FAILURE ON ALL SIDES
(1858-1861)
From the daily press and from Mr. Field's papers the story of these
years has been drawn.
"In the midst of all this rejoicing, intelligence came from
Newfoundland that the cable, which it was fully anticipated would
be open for public messages in a few days, had ceased working. The
reaction was painful to witness, after the intense excitement of
the past three weeks."
That it had become impossible to send a message through the cable was
definitely known in London through the letter given to the _Times_:
"_September 6, 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 3d inst. The
directors are now at 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.
"GEORGE SAWARD."
Before the end of the month these telegrams were published in the New
York papers:
"NEW YORK, _September 24, 1858_, 12 M.
"To DE SAUTY, Trinity Bay, N. F.:
"Despatches from you and Mackay are contradictory. Now please give
me explicit answers to the following inquiries:
"First: Are you now, or have you been within three days, receiving
distinct signals from Valentia?
"Second: Can you send a message, long or short, to the directors at
London?
"Third: If you answer 'no' to the above, please tell me if the
electrical manifestations have varied essentially since the 1st of
September.
CYRUS W. FIELD."
"TRINITY BAY, N. F., _September 24, 1858_.
"C. W. FIELD, New York:
"We have received nothing intelligible from Valentia since the 1st
of September, excepting feeling a few signals yesterday. I cannot
send anything to Valentia. There has been very little variation in
the electrical manifestations.
"DE SAUTY."
"TRINITY BAY, N. F., Saturday, _September 25th_.
"PETER COOPER, C. W. FIELD, W. G. HUNT, and E. M.
ARCHIBALD, New York:
"I have not the least wish to withhold particulars as to the
working of the cable, and until I have communicated with
headquarters and ascertained the directions of the manager of the
company, I will send a daily report of proceedings. We were not
working to-day, but receiving occasionally from Valentia some weak
reversals of the current, which, when received, are unintelligible.
"C. V. DE SAUTY."
"TRINITY BAY, N. F., Saturday, _September 25th_.
"C. W. FIELD, New York:
"Your message received. The day before yesterday commenced
receiving current from Valentia and was in hopes that I should be
at work again soon after. So I informed Mr. Mackay. Then the
current failed. This will explain the discrepancy between his and
my message.
"C. V. DE SAUTY."
On the last page of the "Service Message-book" kept at the company's
station, Trinity Bay, this entry was made on the 30th of September:
"Receiving good currents, but no intelligible signals."
For a short period there was again a feeling of encouragement, and there
seemed to be a possibility that the electrical current was not lost, and
a full month later the following letter was written:
"TO THE EDITOR OF THE _Times:_
"_Sir_,--Eleven P. M. I beg to inform you that I have just received
the annexed message from Valentia, which has been transmitted by
Mr. Bartholomew, the superintendent of the company at that place.
It would appear that by the application of extraordinary and
peculiar battery-power at Newfoundland, in accordance with the
instructions of Professor Thomson, of Glasgow (one of the directors
of the company), it has been possible to convey, even through the
defective cable, the few words recorded by Mr. Bartholomew in his
message to me this evening.
"This, however, though encouraging, must not be regarded as a
permanent state of things, as it is still clear there is a serious
fault in the cable, while, at the same time, it is not at present
absolutely clear that any, except the most extraordinary and (to
the cable) dangerous efforts can be made, more especially on this
side, to overcome the existing obstacles in the way of perfect
working.
"The following is Mr. Bartholomew's message:
"'Bartholomew, Valentia, to Saward, London.--I have just received
the following words from Newfoundland: "Daniel's now in circuit."
The signals are very distinct. Give me discretion to use our
Daniel's battery reply.'"
"Immediately on receipt of the foregoing I sent the necessary
authority to use the Daniel's battery at Valencia.
"Yours truly,
"GEORGE SAWARD, Secretary.
"22 Old Broad Street, _October_ 20th."
And so the days passed, hope alternating with despair.
[Illustration: CYRUS W. FIELD
(From a Photograph by Brady, taken in 1860)]
It was in writing of this time that a friend said:
"To Mr. Field and those who had labored with him for so long a
period the blow came with redoubled force. The work had to be
commenced afresh; and Mr. Field felt that an arduous duty devolved
upon him, that of trying to infuse fresh courage into some of his
friends, to overcome the doubts of others, and to fight against the
persistent efforts of the enemies of the enterprise to injure it in
every possible way. His faith in its ultimate success was still
unshaken, his confidence unbounded, and his determination to carry
it to completion as firm as ever."
On December 15, 1858, Archbishop Hughes wrote:
"Our cable is dumb for the present; but no matter, the glory of
having laid it in the depths of the ocean is yours, and it is not
the less whether the stockholders receive interest or not. At
present you have no rival claimant for the glory of the project."
It was in strange contrast with the rejoicing so soon over that the gold
snuff-box and the freedom of the city were received with this note:
"MAYOR'S OFFICE,
"NEW YORK, _2d August, 1859_.
"The Mayor of New York has the pleasure to transmit to Cyrus W.
Field, Esq., of New York, the address and testimonials voted him by
the City of New York on the 1st day of September last, in
commemoration of the esteem in which his services were held on the
occasion of laying the Atlantic telegraph cable connecting Europe
with America."
"DANIEL F. TIEMANN."
In May, 1859, we find him in London, and on June 8th at the meeting of
the Atlantic Telegraph Company, when it was decided to raise £600,000
with which to lay another cable, and, if possible, repair the old one.
He was in New York on the 29th of December, 1859, and it was then that
his office, 57 Beekman Street, was burned. Among his papers this
mention is made: "The fire which made the closing days of 1859 so black
with disaster broke out in a building adjoining Mr. Field's warehouse,
which destroyed that and several others. Mr. Field's store was full of
goods and was entirely consumed, and the loss beyond that covered by
insurance was $40,000." The evening papers of that day gave an account
of the fire, and at the same time published a card from Mr. Field
stating that he had rented another office, and that his business would
go on without interruption.
Up to January, 1860, only £72,000 had been subscribed towards the new
stock of the company, and the directors were discouraged at the lack of
interest shown in the effort they were making to secure funds with which
to lay another cable across the Atlantic. The government had guaranteed
the Red Sea cable and it had failed, and for that reason it refused the
same aid to the Atlantic Telegraph Company, although the two messages
sent on August 31, 1858, had prevented the expenditure of from £40,000
to £50,000, as that was the amount that would have been required to move
the two regiments that had been ordered from Canada to India. The report
to the stockholders on the 29th of February told of the attempt made to
raise the shore end of the cable in Trinity Bay, and added:
"But then a circumstance occurred which is extremely encouraging.
Notwithstanding that he (Captain Bell) was in one hundred and
seventy-five fathoms, he found no difficulty in grappling the cable
again, and he raised it once more in the course of half an hour."
This is the first time that it has been suggested that a cable might be
grappled for.
A bit of home life is recalled by this letter:
"STOCKBRIDGE, _March 3, 1859_.
"_Dear Son Cyrus_,--If the weather be fair next Monday morning your
parents design to start for New York on a visit to all our
relations, and to as many of our other numerous friends there as we
can well see.
"I believe Mrs. Brewer and Master Freddy are expected to be with
us.
"Love to all inquiring friends. Cold weather is here, but general
health and prosperity prevails.
"Love to all inquirers.
"DAVID D. FIELD."
Mr. Seward's letter, which follows, is evidently in answer to one
written by Mr. Field in which he had expressed regret that the
nomination at Chicago had not been given to the candidate of the New
York delegation:
"AUBURN, _July 13, 1860_.
"_My dear Friend_,--Your considerate letter was not necessary, and
yet was very welcome. A thousand thanks for it. I do not care to
dwell on personal interests. They are, I think, not paramount with
me. But if I even were so ambitious, I am not like to be altogether
successful. If the alternative were presented to a wise man, he
might well seek rather to have his countrymen regret that he had
not been, president than to be president.
"Faithfully yours,
"WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
"CYRUS W. FIELD, Esq."
Mr. Field's recovery after the suspension of his firm in 1857 was much
more rapid than from his previous failure in business. In 1859 this was
published in one of the New York papers:
"We are pleased to learn that the house of Cyrus W. Field & Co.,
which suspended payment in the fall of 1857, during the absence of
Mr. Field in England (on business connected with the Atlantic
Telegraph Company) have recently taken up nearly all their extended
paper, the payment of which is not due until October next, and have
now notified the holders of the balance that they are prepared to
cash the whole amount, less the legal interest, on presentation.
This evidence of prosperity must be gratifying to their numerous
friends."
The city of New York during October, 1860, was entirely given up to the
thought of entertaining the Prince of Wales, and it was of his visit
that Mr. Archibald wrote:
"BRITISH CONSULATE,
"NEW YORK, _October 20, 1860_.
"_My dear Mr. Field,_--I have really been so pressed with arrears
of business since my return on Wednesday evening, and still am,
that I am obliged to say in writing briefly that which I should
prefer to do personally, how much indebted I feel to you for your
valuable and kind assistance to me during the prince's visit; and
especially on Sunday last in reference to the matter of the _Daniel
Drew_....
"The reception which the prince has received in this country has
not only immensely gratified himself and all his suite, as it was
well calculated to do; but it will, I am sure, create in England a
profound feeling of admiration for and of gratitude towards this
country, the effect of which I cannot but think will be very
beneficial to the future of both countries.
"Although I was sorry to part from the prince on Wednesday, I
cannot tell you with what a feeling of relief it was from the deep
anxiety of which I could not divest myself during his stay here,
lest any untoward event should mar the happiness or interfere with
the safety of himself in a community composed of such heterogeneous
elements. The responsibility in such an event would have centred on
myself, as Lord Lyons never having been in New York, the visit to
this city was determined on in pursuance of my representations. I
thank God it is all so well and so happily over, and so vastly more
successful than I had anticipated, or than any of us indeed had
expected.
"Again thanking you for your many kindnesses, I am,
"My dear sir, yours faithfully,
"E. M. ARCHIBALD."
The rejoicing was followed by days of depression and darkness. A
financial panic again swept over the country, and on December 7th Mr.
Field writes: "Made a hard fight, but was obliged to suspend payment."
On the 27th he addressed a letter to his creditors. After giving a brief
summary of his business experience, he said:
"Such a series of misfortunes is not often experienced by a single
firm, at least in such rapid succession, and is quite sufficient to
explain the present position of my affairs. Against all these
losses I have struggled, and until within a few weeks hoped
confidently to be able to weather all difficulties. But you know
how suddenly the late panic has come upon us. We found it
impossible to make collections. The suspension of several houses,
whose paper we held to a large amount, added to our embarrassment.
"Thus, receiving almost nothing and obliged to pay our own notes
and those of others, we found it impossible to go on without
calling in the aid of private friends, and running the risk of
involving them, a risk which I believe it morally wrong to take.
"I thought it more manly and more honorable to call this meeting of
my creditors to lay before them a full statement of my affairs, and
to ask their advice as to the course which I ought to take.
"Thus, gentlemen, you have the whole case before you, and I leave
it to you to decide what I ought to do.
"My only wish is, so far as I am able, to pay you to the uttermost
farthing. I shall most cheerfully give up to you every dollar of
property I have in the world; and I ask only to be released that I
may feel free from a load of debt, and can go to work again to
regain what I have lost.
"It is for you now to decide what course justice and right require
me to pursue."
His creditors accepted twenty-five cents on the dollar, and preferred to
have him manage his affairs rather than "place all in the hands of a
trustee or trustees;" but in order to make this payment and also the
amount then due upon the stock he had subscribed to in the New York,
Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company and in the Atlantic Telegraph
Company, he placed a mortgage upon everything he owned, including the
portraits of his father and mother.
His assets then were:
House and furniture, 123 East Twenty-first Street (heavily
mortgaged).
Pew in the Madison Square Presbyterian Church.
Stock in the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company.
Stock in the Atlantic Telegraph Company.
And against these a large amount of indebtedness.
On the 20th of December South Carolina seceded, and on the 26th of the
same month Major Anderson abandoned Fort Moultrie, and moved his small
garrison into Fort Sumter, and the first notes of the coming war were
sounded; to quote from Dr. William H. Russell's book on _The Atlantic
Telegraph_:
"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."