DID THE FIRST CABLE EVER WORK?
The Atlantic cable was dead! That word fell heavy as a stone on the
hearts of those who had staked so much upon it. What a bitter
disappointment to their hopes! In all the experience of life there are
no sadder moments than those in which, after years of anxious toil,
striving for a great object, and after one glorious hour of triumph, the
achievement that seemed complete becomes a total wreck. Vain is all
human toil and endeavor. The years thus spent are fled away; the labor
that was to have brought such a reward of "riches and honor," is lost;
and the prolonged tension of the mind by the excitement of hope and
ambition, and the temporary success, reacts to plunge it into a deeper
depression. So was it here. Years of labor and millions of capital were
swept away in an hour into the bosom of the pitiless sea.
Of course the reaction of the public mind was very great. As its elation
had been so extravagant before, it was now silent and almost sullen.
People were ashamed of their late enthusiasm, and disposed to revenge
themselves on those who had been the objects of their idolatry. It is
instructive to read the papers of the day. As soon as it was evident
that the Atlantic cable was a dead lion, many hastened to give it a
parting kick. There was no longer any dispute as to who was the author
of the great achievement. Rival claimants quietly withdrew from the
field, content to leave him alone in his glory.
Many explanations were offered of this sudden suspension of life. One
writer argued that the Telegraphic Plateau was only a myth; that the
bottom of the ocean was jagged and precipitous; that the cable passed
over lofty mountain chains, and hung suspended from the peaks of
submarine Alps, till it broke and fell into the tremendous depths below.
But others found a readier explanation. With the natural tendency of a
popular excitement to rush from one extreme to the other, many now
believed that the whole thing was an imposition on public credulity, a
sort of "Moon hoax." An elaborate article appeared in a Boston paper,
headed with the alarming question, "Was the Atlantic cable a humbug?"
wherein the writer argued through several columns that it was a huge
deception. A writer in an English paper also made merry of the
celebration in Dublin, where a banquet was given to Sir Charles Bright,
in an article bearing the ominous title: "Very like a whale!" This
writer proved not only that the Atlantic cable was never laid, but that
such a thing was mathematically impossible. But since he turned out to
be a crazy fellow, whom the police had to take into custody, his
"demonstrations" did not make much impression on the public. The
difficulty of finding a motive for the perpetration of such a stupendous
fraud, did not at all embarrass these ingenious writers. Was it not
enough to make the world stare? to furnish something to the gaping
crowd, even though it were but a nine days' wonder? Those who thus
reasoned seemed not to reflect that such deceptions are always sure to
be found out; that one who goes up like a rocket comes down like a
stick; and that if by false means he has made himself an object of
popular idolatry, he is likely to become the object of popular
indignation.
But others there were--sharp, shrewd men--who thought they could see
through a mill-stone farther than their neighbors, who shook their heads
with a knowing air, and said: "It was all a stock speculation." One
writer stepped before the public with this solemn inquiry: "Now that the
great cable glorification is over, we should like to ask one question:
How many shares of his stock did Mr. Field sell during the month of
August?" This he evidently thought was a question which could not be
answered, except by acknowledging a great imposition on the public. If
this brilliant inquirer after truth really desired to be informed, we
could have referred him to Messrs. George Peabody & Co., of London, with
whom was deposited all of Mr. Field's stock at the time, and who,
during that memorable month of August, sold _just one share_, and that
at a price below the par value, which had been paid by Mr. Field
himself. Whether this was an object sufficiently great to set two
hemispheres in a blaze, we leave him to judge.
To those who have followed this narrative, all these conjectures and
suspicions will appear very absurd. The personal reflections of course
deserved and received only the contempt with which a man of character
always scorns an imputation on his personal honor. But while these
anonymous scribblers might be despised, many honest people not disposed
to think evil were sorely perplexed. That the cable should continue to
work for three or four weeks, _and then stop the very day of the
celebration_, was certainly a singular, if not a suspicious
circumstance; and it was not to be wondered at that it should excite a
painful feeling of doubt. The distrust is quite natural, and ought not
to be matter either of offence or surprise. On the contrary, those who
are fully satisfied of the facts, ought rather to be glad of the
opportunity which such questions afford, to present the amplest
vindication.
To relieve all doubts, it is only necessary to give a very brief history
of the working of the Atlantic cable. It was landed on both sides of the
ocean on the fifth of August. The last recorded message passed over it
on the first of September, one day short of four weeks. Within that
time there were sent exactly four hundred messages, of which two hundred
and seventy-one were from Newfoundland to Ireland, and one hundred and
twenty-nine from Ireland to Newfoundland. Of these, the greater part
were merely between the operators themselves, respecting the adjustment
of instruments, and working the telegraph, which, while they furnished
decisive evidence _to them_, were of no force to the public. Of course
an operator, working with a battery on the shore at Valentia, or at
Trinity Bay, watching his instrument, and seeing the little tongue of
light reflected from the moving mirror of the galvanometer, needed no
other evidence of an electric current that had passed through the cable.
He _saw_ it, and knew, as if he saw the flash of a gun on the coast of
Ireland, that it was a light which had come from beyond the sea. But
these private assurances were nothing to the outside world. What they
needed was _public_ messages, conveying news from one hemisphere to the
other. Of these, there were not a great number, for obvious reasons. The
cable, during the four weeks of its existence, never worked
_perfectly_--that is, as a land line works, transmitting messages freely
and rapidly, and with perfect accuracy. It was subject to frequent
interruptions for reasons which may satisfy any one that the wonder is,
not that it did so little, but that it did so much.
1st. To begin with, the cable was not constructed in the most perfect
manner. Its makers, though the best then in the world, had had but
little experience in making deep-sea cables. No line over three hundred
miles long had ever been laid. 2d. It had been made more than a year
before. After it was finished, part of it had been coiled out of doors,
where it was exposed to a burning sun, by which, as was afterward found,
the gutta-percha had been melted in many places till the insulation was
nearly destroyed. 3d. It had been put on board the ships in 1857, and
after the first failure, had been taken out and coiled on the dock at
Plymouth, and then re-shipped in 1858. Thus it had been twisted and
untwisted, some portions of it as many as ten times. Then the Agamemnon
was so shaken in the terrible gale of June, that the cable on board of
her was seriously injured, and some portions were cut out and condemned.
Taking all these things together, the wonder is, not that the cable
failed after a month, but that it ever worked at all!
Owing to this impaired state of the cable, it did _not_ work perfectly.
Probably it would not have worked at all with ordinary instruments. But
the galvanometer of Professor Thomson, that instrument of marvellous
delicacy, drew faint whispers from its muttering lips. Signals came and
went, which showed that the electric current passed from shore to shore,
and gave promise that with delicate handling it could be taught to speak
plainly. But for the present it spoke slowly and with difficulty. It
often took hours to get through a single despatch of any length. Witness
the delay in transmitting the Queen's message! These frequent
interruptions were ascribed to various causes. Sometimes it was
earth-currents; at others, a thunderstorm was raging. Thus, on the
morning of Thursday, the twenty-sixth of August, there was a violent
storm in Newfoundland, heavy rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning.
At three o'clock, the lightning was so intense that for an hour and a
half the end of the cable had to be put to the earth for protection.
After that the storm cleared away, and at seven o'clock the weather was
reported as very fine. But aside from these local and temporary causes,
the real difficulty was in the cable itself, whose insulation had been
fatally impaired, and which was now wearing out its life on the rocks of
the sea. These causes made its speech difficult and broken. Yet
sometimes it flashed up with sudden power. In one case, a message was
sent from the office at Trinity Bay to Ireland and an answer received
back in two minutes! Such incidents excited the liveliest hopes that all
difficulties would be speedily overcome, and justified the messages
which were sent to the New York papers from day to day, that the
instruments were being adjusted, by which it was expected that the line
would soon be put in perfect working order, and be thrown open to the
public. But these flashes of light proved to be only the flickering of
the flame, that was soon to be extinguished in the eternal darkness of
the waters.
But the question which perplexed not only skeptics, but the truest
friends, was not whether the cable worked fast or slow, _but whether it
ever worked at all_. Happily, this is a question which can easily be
settled, since it is one simply of facts and dates, which can be
ascertained by referring to the files of the English and American
papers. Of course the only proof must be in messages containing _news_.
Mere congratulations between the Queen and the President, or the Mayor
of New York and the Mayor of London, prove nothing, for these might have
been prepared beforehand, if we suppose a design to impose on the
credulity of the public. But the decisive test is this: Was there at any
time within that month published in the English or American journals
_news_ which could not be matter of guess or conjecture, and within a
time too short for its possible transmission in any other way? If this
can be proved beyond all doubt, even in a few instances, the question is
decided, for the argument is just as strong with a dozen cases as with a
thousand. We give, therefore, a few dates, the accuracy of which can be
tested by any one who will take the trouble to examine the English and
American papers:
On Saturday, the fourteenth of August, the steamships Arabia and
Europa, the former bound for New York and the latter for Liverpool, came
into collision off Cape Race. The accident was not known in New York
until Tuesday, the seventeenth, since it could not be telegraphed till
the Arabia reached Halifax or the Europa St. John's, into which port she
put for repairs. As soon as the news reached New York, the agent of the
Company, Mr. Nimmo (Mr. Cunard himself being then in England), at once
prepared a despatch to be sent to relieve immediate anxiety. This was
not forwarded to Newfoundland, as peremptory orders had been given not
to transmit any private business messages to go through the cable until
the line was fully open to the public. But the next day Mr. Field
arrived in New York, and Mr. Nimmo applied to him. Seeing the urgency of
the case, he ordered it to be forwarded. It was accordingly sent, and
arrived in London on the twentieth, giving the first news that was
received of the accident. This was repeatedly stated by the late Sir
Samuel Cunard, of London, and confirmed by his son Mr. Edward Cunard, of
New York. The message was published in the London papers of the
twenty-first, as follows:
"Arabia in collision with Europa, Cape Race, Saturday. Arabia
on her way. Head slightly injured. Europa lost bowsprit,
cutwater stem sprung. Will remain in St. John's ten days from
sixteenth. Persia calls at St. John's for mails and passengers.
No loss of life or limb."
This first news message was not only a very decisive one as to the fact
of telegraphic communication, but one which showed the relief given by
speedy knowledge in dispelling doubt and fear. Mr. William E. Dodge, of
New York, says: "I was in Liverpool at the time, and expecting friends
by the Europa. Any delay in the arrival of the ship would have caused
great anxiety. But one morning, on going down to the Exchange, we saw
posted up this despatch received the night before by the Atlantic
Telegraph. All then said, if the cable never did any thing more, it had
fully repaid its cost." Well may he add with devout feeling: "It seemed
as if Divine Providence had permitted the event, to furnish a testimony
which could not be denied, to the reality and the benefit of this new
means of communication between the two continents."
Passing over all the messages exchanged between the operators at the
stations, the congratulations of Queen and President, and of the Mayors
of New York and London, we come to another news despatch. August
twenty-fifth, Newfoundland reports to Valentia:
"Persia takes Europa's passengers and mails. Great rejoicing
everywhere at success of cable. Bonfires, fireworks, _feux de
joie_, speeches, balls, etc. _Mr. Eddy, the first and best
telegrapher in the States, died to-day._ Pray give some news
for New York; they are mad for news."
This despatch the writer, who was then in Europe, read first in the
London Times. The item which arrested his attention was the death of
Mr. Eddy, as he had some acquaintance with that gentleman.
That the news must have come by cable, is clearly shown by an
examination of dates. He died suddenly, at Burlington, Vermont, Monday,
August twenty-third, 1858, at ten o'clock fifteen minutes A.M. The exact
day and hour we learned from his widow, who after his death lived in
Brooklyn. The news was telegraphed to New York, and from there sent to
Trinity Bay, which it reached the following day, and from which it was
forwarded to Valentia, and appeared in the London Times Wednesday
morning. Thus not forty-eight hours elapsed after he breathed his last,
before it was published in England. If any one wishes to see the
despatch, he will find a file of The Times in the Astor Library.
But here appears a slight discrepancy, that, however, when examined,
furnishes double proof. The despatch is dated August twenty-fifth, and
says Mr. Eddy died _to-day_, and yet it is published in the London Times
of the same date! How is this? It was sent between nine and ten o'clock
at night of the twenty-fourth, when the operator at Heart's Content
would say _this day_ of a piece of news just received, but in affixing
the date, he was governed _by Greenwich time_, which made it more than
three hours later. Accordingly it was published in The Times, dated
August twenty-fifth, fifty-three minutes past twelve A.M.!
Those who argued for the theory of collusion and deception, must have
been embarrassed by this unexpected intelligence appearing in London,
which could only be explained as a false report, unless (more wonderful
still!) Mr. Eddy had entered into the plot, and sent the message
beforehand, and then offered himself as a sacrifice, to prove it
correct!
To the demand for news in the above despatch, a reply was at once
returned: "Sent to London for news." And later the same day came the
following:
"North American with Canadian, and the Asia with direct Boston
mails, leave Liverpool, and Fulton, Southampton, Saturday next.
To-day's morning papers have long, interesting reports by
Bright. Indian news. Virago arrived at Liverpool to-day; Bombay
dates nineteenth July. Mutiny being rapidly quelled."
A despatch of the same date, August twenty-fifth, also announces peace
with China. The whole was received at Trinity Bay about nine o'clock
P.M., and would have been sent on at once to New York, but that the land
lines in Nova Scotia were closed at that hour. It was sent the next
morning, and appeared in the evening papers of the twenty-sixth.
By referring again to the London Times, the reader will see that the
news from China was published in London on the twenty-third of August.
It was there given as _unexpected news_, so that it could not have been
a shrewd guess on the part of anybody either in England or America. It
took the public by surprise, both for the news itself and _for the way
in which it came_--which was not by India and the Red Sea, but by St.
Petersburg, where it arrived on the twenty-first, having been brought
overland by a courier to Prince Gortchakoff. From there it was
telegraphed to the Government at Paris, and thence to London. The Times
comments on this roundabout way in which intelligence so important
reached England. Yet this news, so unlooked for, announced in London
only on the morning of the twenty-third of August, was published in New
York on the twenty-sixth.
August twenty-seventh, comes a still longer despatch, which we give in
full:
"George Saward, Secretary Atlantic Telegraph Company, to
Associated Press, New York. News for America by Atlantic cable.
Emperor of France returned to Paris, Saturday. King of Prussia
too ill to visit Queen Victoria. Her Majesty returns to England
thirtieth of August.--St. Petersburg, twenty-first of August.
Settlement of Chinese question. Chinese empire opened to trade;
Christian religion allowed; foreign diplomatic agents admitted;
indemnity to England and France.--Alexandria, August ninth. The
Madras arrived at Suez seventh inst. Dates Bombay to the
nineteenth; Aden, thirty-first. Gwalior insurgent army broken
up. All India becoming tranquil."
This despatch embodies about a dozen distinct items of news, not one of
which could be known without a telegraphic communication. The whole was
received in New York, and published in the evening papers _the same
day_.
Not to be outdone in giving news, the next day, Saturday, August
twenty-eighth, Newfoundland thus replies to Valentia:
"To the Directors: Take news first, Saward. Sir William
Williams, of Kars, arrived Halifax Tuesday. Enthusiastically
received. Immense procession--welcome address--feeling reply.
Held levee--large number presented. Niagara sailed for
Liverpool at one this morning. The Gorgon arrived at Halifax
last night. Yellow fever in New Orleans, sixty to seventy
deaths per day. Also declared epidemic, Charleston. Great
preparations in New York and other places for celebration, to
be held the first and second of September. New Yorkers will
make it the greatest gala-day ever known in this country.
Hermann sailed for Fraser's River; six hundred passengers.
Prince Albert sailed yesterday for Galway. Arabia and Ariel
arrived New York; Anglo Saxon, Quebec; Canada, Boston. Europa
left St. John's this morning. Splendid aurora Bay of Bulls
to-night, extending over eighty-five degrees of the horizon."
Let any one read this despatch, sentence by sentence, noting the
minuteness of the details--which could not be known or conjectured--such
as the appearance of yellow fever at New Orleans, with the number of
deaths a day; the sailing or arrival of seven steamers; the number of
passengers for Fraser's River, etc.--and then examine the London Times,
in which all these items appeared Monday morning, August thirtieth, and
if he does not admit that collusion or deception is out of the question,
no amount of evidence could convince him.
We will give but one proof more. On the last day of August, the day
before the cable ceased to work, Valentia sent to Newfoundland two
messages for the British Government, both signed by "the Military
Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief, Horse Guards, London," and
addressed--the first to General Trollope, Halifax, which said, "The
Sixty-second regiment is not to return to England;" and the other to the
General Officer commanding at Montreal, saying: "The Thirty-ninth
regiment is not to return to England." The year before (1857) had
witnessed the Sepoy Mutiny, which threatened the overthrow of the
British Empire in India. The fighting was over, but the country was
still agitated, and the Home Government in fear that the rebellion might
be renewed, so that it continued to send forward fresh troops. It had
sent out orders by mail for these two regiments to embark immediately
for home, to be sent to India. But the mutiny being nearly suppressed,
this was found not to be necessary, and the prompt countermanding of the
order by telegraph saved the British Government, in the cost of
transportation of troops, not less than fifty thousand pounds. The
despatch to Halifax was received the same day that it was sent from
London. The sending of this despatch, and its almost immediate
reception, is attested by an official letter from the War Office in
London.
This array of proofs of what took place a quarter of a century ago, may
seem superfluous now that experience has made despatches from the other
side of the ocean one of the familiar things of our daily life. And yet
at that date the achievement was so stupendous, and, as some thought, in
its very nature so incredible, that men of the greatest intelligence
could not be convinced. The late Mr. Charles O'Conor continued for years
to quote the fact that some men believed that a message had actually
passed across the Atlantic as the most amazing illustration of human
credulity! Happily he lived to see and to appreciate to its full value
this latest miracle of scientific discovery, applied by human genius and
skill.