CHAPTER VIII

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.

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."