in the Cable of 1857-8.
The core, completed as described, and which had previously and
repeatedly been under electrical examination, was at length submerged in
water of a temperature of 75 deg. Fah., and so remained during
twenty-four hours. This was done that the subsequent electrical tests
for conductivity and insulation might be made under circumstances the
most unfavourable to the manufacture, from the well-known fact, that the
insulating power of gutta percha is sensibly decreased by heat. It also
ensures uniformity of condition to the core under test, and, the
temperature in which it was tested being higher by 20 deg. than that of
the water of the North Atlantic, there was plenty of margin against any
disappointment from the effects of temperature after submersion. At the
expiration of the term of soaking, the coils of core submitted to that
process were expected to show an insulation of not less than 5,700,000
of Varley’s standard units, or of 150,000,000 of those of Siemens’s
standard. This of itself was a very severe test, but no portion of the
core showed a less perfection than that of double of either of the above
high standards.
Having passed this ordeal, and having been tested on separate
instruments and by a different electrical process by the officers of
the Atlantic Telegraph Company, in order to verify the observations of
the contractors, the core was tested for insulation under hydraulic
pressure, after which it was carefully unwound from the reels on which
it had been wound for that purpose, and every portion was carefully
examined by hand as it was rewound on to the large drums on which it was
sent forward to the covering works at East Greenwich, to receive its
external protecting sheath. It was then again submerged in water, and
required once more to pass the full electrical tests above referred to.
Finally, each reel of core was very carefully secured and protected from
injury, and in this state was sent to East Greenwich, where it was
immediately placed in tanks provided for it. In these it was covered
with water, and the lids of the tanks being fastened down and locked, it
remained until demanded for completion.