THE RENEWED EFFORT
That evening the four vessels lay together side by side, and there was
such a stillness in the sea and air as would have seemed remarkable even
on an inland lake. On the Atlantic, and after what had been so lately
experienced, it seemed almost unnatural.
The boats were out, and the officers were passing from ship to ship,
telling their experiences of the voyage, and forming plans for the
morrow. The captain of the Agamemnon had a sorry tale to tell. The
strain to which she had been subjected had opened her "waterways."[30]
Then, again, one of the crew, a marine, had been literally frightened
out of his wits, and remained crazy for some days. One man had his arm
fractured in two places, and another his leg broken.
The Niagara, on the other hand, had weathered the gale splendidly,
though it had been a hard and anxious time with her, as well as with the
smaller craft. She had lost her jib-boom, and the buoys she carried for
suspending the cable had been washed from her sides--no man knew where.
After taking stock of things generally, a start was made to repair the
various damages; but the shifting of the upper part of the main coil on
the Agamemnon into a hopeless tangle entailed recoiling a considerable
length of cable, a no light task, occupying several days.
On the morning of Saturday, June 26th, all the preparations were
completed for making the splice and once more commencing the great
undertaking.
In the words of The Times representative:
The end of the Niagara's cable was sent on board the Agamemnon, the
splice was made, a bent sixpence put in for luck, and at 2.50
Greenwich time it was slowly lowered over the side and disappeared
forever. The weather was cold and foggy, with a stiff breeze and
dismal sort of sleet, and as there was no cheering or manifestation
of enthusiasm of any kind, the whole ceremony had a most funereal
effect, and seemed as solemn as if we were burying a marine, or
some other mortuary task of the kind equally cheerful and
enlivening. As it turned out, however, it was just as well that no
display took place, as every one would have looked uncommonly silly
when the same operation came to be repeated, as it had to be, an
hour or so afterward. It is needless making a long story longer, so
I may state at once that when each ship had paid out three miles or
so, and they were getting well apart, the cable, which had been
allowed to run too slack, broke on board the Niagara owing to its
overriding and getting off the pulley leading on to the machine.
The break was of course known instantly, both vessels put about and
returned, a fresh splice was made, and again lowered over at half
past seven. According to arrangement, 150 fathoms were veered out
from each ship, and then all stood away on their course, at first
at two miles an hour, and afterward at four. Everything then went
well, the machine working beautifully, at thirty-two revolutions
per minute, the screw at twenty-six, the cable running out easily
at five and five and a half miles an hour, the ship going four. The
greatest strain upon the dynamometer was 2,500 lbs., and this was
only for a few minutes, the average giving only 2,000 lbs. and
2,100 lbs. At midnight twenty-one nautical miles had been paid out,
and the angle of the cable with the horizon had been reduced
considerably. At about half past three forty miles had gone, and
nothing could be more perfect and regular than the working of
everything, when suddenly, at 3.40 A.M. on Sunday, the 27th,
Professor Thomson came on deck and reported a total break of
continuity; that the cable, in fact, had parted, and as was
believed at the time, from the Niagara. The Agamemnon was instantly
stopped and the brakes applied to the machinery, in order that the
cable paid out might be severed from the mass in the hold, and so
enable Professor Thomson to discover by electrical tests at about
what distance from the ship the fracture had taken place.[31]
Unfortunately, however, there was a strong breeze on at the time,
with rather a heavy swell, which told severely upon the cable, and
before any means could be taken to ease entirely the motion on the
ship, it parted a few fathoms below the stern-wheel, the
dynamometer indicating a strain of nearly 4,000 lbs. In another
instant a gun and a blue light warned the Valorous of what had
happened, and roused all on board the Agamemnon to a knowledge that
the machinery was silent, and that the first part of the Atlantic
cable had been laid and effectually lost.
The great length of cable on board both ships allowed a large
margin for such mishaps as these, and the arrangement made before
leaving England was that the splices might be renewed and the work
recommenced till each ship had lost 250 miles of wire, after which
they were to discontinue their efforts and return to Queenstown.
Accordingly, after the breakage on Sunday morning, the ships' heads
were put about, and for the fourth time the Agamemnon again began
the weary work of beating up against the wind for that everlasting
rendezvous which we seemed destined to be always seeking. Apart
from the regret with which all regarded the loss of the cable,
there were other reasons for not wishing the cruise to be thus
indefinitely prolonged, since there had been a break in the
continuity of the fresh provisions; and for some days previously in
the ward-room the _pièces de résistance_ had been
inflammatory-looking _morceaux_, salted to an astonishing pitch,
and otherwise uneatable, for it was beef which had been kept three
years beyond its warranty for soundness, and to which all were then
reduced.
It was hard work beating up against the wind; so hard, indeed, that
it was not till the noon of Monday, the 28th, that we again met the
Niagara; and while all were waiting with impatience for her
explanation of how she broke the cable, she electrified every one
by running up the interrogatory, "How did the cable part?" This
_was_ astounding. As soon as the boats could be lowered, Mr. Cyrus
Field, with the electricians from the Niagara, came on board, and a
comparison of logs showed the painful and mysterious fact that at
the same second of time each vessel discovered that a total
fracture had taken place at a distance of certainly not less than
ten miles from each ship, as well as could be judged, at the bottom
of the ocean. The logs on both sides were so clear as to the minute
of time, and as to the electrical tests showing not merely leakage
or defective insulations of the wire, but a total fracture, that
there was no room left on which to rest a moment's doubt of the
certainty of this most disheartening fact. That of all the many
mishaps connected with the Atlantic telegraph, this was the worst
and most disheartening, since it proved that after all that human
skill and science can effect to lay the wire down with safety has
been accomplished, there may be some fatal obstacles to success at
the bottom of the ocean which can never be guarded against, for
even the nature of the peril must always remain as secret and
unknown as the depths in which it is to be encountered. Was the
bottom covered with a soft coating of ooze, in which it had been
said the cable might rest undisturbed for years as on a bed of
down? or were there, after all, sharp-pointed rocks lying on that
supposed plateau of Maury, Berryman, and Dayman? These were the
questions that some of those on board were asking.
But there was no use in further conjecture or in repining over what
_had_ already happened. Though the prospect of success appeared to
be considerably impaired it was generally considered that there was
but one course left, and that was to splice again and make
another--and what was fondly hoped would be a final--attempt.
Accordingly no time was lost in making the third splice, which was
lowered over into 2,000 fathoms of water at seven o'clock by ship's
time the same night. Before steaming away, as the Agamemnon was now
getting very short of coal, and the two vessels had some 100 miles
of surplus cable between them, it was agreed that if the wire
parted again before the ships had gone each 100 miles from the
rendezvous they were to return and make another splice; and as the
Agamemnon was to sail back, the Niagara, it was decided, was to
wait eight days for her appearance. If, on the other hand, the 100
miles had been exceeded, the ships were not to return, but each
make the best of its way to Queenstown. With this understanding the
ships again parted, and, with the wire dropping steadily down
between them, the Niagara and Agamemnon steamed away, and were soon
lost in the cold, raw fog, which had hung over the rendezvous ever
since the operations had commenced.
The cable, as before, paid out beautifully, and nothing could have
been more regular and more easy than the working of every part of
the apparatus. At first the ship's speed was only two knots, the
cable going three and three and a half with a strain of 1,500 lbs.,
the horizontal angle averaging as low as seven and the vertical
about sixteen. By and by, however, the speed was increased to four
knots, the cable going five, at a strain of 2,000 lbs., and an
angle of from twelve to fifteen. At this rate it was kept with
trifling variations throughout the whole of Monday night, and
neither Mr. Bright, Mr. Canning, nor Mr. Clifford ever quitted the
machines for an instant. Toward the middle of the night, while the
rate of the ship continued the same, the speed at which the cable
paid out slackened nearly a knot, while the dynamometer indicated
as low as 1,300 lbs. This change could only be accounted for on the
supposition that the water had shallowed to a considerable extent,
and that the vessel was in fact passing over some submarine Ben
Nevis or Skiddaw. After an interval of about an hour the strain and
rate of progress of the cable again increased, while the increase
of the vertical angle seemed to indicate that the wire was sinking
down the side of a declivity. Beyond this there was no variation
throughout Monday night, or indeed through Tuesday. The upper-deck
coil, which had weighed so heavily upon the ship--and still more
heavily upon the minds of all during the past storms--was fast
disappearing, and by twelve at midday on Tuesday, the 29th,
seventy-six miles had been paid out to something like sixty miles'
progress of the ship. Warned by repeated failures, many of those
on board scarcely dared hope for success. Still the spirits of all
rose as the distance widened between the ships. Things were going
in splendid style--in such splendid style that "stock had gone up
nearly 100 per cent." Those who had leisure for sleep were able to
dream about cable-laying and the terrible effects of too great a
strain. The first question which such as these ask on awakening is
about the cable, and on being informed that it is all right,
satisfaction ensues until the appearance of breakfast, when it is
presumed this feeling is intensified. For those who do not derive
any particular pleasure from the mere asking of questions, the
harmonious music made by the paying-out machine during its
revolutions supplies the information.
Then again, the electrical continuity--after all, the most
important item--was perfect, and the electricians reported that the
signals passing between the ships were eminently satisfactory. The
door of the testing-room is almost always shut, and the
electricians pursue their work undisturbed; but it is impossible to
exclude that spirit of scientific inquiry which will satiate its
thirst for information even through a keyhole.
Further, the weather was all that could be wished for. Indeed, had
the poet who was so anxious for "life on the ocean wave and a home
on the rolling deep" been aboard, he would have been absolutely
happy, and perhaps even more desirous for a fixed habitation.
The only cause that warranted anxiety was that it was evident the
upper-deck coil would be finished by about eleven o'clock at night,
when the men would have to pass along in darkness the great loop
which formed the communication between that and the coil in the
main hold. This was most unfortunate; but the operation had been
successfully performed in daylight during the experimental trip in
the Bay of Biscay, and every precaution was now taken that no
accident should occur. At nine o'clock by ship's time, when 146
miles had been paid out and about 112 miles' distance from the
rendezvous accomplished, the last flake but one of the upper-deck
coil came in turn to be used. In order to make it easier in
passing to the main coil the revolutions of the screw were reduced
gradually, by two revolutions at a time from thirty to twenty,
while the paying-out machine went slowly from thirty-six to
twenty-two. At this rate the vessel going three knots and the cable
three and a half, the operation was continued with perfect
regularity, the dynamometer indicating a strain of 2,100 lbs.
Suddenly without an instant's warning, or the occurrence of any
single incident that could account for it, the cable parted when
subjected to a strain of less than a ton.[32] The gun that again
told the Valorous of this fatal mishap brought all on board the
Agamemnon rushing to the deck, for none could believe the rumor
that had spread like wildfire about the ship. But there stood the
machinery, silent and motionless, while the fractured end of the
wire hung over the stern-wheel, swinging loosely to and fro. It
seemed almost impossible to realize the fact that an accident so
instantaneous and irremediable should have occurred, and at a time
when all seemed to be going on so well. Of course a variety of
ingenious suggestions were soon afloat, showing most satisfactorily
how the cable must and ought to have broken. There was a regular
gloom that night on board the Agamemnon, for from first to last the
success of the expedition had been uppermost in the thoughts of
all, and all had labored for it early and late, contending with
every danger and overcoming every obstacle and disaster that had
marked each day, with an earnestness and devotion of purpose that
is really beyond all praise.
Immediately after the mishap, a brief consultation was held by
those in charge on board the Agamemnon, and as it was shown that
they had only exceeded the distance from the rendezvous by fourteen
miles, and that there was still more cable on board the two vessels
than the amount with which the original expedition last year was
commenced, it was determined to try for another chance and return
to the rendezvous, sailing there, of course; for Mr. Brown, the
chief engineer, as ultrazealous in the cause as a board of
directors, guarded the coal-bunkers like a very dragon, lest, if in
coming to paying out the cable again, steam should run short,
thereby endangering the success of the whole undertaking.
For the fifth time, therefore, the Agamemnon's head went about, and
after twenty days at sea she again began beating up against the
wind for the rendezvous to try, if possible, to recommence her
labors. The following day the wind was blowing from the southwest,
with mist and rain, and Thursday, July 1st, gave every one the most
unfavorable opinion of July weather in the Atlantic. The wind and
sea were both high--the wet fog so dense that one could scarcely
see the mastheads, while the damp cold was really biting.
Altogether it was an atmosphere of which a Londoner would have been
ashamed even in November. Later in the day a heavy sea got on; the
wind increased without dissipating the fog, and it was
double-reefed topsails and pitching and rolling as before. However,
the upper-deck coil of 250 tons being gone, the Agamemnon was as
buoyant as a lifeboat, and no one cared how much she took to
kicking about, though the cold wet fog was a miserable nuisance,
penetrating everywhere and making the ship as wet inside as out.
What made the matter worse was that in such weather there seemed no
chance of meeting the Niagara unless she ran into us, when
cable-laying would have gone on wholesale. In order to avoid such a
contretemps, and also to inform the Valorous of our whereabouts,
guns were fired, fog-bells rung, and the bugler stationed forward
to warn the other vessels of our vicinity. Friday was the ditto of
Thursday and Saturday, worse than both together, for it almost blew
a gale and there was a heavy sea on. On Sunday, the 4th, it
cleared, and the Agamemnon for the first time during the whole
cruise, reached the actual rendezvous and fell in with the
Valorous, which had been there since Friday, the 2d, but the fog
must have been even thicker there than elsewhere, for she had
scarcely seen herself, much less anything else till Sunday.
During the remainder of that day and Monday, when the weather was
very clear, both ships cruised over the place of meeting, but
neither the Niagara nor Gorgon was there, though day and night the
lookout for them was constant and incessant. It was evident then
that the Niagara had rigidly, but most unfortunately, adhered to
the mere letter of the agreement regarding the 100 miles, and after
the last fracture had at once turned back for Queenstown. On
Tuesday, the 6th, therefore, as the dense fogs and winds set in
again it was agreed between the Valorous and Agamemnon to return
once more to the rendezvous. But as usual the fog was so thick that
the whole American navy might have been cruising there unobserved;
so the search was given up, and at eight o'clock that night the
ship's head was turned for Cork, and, under all sail, the Agamemnon
at last stood homeward. The voyage home was made with ease and
swiftness considering the lightness of the wind, the trim of the
ship, and that she only steamed three days, and at midday on
Tuesday, July 12th, the Agamemnon cast anchor in Queenstown harbor,
having met with more dangerous weather, and encountered more
mishaps than often falls to the lot of any ship in a cruise of
thirty-three days.
Thus ends the most arduous and dangerous expedition that had ever been
experienced in connection with cable-work. It, at any rate, had the
advantage of supplying the public with some exciting reading in the
columns of The Times, whose graphic descriptions were much appreciated.
The Niagara had reached Queenstown as far back as July 5th. Having found
that they had run out 109 miles when "continuity" ceased, those in
charge considered that, in order to carry out their instructions, they
should return at once to the above port, which they did.
On the two ships meeting at Queenstown, discussion immediately took
place (1) as to the cause of the cessation of "continuity"; and (2)
regarding the course taken by the Niagara in returning home so promptly.
The non-arrival of the Agamemnon till nearly a week later had been the
cause of much alarm regarding her safety.