THE WORK BEGUN IN ENGLAND.
Up to this time the Telegraph, which was destined to pass the sea, had
been purely an American enterprise. It had been begun, and for over two
years had been carried on, wholly by American capital. "Our little
company," said Mr. Field ten years after, "raised and expended over a
million and a quarter of dollars before an Englishman paid a single
pound sterling." Mr. Brett was the first one to take a few shares. But
this was not to the discredit of England, for the American public had
done no better. Not a dollar had been raised this side the Atlantic,
outside of the little circle in which the scheme had its origin. No
stock or bonds were put upon the market; no man was asked for a
subscription. If they wanted money, they drew their checks for it. At
one time, indeed, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars of bonds were
issued, but they were at once taken wholly by themselves. But, as the
time was now come when the long-meditated attempt was to be made to
carry the Telegraph across the ocean, it was fitting that Great Britain,
whose shores it was to touch, should join in the work. Accordingly, in
the summer of 1856, after finishing all that he could do in America, Mr.
Field sailed with his family for England. The very day before he
embarked, he had the pleasure to see his friend, Lieutenant Berryman,
off on his second voyage to make soundings across the Atlantic.
In London he sought at once Mr. Brett, with whom in his two former
visits to England he had already discussed his project, and found in him
a hearty cooperator. As we go on with our story, it is a melancholy
satisfaction to refer to one and another worker in this enterprise, who
lived not to see its last and greatest triumph. Mr. Brett, like
Berryman, is dead. But he did not go to his grave till after a life of
usefulness and honor. He was one of the men of the new era--of the
school of Stephenson and Brunel--who believed in the marvellous
achievements yet to be wrought by human invention, turning to the
service of man the wonders of scientific discovery. He was one of the
first to see the boundless possibilities of the telegraph, and to
believe that what had passed over the land might pass under the sea. He
was the first to lay a cable across the British Channel, and thus to
bring into instantaneous communication the two great capitals of
Europe--an achievement which, though small compared with what has since
been done, was then so marvellous, that the intelligence of its success
was received with surprise and incredulity. Many could not and would
not believe it. Even after messages were received in London from Paris,
there were those who declared that it was an imposition on the public,
with as much proud scorn as some a few years later scouted the very idea
that a message had ever passed over the Atlantic Telegraph!
This friendship of Mr. Brett--both to the enterprise and to Mr. Field
personally--remained to the last. In every voyage to England the latter
found--however others doubted or despaired--that Mr. Brett was always
the same--full of hope and confidence. In 1864, when they met in London,
he was unshaken in faith, and urgent to have the great enterprise
renewed. The triumph was not far off, but he was not to live to see it.
But, though he passed away before the final victory, he did his part
toward bringing it on, and no history of this great enterprise can
overlook his eminent services.
To Mr. Brett, therefore, Mr. Field went first to consult in regard to
his project of a telegraph across the ocean. This was a part of the
design embraced in the original organization of the New York,
Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company; and when Mr. Field went to
England, he was empowered to receive subscriptions to that Company, so
as to enlarge its capital, and thus include in one corporation the whole
line from New York to London; or to organize a new company, which
should lay a cable across the Atlantic, and there join the Newfoundland
line.
But before an enterprise so vast and so new could be commended to the
commercial public of Great Britain, there were many details to be
settled. The mechanical and scientific problems already referred to,
whether a cable could be laid across the ocean; and if so, whether it
could be worked, were to be considered anew. The opinions of Lieutenant
Maury and of Professor Morse were published in England, and arrested the
attention of scientific men. But John Bull is slow of belief, and asked
for more evidence. The thing was too vast to be undertaken rashly. As
yet there was no experience to decide the possibility of a telegraph
across the ocean. The longest line which had been laid was three hundred
miles. This caution, which is a national trait of Englishmen, will not
be regarded as a fault by those who consider that in proportion as they
are slow to embark in any new enterprise, are they resolute and
determined in carrying it out.
To resolve these difficult problems, Mr. Field sought counsel of the
highest engineering authorities of Great Britain, and of her most
eminent scientific men. To their honor, all showed the deepest interest
in the project, and gave it freely the benefit of their knowledge.
First, as to the possibility of laying a cable in the deep sea, Mr.
Field had witnessed one attempt of the kind--that in the Gulf of St.
Lawrence the year before--an attempt which had failed. His experience,
therefore, was not encouraging. If they found so much difficulty in
laying a cable seventy miles long, how could they hope to lay one of two
thousand miles across the stormy Atlantic?
This was a question for the engineers. To solve the problem, required
experiments almost without number. It was now that the most important
services were rendered by Glass, Elliot & Co., of London, a firm which
had begun within a few years the manufacture of sea-cables, and was to
write its name in all the waters of the world. Aided by the skill of
their admirable engineer, Mr. Canning, they now manufactured cables
almost without end, applying to them every possible test. At the same
time, Mr. Field took counsel of Robert Stephenson and George Parker
Bidder, both of whom manifested a deep interest in the success of the
enterprise.
Not less cordial was Mr. Brunel, who made many suggestions in regard to
the form of the cable, and the manner in which it should be laid. He was
then building the Great Eastern; and one day he took Mr. Field down to
Blackwall to see it, and, pointing to the monstrous hull which was
rising on the banks of the Thames, said: "There is the ship to lay the
Atlantic cable!" Little did he think that ten years after, that ship
would be employed in this service; and in this final victory over the
sea, would redeem all the misfortunes of her earlier career.
Among the difficulties to be encountered, was that of finding a perfect
insulator. Without insulation, telegraphic communication by electricity
is impossible. On land, where wires are carried on the tops of poles,
the air itself is a sufficient insulator. A few glass rings at the
points where the wire passes through the iron staples by which it is
supported, and the insulation is complete. But in the sea the
electricity would be instantly dissipated, unless some material could be
found which should insulate a conductor sunk in water, as completely as
if it were raised in air. But what could thus inclose the lightning, and
keep it fast while flying from one continent to the other?
Here again it seemed as if Divine wisdom had anticipated the coming of
this great enterprise, and provided in the realm of nature every
material needed for its success. It was at least a happy coincidence
that only a few years before there had been found, in the forests of the
Malayan archipelago, a substance till then unknown to the world, but
which answered completely this new demand. This was gutta-percha, which
is impenetrable by water, and at the same time a bad conductor of
electricity; so that it forms at once a perfect protection and
insulation to a telegraph passing through the sea. In the experiments
that were made to test the value of this material in the grander use to
which it was to be applied, no man rendered greater service than Mr.
Samuel Statham, of the London Gutta-Percha Works--a name to be
gratefully remembered in the early history of the Atlantic Telegraph.
The mechanical difficulties removed, and the insulation provided, there
remained yet the great scientific problem: Could a message be sent two
thousand miles under the Atlantic? The ingenuity of man might devise
some method of laying a cable across the sea, but of what use were it,
if the electric current should shrink from the dark abyss?
It was in prosecuting inquiries to resolve this problem, that Mr. Field
became acquainted with two gentlemen who were to be soon after
associated with him in the organization of the Atlantic Telegraph
Company. These were Mr. Charles T. Bright, afterward knighted for his
part in laying the Atlantic cable in 1858, and Dr. Edward O. Whitehouse,
both well known in England, the former as an engineer, and the latter
for his experiments in electro-magnetism, as applied to the business of
telegraphing. He had invented an instrument by which to ascertain and
register the velocity of electric currents through submarine cables.
Both these gentlemen were full of the ardor of science, and entered on
this new project with the zeal which the prospect of so great a triumph
might inspire. With them was now to be associated our distinguished
countryman, Professor Morse. Fortunately he was at this time in London,
and gave his invaluable aid to the experiments which were made to
determine the possibility of telegraphic communication at great
distances under the sea. The result of his experiments he communicates
in a letter to Mr. Field:
"London, Five o'clock A.M.,
"October 3, 1856.
"My dear Sir: As the electrician of the New York, Newfoundland,
and London Telegraph Company, it is with the highest
gratification that I have to apprise you of the result of our
experiments of this morning upon a single continuous conductor
of more than two thousand miles in extent, a distance you will
perceive sufficient to cross the Atlantic Ocean, from
Newfoundland to Ireland.
"The admirable arrangements made at the Magnetic Telegraph
Office in Old Broad street, for connecting ten subterranean
gutta-percha insulated conductors, of over two hundred miles
each, so as to give one continuous length of more than two
thousand miles during the hours of the night, when the
telegraph is not commercially employed, furnished us the means
of conclusively settling, by actual experiment, the question of
the practicability as well as the practicality[A] of
telegraphing through our proposed Atlantic cable.
"This result had been thrown into some doubt by the discovery,
more than two years since, of certain phenomena upon
subterranean and submarine conductors, and had attracted the
attention of electricians, particularly of that most eminent
philosopher, Professor Faraday, and that clear-sighted
investigator of electrical phenomena, Dr. Whitehouse; and one
of these phenomena, to wit, the perceptible retardation of the
electric current, threatened to perplex our operations, and
required careful investigation before we could pronounce with
certainty the commercial practicability of the Ocean Telegraph.
"I am most happy to inform you that, as a crowning result of a
long series of experimental investigation and inductive
reasoning upon this subject, the experiments under the
direction of Dr. Whitehouse and Mr. Bright, which I witnessed
this morning--in which the induction coils and receiving
magnets, as modified by these gentlemen, were made to actuate
one of my recording instruments--have most satisfactorily
resolved all doubts of the practicability as well as
practicality of operating the telegraph from Newfoundland to
Ireland.
"Although we telegraphed signals at the rate of two hundred and
ten, two hundred and forty-one, and, according to the count at
one time, even of two hundred and seventy per minute upon my
telegraphic register, (which speed, you will perceive, is at a
rate commercially advantageous,) these results were
accomplished notwithstanding many disadvantages in our
arrangements of a temporary and local character--disadvantages
which will not occur in the use of our submarine cable.
"Having passed the whole night with my active and agreeable
collaborators, Dr. Whitehouse and Mr. Bright, without sleep,
you will excuse the hurried and brief character of this note,
which I could not refrain from sending you, since our
experiments this morning settle the scientific and commercial
points of our enterprise satisfactorily.
"With respect and esteem, your obedient servant,
"Samuel F. B. Morse."
A week later, he wrote again, confirming his former impressions, thus:
"London, October 10, 1856.
"My dear Sir: After having given the deepest consideration to
the subject of our successful experiments the other night, when
we signalled clearly and rapidly through an unbroken circuit of
subterranean conducting wire, over two thousand miles in
length, I sit down to give you the result of my reflections and
calculations.
"There can be no question but that, with a cable containing a
single conducting wire, of a size not exceeding that through
which we worked, and with equal insulation, it would be easy to
telegraph from Ireland to Newfoundland at a speed of at least
from eight to ten words per minute; nay, more: the varying
rates of speed at which we worked, depending as they did upon
differences in the arrangement of the apparatus employed, do of
themselves prove that even a higher rate than this is
attainable. Take it, however, at ten words in the minute, and
allowing ten words for name and address, we can safely
calculate upon the transmission of a twenty-word message in
three minutes;
"Twenty such messages in the hour;
"Four hundred and eighty in the twenty-four hours, or fourteen
thousand four hundred words per day.
"Such are the capabilities of a single wire cable fairly and
moderately computed.
"It is, however, evident to me, that by improvements in the
arrangement of the signals themselves, aided by the adoption of
a code or system constructed upon the principles of the best
nautical code, as suggested by Dr. Whitehouse, we may at least
double the speed in the transmission of our messages.
"As to the structure of the cable itself, the last specimen
which I examined with you seemed to combine so admirably the
necessary qualities of strength, flexibility, and lightness,
with perfect insulation, that I can no longer have any
misgivings about the ease and safety with which it will be
submerged.
"In one word, the doubts are resolved, the difficulties
overcome, success is within our reach, and the great feat of
the century must shortly be accomplished.
"I would urge you, if the manufacture can be completed within
the time, (and all things are possible now,) to press forward
the good work, and not to lose the chance of laying it during
the ensuing summer.
"Before the close of the present month, I hope to be again
landed safely on the other side of the water, and I full well
know, that on all hands the inquiries of most interest with
which I shall be met, will be about the Ocean Telegraph.
"Much as I have enjoyed my European trip this year, it would
have enhanced the gratification which I have derived from it
more than I can describe to you, if on my return to America, I
could be the first bearer to my friends of the welcome
intelligence that the great work had been begun, by the
commencement of the manufacture of the cable to connect Ireland
with the line of the New York, Newfoundland, and London
Telegraph Company, now so successfully completed to St. John's.
"Respectfully, your obedient servant,
"Samuel F. B. Morse."
These experiments and others removed the doubts of scientific men.
Professor Faraday, in spite of the law of the retardation of electricity
on long circuits, which it was said he had discovered, and which would
render it impossible to work a line of such length as from Ireland to
Newfoundland, now declared his full conviction that it was within the
bounds of possibility. The passage of electricity might not be
absolutely instantaneous, or have the swiftness of the solar beam, yet
it would be rapid enough for all practical purposes. When Mr. Field
asked him how long it would take for the electricity to pass from London
to New York, he answered: "Possibly one second!"
Thus fortified by the highest scientific and engineering authorities,
the projectors of an ocean telegraph were now ready to bring it before
the British public, and to see what support could be found from the
English Government and the English people.
Mr. Field first addressed himself to the Government. Without waiting for
the Company to be fully organized, with true American eagerness and
impatience, he wrote a letter to the Admiralty asking for a fresh survey
of the route to be traversed, and for the aid of Government ships to lay
the cable. He also addressed a letter to Lord Clarendon, stating the
large design which they had conceived, and asking for it the aid which
was due to what concerned the honor and interest of England. The reply
was prompt and courteous, inviting him to an interview for the purpose
of a fuller explanation. Accordingly, Mr. Field, with Professor Morse,
called upon him at the Foreign Office, and spent an hour in conversation
on the proposed undertaking. Lord Clarendon showed great interest, and
made many inquiries. He was a little startled at the magnitude of the
scheme, and the confident tone of the projectors, and asked pleasantly:
"But, suppose you _don't_ succeed? Suppose you make the attempt and
fail--your cable is lost in the sea--then what will you do?" "Charge it
to profit and loss, and go to work to lay another," was the quick answer
of Mr. Field, which amused him as a truly American reply. In conclusion,
he desired him to put his request in writing, and, without committing
the Government, encouraged him to hope that Britain would do all that
might justly be expected in aid of this great international work. How
nobly this promise was kept, time will show.
While engaged in these negotiations, Mr. Field took his family to Paris,
and there met with a great loss in the sudden death of a favorite
sister, who had accompanied them abroad. Full of the sorrow of this
event, and unfitted for business of any kind, he returned to London to
find an invitation to go into the country and spend a few days with Mr.
James Wilson, then Secretary to the Treasury, a man of great influence
in the Government, at his residence near Bath; there to discuss quietly
and at length the proposed aid to the Atlantic Telegraph. Though he had
but little spirit to go among strangers, he felt it his duty not to miss
an opportunity to advance the cause he had so much at heart. The result
of this visit was the following letter, received a few days later:
"Treasury Chambers. Nov. 20, 1856.
"Sir: Having laid before the Lords Commissioners of her
Majesty's Treasury your letter of the 13th ultimo, addressed to
the Earl of Clarendon, requesting, on behalf of the New York,
Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company, certain privileges
and protection in regard to the line of telegraph which it is
proposed to establish between Newfoundland and Ireland, I am
directed by their lordships to acquaint you that they are
prepared to enter into a contract with the said Telegraph
Company, based upon the following conditions, namely:
"1. It is understood that the capital required to lay down the
line will be three hundred and fifty thousand pounds.
"2. Her Majesty's Government engage to furnish the aid of ships
to take what soundings may still be considered needful, or to
verify those already taken, and favorably to consider any
request that may be made to furnish aid by their vessels in
laying down the cable.
"3. The British Government, from the time of the completion of
the line, and so long as it shall continue in working order,
undertakes to pay at the rate of fourteen thousand pounds a
year, being at the rate of four per cent. on the assumed
capital, as a fixed remuneration for the work done on behalf of
the Government, in the conveyance outward and homeward of their
messages. This payment to continue until the net profits of the
Company are equal to a dividend of six per cent., when the
payment shall be reduced to ten thousand pounds a year, for a
period of twenty-five years.
"It is, however, understood that if the Government messages in
any year shall, at the usual tariff-rate charged to the public,
amount to a larger sum, such additional payment shall be made
as is equivalent thereto.
"4. That the British Government shall have a priority in the
conveyance of their messages over all others, subject to the
exception only of the Government of the United States, in the
event of their entering into an arrangement with the Telegraph
Company similar in principle to that of the British Government,
in which case the messages of the two Governments shall have
priority in the order in which they arrive at the stations.
"5. That the tariff of charges shall be fixed with the consent
of the Treasury, and shall not be increased, without such
consent being obtained, as long as this contract lasts.
"I am, sir, your obedient servant,
"James Wilson.
"Cyrus W. Field, Esq., 37 Jermyn street."
With this encouragement and promise of aid, the projectors of a
telegraph across the ocean now went forward to organize a company to
carry out their design. Mr. Field, on arriving in England, had entered
into an agreement with Mr. Brett to join their efforts for this
purpose. With them were afterward united two others--Sir Charles Bright,
as engineer, and Dr. Whitehouse, as electrician. These four gentlemen
agreed to form a new company, to be called The Atlantic Telegraph
Company, the object of which should be "to continue the existing line of
the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company to Ireland, by
making or causing to be made a submarine telegraph cable for the
Atlantic."
As they were now ready to introduce the enterprise to the British
public, Mr. Field issued a circular in the name of the Newfoundland
Company, and as its Vice-President, setting forth the great importance
of telegraphic communication between the two hemispheres.
The next step was to raise the capital. After the most careful
estimates, it was thought that a cable could be made and laid across the
Atlantic for L350,000. This was a large sum to ask from a public slow to
move, and that lends a dull ear to all new schemes. But armed with facts
and figures, with maps and estimates, with the opinions of engineers and
scientific men, they went to work, not only in London, but in other
parts of the kingdom. Mr. Field, in company with Mr. Brett, made a visit
to Liverpool and Manchester, to address their Chambers of Commerce. I
have now before me the papers of those cities, with reports of the
meetings held and the speeches made, which show the vigor with which
they pushed their enterprise. This energy was rewarded with success. The
result justified their confidence. In a few weeks the whole capital was
subscribed. It had been divided into three hundred and fifty shares of a
thousand pounds each. Of these, a hundred and one were taken in London,
eighty-six in Liverpool, thirty-seven in Glasgow, twenty-eight in
Manchester, and a few in other parts of England. The grandeur of the
design attracted public attention, and some subscribed solely from a
noble wish to take part in such a work. Among these were Mr. Thackeray
and Lady Byron. Mr. Field subscribed L100,000, and Mr. Brett L25,000.
But when the books were closed, it was found that they had more money
subscribed than they required, so that in the final division of shares,
there were allotted to Mr. Field eighty-eight, and to Mr. Brett twelve.
Mr. Field's interest was thus one-fourth of the whole capital of the
Company.
In taking so large a share, it was not his intention to carry this heavy
load alone. It was too large a proportion for one man. But he took it
for his countrymen. He thought one fourth of the stock should be held in
this country, and did not doubt, from the eagerness with which three
fourths had been taken in England, that the remainder would be at once
subscribed in America. Had he been able, on his return, to attend to his
own interests in the matter, this expectation might have been realized;
but, as we shall see, hardly did he set foot in New York, before he was
obliged to hurry off to Newfoundland on the business of the Company, and
when he returned the interest had subsided, so that it required very
great exertions, continued through many months, to dispose of
twenty-seven shares. Thus he was by far the largest stockholder in
England or America--his interest being over seven times that of Mr.
Brett, who was the largest next to himself--and being more than double
the amount held by all the other American shareholders put together.
This was at least giving substantial proof of his own faith in the
undertaking.
But some may imagine that after all this burden was not so great as it
seemed. In many stock companies the custom obtains of assigning to the
projectors a certain portion of the stock as a bonus for getting up the
company, which amount appears among the subscriptions to swell the
capital. It is indeed subscribed, _but not paid_. So some have asked
whether this large subscription of Mr. Field was not in part at least
merely nominal? To this we answer, that a consideration _was_ granted to
Mr. Field and his associates for their services in getting up the
Company, and for their exclusive rights, but this was a contingent
interest in the profits of the enterprise, _to be allowed only after the
cable was laid_. So that the whole amount here subscribed was a
_bona-fide_ subscription, and paid in solid English gold. We have now
before us the receipts of the bankers of the Company for the whole
amount, eighty-eight thousand pounds sterling.
The capital being thus raised, it only remained to complete the
organization of the Company by the choice of a Board of Directors, and
to make a contract for the cable. The Company was organized in December,
1856, by the choice of Directors chiefly from the leading bankers and
merchants of London and Liverpool. The list included such honored names
as Samuel Gurney, T. H. Brooking, John W. Brett, and T. A. Hankey, of
London; Sir William Brown, Henry Harrison, Edward Johnston, Robert
Crosbie, George Maxwell, and C. W. H. Pickering, of Liverpool; John
Pender and James Dugdale, of Manchester; and Professor William Thomson,
LL.D., of Glasgow. With these English Directors were two of our
countrymen, Mr. George Peabody and Mr. C. M. Lampson, who, residing
abroad for more than a third of a century, did much in the commercial
capital of the world to support the honor of the American name. Mr.
Peabody's firm subscribed L10,000, and Mr. Lampson L2,000. The latter
gave more time than any other Director in London, except Mr. Brooking,
the second Vice-Chairman, who, however, retired from the Company after
the first failure in 1858, when Mr. Lampson was chosen to fill his
place. The whole Board was full of zeal and energy. All gave their
services without compensation.
It was the good fortune of the Company to have, from the beginning, in
the important position of Secretary, a gentleman admirably qualified for
the post. This was Mr. George Saward--a name familiar to all who have
followed the fortunes of the telegraph, in England or America, since he
has been the organ of communication with the press and the public; and
with whom none ever had occasion to transact business without
recognizing his intelligence and courtesy.
The Company being thus in working order, proceeded to make a contract
for the manufacture of a cable to be laid across the Atlantic. For many
months the proper form and size of the cable had been the subject of
constant experiments. The conditions were: to combine the greatest
degree of strength with lightness and flexibility. It must be strong, or
it would snap in the process of laying. Yet it would not do to have it
too large, for it would be unmanageable. Mr. Brett had already lost a
cable in the Mediterranean chiefly from its bulk. Its size and stiffness
made it hard to unwind it, while its enormous weight, when once it broke
loose, caused it to run out with fearful velocity, till it was soon lost
in the sea. It was only the year before, in September, 1855, that this
accident had occurred in laying the cable from Sardinia to Algeria. All
was going on well, until suddenly, "about two miles, weighing sixteen
tons, flew out with the greatest violence in four or five minutes,
flying round even when the drums were brought to a dead stop, creating
the greatest alarm for the safety of the men in the hold and for the
vessel." This was partly owing to the character of the submarine surface
over which they were passing. The bottom of the Mediterranean is
volcanic, and is broken up into mountains and valleys. The cable,
doubtless, had just passed over some Alpine height, and was descending
into some fearful depth below; but chiefly it was owing to the great
size and bulk of the cable. This was a warning to the Atlantic Company.
The point to be aimed at was to combine the flexibility of a common
ship's rope with the tenacity of iron. These conditions were thought to
be united in the form that was adopted.[B] A contract was at once made
for the manufacture of the cable, one half being given to Messrs. Glass,
Elliot & Co., of London, and the other to Messrs. R. S. Newall & Co., of
Liverpool. The whole was to be completed by the first of June, ready to
be submerged in the sea. The company was organized on the ninth of
December, and the very next day Mr. Field sailed for America, reaching
New York on the twenty-fifth of December, after an absence of more than
five months.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] Professor Morse was fond of the distinction between the words
practical and practicable. A thing might be practicable, that is,
possible of accomplishment, when it was not a practical enterprise, that
is, one which could be worked to advantage. He here argues that the
Atlantic Telegraph is both practicable, (or possible,) and at the same
time a wise, practical undertaking.
[B] On his return to America, many inquiries were addressed to Mr. Field
in regard to the form and structure of the cable, in answer to which he
wrote a letter of explanation in which he said:
"No particular connected with this great project has been the subject of
so much comment through the press as the form and structure of the
telegraph cable. It may be well believed that the Directors have not
decided upon a matter so all-important to success, without availing
themselves of the most eminent talent and experience which could be
commanded. The practical history of submarine telegraphs dates from the
successful submersion of the cable between Dover and Calais in 1851, and
advantage has been taken of whatever instruction this history could
furnish or suggest. Of the submarine cables heretofore laid down,
without enumerating others, the one between Dover and Calais weighs six
tons to the mile; that between Spezzia and Corsica, eight tons to the
mile; that laid from Varna to Balaklava, and used during the war in the
Crimea, less than three hundred pounds to the mile; while the weight of
the cable for the Atlantic Telegraph is between nineteen hundred pounds
and one ton to the mile. This cable, to use the words of Dr. Whitehouse,
'is the result of many months thought, experiment, and trial. Hundreds
of specimens have been made, comprising every variety of form, size, and
structure, and most severely tested as to their powers and capabilities;
and the result has been the adoption of this, which we know to possess
all the properties required, and in a far higher degree than any cable
that has yet been laid. Its flexibility is such as to make it as
manageable as a small line, and its strength such that it will bear, in
water, over six miles of its own weight suspended vertically.' The
conducting medium consists not of one single straight copper-wire, but
of seven wires of copper of the best quality, twisted round each other
spirally, and capable of undergoing great tension without injury. This
conductor is then enveloped in three separate coverings of gutta-percha,
of the best quality, forming the core of the cable, round which tarred
hemp is wrapped, and over this, the outside covering, consisting of
eighteen strands of the best quality of iron-wire; each strand composed
of seven distinct wires, twisted spirally, in the most approved manner,
by machinery specially adapted to the purpose. The attempt to insulate
more than one conducting-wire or medium would not only have increased
the chances of failure of all of them, but would have necessitated the
adoption of a proportionably heavier and more cumbrous cable. The
tensile power of the outer or wire covering of the cable, being very
much less than that of the conductor within it, the latter is protected
from any such strain as can possibly rupture it or endanger its
insulation without an entire fracture of the cable."